TechNote (Archived)

Configuring your server for Shockwave

The following instructions assume familiarity with maintaining and administering a web server. If this is not the case, have your system administrator or ISP configure the server for you.

To configure your server:

Look up configuring MIME types in the documentation for the web server being used. Apply the sample MIME type mappings listed below to the configuration file.
For more information refer to online resources. One web resource that may be of use is Web Compare, where you will find a compilation of information about MIME configuration for all types of servers.
Contact the manufacturer web server software being used for technical support. Links to several popular server software net sites are:
- Netscape
- NCSA
- WebSTAR

Including the appropriate MIME type

An HTTP server must be configured to recognize and handle shocked media. The server's MIME types file must be updated to include the appropriate MIME type lines.

Director MIME type mappings

AddType application/x-director dir
AddType application/x-director dcr
AddType application/x-director dxr
AddType application/x-director cst
AddType application/x-director cct
AddType application/x-director cxt
AddType application/x-director w3d
AddType application/x-director fgd
AddType application/x-director swa

Note: To configure your server forAudio, use the above Director MIME type mappings.

Authorware MIME type mappings

AddType application/x-authorware-map aam
AddType application/x-authorware-seg aas
AddType application/x-authorware-bin aab

FreeHand MIME type mappings

AddType image/x-freehand fh4
AddType image/x-freehand fh7
AddType image/x-freehand fh5
AddType image/x-freehand fhc
AddType image/x-freehand fh

Flash MIME type mappings

AddType application/futuresplash spl
AddType application/x-shockwave-flash swf

The format of the MIME Type directive will change from server to server. For example, on an NCSA server, the server administrator updates the srm.conf file to include the appropriate MIME type lines.

On some servers, you can combine the types into one line:

AddType application/x-director dir,dcr,dxr,fgd

On others, you may need to specify the extension with a period:

AddType application/x-director .dir

On Netscape servers, the entries are in the filemime.types and are formatted like this:

type=application/x-director exts=dir,fgd,dxr,dcr type=image/x-freehand exts=fh4,fh5,fh7,fhc,fh type=application/x-authorware-map exts=aam type=application/x-authorware-seg exts=aas type=application/x-authorware-bin exts=aab

Once the file is updated the server usually needs to be restarted.

Configuring MIME types on a per-directory basis

Some web servers allow override files on a per-directory basis as an alternative to changing the configuration for the entire server. For example, if your Internet service provider (ISP) does not add the Shockwave MIME types to its server, as a user you can create a file to add the MIME types in your personal web directory. On an NCSA server, this file is called .htaccess, and the format is the same as for srm.conf in the MIME type mappings directives above.

Linking to www.macromedia.com

To let users download the appropriate plug-in, you should provide a button that links to the Shockwave Download Center. Refer to the Made With Macromedia page that explains this process and provides buttons that should used.