What DOCTYPE  to use?

I am planning to create Ebook using Ebookcompiler and distripute in CD. The question I have is, what Type of "DOCTYPE" I should use, Also should I add the URI part of the DOCTYPE. [How the URI part affect the HTML if people use the CD in computers that are not connected to Internet, or that doesn't matter]

Eg. Should I use (1) or (2) below:

(1):

[!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"
"http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd"]

(2)

[!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01//EN"]

Any suggestions, please!.

While your question is valid, it is also an unusual question not often considered by eBook authors.

DOCTYPE tells a browser how it should treat any "deprecated" or obsolete HTML specifications like frames or framesets. The DOCTYPE "Strict" adheres strictly to the current W3C standards and does not support frames. The DOCTYPE "Transitional" uses a looser standard and does allow older and non standard obsolete HTML code to be used.

Personally (using Dreamweaver) I've never included a DOCTYPE in any of my HTML web pages. Dreamweaver, a professional HTML authoring program, does not add a DOCTYPE or URI to it's header information and these web pages seem to work fine.

Ultimately, Activ E-Book runs on your readers "local" Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser engine and does not depend on an Internet connection. Most HTML code that will work in IE will work in your Activ eBook.

With respect to distributing your eBook in a CD package. This subject has been covered in this forum before and you can search for that information. Basically, if you plan to use password protection, your customer must copy your (password protected) Activ eBook "exe" program to their Hard Drive before the password protection system will work.