Attachment won't open

Dec 07, 2011

Terri Alexander
By Terri Alexander

Hi-- Attachments is one feature I never had a problem with until today.  I am getting the attached error message referring me to a knowledge base response 000669 when trying to open a Word doc attachment after publishing to Web.  Please let me know what to do to correct this.  The course will eventually be published to my client's LMS & on my next publish, I will test that option to see if the attachment works; but I know regardless of the publish option, the attachments should open.  I'm using Studio '09.  Thanks.

11 Replies
Peter Anderson
over 12 years ago12/07/11 at 11:59 am (UTC)

Hi Terri!

A lot of info for you, so bear with me  

If the attachments will not open in your published presentations, please review the following information:
Presenter '09: 
http://www.articulate.com/support/presenter09/kb/?p=2244

To resolve this issue it is recommended you do not link to a file that is online. Rather, download the file to your computer and create a File Attachment under Articulate -> Attachments. 

You can also workaround this issue by converting the file to PDF or using a ZIP file instead. 

If you are unable to view your attachments locally in Internet Explorer, please see: 
http://www.articulate.com/support/kb/000669.php 

If your presentation is to be viewed online then you should not modify the code as noted in the kb entry, but test the attachments online. 

This issue may also be related to increased security in Flash player. 

Articulate Presenter is compatible with Flash Player 8 or higher. If you are viewing your published output you may see a security warning when viewing content. This warning is related to increased security rules in Flash 8. Please see the following Knowledge Base entry for more details: 

http://www.articulate.com/support/kb/000699.php 

The increased security settings will result in a loss of functionality in your Presenter presentation including the ability to download attachments. 

You can work around this issue by manually adjusting your Flash Player security settings. At the bottom of the kb article is a link that will take you directly to the Flash player security settings manager. We recommend that you add your drives as allowed folders (you can add a drive by selecting "Add Folder"). This way any content you play on that particular drive will function as expected. 

You may be able to prevent this issue by compiling your presentation as an executable file. One program that can do this is HTML Executable: 
http://www.gdgsoft.com/htmlexe/index.aspx 

Compiling your content into an EXE file may impact other functionality with our software. 

You can also workaround this issue by following the steps outlined in this blog article: 

http://www.articulate.com/blog/how-to-bypass-flash-security-attachment-download-issues-in-cd-playback/ 

If you follow the above procedure this will resolve any issues with viewing content locally as the solution tricks your web browser into thinking the content is online. 

This issue also would only occur if you are viewing your presentation locally.
Terri Alexander
over 12 years ago12/07/11 at 12:23 pm (UTC)

Before I re-type my reply for this, let me say this:  please have your links lauch in a separate browser, not this same browser within your site.  I clicked on the KB link you suggested, it opened in this same browser window, and when I went back, everything I typed so far in my reply was wiped out!    UUURRRG!!  

Terri Alexander
over 12 years ago12/07/11 at 12:28 pm (UTC)

OK--thanks for your solutions. Yep that was a lot but it will help me and others.  I only got to the fist two.

For the first one:  My attachment is saved locally on my c drive, within the course files, in a folder named attachments. It is a .doc for now until we finish edits but will eventually be pdf'd.

For the 2nd one, I just opened the course in Firefox and the attachment feature worked just fine!  So ...by browser is the problem.  That's when I clicked on the knowledge based link you suggested.  It references IE 5 & 6 in the response but I'm using IE8. Do the same instructions apply to this version? I just want my client and their end users to be able to launch the attachments and everything else in the course with any browser & any version. 

Thanks again.

Terri Alexander
over 12 years ago12/08/11 at 11:44 am (UTC)

Thanks for following up.  I converted to attachment to pdf and it now opens for me in IE but I do get the Active X warning and I have to allow permission.  However, and more importantly, my client has been unable to open it in IE when they are testing it by launching the player icon.    Right now, I have someone testing it within their firewall in the LMS to see if it launches. He said :

We are usually able to view pdf attachments in Articulate Presentations…I will say, and this could be the issue, adobe acrobat has supposedly had some issues company wide and IT is updating it for folks this week.

I also did not get a response from my post earlier about how to remove the code from the html files.  Or is that the one you are rerferring to as being outdated?

Peter Anderson
over 12 years ago12/08/11 at 12:08 pm (UTC)

Right, please disregard the link about removing code- sorry for the confusion there.

There's likely a browser security issue with IE 8 that is causing the problem. Have pop-up blockers been disabled? Additionally, content should always be tested in the same environment in which it will be used, i.e. if your content is going to be online, you should test your content online via a valid HTTP address or in the environment it will be hosted in (LMS or Articulate Online), not offline.

You can find an older discussion devoted to issues with opening attachments in Internet explorer 8 here:

http://www.articulate.com/forums/articulate-presenter/11679-attachments-new-ie-explorer-8-a.html

I hope you find it helpful!

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