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Help eval issue with A5W HTML editor

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    Help eval issue with A5W HTML editor

    I and at least one other user have a particular problem with the A5W editor in the current V9 release + V10 beta update. Selwyn cannot duplicate it, so I wanted to see if any others had this problem. Here are two example videos that describe the problem.

    In the first, I toggle from Source to WYSIWYG and back. The result is that my HTML is all messed up and several new lines are inserted. The most obvious inserted line is this one:

    <link media=screen href="a5res:defaultStyle\(default)" type=text/css rel=stylesheet>

    In video 2, note when I toggle from Source to WYSIWYG and back that each time it is inserting that above line, making my code grow by two lines each time.

    I have a suspicion it is not Alpha at fault. Perhaps my computer has a Windows update that is causing this. (Alpha's A5W Editor is really a Microsoft HTML editor via a DLL). I have a Dell Precision 390 with XP-SP3.

    Video 1: http://screencast.com/t/XSM28Q4Xl

    Video 2: http://screencast.com/t/ezc4loD2J8
    Steve Wood
    See my profile on IADN


    #2
    Re: Help eval issue with A5W HTML editor

    Make that 3
    Just noticed a same phenomenon circa 20 hrs ago.
    The page was a small .a5w page with a simple a5 code snippet,
    I deleted said lines only to have it reappear, As if a poltergeist was in my box.

    I'm running ver 9 on server 2003
    <code>
    href="a5res:defaultStyle\(default)" type=text/css rel=stylesheet><link
    media=screen href="a5res:defaultStyle\(default)" type=text/css
    rel=stylesheet><link media=screen</code>
    Last edited by ColinJD; 09-11-2009, 07:10 PM. Reason: Added code

    Comment


      #3
      Re: Help eval issue with A5W HTML editor

      Yes, I'm seeing that and some other weird stuff on my XP SP3 machine that is not happening on my VISTA machine. I sent a video to Selwyn after he could not reproduce the error on his end.
      Jim Coltz
      Alpha Custom Database Solutions, LLC
      A5CustomSolutions.com
      [email protected]

      Comment


        #4
        Re: Help eval issue with A5W HTML editor

        Definitely machine specific. I don't have it on my laptop even though I made sure Alpha versions were the same. I think it has to do with this: MSHTML 6.00.6000.16890. My laptop has MSHTML version 7.0, even though it is only Service Pak 2. So maybe its SP3 or whatever would give you an old version of MSHTML.
        Steve Wood
        See my profile on IADN

        Comment


          #5
          Re: Help eval issue with A5W HTML editor

          Originally posted by Steve Wood View Post
          Definitely machine specific. I don't have it on my laptop even though I made sure Alpha versions were the same. I think it has to do with this: MSHTML 6.00.6000.16890. My laptop has MSHTML version 7.0, even though it is only Service Pak 2. So maybe its SP3 or whatever would give you an old version of MSHTML.
          My XP SP3 machine that is giving me the problem is at Version 8.0.6001.18812 of MSHTML
          Jim Coltz
          Alpha Custom Database Solutions, LLC
          A5CustomSolutions.com
          [email protected]

          Comment


            #6
            Re: Help eval issue with A5W HTML editor

            Yeah, I thought I could fix this by upgrading IE from 7 to 8, but now same problem and my MSHTML is 8.00.6001.18812 like yours. So its not the version of MSHTML.

            So my laptop works perfectly, and my desktop has this problem, and I don't know what's up. I am going to download the latest V9 patch and apply. That will remove all of the V10 beta code (I think). If that fails, I will uninstall A5 and reinstall and patch to the latest V9 patch.
            Steve Wood
            See my profile on IADN

            Comment


              #7
              Re: Help eval issue with A5W HTML editor

              Here is the probable cause. (at least my guess)
              http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sec.../MS09-046.mspx
              --
              Which I have recieved in the Update KB956844

              Comment


                #8
                Re: Help eval issue with A5W HTML editor

                BINGO!

                I sacrificed my laptop to test this. I did not have the problem before running Windows Update and installing ONLY this one KB956844 security update. After the update, my laptop instantly has this problem. Since this is a standard Windows update, then EVERYONE is going to have this problem. The Windows update was issued on Sept 8th, so only those guys that have run the latest Windows Update are affected, which is all of us if we have automatic update set.

                And, if I unistall KB956844 both my laptop and desktop no longer have this problem. This of course is not a workaround because you can't just ignore a Windows Security Update.

                I reported this to Selwyn.
                Last edited by Steve Wood; 09-12-2009, 02:43 AM.
                Steve Wood
                See my profile on IADN

                Comment


                  #9
                  Re: Help eval issue with A5W HTML editor

                  Maybe it is possible for Alpha to have a toggle to put the WYSIWYG editor into edit mode for anyone who requires it. Thus it generally it would be a Previewer.
                  A second solution is to remove it altogether, however I gather there are some users who actually use it. For me I guess it does have a purpose for validation.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Re: Help eval issue with A5W HTML editor

                    You can make Source your default by going to View > Settings > HTML Editor and selecting Source.

                    Here is the 'notice' I plan to send out to my group, but I am waiting to hear from Selwyn next week to see if they found a more immediate solution.

                    -------------
                    A recent Windows Update (Sept 8th, KB956844) if applied, and your computer is not Vista or Windows 7 WILL cause the code on your A5W pages to be modified whenever you go to WYSIWYG mode. It will change the DOC TYPE, insert some code in the head area, and remove many hard line feeds in your HTML, making it harder to read. Although it makes undesired changes to your HTML, it does NOT appear to affect how your page is rendered in the browser.

                    Vista and Windows 7 do not have this problem.

                    Alpha has no fix at this time, and hopes that Microsoft corrects the problem introduced in this update. The temporary work around is to NOT allow Windows Update for KB956844, turn off Windows Automatic Updates or to unistall it if already applied (both at your own risk, normally you don't want to unistall or avoid critical Windows updates).

                    You can recognise the problem if you have this in the header area of a recently edited A5W page:

                    "<meta content="MSHTML X.XX.XXXX.XXXXX" name=GENERATOR>", where the X's could be any number.
                    Last edited by Steve Wood; 09-12-2009, 05:34 AM.
                    Steve Wood
                    See my profile on IADN

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Re: Help eval issue with A5W HTML editor

                      A user has reported to me that rolling back KB956844 fixed the problem.

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Re: Help eval issue with A5W HTML editor

                        That can only be a temporary solution. You cannot rollback a security update forever. It will simply get re-applied next time Windows does an update on your system. You would have to turn off automatic Windows updates to stop it from re-applying that update. And, that update was considered a "critical" security update from Windows to address security concerns, so you cannot just ignore it.

                        I see other posts in different tech areas showing that they are having similar problems with MSHTML because of this, so hopefully MS will make some adjustment that fixes this. But until they do, or until Alpha can find some solution, it's really a problem.

                        Personally I did rollback KB956844 off my system for now and turned off automatic updates.
                        Steve Wood
                        See my profile on IADN

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Re: Help eval issue with A5W HTML editor

                          Although it makes undesired changes to your HTML, it does NOT appear to affect how your page is rendered in the browser.
                          On my system I noticed the problem when trying to create a new .a5w page and adding a component to the table area of a navigation component. This led to a page that would not load in the browser due to some of the code ending up in the wrong place as well as internal A5 code ending up in the page that should not have. Using V10 Beta you can work in the source tab only, and avoid the problem. Just don't forget and click the WYSIWYG tab by mistake.
                          Jim Coltz
                          Alpha Custom Database Solutions, LLC
                          A5CustomSolutions.com
                          [email protected]

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Re: Help eval issue with A5W HTML editor

                            When uninstalling the "fix" from MS it prompts me to remove two other patches otherwise Windows Media Player will not function properly...has anyone else received a similar prompt and did they remove all of the patches when prompted?

                            Thx
                            Joe
                            Never take a ride to the edge of your mind unless you've got a ticket back - Jon Oliva - Savatage.

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Re: Help eval issue with A5W HTML editor

                              When I backed it off of my laptop it gave me a list of eight or so things that 'might not work'. I need Alpha to work more than those things! So I ignored the message. So far everything still works, including media player I see. But it did not ask me to remove any other patches. Like I said, this has to be a temporary fix, you cannot ignore Windows updates forever.
                              Steve Wood
                              See my profile on IADN

                              Comment

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