Looking for a document reader...

["Hart, Geoff" <Geoff-H -at- MTL -dot- FERIC -dot- CA>]

Ann Waterhouse is <<... wondering if any one out there could recommend a
good document reader other than Microsoft Reader and Adobe Acrobat that we
could implement with our software. We would like our readers to be able to
access a Word document (something similar to a print preview)... these
readers would be viewing a network copy of a document from their local
machine. Some of our readers work from home. - these documents should be
able to open quickly and should not be cached on the local machine
(preferable)>>

Why not simply let them open the original Word document? If it's stored on
the network, your network administrator can give the readers "read only"
access, which means they can't move, delete, or edit the file. If you need
more security:

<<We cannot use the Microsoft Reader (it's a question of ownership)>>

It's also a competing proprietary standard that offers no benefits over
Acrobat.

<<converting docs to .PDF is an option but it's time consuming to convert
the docs and we would also have to ensure that each reader has the Adobe
Acrobat reader.>>

The first part isn't an issue; if you have the full version of Acrobat, you
can set up a "watched folder", and simply copy any files you want to convert
into that folder at the end of the day. Acrobat will then cheerily convert
them for you, and when you come back in the morning, the files will all be
ready. (If you don't have the full version, buy it. It's cheap.) As far as
ensuring that everyone has Acrobat Raders, this also isn't an issue; it's a
free download, and anyone who doesn't already have it as part of their Web
browser installation should be encouraged to obtain a copy because of how
useful it is.

--Geoff Hart, FERIC, Pointe-Claire, Quebec
geoff-h -at- mtl -dot- feric -dot- ca
"User's advocate" online monthly at
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