Quickview Plus is quite a cool toy. For one thing, as the marketing promises, it does away with expensive applications you don`t really need, or don`t necessarily want to spend time downloading, what with bandwidth needed for music files around the office.
The application, said by the vendor (Avantstar) to be in widespread use by Shell internationally, provides instant access to 225 file formats on all sorts of platforms. Resident applications are not needed to open files, and so Quick View Plus reduces software costs, simplifies deployment and improves security.
When I downloaded from CD, the installation process was quick and painless, and despite one early irritation, subsequently resolved, it was a pleasure to use too. The pain came in a single stab when I tried to open a .JSD file - viewable with software I have installed, called JetSuite viewer. Since Quickview was In Da House, though, it decided it would be the default viewer for this weirdo file, which, of course, it couldn`t open.
One has to admire the chutzpah in offering to open a file on the basis of not having been programmed for it, just because the extension seems outlandish. But if it had checked my system, it would have detected a perfectly good viewer there already. At any rate, once Quickview fails, the File menu gives an option to open it with the correct software, or you could set your viewer as default.
Installation options
Quickview claims to provide a safeguard against viruses if it is selected as the default method for viewing e-mail attachments. (Viewing is also quicker using this; there is no need to launch individual programs to view files).
"Quick View Plus offers a variety of installation options for swift enterprise-wide deployment including SMS-enabled client installation and scripted installs," says Simon Campbell-Young, MD of Computrolley, Quickview`s SA agents. He adds that the projection for this product this year is in the region of R5 million. "We are working on a sale worth R1.6 million."
Robert Hall, product manager, says an oft-used application of this software would be where certain staff are not allowed to edit files. Quickview simply supports viewing of, say, Microsoft Excel files, cutting on deployment costs.
All or a portion of any viewed file can be copied, or text in a file selected for copying, then pasted into an application. Quick View Plus also provides a quick way to view and print all or part of one or multiple files, or quickly print files without viewing them.
By using the Find command on the Quick View Plus toolbar, a text search function can be used in any viewed file, including word processing, spreadsheet, presentation, Internet, or executable file formats.
Hall says the program executes many functions in the background, for instance zipping (compressing) any e-mail attachment larger than 100kB, file size limit to be specified by the user. It allows new ZIP files to be created from a viewed file, or a viewed file to be added to existing ZIP archive files that can be read by other ZIP-related products.
Quickview does not allow editing, but one can launch the application used to create the file that is being viewed. This launch feature has the file open and ready for editing in the native application.
The Quick View Plus viewing environment provides a two-pane navigation, allowing quick navigation through the file system and using the same window to view files.
Quick View Plus integrates with the latest browser and e-mail applications, and can host multimedia plug-ins, allowing seamless viewing within these programs of file formats not supported.
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