TechNote (Archived)

Changes to the Default Set of Xtras in Shockwave Player 10.1

With the release of the 10.1 update for Macromedia Director and the Shockwave Player a new "slim" player install experience has been put into place. This new installation experience was created as part of an effort to reduce the file size of the installer and in turn improve player installation success rates. The installer's file size has been reduced by nearly 2MB through the removal of nearly all the default Xtras, leaving behind only the core Xtras that are absolutely required. As of the 10.1 release of the Shockwave Player, the default set of Xtras installed by the standard web-delivered installer are:

Macintosh OS9.x/OSX	Windows
CBrowser PPC Xtra InetURL PPC Xtra Multiusr NetFile PPC Xtra NetLingo PPC Xtra Speech	CBrowser.x32 INetURL.x32 Multiuser.x32 Netfile.x32 Netlingo.x32 Speech.x32

Note: The Multiuser and Speech Xtras are not required for core Shockwave Player functionality, unlike the other Xtras on the list. They are still included by default in order to ensure that previously authored content continues to function as expected.

How do these changes affect content authors?

Reducing the default set of Xtras did reduce overall file size of the Shockwave Player installer, but it also required changes to the Xtras auto-download feature within the player. Prior to the 10.1 update release, in order for a given Xtra to be auto-downloaded and installed when needed at run-time, developers had to add an Xtra to the movie's Xtra list and select the "download if needed" option for that Xtra. Doing this marked the movie with the Xtra's version information and its package download URL information. In fact, when deciding to reduce the number of Xtras installed by default, there was concern that formerly default Xtras;such as the Text Xtras, Font Xtras and the Flash Asset Xtra;would be present in the movie's Xtra list but not marked as "download if needed."

To address those concerns, the 10.1 version of the Shockwave Player now includes its own copy of all Macromedia Xtra package download URLs. Therefore, a given Macromedia Xtra only needs to appear in the movie's Xtra list in order to participate in the auto-download feature of the player. Previously authored movies with an Xtra in their Xtra list but not marked for download, will still trigger a download of that Xtra if it's not already installed on a client user's machine. This alleviates the developer from having to make any modifications to previously authored content in order to mark Xtras as "download if needed."

Changes affecting Director (10.1) authoring environment

Macromedia Director MX 2004 (10.1) was updated to reflect the changes listed above, such as by marking Xtras "download if needed" by default when they are added to your movie's Xtra list during the authoring process (providing that the Xtra has a package file URL listed in Macromedia Director's Xtrainfo.txt file).

Handling third-party Xtras

It is important to note that third-party Xtras are also marked as download if necessary by default when added to a movie's Xtra list during the authoring process, but those too must be listed with the package download URLs within the Xtrainfo.txt file. If the developer chooses to change that by unchecking the "download if needed" option in the Movie Xtras dialog box (Modify > Movie> Xtras), then that third-party Xtra will not download if necessary, as no package URL will be saved within the movie. Therefore, in order to have third-party Xtras participate in the auto-download feature, they must be in the movie's Xtra listand be marked as "download if needed" (unlike Macromedia Xtras, which only need to be present in the movie's Xtra list).

Confirmation of an Xtras installation and its version

When an Xtra is added to the movie's Xtra list and the "download if needed" option is enabled by default, no version information is included, therefore the player will only verify that the Xtra is installed or not. If the developer wants a minimum version number for the Xtra to be verified. Developers mustuncheck and then recheck the "download if needed" option, in order to force Macromedia Director to query the package files. The forced query is based on the download URL found in Xtrainfo.txt and thus include the Xtra package's version information for later comparison. If a developer takes this extra step, the player will verify not only that the given Xtra is installed when loading the movie, but if it is installed, its version information will also be checked against the minimum version requirements saved in the movie's Xtra list.

How can developers direct users to a full-installer experience if desired?

This new slim-install experience is delivered to those seeking the Shockwave Player by default, but there are Full-installers that will install the Shockwave Player with a complete set of Macromedia Xtras if that is preferred. The option to direct users needing to install the player to the full installer is available in two forms, as a stand-alone installer for all Windows and Macintosh users, or as a CAB file installer for those using Internet Explorer on Windows (and therefore the Shockwave ActiveX Control). The Xtras contained in the full installers for Shockwave Player 10.1 are:

Macintosh OS9.x/OSX	Windows
Animated GIF Asset Cbrowser PPC Xtra DVD Asset (OSX only) Flash Asset PPC Font Asset PPC Font Xtra PPC Havok InetUrl PPC Xtra LRG Import Export Mix Services MPEG 3 Import Export Multiusr NetFile PPC Xtra NetLingo PPC Xtra PNG Import Export QuickTime6 Asset RealMedia Asset Shockwave 3D Asset Xtra Sound Control Sound Import Export Speech Sun AU Import Export SWA Decompression PPC Xtra SWA Import Export SWA Streaming PPC Xtra Targa Import Export TextAsset PPC TextXtra PPC Tiff Import Export XmlParser PPC Xtra	Animated GIF Asset.x32 Cbrowser.x32 DirectSound.x32 DVD Asset.x32 Flash Asset.x32 Font Asset.x32 Font Xtra.x32 Havok.x32 INetURL.x32 MacroMix.x32 Multiusr.x32 Netfile.x32 Netlingo.x32 QT6Asset.x32 RealMedia Asset.x32 Shockwave 3d Asset.x32 Shockwave Updater.x32 Sound Control.x32 Speech.x32 Swadcmpr.x32 Swastrm.x32 Text Asset.x32 TextXtra.x32 Windows Media Asset.x32 Mix Services.x32 MPEG 3 Import Export.x32 PNG Import Export.x32 Sound Import Export.x32 Sun AU Import Export.x32 SWA Import Export.x32 Targa Import Export.x32 Tiff Import Export.x32 XMLParser.x32

If a developer wants to direct a user to the stand-alone full installer, they simply need to refer those users to the alternates download page at the following URL:

www.macromedia.com/shockwave/download/download.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFull&P2_Platform=Win32&P3_Browser_Version=Netscape6

All Shockwave Player installers available off of the alternate download page are stand-alone executable installers that contain all Macromedia Xtras for use in the Shockwave Player. If a developer wants to invoke a full-install process using a Shockwave Player CAB file installation (for Windows ActiveX users only), they must make a simple modification to the object tag used to embed the Shockwave content in their web page. The modification required is to specify an additional object tag parameter namedswInstallType and assign that parameter a value offull.

Note: Specifying any value other thanfull will result in a slim-install experience. For example, here is a modified object tag that will trigger a CAB file full-install experience if the client user doesn't have the Shockwave Player installed:

 <object classid="clsid:166B1BCA-3F9C-11CF-8075-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/director/sw.cab#version=10,1,0,0" ID=example width=240 height=80><param name=src value="example.dcr"><param name=swRemote value="swSaveEnabled='true' swVolume='true' swRestart='true' swPausePlay='true' swFastForward='true' swContextMenu='true' "><param name=swStretchStyle value=none><param name=bgColor value=#FFFFFF><param name=swInstallType value=full><embed ... ></embed></object>

Other important changes to note

While not directly related to the above changes, there are two other recent changes found within the 10.1 version update.

Shockwave Player now downloads and installs needed Xtras into a user-specific directory instead of directly into the player's folder in the system directory. This is now being done on both Macintosh and Windows systems in order to avoid potential conflicts when users are not logged on to the machine with administrator privileges.

Shockwave projectors created with Director MX 2004, version 10.1 and later, will now trigger the download and installation of numerous Xtras if they are not already present and installed, regardless of whether the content being launched requires them or not. This change was made in order to ensure that previously authored Shockwave projectors would continue to function as expected due to having different requirements and restrictions relating to auto-downloading and installation of Xtras.

The Xtras that will be downloaded and installed when such a Shockwave projector is run are composed of those that were included by default prior to the 10.1 update release but that have now been removed from the slim installer. Those Xtras are:

Macintosh OS9.x/OSX	Windows
DVD Asset (OSX only) Flash Asset PPC Font Asset PPC Font Xtra PPC Multiusr Shockwave 3D Asset Xtra Sound Control Speech SWA Decompression PPC Xtra SWA Streaming PPC Xtra TextAsset PPC TextXtra PPC	DirectSound.x32 DVD Asset.x32 Flash Asset.x32 Font Asset.x32 Font Xtra.x32 MacroMix.x32 Multiusr.x32 Shockwave 3d Asset.x32 Sound Control.x32 Speech.x32 Swadcmpr.x32 Swastrm.x32 Text Asset.x32 TextXtra.x32 Windows Media Asset.x32

Note: Keep in mind that only true Shockwave projectors, those utilizing the system installed Shockwave Player, will invoke this behavior. Shockwave projectors being used as fast-start projectors will not trigger the download and installation of Xtras for the Shockwave Player.