Win 7 users get 4 warnings then fail

[MRMinSF]

Thought my dreams were answered by SuperContainer, then hit wall. Hope someone can get me back to that earlier bliss place.

a) I am using the demo version of SC until I know it works for my setup.

I'm currently testing the standalone version of SC for basic functionality… so no FMP complications yet. Its running on an intel Mac with OS X 10.6 and current java release.

c) Windows 7 / IE8 users inside and outside my LAN are able to access this page

http://x.x.x.x:8020/SuperContainer

which displays the "SuperContainer version 2.631" page with four lines of links below it. So I'm pretty sure the router ports are correctly open to receive traffic.

d) When Windows/IE users inside and outside my LAN attempt to access the actual functionality of SC at this address

http://x.x.x.x:8020/SuperContainer/Files...

they experience a series of warnings and eventual failure…

- IE warning window about using Java

- The top-of-page yellow bar about installing an ActieX control.

- A User Account Control dialog box about an unknown program from an unknown publisher.

- A final dialog box "Windows has blocked this software because it can't verify the publisher… Name: SuperContainer/, Publisher Unknown Publisher

Mac users on the LAN get a warning dialog about trusting the publisher, but are able to push through and get expected results from the SuperContainer pages. I don't have facilities to test a mac outside our LAN right now.

It would be impractical to ask users of the eventual IWP solution to mess around with certificates or browser security settings just for this feature since most of them will be one-time-users from far-flung locations.

Thanks for tips how to get around this.

M

POSTSCRIPT - also am finding that Chrome doesn't work... for informational purposes only. Not anticipating many if any Chrome clients in the near term.

Edited January 17, 2010 by Guest

[Smef]

It sounds like some of your windows users do not have java installed. Normally you would hit "Allow" the same way you do on mac, but if Java is not installed you will get errors like you are seeing, where IE doesn't know what is supposed to be loading.

Also, Chrome does not support Java or Flash at this time, i believe, and so will not work for SuperContainer URLS using the java applet.

[MRMinSF]

By golly you are right about Java... once installed, the failure goes away.

I'm still finding my way around Win7, but find it interesting that rather than direct me to install Java, the various warnings simply led to failure. I worry my userbase (over which I have no control) will stumble unless I add a bunch of instructions to my UI. That puts a crimp on my desire to keep my solution as un-tecchie as possible.

Obviously Win7's behavior is not SC's responsibility... just a potential hitch to worry about for deployments outside closed, controlled environments.

[MRMinSF]

David - is there any way to add descriptive or instructive information to the Windows-driven dialog box that comes up asking the user if they want to trust the publisher of the Java applet? Right now it simply tells the user, "Do you want to trust Super Container?" The user only knows the name of my portal, so SuperContainer is a name they won't - and don't need to - know. It would be nice to have a way for SC to communicate through that dialog box something that ties it to the name of the solution, which might inspire more confidence in the user who will be skeptical or thrown by the Java warning anyway.

Just a thought.

[Smef]

You might want to put a dialog or alert on some earlier page of your database telling users that they will need to have java installed and will need to accept a security alert about supercontainer. This could be in a start-up script that takes them to a layout with this text, requiring that they click an "ok" button to continue.