fscommand("exec"...

[planetfall]

I used to be able to put this command in a frame, which would, of all things, open the file specified when "goneTo":

fscommand("exec", "SomeFile.exe");

Since I've upgraded to MX 2004, this no longer works!

Anyone know what the problem could be?

Thanks!

[Zath]

your SomeFile.exe needs to be in a folder named fscommand.
And the fscommand("exec", "SomeFile.exe"); needs to remain the same.

Strange, I know.

[planetfall]

okay, i realise that my execs have to reside in the fscommand subdir

but what about subdirs in that one? my execs in the fscommand dir work, but i have execs in subdirs there:

/fscommand/SomeDir/SomeFile.exe

These dont work:

fscommand("exec", "/SomeDir/SomeFile.exe");

fscommand("exec", "SomeDir/SomeFile.exe");

fscommand("exec", "\SomeDir\SomeFile.exe");

fscommand("exec", "SomeDir\SomeFile.exe");

whats a poor customer of theirs to do? no mention of this in the so called help file.

[Dolfy]

Been down this path before...
You should check out the Flash Technotes on this subject at
http://www.macromedia.com/cfusion/knowledgebase/index.cfm?event=view&id=KC.tn_14280&extid=tn_14280&dialogID=93964212&iterationID=1&sessionID=9630112968043e36646d&stateID=1+0+93954691&mode=simple

Dolph Connard
www.nichestuff.com

[planetfall]

i've read that, its still not clear...

"Although it is possible to use absolute or relative paths to open applications in folders other than the one in which the projector resides, problems have been reported with deeply-nested directory trees or folders higher in the tree than the projector itself. Therefore, it is preferable to keep the executables in the same folder, or a folder directly beneath it.

When specifying paths, a single dot represents the folder (equivalent to the example above ) in which the projector resides:"

Does that mean the projector thats running, which is above the fscommand folder, with the fscommand to execute? Or does that mean a projector in the fscommand folder itself?

According to that instruction, this should work for me:

fscommand ("exec", "./SomeDir/SomeFile.exe");

But it doesnt!

heres my situation

MyProjector.exe/fscommand/SomeDir/SomeFile.exe

I want an fscommand, which is executed within MyProjector.exe to launch SomeFile.exe

this is what seems to be indicated:

fscommand ("exec", "./SomeDir/SomeFile.exe");

And is also what does not work.

Does anyone remember the good old days when flash used to be easier and more intuitive?

[Dolfy]

The tech notes go on to say:

"Note: exec is not capable of opening a specific file with an application, just the application itself. One way to open files is to use exec to launch a Windows batch (BAT) file or Macintosh AppleScript file that then opens files in the desired application. A third-party tool that can open specific files on Windows without using batch files is available from Flashjester."

[planetfall]

thanks for the reply, you're right, that is the only way to do it...

am i the only one who thinks its an unbelievably silly limitation of this software?

for all the things flash is able to do, to have this obvious and seeminlgy simple functionality to take such effort is not impressive in any way.

i saw no mention of this in any help documentation, can anyone speculate why this is so? it must have come up during development, dont you think?

now, unfortunately, the batch window stays open all the time the called projector is open, which for my presentation tomorrow is damn sloppy, but for something i would send to end users (customers, sales trainees and distributors) could be confusing, which is exactly the opposite of what i want to happen

the reason i use flash for these interactive presentations is to take confusion AWAY from customers and make it very clear why my companies products are superior to the competition.

sloppiness like the batch file issue makes macromedia customers look sloppy through no fault of their own, thats too bad and no way to do business.

[Kalimba]

So what was the final solution? Were you able to launch the EXE that you wanted to run?

If I'm correctly reading the tech note that Dolfy posted, it's essentially saying that you can't pass parameters to the executable you're calling, and in those cases you should exec a batch file.

Pardon my ignorance, as I haven't worked on a stand-alone Flash app, but could you write the parameters to a text file, which the EXE then reads to obtain the parameters?