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Create A Compiled Study File

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Note: This session uses features exclusive to WinFlash Educator. If you aren't using Educator, you won't be able to do this segment of the Tutorial.

 

In this session we'll create a Compiled Study (.FLZ) File from the COMPOUT.FLU file that we produced in Tutorial 7, Create  a Composite Source File.

 

Important Note: Compiled files CANNOT be renamed - it will cause them to malfunction when WinFlash tries to open them.  Be sure that the root name of the source file you use to compile the .FLZ or .FLT file is what you want the file to be named.  Otherwise you will have to recompile to change the name.  If you want to compile a .FLZ or .FLT with a different name than the .FLU file, simply open the .FLU file and use File|Save As to save a copy of the .FLU file whose root name is the name you want for your .FLZ or .FLT file.

Note: If you are planning general distribution of your files remember to use fonts that are commonly available on all Windows machines. Times New Roman, Arial, Tahoma and Courier New are generally safe bets.

1. Start Educator and open the COMPOUT.FLU file from Tutorial 7. Close the Introduction window.

 

2. From the Educator menu, select Compile Study (.FLZ) File.

 

3. In the Compiled File Options dialog that appears, check the Use This Password For File checkbox.

 

4. Enter "winflash" in the edit box next to the Use This Password For File checkbox (without the quotes).

 

5. Click the OK button.  After a pause, the Compiled File Options dialog will be replaced by a message stating "<Filepath>\COMPOUT.FLZ was successfully created".  Otherwise a message will appear stating that the file could not be created and giving the returned error #.  If you need to contact Open Window with a problem in this area, be sure to include the returned error number to help us identify the problem.

 

6. Using the File|Open dialog, open the new COMPOUT.FLZ file - you'll need to enter the password from step 4 to gain access.  Had we not checked the Use This Password For File checkbox when creating the file, it would open just like a .FLU file with no password requested.

 

You'll notice that Educator behaves the same as it did with COMPOUT.FLU except that portions of the Edit menu, Search and File|Save As... functions are disabled.  This allows students to use the file for study, but not make any changes to the content.  The .FLD file which keeps the file statistics and option settings is created (using the settings from the .FLD file associated with the .FLU file from which it was created) the first time the file is opened and maintained for a .FLZ file just as it is for a .FLU file.

 

You'll also notice that the COMPOUT.FLZ is a much larger than COMPOUT.FLU.  This is because it also contains ALL of the .BMP, .WAV, .INT and .RTF files that are called by COMPOUT.FLU - all within this single file.  This allows you to distribute .FLZ files to users without worrying about packaging the multimedia support files that they use.  They're all included in the single .FLZ file!

 

You've completed the creation of a compiled .FLZ file!!

 

The eighth exercise will use COMPOUT.FLU as the raw material to create a Compiled Test (.FLT) File.  If you'd like to continue with that exercise now, just click Create A Compiled Test File.

 

Page url: http://www.openwindow.com/helpfile/create_a_compiled_study_file.htm