Before Purchasing Flash MX 2004 Pro...

[KaaCee]

I've looked on the relevant forums and sites (well what I thought was relevant anyways ;) ) but couldn't seem to find my answer:

Is it possible to load a description file (I'm sure there's a better word for it) that contains a sequential list of images/text into FMX2K4 Pro which then compiles it for distribution without manual intervention?

[senocular]

can you be more specific?

[KaaCee]

Sure, let's say a user goes to a website. It has 10 "slots" that you can enter the names of graphics or text files. They press submit and this is where my question comes in...

I call FMX2K4 Pro with an external call that basicly says "take this list and compile it". The program munches the list and spits out a flash viewable file. This being done automaticly rather than someone sitting with FMX and feeding the information in.

[farafiro]

huh ??
this is what I've got
u have- say -10 pix and u want flash to load them all with one click
is this it??

[senocular]

no, it cannot compile anything. Compilation is handled solely in the Flash authoring environment and will pretty much never be part of the player.

However, the way you set up your example, it doesnt seem to necessitate compilation so, again, it seems you aren't being clear enough. But know that MX and MX 2004 arent that far off from each other in terms of what the Flash player can do. You got some speed improvements in FP7 and some newly recognized commands for a few things, but nothing so substantial as a built in compiler.

Though you may want to look into server-side swf compilers like Ming.

[KaaCee]

huh ??
this is what I've got
u have- say -10 pix and u want flash to load them all with one click
is this it??

The part that is missing that I'm interested to know is can I call FMX with an external call rather than have a person manually "click" FMX. I guess another way to put it is; are there command line options for the program.

I appreciate the input and sorry if I'm not being clear but I'm trying to ask my question without breaking NDA :)

[farafiro]

are there command line options for the programI'm sure there is one, but I donno it

[KaaCee]

no, it cannot compile anything. Compilation is handled solely in the Flash authoring environment and will pretty much never be part of the player.

However, the way you set up your example, it doesnt seem to necessitate compilation so, again, it seems you aren't being clear enough. But know that MX and MX 2004 arent that far off from each other in terms of what the Flash player can do. You got some speed improvements in FP7 and some newly recognized commands for a few things, but nothing so substantial as a built in compiler.

Though you may want to look into server-side swf compilers like Ming.

I took a look at the ming info and that sent me searching for some additional information so let me see if I can now give an example of what I'm trying to do that is a little more in Flash-eese :)

I go to a website and enter the names of my images on my local hard drive, press submit and they're copied over to a server via some sort of program/script I created.

I then use something like MING that will take the images and make them into a swf file.

I can now play that file in my browser as a simple slide show.

Soo, in essence, I don't actually need FMX as part of the process, I simply need to be able to create swf files. Do I have the concept down a little closer?

[senocular]

Do you need to create a compiled swf for each new set of images? What about referencing the images externally alnd loading them dynamically?

[KaaCee]

Referencing the images externally and loading them dynamically would be fine. The key here is can all of this be automated or is it required to load the information into FMX and manually create the "movie" that will be shown in the player?

[senocular]

you can do that fine with MX.