curmudgeon42
07-01-2003, 02:09 PM
I apologize for the length of this post. It is a complicated issue and I wanted it to be clear.
I have a wish for something in Flash MX, and I'm not sure if it can do it or not. I have a lot of different flash movies, all of which use similar user-interface items (some of which are components, some are buttons, some are just MCs, etc.). Right now I have a copy of these objects in the library of each movie. Therefore, if one of these objects needs to be changed, I need to edit it in a dozen different places. This is very bad for maintenance of code and leads to errors (such as a button being different in only one file). Interface consistency is very important to this project.
I know that Flash MX has the ability to do *runtime* sharing, which allows for a SWF to be stored on the web somewhere and to have files access the objects from that common share location.
That is a great thing. However, my movies are becoming EXEs in the end, and are running on client's machines locally. There internet connection is not guaranteed. Therefore I can't use runtime sharing because the internet file might not be accesible.
Also, I don't want to just put a SWF with shared objects on the client's machine, as they could use a SWF viewer to look through it and possible get proprietary information.
What I really want is static object linking. I want to declare an object as imported from another location, but have that *compiled in* to the EXE when you publish. Therefore, I only need to edit the object in one place but it ends up in every EXE. And the EXEs remain standalone and autonamous.
What would you do in this situation? Does what I want exist in Flash MX in some form? Is there some whitepaper I can check out?
Thanks a lot for the help,
Justin
I have a wish for something in Flash MX, and I'm not sure if it can do it or not. I have a lot of different flash movies, all of which use similar user-interface items (some of which are components, some are buttons, some are just MCs, etc.). Right now I have a copy of these objects in the library of each movie. Therefore, if one of these objects needs to be changed, I need to edit it in a dozen different places. This is very bad for maintenance of code and leads to errors (such as a button being different in only one file). Interface consistency is very important to this project.
I know that Flash MX has the ability to do *runtime* sharing, which allows for a SWF to be stored on the web somewhere and to have files access the objects from that common share location.
That is a great thing. However, my movies are becoming EXEs in the end, and are running on client's machines locally. There internet connection is not guaranteed. Therefore I can't use runtime sharing because the internet file might not be accesible.
Also, I don't want to just put a SWF with shared objects on the client's machine, as they could use a SWF viewer to look through it and possible get proprietary information.
What I really want is static object linking. I want to declare an object as imported from another location, but have that *compiled in* to the EXE when you publish. Therefore, I only need to edit the object in one place but it ends up in every EXE. And the EXEs remain standalone and autonamous.
What would you do in this situation? Does what I want exist in Flash MX in some form? Is there some whitepaper I can check out?
Thanks a lot for the help,
Justin