TechNote (Archived)

Compiler caches external class files

Issue

Macromedia Flash MX 2004 does not reflect saved changes to external class files when testing or publishing. This issue appears to be intermittent. If the source files are developed on separate machines this problem may occur each time you overwrite the external class files with updated copies.

Reason

To improve compiler performance, AS files are compiled (either by being explicitly imported with the "import" keyword, or by being referenced with a fully qualified class name) into corresponding ASO files for each class and interface in the AS file. These ASO files are cached in the ASO folder on the authoring system.

A system timestamp is stored in the file header. Flash uses the timestamp to determine if the file needs to be recompiled. If there is a timestamp conflict between the cached ASO files and the saved class files (AS), then the Flash compiler may not detect that the corresponding class files have been updated. This normally happens when developing on more than one machine or storing source files on a separate system without using version control with the Projects feature.

Solution

This issue is resolved by deleting the ASO folder. Deleting the folder forces Flash to recreate the folder and recompile all classes associated with the FLA. The ASO folder is located in your Application Data Folder:

\Macromedia\Flash MX 2004\en\Configuration\Classes\aso

Note: It is not recommended that you author files stored on a network drive unless you are using the Version control feature of Projects. Doing so may result in:

source files becoming corrupted in the event of a network connection problem. Flash may not be able to save your files to a local drive after a save error is encountered.
the timestamp's of the ASO files being set by the system clock at compile time. The timestamp of class files saved during author time to another system are set by that remote system's clock. This will usually cause a timestamp conflict.