Launching a PowerPoint Slide Show from Flash

By utilizing FSCommand exec and a batch (.bat) file (PC), you can launch a PowerPoint slide show from your Flash presentation menu.

1) In Flash, assign an action script to your link with the following fscommand exec:

       on (release) {
         fscommand ("exec", "launcher.bat");
       }

(in this example FSCommand exec executes a batch file called launcher.bat)

2) Create a batch file (i.e. launcher.bat) containing a single command:

       START presentations/SlideShow_A.pps

(In this example SlideShow_A.pps resides in a folder called presentations)

3) You must publish a flash .exe file (or run your .swf file directly since this won't work with an .swf file called by an html document)

4) Right click on your launcher.bat file and check the "Close on exit" box. (This will create an MSDOS shortcut in the same root as the batch file. This is necessary! Do not change or delete this new file! Note, that you will still call the launcher.bat file with fscommand exec.)

Note that step 4 immediately closes that ugly MSDOS prompt window so it's not hanging around waiting for the .pps file to launch, and won't be sitting there on top of your flash menu when you exit out of your slide show.

B.T.W., why must you launch a batch file? FSCommand exec isn't capable of opening a specific file with an application, just the application itself.

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