FIX: Relative URLs Don't Work for Distribution Unit Dependencies

ID: Q247369

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Internet Explorer (Programming) versions 4.0, 4.01, 4.01 SP1, 4.01 SP2

SYMPTOMS

When using distribution units for code download, a relative URL in the CODEBASE tag for a dependency does not work. Absolute URLs work fine, but relative dependency code-base URLs in the OSD file are not supported.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a bug in the Microsoft products listed at the beginning of this article.

This problem was corrected in Internet Explorer 5.

Support for relative code-base URL's has been added in Internet Explorer 5.0.

MORE INFORMATION

Steps to Reproduce Behavior

Using a Visual Studio product that supports distribution units, such as the output format options in Microsoft Visual J++ 6.0, if you specify an external dependency in the project properties and use a relative URL, you might end up with an OSD file that looks like this:


<?XML version="1.0" ENCODING='UTF-8'?>
<!DOCTYPE SOFTPKG SYSTEM "http://www.microsoft.com/standards/osd/osd.dtd">
<?XML::namespace href="http://www.microsoft.com/standards/osd/msicd.dtd" as="MSICD"?>
<SOFTPKG NAME="CodeDownload1" VERSION="1,1,1,1">
  <TITLE>CodeDownload1</TITLE>
  <DEPENDENCY ACTION="install">
    <SOFTPKG NAME="CodeDownload2Lib" VERSION="1,1,1,1">
      <TITLE>CodeDownload2Lib</TITLE>
      <IMPLEMENTATION>
        <CodeBase HREF="CodeDownload2.CAB"/>
      </IMPLEMENTATION>
    </SOFTPKG>
  </DEPENDENCY>
</SOFTPKG>

This will not work in the Internet Explorer versions listed at the beginning of this article. If you are not using Internet Explorer 5.0 or later, you must use a fully qualified URL for the CodeBase tag.

REFERENCES

Additional query words:

Keywords : kbIE400bug kbIE401bug kbIE401sp1bug kbIE401sp2bug kbCodeDownload kbGrpJava kbIE500 kbIE500fix kbDSupport
Version : WINDOWS:4.0,4.01,4.01 SP1,4.01 SP2
Platform : WINDOWS
Issue type : kbbug