CASA web site

Site help

Topics

• Aviation acronyms and abbreviations
• The pages don't look right
• I get a "Page not found" error
• Adobe Acrobat documents
  • Downloading the latest version of the Adobe Acrobat reader
  • Saving Acrobat files to disk
  • Problems viewing Acrobat files
  • Printing Acrobat files
  • Fillable PDF forms
  • Completing forms
  • Saving completed forms or multi session filling forms
  • Saving completed forms
• Software for unzipping files
• Data files (.csv and .txt)
• Contact the CASA webmaster

Web pages don't look right

This site makes extensive use of Cascading Style Sheets to format the pages. This keeps the page sizes to a minimum for faster download times and means that the pages should be readable in a wide variety of browsers, including mobile phones and screen-readers used by the visually impaired.

The problem with Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) is that different browsers interpret the same page differently. Any browser that conforms to the W3C standards should have no problems with this site. In the real world, this means Internet Explorer version 5 and above, Netscape Navigator 6 and above, and browsers such as Safari, Opera and Mozilla should display these pages as we intended. Netscape Navigator version 4.7 and older are likely to fail to display the pages correctly.

However, whatever vintage your browser is, you should still see all the information - the headings will still be there and everything should work - it just won't be as pretty.

I get a "That page does not exist" error

If you got this error after clicking on a link within the CASA web site, one option is to try again in a day or two – all such errors are automatically reported and we try to fix them quickly.

If you were following a link from another site, or using an old favourite, the error page may offer a possible alternative page that will help you find the page you want.

Otherwise, go back to the CASA home page and navigate from there; or use the search field in the left menu of every page.

Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) files

Adobe Acrobat Reader

We recommend that you use Adobe Acrobat Reader version 5.0 or later to view Acrobat files on this site. Download the latest Acrobat reader from the Adobe site

Saving Acrobat files to disk

If you are having trouble viewing an Adobe Acrobat file in your browser, or you would like to have a copy to look at later, you can download the file to your hard disk.

Windows

• Use the right mouse button to click on the link to the PDF document you need.
• A menu will appear. Choose the item "Save target as..." or "Save link as..."
• Save the document to your hard drive. You may want to make a note of where you saved it.

Macintosh

• Click and hold the mouse button on the link to the PDF document you need.
• After a short pause, a menu will appear. Choose the item "Save this link as..." or "Download link to disk".
• Save the document to your hard drive. You may want to make a note of where you saved it.
• If you wish, you force Acrobat documents to open outside the browser. Look for Portable Document Format under Applications or File Helpers in the Preferences dialog of your browser. Change the setting to handle PDF files with the application rather than the plug-in.

Problems viewing Acrobat files

The first option is to try saving the file to your hard disk and opening it from there.

Acrobat page appears blank
Microsoft has published an article in their knowledge base - Adobe Acrobat .pdf Files Appear as a Blank Window or Frame (Q177321) which offers a number of solutions to this problem.

Acrobat Reader shows error messages such as "color space not found"
If you are using Adobe Acrobat reader earlier than version 4, you may need to upgrade to the latest version. While we are attempting to maintain compatibility with earlier versions of Acrobat Reader, this is not always possible.

Printing Adobe Acrobat files

To print an Acrobat file from your browser:

• Scroll to the end of the document to ensure that it has all downloaded to your machine
• Click on the Print button in the Acrobat toolbar. Do not use the browser's print button.

If Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) files do not print correctly, there are a couple of things to try:

• Download the complete file as described above rather than trying to print from within the browser.
• People using MS Windows may need to change the settings on the printer driver.
  Choose 'Properties' or 'Options' in the print dialog. Look for options that allow you to set fonts to download as bitmap fonts and use raster graphics rather than vector graphics.

Fillable PDF Forms

A number of PDF forms on the CASA web site have text fields that allow the form to be completed on-screen before being printed.  Most of these forms require a signature.  CASA can only accept these forms with a physical signature attached. These forms may only be submitted by fax or sent via hard copy mail. We cannot, as yet, accept electronic copies or forms containing digital signatures.

Completing Forms

Windows

Adobe Acrobat (reader version 7) can be used to complete the forms and print them out for faxing or mailing.

Macintosh

Adobe Acrobat (reader version 7) can be used to complete the forms and print them out for faxing or mailing.

Saving Completed Forms or Multi Session filling Forms

A number of third party products are available on the World Wide Web that enable the form user to save or save and edit (multi-session fill) these forms. CASA does not recommend or endorse any of these products and makes no claims about their suitability for your particular needs.

Saving Completed Forms

If you just need a record of the form and do not need to edit it at a later date, use a PDF printer driver to ‘print’ to PDF.

Windows

There are a number of 3rd party PDF printer drivers available for Windows. Simply search on Google for ‘PDF printer driver’.

Macintosh

A PDF printer driver is built in to Mac OS X. Simply choose ‘Save as PDF’ in the print dialog.  For Acrobat Reader only, you need to choose ‘Output options’ in the print dialog and check the box ‘Save as file’.

Zip files

Some files on the site are compressed using the ZIP format to reduce download times. Download one of these products to unzip these files:

Windows
Aladdin Expander (free)
Winzip ($US29.00)
PKZip ($US26.00)

Macintosh
Unzip software is included in the system. Double-click on the file to unzip.

Data files (.txt and .csv)

Some information on the site, including the aircraft register and the exemptions register, is published as text files (.txt) or comma-separated (.csv) data files.

Use the instructions described above to save the files to your hard disk to avoid these text files displaying in the browser window.

Both .txt and .csv files can be opened by any spreadsheet or database program. If necessary check the manual or on-screen help files that came with your program.

If all else fails, contact the CASA web master - Bruce Bowden by email or phone him on 131 757.