System Requirements for Filing Online

Accessing Filing Online

Filing Online users have few limitations with respect to the web browser that they may use. This is because from the browser's perspective, the Filing Online portion of the Commission's website consists primarily of HTML with minimal JavaScript used for error checking. Some earlier versions of browsers, however, may have difficulty accessing the website through its Secure Socket Layer (SSL). If users with earlier versions of common browsers experience problems, they should upgrade to the latest versions, which may be downloaded for free from the appropriate websites.

The following versions of common browsers running on the respective operating systems and platforms have been used to successfully test the Filing Online portion of the PRC website.

Windows/PC:

Internet Explorer 6.0
Netscape 6.x+
Netscape 7.x+
Netscape 8.x+
Netscape 9.x+
Firefox 2.0
Safari 3.1

(EXCEPTION: Netscape versions 6.0 and 6.1 have a bug that stalls on uploading some files. This was corrected in Netscape 6.2.)

OS/Mac:

Internet Explorer 4.x
Netscape 4.x+

Conversion to PDF

Using Adobe Acrobat on the user's workstation

Users that have Adobe Acrobat software installed on their workstation should encounter no limitations on their ability to convert word processing files to text-based PDF files.

Using ActivePDF on the Commission's web server

The “Create PDF” button in Filing Online utilizes a program called ActivePDF to convert word processing files to PDF files. This conversion is accomplished on the PRC web server using either Corel WordPerfect or Microsoft Word to open the file and create a PDF.

Tests of Microsoft Word 6.0/Office 95, Office 97 and Office 2000 and tests of WordPerfect 7 through 10 on the Windows/PC platform resulted in successful conversions. Tests of the Microsoft Word software contained in Office 97 and Office 2001 on the OS/Mac platform resulted in successful conversions. Other combinations have not been tested. These successful tests included tests on files containing the most common formatting processes and some advanced formatting.

The following chart summarizes the results of the Commission's testing:

	Word 2001*	Word 97
	Macintosh	PC
Text & Formatting (tabs, line spacing, etc.)
Headers & Footers
Footnotes
Line Numbering
Bulleted paragraph
Multiple Heading Levels
Generated Table of Contents
Tables
Charts**	†
Equations	†

* In order for the conversion to pdf to work, the user must include a file extension with the file name (i.e., .doc, .wpd)
** Some difficulty was experienced with embedded Excel charts and equations on conversion.
† These features were not tested on the Macintosh.