Background music is Copyright © 1996, 1997 by Michael D. Walthius. All Rights Reserved.
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I decided to create a ScreenCam movie page. A few things must first
accomplished to make this work. Before anything else the movie must
be created. After reading some of the help files on ScreenCam I
discovered that the captions must be created before creating the
movie. I thought I would just keep things simple with a movie about
how to launch the Paint application. I created a caption within
ScreenCam in accordance with the directions in the help file. When
using captions in ScreenCam hot keys must be employed. I only used
one caption but for multiple captions a hot key must be struck to
remove the current caption and display the next one. 
ScreenCam
has been around for several years now and Lotus has things under
control. There are several options available and the user should read
the help file carefully. ScreenCam can hide all movie controls if the
user desires and just work with hot keys. I didn't have any problems
at all recording a 600 X 800 display. Next a new page is created in
Desktop Support Factory. Then the user adds a title to the page and a
page description. Keywords may also be added if desired. Next the
user browses to the ScreenCam movie, selects the movie desired and
then advances to the ScreenCam movie options page where various
choices may be made via radio check buttons. 
The last page is the summary dialog box where everything created thus far may be edited. If everything seems OK, the finish button is clicked and a new page is added. Any page of any type can always be edited later. The page was tested and everything performed as expected and desired. Next I decided to create an application page. This was very simple and was similar to other pages. The application page choice is made, a title, page description and keywords and added. Then the user browses to the .exe file and everything is finished. A test of the page showed that it launched Paint and worked as desired. Next I created an internet page. This was very similar to creating any other page. The URL must be typed in. Desktop Support Factory has the option of supporting either Netscape, Internet Explorer or both. A path statement may also be typed in this window so that HTML files on the hard drive can be accessed. A test of this page revealed that Desktop Support Factory will also launch the browser automatically. It will not, however, launch the dial up. So a user must be connected to the internet but the browser need not be active.
ach
time a page is created it shows up on the left side of the interface
in the topic area. Multiple topics may be easily created with the
create a topic icon or via the drop down menu. Topics may also be
deleted, edited and imported. After all the desired content in the
form of pages is created the user must then create a table of
contents. The table of contents tab is clicked and any pages the user
desires in the table of contents can be dragged over from the topics
section. If an entire topics section is desired then the topics tab
can be dragged and dropped onto the table of contents section. The
table of contents may contain any chapters the user prefers. The
table of contents itself may have any name the user desires. Various
items may be added, removed, etc. A link to an application may also
be added. This is necessary if you want your customer or whoever is
going to be using your creation to access what you have created from
within the application. More on this later. The application must be
running at the time and the user then navigates a list of running
applications and selects the appropriate one. The table of contents
can be tested by clicking on the test icon. The causes Desktop
Support Factory to create a script that assembles the table of
contents. Each item may now be tested for correct and desired
operation. If all is OK then the 3 step publication process may
begin. The project must be verified, consolidated then an
installation image must be created.
hen
the verify icon is clicked, the verify process begins. The verify
process just checks all the files and everything to ensure
completeness and availability. Next the project must be consolidated.
A script is automatically created and Desktop Support Factory asks
the user if any of the applications that are referred to will be
needed for the install. If the target computer already has the
applications then it will not be necessary to add them. If not, then
they must be added. After consolidation, the project is ready for the
shipping section. The shipping icon may now be clicked and the
shipping process begun.
All pages copyright© Roger A. Moncrief, Indepth Reviews, 1996, 1997, 1998
Thanks to Judy Gefter, !LuM! and Charles Blaquiere for their advice and counsel, some I heeded and some I didn't.