TechNote

Director Xtras Functionality

This TechNote covers the functionality of each of the default Director Xtras. These Xtras are part of the standard installation of Director and can be found in Macromedia/Director/Xtras folder. The movie Xtras dialogue box displays which Xtras are associated with an open movie at a given time. Most Xtras are platform specific. The Xtras for Windows have an X32 extension, the Xtras for the Macintosh do not have extensions. For an overview of how Xtras are packaged with Director movies see Using Xtras in Director: an overview (TechNote 14888).

Some Xtras such as INetUrl and NetFile do not have the option to download because they are included with the Shockwave Player download. For a list of Xtras installed with the Shockwave player see Xtras installed with Shockwave Player (TechNote 14889).

Note: Some Xtra names are different on the Mac and Windows machines. If the names differ, the Mac name will be listed in blue, below the Windows name. Not all Xtras are available on both the Mac and Windows systems. Some Xtras are only required during authoring. These Xtras are indicated by the note: (Authoring only). The Shockwave safe Xtras are indicated in the Shockwave Safe column (SWS) below. For more information about Shockwave security see Director and internet security.

A-C D-F G-I J-L M N-P Q-S T-V W-Z

Xtra Name	SWS	Function
3DAuth 3DAuth Xtra		(Authoring only) Implements the 3D Viewer window.
ActiveX		Enables projectors to incorporate ActiveX controls.
ActXPriv		Used in supporting the ActiveX Xtra. Note: This Xtra must not be distributed in projectors.
Animated GIFAsset	*	Enables the Shockwave Player or projectors to display animated GIF cast members.
Animated Gif Options		(Authoring only) Used to display animated GIF advanced options dialog.
AVI Agent		(Authoring Only) Used to launch External Editor for AVI files. Requires the Mix Services Xtra.
BitdReader		(Authoring only) Used by Director to create DCR files.
BMP Agent		(Authoring only) Used to launch external editors for BMP files.

Cursor Asset	*	Enables Shockwave Player or projectors to use custom cursor cast members.
Cursor Options		(Authoring only) Used to display custom cursor editing dialog.
DirectSound	*	Enables Shockwave Player or projectors to play sounds via DirectSound on Windows 95/98/ME/2000. The end user's system must have DirectX 5 or higher installed.
FileIo FileIO PPC Xtra		Enables projectors to use the FileIO Xtra for reading and writing text files.
Fireworks Import		(Authoring only) Used with external editor for Fireworks format files.
Flash Asset Flash Asset PPC	*	Enables Shockwave Player or projectors to use Flash movies and vector shape cast members.
Flash Asset Options Flash Asset Options PPC		(Authoring only) Used to display Flash advanced options dialog.
Font Asset Font Asset PPC	*	Enables Shockwave Player or projectors to use embedded font cast members.
Font Asset Dialog		(Authoring only) Used to display Font advanced options dialog.
Font Xtra Font Xtra PPC	*	Enables Shockwave Player or projectors to use different fonts. This Xtra is necessary for displaying anti-aliased text and 3D text.
GIF Agent		(Authoring only) Used with external editor for GIF format files.
Havok	*	Enables Shockwave Player or projectors to use Havok modifier features.

Image Translator Helper *Director 7 and 8 only		(Authoring only) Used by Save As Java for Director versions 7 and 8 only.
Import Xtra for PowerPoint *Director 6.5 through 8.5.1 only		(Authoring only) Used during import of PowerPoint files as well as conversion of old format PowerPoint files, for Director versions 6.5 through 8.5.1 only.
INetURL INetUrl PPC Xtra	*	Enables Shockwave Player or projectors to access the Internet.
JavaCnvt *Director 7 and 8 only		(Authoring only) Used by Save As Java Xtra, for Director versions 7 and 8 only.
JavaUiHelper *Director 7 and 8 only		(Authoring only) Used by Save As Java Xtra, for Director versions 7 and 8 only.
JPEG Agent		(Authoring Only) Used to launch External Editor for JPEG files. Requires the Mix Services Xtra.
JPEG Export		Used to create DCR files. Also used by the JavaConvert Xtra during authoring in Director versions previous to 8.5.
LRG Import Export	*	This package enables Shockwave Player or projectors to use LRG graphics files (from xRes). Requires the Mix Services Xtra.
LZComprs LZ77 Compression PPC Xtra		(Authoring only) Enables publishing movies into DCR format.
MacPaint Import		Enables Director and projectors to use MacPaint graphics files. Requires the Mix Services Xtra.

MacroMix	*	Enables Shockwave Player or projectors to play sounds via MacroMix on Windows 95/98/NT/ME/2000.
Mix Services	*	Enables Shockwave Player or projectors to use MIX (Macromedia Information Exchange) Xtra extensions.
MPEG 3 Import Export	*	(Authoring only) Used to import MP3 files. Requires the Swa Decompressor and MixServices Xtras. Note: (For Director versions previous to 8) This Xtra is required at runtime in order to play MP3 files and requires the Sound Import Export, MixServices, and SWA Decompressor Xtra.
Mui Dialog		Enables Macromedia Director and its projectors to use MUI dialogue boxes.
Multiusr	*	Enables Shockwave Player or projectors to communicate with the Director Multiuser Server.
NetFile NetFile PPC Xtra	*	Enables Shockwave Player or projectors to access the Internet. This Xtra is required for accessing local Shockwave Audio files.
NetLingo NetLingo PPC Xtra	*	Enables Shockwave Player or projectors to use NetLingo.
Palette Import		Enables Director and projectors to import Windows PAL files containing palette information. Requires the Mix Services Xtra

Photoshop 3.0 Import		Enables Director and projectors to use Photoshop graphics files. Requires the Mix Services Xtra.
Photoshop CLUT Import		Enables Director and projectors to import Photoshop CLUT files containing palette information. Requires the Mix Services Xtra.
PshopFlt Photoshop Filters		(Authoring only) Enables use of Photoshop filters (up to version 3) on Bitmap cast members.
PICT Agent		(Authoring only) Enables access of external editors information, used in conjunction with the Mix Services Xtra.
PNG Import Export	*	Enables Director and projectors to import PNG format files. Requires the "Mix Services" Xtra.
QT6Asset QuickTime 6 Asset	*	Enables Shockwave Player or projectors to play QuickTime cast members and provides the "QT3Mix" soundDevice. The end user's system must have QuickTime 3 or later installed.
QTAuth QuickTime Agent		(Authoring only) Enables authoring support for the QuickTime assets.
QTExport QTExportXtra		(Authoring only) Enables export of Director movies as QuickTime movies.

RealMedia Asset	*	Enables Shockwave Player or projectors to use RealMedia cast members.
RealMedia Authoring		(Authoring only) Enables authoring support for RealMedia cast members.
Script Agent		(Authoring only) Used to launch external editor for linked script cast members. Requires the Mix Services Xtra
SWAOpt SWA Options Xtra		(Authoring only) Used to display SWA Insert... options dialog.
Shockwave 3D Asset Shockwave 3d Asset Xtra	*	Enables Shockwave Player or projectors to use Shockwave 3D cast members.
Sound Control	*	Enables Shockwave Player or projectors to use the Sound Control Lingo introduced in Director 8.
Sound Import Export	*	Enables Shockwave Player or projectors to use additional audio format conversion Xtras. This Xtra is required if copyToClipboard is used on a sound cast member. Requires the MixServices package to be installed.
Speech	*	The Speech Xtra is a Lingo-only Xtra, which means that it adds commands and properties to the Lingo scripting language but does not add support for any new cast member types. Because the Speech Xtra is not associated with any kind of cast member, you must add it to the movies Xtra list manually.

Squish Squish Files PPC Xtra		(Authoring only) Used by Director to create DCR files.
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SunAU Import Export	*	Enables Shockwave Player or projectors to play AU-formatted audio files. This package requires the MixServices Xtra to be installed. Note: This Xtra is also used in Authoring by "Save as Java" which is supported in Director 7 and 8. When using with Director 8 or previous, this Xtra requires the Sound Import Export Xtra.
SWA Import Export	*	(Authoring only) Enables importing of SWA cast members. This package requires the MixServices and SWA Decompressor Xtras to be installed. Note that this package is not required to play SWA streaming audio. Note: (Director versions previous to 8) This Xtra is required at runtime in order to play SWA files, and requires Sound Import Export Xtra.
SwaCmpr SWA Compression Xtra		(Authoring only) Enables Shockwave Audio compression management.
SWACnvrt		(Authoring only) Enables the conversion of WAV to SWA files.
SWADCmpr SWA Decompression PPC Xtra	*	Enables Shockwave Player or projectors to use SWA streaming audio.
SWAStrm SWA Streaming PPC Xtra	*	Enables Shockwave Player or projectors to use SWA streaming audio.

TARGA Import Export	*	Enables Shockwave Player or projectors to use TARGA graphics files. Requires the "Mix Services" Xtra.
Text Asset Text Asset PPC	*	Enables Shockwave Player or projectors to use rich text cast members.
TextAuth Text Asset Options		(Authoring only) Enables text management during authoring.
TextXtra	*	Enables Shockwave Player or projectors to use rich text cast members.
TIFF Import Export	*	Enables Director and projectors to import TIFF format files. Requires the "Mix Services" Xtra.
Vector Editor Xtra		(Authoring only) Enables editing of vector shape cast members.
XMLParser XMLParser PPC Xtra	*	Enables Shockwave Player or projectors to use theXML parser Xtra extension.
Xresagt		Obsolete. Was used for launching Xres to edit Bitmaps.
ZipXtra		(Authoring only) Enables Director to compress Bitmaps when publishing a DCR.