PCServer is designed from the same technology as PowerCONVERTER. PCServer is a VB app that monitors a SQL Server Database table waiting for presentations uploaded by users. The presentations are uploaded via a web site on a separate web server (Multiple instances of PCServer can be run simultaneously). When an instance of PCServer identifies a presentation that has been uploaded and needs to be converted, it “claims” the presentation so that other servers will not attempt to convert it. PCServer then opens PowerPoint on the server, opens the presentation, and initiates the conversion. PCServer is responsible for all DB interaction. A standard production version of the PowerCONVERTER is used be PCServer on the server. PCServer must run on a dedicated server and cannot share a server with SQL Server or the IIS. (IIS can run on the same server, but during conversions IIS may experience periods of very slow responsiveness.) Communication between PowerCONVERTER and PCServer is done through PCComm. An out-of-process ActiveX server that is necessary because of the way PowerPoint is designed.

The full user environment on the server is necessary to run PowerPoint so each instance of PCServer / PCComm / PowerPoint / PowerCONVERTER must run within a Remote Desktop session. This means that to run more than two instances on any given server, you will need to have a additional CALs for Terminal Services.

PCServer can be customized via two DLLs that it calls. One is for custom error handling. And the other is for post-conversion processing. A basic diagram of the Server setup is shown here. All machines envolved are Windows based. The server should be SQL 2000 or higher. The OS for each server will also need to be Windows Server 2000 or higher. PowerPoint 2002 or 2003 is required as well.

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PCRemote is similar to PCServer except that it will all run locally on a client computer. In the case of PCRemote, PCServer is replaced with a stand-alone application (source code included in VB6) that communicates with the PowerCONVERTER through COM. All funtionality is retained from PowerCONVERTER.

Flash Movie API
Flash movies created by the PowerCONVERTER have an Interface that allows software developers to execute any function that the movie supports or that is used in reproducing the functionality of PowerPoint.  This Interface also raises events to its host in two ways.  The more sophisticated method functions when the movie is hosted within another Flash movie.  With this method, events can be reviewed or modified before and after they are handled by the movie.  The second method works when the movie is hosted in an HTML page.  The events are raised by calls to the host HTML page's Javascript engine.  Beyond the functionality that supports PowerPoint functions, the Interface also supports settings that suppress certain functions like navigation buttons, automatic slide advance, etc.  This facilitates features like replacing the movie's built in navigation with functionality in a host Flash Movie.  Lastly, the Interface exposes access to the slide thumbnails and speaker notes (as sprites) so that they can be selectively displayed or hidden and repositioned as needed.

Functions:

All calls to the Interface for executing functionality are routed through one function. This function supports the following commands:

• Post to 1 = ActionScript, 2 = Javascript, or 0 = No posting.
• Jump to the first slide
• Move backwards to the previous animation step or slide
• Jump to the previous slide
• Advance to the next animation step or slide
• Jump to the next slide
• Jump to the last slide
• Jump to the end of show
• Jump to the last slide viewed before the current one
• Open a URL in a new window
• Jump to a specific slide. Pass the Slide number as the param.  Pass the animation step number to advance to a specific animation on the target slide.
• Pause all media
• Pause the entire presentation, (timers will continue to count down)
• Open a URL within the movie, (may cause the movie to be replaced with the target of the URL)
• This listing.
• This listing as a comma-delimited list.
• List the variables defined at _root.