The publication output file is the executable file created by HTML Executable that you will distribute to your end users.

In the “Output Path” field, please provide the full path to the final publication file (directory+filename). It is an executable file (.exe extension).

Notes:

1. It is recommended that you save your project before compiling your publication.
2. If the publication file already exists, it will be overwritten.
3. If the output folder does not exist, it will be created.
4. Ensure that the output folder is not read-only, especially on Vista with the UAC feature.
5. All resources (splash screen for example) and source files must exist when you compile the publication or ebook.
6. Ensure you have enough free disk space as HTML Executable does not check for free disk space.

HTML Executable requires a title to use in message boxes and window title bars. The publication title consists of a short and descriptive phrase, such as ”My wonderful site” or ”Demonstration for E=mc²”. This title will finally appear in the Windows taskbar and task manager.

As ISBN identifies books, the publication GUID allows runtime modules to manage settings related to the publication on the end user's computer (see below). To generate a new GUID, you can press the right button.

If you want to share the same settings between different publications, give them the same GUID.

A publication stores its settings (user window preferences, favorites, trial information…) as local information on the user computer. If you test your publication on your own computer, you may want to remove or reset these settings: just click Reset Settings and answer Yes.

If you test your publication on different computers, you may need to remove the traces left by the latter. This button lets you generate a small cleanup program that will do this job. This program works exactly like the Reset settings option described above.

You can place this program (which is portable: no installation is needed) on a USB disk and run it on any computer that you want to remove the settings left by the publication from.

• Activate TEST mode: this option is only designed for testing purposes. To speed up the compilation procedure, HTML Executable can disable file compression, optimizations and code signing.
  Use this option for debugging purposes.
  Publications built with the test mode should never be distributed.
  
• Jump to the compilation log after compiling: this option will automatically display the compilation log once the build operation has finished.

Shortcuts for launching the compilation

You have several ways to launch the compilation of your package:

• Click in the toolbar.
• Use the menu commands from the Build menu.
• Press F9 (normal build) or F10 (always full build with file compression).
• Use the command line parameters.

About archive caching

When building a publication, HTML Executable first compresses the files into a single archive file which is then merged into the publication .exe file. The file compression is the operation that takes the most compilation time.
That's why HTML Executable stores a newly created archive into a temporary folder: we say it “caches” the archive. As long as you do not modify the source file list or compression options, HTML Executable will use this cached archive when building your publication instead of compressing all files again.
It works exactly like caches of Web browsers (places of temporary Internet files).

1. Consequently building time is highly decreased. Compilation can take only seconds when an archive is cached.
   
2. HTML Executable will do this operation each time: to force it to reconstruct the entire archive by compressing source files again, press F10 or select the “Build full publication” menu command.
   
3. The cached archive is automatically deleted when you close HTML Executable or when you work with another project. It is temporarily stored in the local user temporary folder.
   
4. HTML Executable can actually determine itself when the source files should be compressed again (for example, when the file dates/times differ). Please go to the Environment Options for further information.