BUG: InfoViewer Book and Sample Links May Not Work

• Microsoft Visual Studio 97
• Microsoft Visual C++, 32-bit Editions, version 5.0
• Microsoft Visual J++, version 1.1
• Microsoft Visual InterDev, version 1.0

SYMPTOMS

Inside InfoViewer, links to some books and samples do not function. There is no warning or error message.

CAUSE

Online information in the Developer Studio IDE (MSDEV) uses the Internet Explorer control to display and navigate through the books online. If you disable some ActiveX technology, you will be unable to navigate much of the information and samples.

RESOLUTION

In Internet Explorer, go to the View menu and choose Options. Under Security, select "Run ActiveX scripts".

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a bug in the Microsoft products listed at the beginning of this article. We are researching this bug and will post new information here in the Microsoft Knowledge Base as it becomes available.

MORE INFORMATION

The InfoViewer technology used in the Developer Studio IDE is based on the Internet Explorer browser, and the security settings in Internet Explorer affect what can be displayed in an InfoViewer window.

The recommended way to protect yourself from unsafe internet applets and scripts is to prevent them from downloading accidentally. ActiveX components that you have already installed on your own computer should be safe. Either you have deliberately downloaded the component and had an opportunity to evaluate it, or you have installed the component from a CD- ROM or floppies and would only do this if you know and trust the source. Therefore, you shouldn't need to prevent local components from running to be secure.

Since ActiveX controls downloaded via the Web can be a threat to security, you can protect yourself by disabling "Allow downloading of active content". This setting is found in Internet Explorer by choosing Options on the View menu and then selecting the Security tab.

To allow all InfoViewer and MSDN books links to work, you must select "Enable ActiveX controls and plug-ins" and select "Run ActiveX scripts" from the Internet Explorer Security tab.

Steps to Reproduce Behavior

1. In Internet Explorer select the View|Options menu item. Under Security, deselect "Run ActiveX scripts".

2. From the Developer Studio contents window go to:

         Microsoft Developer Network Visual Studio Edition
           Technical Articles
             Applications
               Application Articles
                 Access
                  Creating Custom Text Import Wizards
   
   

3. Click to open the TEXTWIZ project files.

4. InfoViewer does not generate any error or indicate in any way that there is a problem, but it does not open the link.

5. In the Internet Explorer Security page, enable "Run ActiveX scripts."

6. In MSDEV, refresh the InfoViewer topic. Now the link should work.

REFERENCES

For additional information, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: