# View Documents

(Available for the IDOL View component and IDOL Proxy.)

The View page in the Control menu allows you to convert documents into HTML to display in a web browser. The `View` action performs the conversion. For more information about the `View` action, see the IDOL Server Administration Guide.

To view a document in your web browser

1. Type the document reference into the text box. The reference can be:

   - a document in the local file system, for example:
     `C:\Documents\report.doc`

   - a document on an intranet site, for example:
     `//intranet/report.doc`

   - a web page or document accessible on the Internet, for example:
     `http://news.bbc.co.uk`

2. If your document references have a common format, you can configure a standard prefix in the IDOL configuration file to add to each document reference. If you select the Use reference prefix check box, IDOL Admin adds this prefix to the `View` action automatically.

   For more information on using the `ReferencePrefix` and `UseReferencePrefix` parameters, see the IDOL Server Reference.

3. Click View.

   The document opens in your web browser.

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