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Play The Web 2008SE

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Play The Web 2008SE

New features in Play The Web 2008SE

This section lists new features added in Play The Web 2008SE.

Auto Scroll feature now included for web pages

• Auto scroll can now be configured if you display web pages on your web kiosk.
• Delay can be defined before the auto scroll starts.
• Auto scroll can begin when the web page download is started or completed.
• Scroll speed can be set vertically and horizontally.
• Finally, you can define if the program should wait for the auto scroll to complete to the end of the page before moving to the next page or file.

Enhanced reboot feature

• Reboot is now implemented with a new method that is also working when no Windows session in opened or when the current Windows session is locked.
• A new reboot scheme was included so the computer will reboot every 24 hours at a random time in a time interval.
• Another new reboot scheme was also included so the software will automatically close every 24 hours at a given time.

Location of .WSS Configuration files

• The location of .WSS Configuration files can now be defined where this location was set to the "My Documents" folder before.
• A new option in the File Menu to select location of .WSS Configuration files is created. The path that is defined in this dialob box applies to all .WSS files, whether they are downloaded or created locally.
• Two new registry settings were added to implement this feature: WSSPathIsMyDocuments and WSSPath.

Configuration dialog updated

• In the General tab, the following option buttons were replaced by drop-down listboxes: "What to do on mouse move?", "What to do on mouse click?" and "What to do on keyboard event?".
• In the Update Tab, the following values are now entered in seconds vs minutes: "Maximum update time for each page" and "Maximum update delay for all pages".

Fixed issues

• Better handling of separate processes with some issues fixed.

New features in Play The Web 2008

This section lists new features added in Play The Web 2008.

Better support for Microsoft Office and Windows Vista

• The Cache folder (CachePath registry value) that hosts downloaded pages or files is now hosted in the user profile (under "C:\Documents and Settings" or "C:\Users"). So write access is always granted for the current user.
• The CachePath registry value can include any environment variable (%USERPROFILE% for instance).
• The tool bar was hidden after some time when displaying a PowerPoint presentation under Windows Vista. This issue is solved.
• Large Explorer icons are now provided in the software for a better display under Windows Vista.

Properties dialog

• The Properties dialog box is larger to display more information.
• Some Page Properties type were enhanced to allow retrieval of files from web servers to display them as separate processes: List of pages or files in a range (Value range), List of pages or files (Value list) and List of pages or files from a start URL (Value file).

Tool bars

• New tool bar icons are provided with the software.
• Tool bar buttons can be displayed in different sizes (small or medium).
• A roll over picture can be configured for every button in the tool bars. This picture is used for the button when the mouse is over it.
• Pictures used in previous versions for the buttons are still available in a skin that can be downloaded from the web site.

Enhancements

• Multiple monitors are now supported. You can display any web page or separate file (PowerPoint presentation) on the main or the second display.
• The Configuration dialog box can be resized to display more information.
• The SetupPath registry value is now displayed in the About tab of the Configuration dialog.
• A new update scheme is available: Update hourly.
• The following registry settings can be updated in the Configuration dialog box: CachePath and CachePathIsWindowsTemp. Buttons are also added to manage the cache folder.
• All registry settings are now created by the setup procedure even if they are empty. Also, when a setting is empty, it remains in the registry when it was deleted in previous versions.
• A new setting CachedFileMinSize was added in the .wss Configuration file to avoid downloading incomplete files. This new setting is similar to the existing CachedFileMinSize registry setting.
• Options in the Layout tab were changed from radio buttons to drop-down list boxes.
• New options were added in the tool bars tab and in the .wss Configuration file: MouseRunAutoHide and MouseNavAutoHide. These options allow the mouse cursor to automatically hide when the mouse is not moved.
• The AutoReboot setting is now replaced by the RebootScheme option in the .wss Configuration file. This new setting allows more options, like a reboot after some idle time.
• The SmartFindSeparateProcess new setting was added in the Layout tab and the .wss Configuration file. This option allows identification of a separate process when the original process was closed but the file is still running. Click here to know more.
• The ForceReloadWhenInBrowserHistory setting was also added in the Layout tab and the .wss Configuration file, to ensure an HTML page already displayed by the software will be reloaded so its content is refreshed.

Fixed issues

• Update of a local .wss file downloaded from a server now checks if the newer .wss file is valid.
• Bug solved when a .pps local file was used as a back window.
• Samples download was not working in Firefox. This issue related to the handling of the "application/webss4" content type is fixed in the new setup procedure.
• The tool bar buttons position was sometimes incorrect when saved to the .wss Configuration file. This issue is fixed now.

New features in Play The Web 1.50

This section lists new features added in Play The Web 1.50.

Properties dialog

• A new check box was added in the Page Properties dialog to wait the end of a separate process. Before this setting, it was only possible to display a separate process for a given time. This is the SeparateProcWaitEnd parameter located in the .WSS Configuration file.
• A new text box was also added to set a delay when the separate process ends. This delay is useful to display a transition HTML page between files displayed through separate processes. The SeparateProcTimeAfter setting is also located in the .WSS Configuration file.
• A browse button was added to select the separate process software using a standard Open dialog box.
• Finally, when a text box does contain a local path, the Open dialog displayed by a Browse button selects the correct folder and file. Then, a local path is easier to update.
• Click here to know more about these features that were specifically added for files displayed in a separate process like a PowerPoint presentation.

Enhancements

• The RandomMode setting is now deprecated. It is now replaced by the PageOrder parameter. In the Configuration dialog box, the corresponding check box was replaced by a drop-down list box in the Layout tab. Click here to know more.
• The HomeAsBack setting was added. This parameter can be updated through a new check box located in the General tab of the Configuration dialog box. This feature is only available in the registered version of Play The Web.
• The BackOnSeparateProc setting was added in the [WebSS] section of the .WSS Configuration file. This new parameter was added to send the main window to the back or not when a separate process is launched.
• The following registry settings were added: UserTempFolder, UserTempMask, BrowserLeft, BrowserTop, BrowserWidth, BrowserHeight, MainBackColor and TimerInterval. Click here to know more.

Fixed issues

• Setup now works with Windows Vista.

New features in Play The Web 1.49

This section lists new features added in Play The Web 1.49.

Enhancements

• Temporary files are now deleted also in the Windows\Temp folder even if it is not the regular temp folder for the current user.
• Keyboard events are now catched in any window and not only in the Play The Web main window. This is useful to catch any key pressed when a PowerPoint presentation is displayed.
• The Network tab was updated with a new listbox replacing the old "Use home page" check box. With this listbox, it is now possible to select a location for the test URL (home page, Windows registry or .WSS Configuration file).

Fixed issues

• The Channels menu was restored in the Configuration dialog box.
• The following update schemes were not working properly: "Update every day" and "Update once when screensaver is launched". This problem is now solved.

New features in Play The Web 1.48

This section lists new features added in Play The Web 1.48.

Fixed issues

• The management of separate processes (like Microsoft PowerPoint) was improved, because memory leaks occurred after a lot of separate processes executions due to incomplete management of Windows handlers.

New features in Play The Web 1.47

This section lists new features added in Play The Web 1.47.

Fixed issues

• A .WSS configuration file updated through the network was growing with an empty line at each update. This problem is now solved.
• Any browsed web page is never read from the local Internet Explorer cache now.

New features in Play The Web 1.46

This section lists new features added in Play The Web 1.46.

PowerPoint

• Management of the PowerPoint Viewer was improved to display .PPS and .PPT files through separate process.
• Download of PowerPoint files was invalid on Windows Unicode systems (Japanese, for instance). Download is correct now.
• Click here to know more.

Miscellaneous

• In the "Update" tab of the Configuration dialog box, the "Update Scheme" setting has now a different default value: Always online (never check the connection to the network). This is to avoid Play The Web to switch to off-line mode and never refresh HTML pages or PowerPoint files due to false assertions about the network availability.
• Printing of the current page is now automatic to the default printer. The printer selection dialog box was therefore removed.
• Printing of the current page can also be triggered through the F10 key.
• An URL address included in the page list cannot be restricted in either the include or exclude page list. This is to avoid contradictory settings that were preventing the display of web pages included in the page loop.
• Cached files are not stored anymore in the Windows TEMP directory. These files are now stored in the "Cache" sub-directory located under the Play The Web installation directory.

New features in Play The Web 1.45

This section lists new features added in Play The Web 1.45.

Miscellaneous

• The "What to do on a mouse click" option allows now quit and End the Windows session.
• The "What to do on a mouse click" event is now managed on any content (HTML, Flash or PowerPoint).

Fixed issues

• The password protecting the Configuration dialog was not saved anymore to the Windows registry. This problem is now solved.
• Display of error pages when a target page is restricted was improved, even for framed pages.

New features in Play The Web 1.44

This section lists new features added in Play The Web 1.44.

Display RSS feed on a web kiosk

• Display a RSS feed on a web kiosk: you just have to enter the address of the .rss feed and pages listed in the feed will be displayed in the automatic page loop.
• Because RSS feed queries can overwhelm a web site, you can also define a delay between two retrievals.
• You can also include several feeds in a single page loop to get updated news from several web sites.
• Click here to know more.

Page properties dialog enhanced

• The look and feel of the Page properties dialog box have been improved.
• Added UpdateDays, UpdateHours and UpdateMinutes in each page properties to minimize download requests on a RSS feed.
• A wizard is now available in the Page Properties dialog box. This wizard allows easy configuration for a value file and a RSS feed.
• The Display page list feature was added in the Properties dialog box. This dialog displays URL that will be displayed under current settings.
• In the Configuration dialog box, a better page list display is now available, especially for generated pages.
• Click here to know more.

New include/exclude rules

• New include/exclude possibilities based on masks including the star (*) character are now available.
  For instance, you can exclude Acrobat documents from the screensaver mode by setting a "*.pdf" exclude rule.
• Default exclude rules have been added for a new .WSS file.
• Click here to know more.

Improved tool bars

• New tool bar icons have been included for screen save and navigation mode:





• Default display order of these buttons was also changed.
• Keyboard function keys can now be used for easier navigation.
• Function keys can also be displayed in help tips above buttons.
• Use of the keyboard can be disabled for compatibility with older versions.
• Click here to know more.

Miscellaneous

• "What to do on a mouse click" option added in the "General" tab. With this new feature, Play The Web automatically switches to navigation mode when a click occurs in the screensaver mode.
• More help information inside the software: help tips for all GUI elements, links to HTML documentation pages in every dialog box, help messages popping up for settings that need specific rights in the Windows registry.
• New feature added: "Launch the software when Windows starts". A dedicated computer running Play The Web would launch it automatically when a Windows session is opened.
• The "Display page list" and "Edit page list" dialogs now keep their previous size when displayed.

Fixed issues

• In older versions, the main window could be shrunken due to JavaScript code. Now, the browsing window is always the full size.
• Software now shuts down when Windows terminates.
• Esc key always closes Play The Web.
• "Value file" page type was not working correctly with a local file. This problem has been fixed.
• Switching from full screen to windowed mode was not working well, because the window was off-screen. This problem is now solved.
• Password encryption has been improved because in some cases, the actual password could not be decrypted.