TechNote (Archived)

TimeOut errors when downloading Xtras and files in Authorware Web Player 2004

Issue

TimeOut errors are encountered by users when trying to view Authorware web pieces using the Authorware Web Player, version 2004. This happens while the piece is loading (the progress/status bar is shown), and downloading files/Xtras that are needed by the Authorware piece.

Reason

The following lists possible reasons for this issue.

Missing Files/Media on the server

Files/media that are being used by the Authorware web piece that are not uploaded to the server will cause the Authorware Web Player to display an error. These files should be uploaded to the server so the users will be able to download them to their machine and properly play the Authorware web piece. These files are usually listed in the Authorware map file (AAM) or in the manifest file.

Missing Xtras on the server

In the old Authorware web player, the Complete or Compact version of the installer is usually used to install the player. This includes almost all of the Xtras needed by the web piece. Therefore when viewing an Authorware web piece, the Xtras listed in a map file were already on the client machine from the installer so they were ignored in the map file. If the Xtras were not on the server, it wouldn't have been noticed since the web player would never have requested them.

With the new web player, not all Xtras are installed when the player is initially installed. Xtras get installed when an Authorware piece needs a certain Xtras. Therefore, if an Xtra required by an Authorware piece is not yet installed on the client machine, it tries to download it from the server. If the Xtra is not located on the server, then an error will be displayed.

Different lengths of Xtras

Since the Xtras downloaded from Macromedia are compressed versions of the Xtras that are shipped with Authorware, the lengths of the Xtras installed in the machine and the lengths of the Xtras in the map file are different since the files listed in the map file refer to the shipping files. Since the new Web Player compares these lengths and downloads the file from the server if different, it is now trying to download the files from the developer's server, where in the past it never did. Therefore, if the Xtras are not located in the server, an error will occur.

This is why the error occurs (even though the Xtra is already installed in the client machine) with the new player but did not with the previous player. The Authorware Web Player, version 2004 compares the lengths so that if an Xtra needs to be updated (or replaced because of corruption), it can be done automatically, where with the old web player this could not be done. However, this does find some errors that the old web player ignored.

Solution

The solution to this issue is to make sure that all the required files and Xtras of the Authorware web piece (Xtras and files listed in the map file) are located in the server.

If a web piece does not use a manifest file, the piece can be edited and republished so it doesnt need to download the Xtras from the server. This can be done by using the Publish Settings and unchecking the Xtras from the Files tab, or by manually deleting the BIN lines (used for downloading files) for the Xtras in the Authorware map file (AAM).

This way, since Macromedias manifest file is used, the Xtras are always downloaded from Macromedias website. This will ensure that the Xtras are always present and have the same file size as the compressed Xtras originally installed with the Authorware Web Player.