TechNote (Archived)

Macromedia Flash MX Top 5 topics

This document outlines five popular Macromedia Flash MX technical topics of discussion among developers. This document is not intended as complete documentation on any of these issues, but as an overview of these key concepts.

Updated discussions and articles on a wide variety of subjects are available in Macromedia Developer Center, Macromedia Flash MX Application Development Center, and Macromedia Flash Online Forums.

• Unicode in Macromedia Flash Player 6 and Macromedia Flash MX
• Local Shared Objects, Local Connection, Microphone Settings, Camera Settings: Where to find documentation
• Macromedia Flash Player 6 Streaming Issue
• Trouble using FS Command "exec" in a Flash Projector
• Scripts which compiled correctly from Flash 5 result in a syntax error when used in Flash MX

Unicode in Macromedia Flash Player 6 and Macromedia Flash MX

This information touches on the very basics of this topic, to help give developers some initial direction and a greater understanding of how this works in general. For further details seeWorking with Multiple Languages in the Macromedia Flash Support Center.

The procedure and support for using multiple languages in Flash MX and Flash Player 6 differs depending on the input method of the characters.

Dynamically loading text into the player at runtime

Loading the data in dynamically allows you to take advantage of the full Unicode support in Macromedia Flash Player 6. This method will allow greatest flexibility with languages and encodings.

If your data source is Unicode, and you include the correct fonts to display, anyone can view it regardless of their regional settings.

If your data source is not Unicode, add the code System.useCodepage to your movie (the first frame is a good place). Flash Player will then interpret and display the information based on the encoding of the user's machine or browser window. The functionality is similar to Flash Player 5.

Inserting text into Flash MX at authoring time

Typing or pasting text into the authoring tool

Character data entered into text fields relies on the current system code page, but is properly converted to Unicode during export time. To type or paste text into the authoring tool, the code page of the machine, the code page of the language version of Flash, and the code page of the language you are using must all match.

Currently supported encodings are CP1252 (Western Windows: English, French German, etc), MacRoman (Western Macintosh), and Shift-JIS (Japanese Windows and Macintosh). To identify the encoding for particular characters or languages, refer to resources at these third-party websites:

Character Encodings	Windows codepages
Japanese text encoding	MacRoman

Using #include:

It is possible to use Unicode characters in an external ActionScript file that is added to a movie using the #include action.

The text in the file must be encoded in the UTF-8 format and the UTF-8 header ( \\!-- UTF8 ) must be placed at the top of the file. Any dynamic text fields should also be created with appropriate fonts to display the information.

By using #include, you can bring information into the SWF file that you cannot type into the authoring tool, to display at runtime. This method does not require an external data source, since the #include method compiles the data right into your SWF.

A key advantage of the #include mechanism over the direct entering of character data is when you want to publish SWF files for multiple languages simultaneously.

Note: Unicode strings inside a SWF are encoded using UTF-8.

Local Shared Objects, Local Connection, Microphone Settings, Camera Settings: Where to find documentation

These features of Flash MX were included in the release of the product without documentation. For example, when Flash Player 6 was released, a new choice from the context menu, "Settings", revealed Camera and Microphone settings, however, developers do not have instructions on how to take advantage of these features.

• For documentation on LocalConnection and Local Shared Object, refer to What is a local Shared Object? (TechNote tn_16194) and Using the LocalConnection feature in Macromedia Flash MX (TechNote tn_16243).
• Microphone and Camera Settings: These features are not yet fully implemented, and have been built into the player for future use. Documentation will be provided along with the implementation of these features at a later date.

Macromedia Flash Player 6 Streaming Issue

See Macromedia Flash Player 6 Streaming Issue for details on this issue.

Trouble using FS Command "exec" in a Flash Projector

Security features have been added to the Flash Player 6 standalone. Files that you wish to launch using fsCommand("exec"), must reside in a folder along with the projector, named "fscommand".

For complete information on the previous issue with fsCommand and Flash Projectors, or for more information on security in general, refer to Macromedia Security Zone.

Scripts which compiled correctly from Flash 5 result in a syntax error when used in Flash MX

Scenario

You created a document in Flash 5. You were able to publish this and run it correctly in both the Macromedia Flash Player 5 and Flash Player 6.

You open the exact same FLA file in Flash MX. Flash MX gives you a syntax error and will not publish your movie. Why?

Reason and solution

Macromedia Flash MX is more compliant with the ECMA standard than Macromedia Flash 5. Coding techniques which are not compliant with this standard may have compiled in Flash 5 but will not compile in Flash MX.

The most common code which will not compile has been TechNoted with a workaround which follows the ECMA standard. Refer to Eval() on the left side of an argument causes error (TechNote tn_16187).

Developers may experience other manifestations of similar changes, this is the most common. If you are not using eval(), try other similar methods of changing your code to ECMA.

Note: In some situations, developers find that a script that works in Javascript will not function in Flash. Though Javascript is also close to the ECMA standard, in many cases these situations occur where Javascript is not ECMA compliant.

Additional Information

---

Known issues, documentation, and troubleshooting information not included in this list can be found in individual TechNotes in Macromedia Flash Technical Support Center.

For technical assistance, please visit Macromedia Support Programs for an overview of support options.

To report a bug or request a feature (if you do not require assistance or feedback) use the Macromedia Software Feature Request and Bug Report form.

Search Support

---