External Links
Jan 07, 2018
Hi guys - looking for help on external linking. I am developing a Main Menu in storyline 3 linking to external modules. This is for a project for offline viewing using USB keys or local hard drives. I have created relative links to the the published launch_story.exe files of the external courses. I launch the main menu using the launch_story.exe, which brings up the Main Menu in its own dialog box. When I click my link to the external launch file I get an IE View Downloads dialog box with options to Run or Save the file.
my external link is a trigger on a button: ../mainmenu/dbl1/launch_story.exe
I get the same result with: ..\mainmenu\dbl1\launch_story.exe
I also get the same result in Storyline 2. I am using IE11, windows 10.
Why is this happening and is there any way around it?
2 Replies
Hello Petrina! Great question. When you say the other Storyline courses are stored on local hard drives, are they always on the same machine where the "Menu" course is launched?
The dialogue box you're seeing is a prompt to allow your computer to run that .exe file. Executable files cause your computer to take an action, unlike document or other media files that might use another program to automatically open them. The launch_story file in particular will ask the computer to open that course and use the rest of the files within the output folder to support playback.
I can't offer you a workaround to avoid encountering that dialogue (it happens on the Windows side), but I'll leave it open for the community to comment on similar setups!
Thanks for getting back to me. Yes Crystal, both Main Menu and sub courses will be stored on the local drive or on a usb stick, and in either case they will be on the same machine.
WE have found that by selecting a link to the story.html will not create this run/save option, but the added complication is relating to protecting the files from being copied. using USB protection. This appears to require the use of the exe file to launch rather than the html file. Is there anyone out there who has worked with usb protection for their courses and could you recommend how to implement it with these external links?? really need help on this..
Petrina
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