How to use a presentation playlist file in PowerPoint Viewer 2003 (827766)

SUMMARY

The Microsoft Office PowerPoint Viewer 2003 does not support the use of a playlist by using the Microsoft Office PowerPoint Viewer dialog box. The PowerPoint Viewer 2003 only supports the use of a presentation playlist by using a command line or a batch file.

To create a playlist, follow these steps:

Use a text editor, such as Notepad.
Type the playlist commands.

See the example playlist that follows these steps.
Save the file with the *.lst file name extension.
Save the file in the same folder as the presentations that you want to show by using the viewer.

The following is a sample playlist (*.lst) file:

   ; This is the beginning of the playlist file.
   ; The part of a line in a playlist file after a semicolon is
   ; treated as a comment. Comment lines are not required.
   ;
   FILE1.PPT
   file2.ppt         ; Filenames can be in uppercase or lowercase letters.
   D:\FILE3.PPT      ; Entries in a playlist file must contain full paths when
                     ; they are located in a folder other than the folder
                     ; where the viewer executable file, pptview.exe,
   D:\LIST2.lst      ; is located. One playlist file can reference another.
   ;
   ; This is the end of the playlist file.

MORE INFORMATION

Use either of the following methods to start the viewer and to use the playlist file that you created.

Method 1: Create a batch file to run the *.lst File

A batch file can be used to run the viewer and to use the playlist. To create a batch file to run the *.lst file, follow these steps:

In Notepad, type the following text, where Path_to_Viewer is the file path of the PowerPoint Viewer 2003 program on your hard disk and Playlist_name is the path of and the name of the playlist file that you created by using Notepad:
@"Path_to_Viewer\pptview.exe" /L "Playlist_name.lst"
Save the batch file with a *.bat file name extension in the same folder as the Playlist_name.lst file.
Double-click the batch file to start the viewer and to play the presentations.

Additionally, you can create a batch file and a playlist automatically by using the Package to CD Wizard, and either create the package on a CD or copy the package files to a folder on your hard disk together with PowerPoint Viewer 2003.

For more information about how to use the Package to CD Wizard, click Microsoft Office PowerPoint Help on the Help menu, type Package to CD in the Search for box in the Assistance pane, and then click Start searching to view the topic.

Method 2: Run from the command line

To do this, follow these steps:

Click Start, and then click Run.
Type the following text in the Open box, where Path_to_Viewer is the file path of the PowerPoint Viewer 2003 program on your hard disk and Playlist_name is the path of and the name of the playlist file that you created by using Notepad:
"Path_to_Viewer\pptview.exe" /L "Playlist_name.lst"
Click OK.