Signed eWriter viewer EXE for download?

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Simon_Dismore
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Signed eWriter viewer EXE for download?

Unread post by Simon_Dismore »

Hi, is there an EC-Software signed eWriter eBook viewer availale anywhere? I'm thinking of using eBooks as a way to distribute HelpXplain content, and I'd like to be able to point to an official download site rather than faffing around signing an exe of my own and hosting it.

If not, wouldn't that be a useful thing to have? Then you could have eBooks as a supported publishing medium for HX ... you could call them eXplains :wink:.
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Tim Green
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Re: Signed eWriter viewer EXE for download?

Unread post by Tim Green »

Hi Simon,
Simon_Dismore wrote:Hi, is there an EC-Software signed eWriter eBook viewer availale anywhere?
That's not currently possible because the EXE version is also actually an eBook stub and has to have your content in it (it must contain at least one topic), which then overloads the actual data book. So you do need to sign it yourself at the moment. :?
Regards,
Tim (EC Software Documentation & User Support)

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Simon_Dismore
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Re: Signed eWriter viewer EXE for download?

Unread post by Simon_Dismore »

Tim Green wrote:the EXE version is also actually an eBook stub and has to have your content in it (it must contain at least one topic), which then overloads the actual data book. So you do need to sign it yourself at the moment. :?
Surely it doesn't have to be my content: couldn't it simply be an EC-Software stub? I really would like to avoid having to sign the viewer.
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Alexander Halser
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Re: Signed eWriter viewer EXE for download?

Unread post by Alexander Halser »

EC-Software signed eWriter eBook viewer availale anywhere
There isn't and cannot be. The signature must be applied after the eBook including data has been created. If we supplied a pre-signed eBook viewer, the data would invalidate the signature. In the eWriter stand-alone application, you can invoke a signing tool at the end of the production process (in Help+Manual this is done with a post-publishing task).

But this doesn't change the requirement of your own code signing certificate. We cannot include ours because we'd need to include private keys to run it. You will have to get your own certificate. Ours is from KSoftware, I can recommend them:

https://www.ksoftware.net/code-signing-certificates/
I'm thinking of using eBooks as a way to distribute HelpXplain content
Interesting idea, we had this on the mind when creating HelpXplain and it is still a publishing option on the backburner for a later update. Nevertheless, you will need to sign it yourself, there's no way around this.
Alexander Halser
Senior Software Architect, EC Software GmbH
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