Chapter 5: FLASH MX PROJECTORS

There are some things you should know about changes in the functionality of Flash projectors with the release of MX.

The SAVE command that existed in Flash 5 no longer works in Flash MX projectors. This was an undocumented command that was accidentally left in the Flash 5 player. It was discovered by people using hex and resource editors to snoop around in the guts of the player. Macromedia quickly explained this and warned everyone that the SAVE command was undocumented and that it could disappear at any time.

Mainly because of SWF/LFM-926, the first Flash virus, the Flash MX stand-alone player (SAFlashPlayer.exe) now restricts the use of the EXEC command, making it impossible for anyone to repeat this and crippling the projector for legitimate users at the same time.

Files you want to EXEC in Flash MX have to be in a directory called "fscommand" in the same directory as the projector. You don't specify that path in the EXEC command (that stays the same) but the file won't be executed if it's not in the fscommand directory. You can't use absolute paths to execute files elsewhere on your CD or HD. You can't even "get out" of the fscommand directory (or go deeper) using relative paths. All the EXE files have to be IN the fscommand directory.

The killer restriction is, you can't have any white space characters (tabs, spaces etc) after the name of the file you're launching. If you add anything, EXEC won't be able to find the file. It appears to be looking for an exact match. It doesn't even launch the file without the parameters (like it did in Flash 5); it just fails silently. While you can still EXEC applications, you can't pass parameters to them!

The combination of these changes means that if you've been using tools that wrap or extend the Flash projector and you want to continue using them, you have to stick with Flash 5. This will affect applications like David Kilbourne's stuff at www.flashtools.net, Les Paone's fstools at www.aritali.com, PowerSWF and a host of other commercial and freeware products.

A workaround using EXEC won't happen unless Macromedia relents and opens the sandbox again, but with the recent Flash "virus" and stepped up security in Flash MX this doesn't seem likely. All of these products are going to have to find other ways to extend Flash if they're going to make the move to Flash MX.

One last bit of information about Flash MX projectors: they're a lot bigger than Flash 5 projectors. Part of this is because of new features and part of it is fluff. 49.3K (50,524 bytes) are used by 18 icons in a Flash MX projector as opposed to only 10.2K (10,504 bytes) used by 12 icons in Flash 5 projectors. The difference is the addition of new 48x48 pixel icons and support for 32bit color icons.