Across Lite FAQs

Web downloading/helper application questions

(Also see Installation questions related to helper application configuration)

  1. How do I configure Across Lite as a helper application to my broswer?
  2. What is the MIME type for Across crosswords?
  3. When I click on a link to a puzzle, some strange characters appear on my browser screen. How do I solve that puzzle?
  4. When I click on the puzzle link, the browser says it does not know what to do with the MIME type application/x-crossword or gives some other message. What do I do?
  5. When I click on a puzzle link, something flashes and then nothing happens. What do I do?
  6. Can I simply save the puzzle to disk and not use Across Lite as a helper application?
  7. I am using Across Lite as a helper application. Even though I used the Save command, I cannot seem to find the saved puzzles later.
  8. I just want a print copy of the puzzle and do not want to solve it online. Do I need to save the puzzle first?
  9. When I click on a puzzle link, Across Lite starts up but there is a message saying that either the puzzle is corrupted or is not an Across puzzle. What do I do?

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Answers

  1. How do I configure Across Lite as a helper application to my broswer?
    If you use Microsoft Windows and either Netscape Navigator or Internet Explorer as your browser, the installation program will automatically register Across Lite as a helper application. If you use other platforms or browsers or have installed a new version of a browser that did not use the previous settings, look in the packaged online help for detailed instructions on manually configuring a browser to use Across Lite as a helper application.
  2. What is the MIME type for Across crosswords?
    The mime-type is application and the sub-type is x-crossword. Sometimes this data is provided as application/x-crossword.
  3. When I click on a link to a puzzle, some strange characters appear on my browser screen. How do I solve that puzzle?
    This should not happen at this site unless you are using a very old browser. This usually happens when the crossword publisher is not serving the crosswords correctly or you have not configured your browser to use Across Lite as a helper application. In most cases, you can still solve that puzzle by using the Save As command in the browser to save that "garbage" on the screen as a file on disk and loading that file into Across Lite. If this happens at this site, please send e-mail to helpdesk@litsoft.com and let us know.
  4. When I click on the puzzle link, the browser says it does not know what to do with the MIME type application/x-crossword or gives some other message. What do I do?
    This usually means that you have not configured your browser to use Across Lite as a helper application and so the browser wants to know what to do with it. Normally, the browser will give you the option to save the file to disk in the same dialog with a button that says something like "Save to Disk...". Or it may give you a button named "Options..." which when clicked will give you an option to save the puzzle to disk. Also, some browsers may provide warnings about unknown filetypes being downloaded and warn you that horrible things may happen with unknown data. No need to worry. Crosswords in Across Lite format are perfectly safe....except perhaps for your sanity.
  5. When I click on a puzzle link, something flashes and then nothing happens. What do I do?
    This may appear embarrasing but more than one Across Lite user has been fooled by this. Usually what happens, in some cases, is that if you have the browser covering a large part or whole of the monitor screen and have configured your browser to use Across Lite as a helper application, the browser starts up Across Lite but then places itself over the Across Lite window completely hiding it! Just move/minimize the browser window and see if Across Lite is hiding with the puzzle behind it.
  6. Can I simply save the puzzle to disk and not use Across Lite as a helper application?
    Certainly. Even if the browser has already been configured to use Across Lite as a helper application, you can change it. Just follow the instructions in the packaged online manual to configure Across Lite as a helper application until you get to the place where you need to choose Across Lite and select something like "Open with..." or "Launch Application...". Simply choose the other available option "Save To Disk" (or something similar) instead.
  7. I am using Across Lite as a helper application. Even though I used the Save command, I cannot seem to find the saved puzzles later.
    There is one small caveat to using Across Lite as a helper application. When the broswer downloads the puzzle, it does so to a temporary directory/folder and then starts up Across Lite with that file. When you quit the browser, the browser will usually delete that file even if you had saved it back into that file from within Across Lite. This works great for those that wish to just print out a copy. Just print out the copy from Across Lite and forget about the downloaded puzzle. It is automatically cleaned up. However, for those who wish to save it for future sessions, you must use the SaveAs command to save it into a more permanent area. We have made it easy for you to save it into the Puzzles subdirectory in the installation directory. Just click on SaveAs button as soon as you download a puzzle directly into Across Lite. Note that this caveat is only for the time when the browser starts up Across Lite automatically not when you start up Across Lite later to continue solving a puzzle.
  8. I just want a print copy of the puzzle and do not want to solve it online. Do I need to save the puzzle first?
    If you have configured your browser to use Across Lite as a helper application, then, no. Otherwise, yes. As soon as Across Lite is started up by the browser with the puzzle loaded, use the Print command and then simply exit the program after the printing. The browser will clean up any saved copies of the puzzle. If you are not using Across Lite as a helper application, then you must save it into disk and then load it into Across Lite yourself and print it.
  9. When I click on a puzzle link, Across Lite starts up but there is a message saying that either the puzzle is corrupted or is not an Across puzzle. What do I do?
    Normally, this should not happen. But there is always a small chance that, the puzzle somehow got corrupted either during transfer or during the save to disk. If this ever happens at this site, please send e-mail immediately to helpdesk@litsoft.com.

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