Keith33,If you only use an eBook.exe as a link to view your content on line, what you really are creating is a web site with a remote link. Such content will need to be viewed in a browser window.
You can set up your eBook.exe link as a password protected eBook but it would not be difficult to get the online URL of the information itself. With that online URL anyone could access your website without a password.
The only way to prevent that problem would be to also have a log-in system for your web site that only allows customer access. Unlike Activ E-Book passwords (that only work on one specific computer), online passwords can be shared and your security is compromised.
You can not "host" an Activ E-Book online. Activ E-Books must be installed on a Windows computer.
A different "eBook" model exists that could use "remote" information. In this model, your content is stored online but it would be viewed in your eBook itself. This system is generally just as secure as a regular Activ eBook but it is very difficult to create.
To create such an "online" service you will need to learn and understand a web technology commonly called "AJAX". This technology uses HTML, XML, CSS, JavaScript, PHP and other systems as required. Basically, JavaScript in your eBook opens a dialog with your Server and requests some information (i.e. Page1.htm). The Server locates the information and sends it to a hidden iFrame in your eBook. JavaScript then locates the information and creates the required page "on the fly" and shows it to your customer.
Such a system has a number of problems.. First you need web access. Then your customers need a fast and reliable hook-up (if you use any graphics you'd better forget customers with a dial-up service). Next you must have a fast and reliable online Host (or your customers will be constantly waiting for pages to load). When pages are created "on the fly", it is difficult to provide "forward and backward" page navigation. And lastly this type of system requires knowledge and experience and lots of custom coding.
In the end, the more your eBook content is stored online the less reliable your eBook becomes. In your case and with your experience (newbie), it could be more practical to have your eBook check online to see if a new version was available and let your customers download it themselves. Or if you have specific information that changes rapidly, (such as a price list) just have that specific information fetched from an online database.
Ron
