The General tab in the Publish Settings dialog allows you to set some runtime options, as well as, enter your own Cover dialog and Icon or to get Opus to create an Autorun file for you.
Note:
Some of the options are not available depending on the type of published version of your publication you are creating; these are indicated in the discussion below.
The Runtime Options panel allows you to set how many files are created during this publication process.
Note:
The Runtime Options panel is not available when creating Screensaver publications.
Use the Create Single standalone executable option (for Standalone publications) or the Single data file option for (Web publications) if you want to create one EXE file for your whole publication or one HTML file for your web publication. By default, this is the selected option – it is also the recommended option unless you have specific reasons for creating separate files (see points 3 and 4 below).
For Standalone publication, use the Create executable and a data file(s) as below option if you want to create more than one file during this publication process. You can then select from the Type panel how many files you want to create: Single Data file i.e. one EXE file and one .ILM file; Data file for each Chapter; Data file for each Page.
Note:
The Data file for each Chapter and Data file for each Page options allow you to distribute parts of your publication separately or to update pages/chapters individually.
For Web publications, use the Data file for each Chapter or Data file for each Page option if you want to create separate HTML and ILM files for pages/chapters in your publication.
Note:
Use the Single Data File option if your Web publication is completely linear i.e. Page 1 goes to Page 2, and so on. Use the Data file for each Chapter option if your Web publication has an initial menu page which links to Chapters in your publications that are themselves linear. Use the Data file for each Page option if your Web publication has multiple links on multiple pages (it is still best to try to organise these links in a linear fashion if possible).
For Screensaver publications, the Runtime Options panel is replaced with a Screensaver options panel that allows you to set how the screensaver can be interrupted by the user i.e. the Exit on Mouse Move, Exit on Mouse Click and Exit on Key Press triggers. The panel also allows you to Hide Mouse Cursor when the screensaver is playing. By default, all of the options are ticked.
Note:
In most circumstances you will leave all these options on, as this is the standard behaviour for a screensaver.
Use the Icon panel if you want to use your own icon for the published file. Click on the Browse… button to open the Windows Open folder locate the icon file you want to use. By default, this panel is blank and the Opus publication icon will be used. To reset the icon back to the default after selecting a custom icon, simply click the Default button.
Note:
This icon appears when the published file appears on the Windows Desktop, Windows Explorer, etc. The icon you set here is also the icon used if you have set the Run Minimised and/or the Minimise in System Tray options in the Window tab of the Publication Properties dialog.
The Icon panel does not appear when you create a Web publication.
Tick the Cover dialog option in the Cover dialog panel if you want to include a Cover dialog in your published version. The By default option will use the standard Opus cover dialog.
The cover dialog options are only available for the commercial use version of Opus. The educational and Business communication versions do not allow the cover dialog to be changed.
For Screensaver publications, the Cover Dialog panel is replaced with the Preview Image panel. This image is used in the Windows screensaver settings dialog to provide a preview of the screensaver. The best size for this image is 152 pixels by 112 pixels – this will fit without scaling and therefore give the best image quality.
Click on the Custom option in the Cover dialog panel if you want to use your image as the cover dialog. Click on the … button to open the Windows Open dialog and locate the graphic you want to use.
Note:
The Custom image can be any bitmap image of any size and can include transparent areas (using PNG format images) – this means that you can create non-rectangular cover dialogs – for an example of a transparent non-rectangular cover dialog, watch the screen when you next open the Opus application on your machine. You can also use Opus Vector files if you wish.
Click on the Include Opus Logo option in the Cover dialog panel if you want both the Custom and Opus cover dialogs to appear.
Tick the Create Autorun.inf file option if you are going to distribute your publication via CD-ROM. This option will automatically create an Autorun.inf file when the Standalone publication is created. This option is not available when you create Web or Screensaver publications.
Note:
The Autorun.inf file is distributed with your EXE program on a CD-ROM, this means that the user can insert the CD in their drive and your publication will instantly run. You can also create an Autorun.inf file if you run the Distribution Wizard.
Make your changes to the other tabs in the Publish Settings dialog, then click the OK button to close the dialog and return to the third page of the Publish Wizard to start publishing.
Overview of Publishing Settings
the Options tab - Publish Settings