##subroutine that displays a file in IE browser window
##only works if a browser is running
sub display_browser {
	my $file = shift;
	## convert backslashes to forward slashes in the file path
	$file =~ s!\\!/!g;
	if ( $^O eq "MSWin32" and "$file" and -e "$file" ) {
		use Win32::OLE;
		## test to see if internet explorer is already running
		my $ie = Win32::OLE->GetActiveObject("InternetExplorer.Application");
		if ( defined $ie ) {
			$ie->{Visible} = 1;
			$ie->Navigate("$file");
		}
	}
}