Workstation Preparation & New User Getting Started Guide Page 31 of 51
A.2 Additional Details on Microsoft’s Binary and Script Behavior
Internet Explorer defines "interactive controls" as Java or ActiveX components which provide user
interfaces. IBM Lotus Sametime does not use ActiveX controls but does use Java applets for chat rooms
and web conferences. That Microsoft decided to lump Java with it's well understood sandbox isolation
and the unrestricted native code of ActiveX together is unfortunate and doesn't seem logical from a
security perspective. However, Internet Explorer's default setting for "Binary and Script Behavior" is
enabled in the Internet Security Zone so most commercial users of Sametime never see any problem with
Java controls.
To use an interactive control on a web page, the designer uses the APPLET, EMBED, or OBJECT
elements to load the control. Internet Explorer makes that control "inactive" and prevents keyboard or
mouse window messages from reaching the control. The control's user interface is blocked until the user
activates it. To activate an interactive control, the user clicks it or uses the TAB key to set focus on it and
then press the SPACEBAR or the ENTER key.
Internet Explorer can prevent activation of interactive controls through the security setting for "Binary and
Script Behavior". When the value of this setting is "DISABLE", the user is prevented from activating the
control. On a typical web page the user may see this as a broken function or may not see the capability
at all. Unfortunately, in the case where the component is in fact an application scripted into a web page,
IE's behavior is to simply fail and display a nondescript catchall "Error loading page" message. This is
the behavior that users see when attempting to enter a Sametime meeting. In IBM Lotus Sametime Web
Conferencing, the "Meeting Room" is a Java applet. The webpage to join a meeting contains JavaScript
which configures the meeting room applet and allows participants to join and use the various meeting
functions (group chat, attendance list, document and screen sharing, polling etc.) The script displays the
"Preparing the Sametime meeting room" and executes the Meeting Room applet but never passes the
"Checking for Java ..." test. Users report this as "Sametime stops when trying to join a meeting"
because the don't see the IE error message or, if they see the message, may try several times getting the
same result and eventually assume there is something wrong with the application.
Individual webpages and websites listed as "Trusted Sites" are not affected by the setting of "Binary and
Script Behavior".
Also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eolas
Login to the FDCC/SDC machine as an Admin.
B.1 Install the latest Sun JRE
Currently the latest version of Sun JRE is 1.6.0.5_b13, and that’s what we used in our test. Sun JRE can
be downloaded from www.sun.com
B.2 Make sure Equifax is a trusted Certificate Authority
Equifax must be listed under Internet Explorer’s Trusted CA
Note: This is only necessary with FDCC and NOT SDC v2.0.4