How to use a presentation playlist file in PowerPoint Viewer

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SUMMARY

Microsoft Office PowerPoint Viewer 2003 and Microsoft Office PowerPoint Viewer 2007 do not support the use of a playlist by using the Microsoft Office PowerPoint Viewer dialog box. PowerPoint Viewer 2003 and PowerPoint Viewer 2007 only support 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.
For PowerPoint Viewer 2003, save the file together with the .lst file name extension.

For PowerPoint Viewer 2007, save the file together with the .txt file name extension.
Save the file in the same folder as the presentations that you want to show by using the viewer.

A sample playlist (.lst) file for PowerPoint Viewer 2003 is as follows:

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

A sample playlist (.txt) file for PowerPoint Viewer 2007 is as follows:

   ; This is the beginning of the playlist file.
   ; The part of a line in a playlist file that appears after a semicolon is
   ; treated as a comment. Comment lines are not required.
   ;
   FILE1.PPT
   file2.ppt         ; File names can be in uppercase or lowercase letters.
   D:\FILE3.PPT      ; Entries in a playlist file must contain full paths when
                     ; the entries are located in a folder other than the folder
                     ; in which the viewer executable file (Pptview.exe)
   D:\LIST2.txt      ; is located. One playlist file can reference another playlist file.
   ;
   ; This is the end of the playlist file.

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MORE INFORMATION

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

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Method 1: Create a batch file to run the .lst file or the .txt 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 or the .txt file, follow these steps:

In Notepad, type the following text, as appropriate for the version of PowerPoint Viewer that you are running.
PowerPoint Viewer 2003
@"Path_to_Viewer\pptview.exe" /L "Playlist_name.lst"
PowerPoint Viewer 2007
@"Path_to_Viewer\pptview.exe" /L "Playlist_name.txt"
Note In this text, Path_to_Viewer is the file path of the PowerPoint Viewer 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.
Save the batch file with a .bat file name extension in the same folder as the Playlist_name.lst file or the Playlist_name.txt 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 then creating the package on a CD or copying the package files to a folder on your hard disk together with PowerPoint Viewer 2003 or PowerPoint Viewer 2007.

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Method 2: Run the file from the command line

To do this, follow these steps:

Click Start, and then click Run.
Type the following text in the Open box, as appropriate for the version of PowerPoint that you are running.
PowerPoint 2003
"Path_to_Viewer\pptview.exe" /L "Playlist_name.lst"
PowerPoint 2007
"Path_to_Viewer\pptview.exe" /L "Playlist_name.txt"
Note In this text, Path_to_Viewer is the file path of the PowerPoint Viewer 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.
Click OK.