Blank preview in ppt

[Former Member]

Hi,

In the previous Xcelsius workgroup version while exporting to powerpoint you were getting a preview of the swf. Since my upgrade to Xcelius 2008 the swf is only visible when in slideshow mode, in other modes ppt display a blank square.

This looks very weird when you run by the slides, it is very limiting to combine dashboards with other ppt text in the same slide. And looks blank when you print it.

Any solution to go around that problem ?

tks

David

[Former Member]

I've got the same problem with X2008 as a result of the more recent flash it uses. I've dealt with the situation by drawing a box around the .swf object with a text describing to the viewer that the dashboard is only available in slideshow mode. Both text and box objects have a custom animation set to disappear automatically on slide build, hence my instructions are not visible when the dashboard starts to initialise.

The ideal solution would be to copy a screen capture over the top of the flash that also disappears on build, but Powerpoint will not let me layer a drawing object over the top (Flash is always on top for some reason, irrespective of layering).

Ian

[Former Member]

This is not Xcelsius but you can use [XP3 BI Presenter|http://www.interactiveedge.com/products/xp3_bi_presenter_sap/xp3_bi_presenter.html], that allows you to connect to SAP from within PowerPoint and create data-driven Excel charts and tables. This eliminates the issue you're having with going into slideshow every time you need to view your charts.

[amit_mathur]

Hello David,

Could you confirm the version of Xcelsius you have installed?

This was a know bug with Xcelsius 2008 RTM build but was resolved in SP1. Try installing SP1 and the latest fix pack i.e. FP3 for Xcelsius and check if you get the same issues.

Thanks,

Amit.

[Former Member]

I'm using version 5.1.3.0. I have installed pack 3 and still get the same result

[amit_mathur]

Hi David,

Try to check with the flash player on your system and get an updated version of Flash.

When you slideshow the swf and come out of it,you should be able to see the swf then.

Let me know if this works.

Thanks,

Amit.

[Former Member]

correct once I slideshow it and come out , I see it. Hoewever if I save the ppt, close it and reopen it. Again I see a blank slide.

[amit_mathur]

Hi David,

Try to install the latest Flash player at your end and check it out. It works for me if I slide-show once and then save the file.

The next time I open it I can see it in the design of the Powerpoint. I have at times seen that the swf does not appears after re-opening the saved file but those are very rare and with the complex model which consist of large number of components.

Thanks,

Amit.

[Former Member]

Hi David,

That is a known issue documented in the Xcelsius release notes.

When you first export to a PPT or open a PPT then you won't see the design time thumbnail until you have been into and out of Slideshow mode.

This is a general issue for Flash (SWF) content embedded into a PPT not just Xcelsius SWFs. We are working with Microsoft and Adobe to hopefully get this resolved at some point in future...

Regards,

Matt

[Former Member]

I never had this problem prior to my xcelius upgrade. Therefore I think the flash player is not the root cause.

The result is that people are abandoning the xcelsius slides in powerpoint since they are useless out of slideshow.

[Former Member]

Hi David,

When you say upgrade, do you mean from 4.5?

If so then 4.5 does work (as that uses Flash 7) but something changed with Flash 9 (which Xclesius 2008 or Flex use) that stops it from showing the design-time thumbnail so there is nothing we can do about it till it gets resolved by Microsoft or Adobe...

Regards,

Matt