Setting up a CD Catalogue - Preparing your files

Unless you are using v7's Burn To Disc, you should start by creating your CD staging area, in which you will store all the files to be used on the CD including any or all of:

• All source files for the Catalogue's records (image, PDF, sound, QT movies, etc.
• Item/Disk Previews. [v5 note - these may not function under Windows OS.
• Windows and/or Mac Browsers
• Optional autorun.inf file (Windows only).
• Optional ancillary files such as text 'readme', viewers for other files formats, documentation, Acrobat Reader

If you are making a CD for more than one OS, you will need to create a Hybrid CD (discussed in more detail here). Note that neither OS's browser is compatible with the 8.3 name restrictions of the ISO 9660 format so you cannot use the latter to avoid having to make a hybrid for a Mac & Windows audience. This is not an issue unless you are needing to support users on older Windows or Mac OS versions.

Make sure that you use filenames that are compatible with all the OS's your audience. For Mac-based authors this means adding a period and the correct three-letter extension to all common original (image) files. For more on Filenaming see the FAQs on File Naming Strategies and Mac & Windows OS naming rules.

Some Gallery customisation options may not display correctly on PCs when using Mac-authored Catalogues and vice versa, as described in this FAQ. Such per-OS options will display as their native OS's default unless you set the customisation for each OS on that OS (a real pain!). The two known such features are the Gallery background colours and font settings. I have also received reports (not verified by the FAQ) of problems with thumbnail display size - possible due to the two clients usung different gallery settings for thumbnail size. Exploring the structure of exported Saved View files it is clear than not only is each view's background colour and font data set per OS, but more importantly, each OS can only write data for the host OS. Put another way, to set the background colour for both Windows and Mac you need to set the option using both a Mac and a Win client. For such reasons, it is worth checking the catalogue under each OS before burning to CD.

Unless the CD is for local office use, you really should consider at minimum putting a 'readme' text file in the CD root folder by way of basic documentation. For instance, you may have planned everything to autorun, but some users may have this feature disabled. Thus, you may want to explain for these people how to start the Browser 'manually'. The amount and detail of what you describe will vary from project to project. If the CD is showcasing (or selling) your work don't forget to tell people how and where to find you and to how to buy from you. As you may have now realised, doing a professional looking Mac/Win CD requires a little bit more than just drag & drop!

So, you have all your files laid out, the Catalogue's complete, except its path values all point to the hard disk locations and not the CD. You can save some time by making sure the layout of the originals in your staging area is as on the CD and then updating the Catalogue's paths. Even so, there is another stage which varies depending on whether you are using a v7/v6, a v5(Desktop) or a v5(Network) client.

Question: Setting up a CD Catalogue - Preparing your files [FAQ00157.htm]
Last Update:- 01 June 2006

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