Setting up a CD Catalogue - Autorun and other x-platform considerations

Autorun on the Mac needs QuickTime to be installed in OS9; oddly, OSX removed all support for autorun. However, this feature is deprecated on the Mac and turned off by many users, the norm being instead to show and open folder window on CD mount with aliases (= shortcuts) to the programs/files of interest on the CD. Here's Apple's description of the feature.

Windows users can make use of an Autorun feature, also referred to as AutoPlay. This requires the author to add a file called "autorun.inf" to the root of the CD. On CD mount this is read and the program (and optional content file) stated in the autorun.inf is started automatically. The autorun.inf file is a simple text file and can be written in Notepad. The syntax and the choice of entries used is a bit more detailed than may be fully explained here but I have put the details into a PDF (48 kb) which you may download (right-click link and 'Save as' to just download the file).

The Windows browser also allows you to open a Catalogue when the Portfolio Browser is started, by means of the portbrws.ini. The latter is included as part of the Browser files. Simply edit the file in Notepad to reference the Catalogue you want to start with the Browser. If you've already set a Catalogue to open in via an autorun.inf, you don't need to use the portbrws.ini as well. Which if any of these you use very much depends on the nature of your project and skill of your users.

If your catalogue includes multimedia you may need to include additional players as all users may not have the correct applications needed to see your work. In many cases these player will need to be installed to the user's hard disk before use, so make sure adequate instructions are included. If you are addressing a Windows and Mac audience don't forget that you will most likely need to download an OS-specific version of the installer for each OS.

You've now addressed the set-up of your CD, it's time to make the CD...

Question: Setting up a CD Catalogue - Autorun and other x-platform considerations [FAQ00160.htm]
Last Update:- 31 May 2006

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