moviecliploader

dave,

>I am using a moviecliploader to load external swf files into a "container"
> swf.

Okay.

> The files that I load contain their own timelines and functions etc.
>
> How can I be sure that the file has downloaded before the loaded clip
> starts calling its own functions?

You'll want to check out the MovieClipLoader class in the ActionScript
2.0 Language Reference. Classes define objects -- they're effectively blue
prints -- so if you want to know what the object can do, look up methods; if
you want to know what characteristics are available to you, look up
properties; to find out what the object can respond to (which is what you
want here), look up events.

In this case, you're after the MovieClipLoader.onLoadInit event (scroll
down a bit in this blog entry):

http://www.quip.net/blog/2006/flash/how-to-tell-when-external-swf-loaded


David Stiller
Co-author, Foundation Flash CS4 for Designers
http://tinyurl.com/5j55cv
"Luck is the residue of good design."

Thanks David

I am using onLoadInit already, so that I can fade in the clip once it has
loaded.

My question is more to do with the loaded clip itself.

For example the loaded clip may be a fairly large animation, which on frame
1 has the script gotoAndPlay(20)

If frame 20 has not loaded by the time frame 1 has loaded, does the script
fail? Or does the whole movie get loaded before any scripts are executed?

Hope that's a bit clearer.

Thanks

Dave


"David Stiller" <stiller@quip-remove-.net> wrote in message
news:gi62kh$5ic$1@forums.macromedia.com...
> dave,
>
>>I am using a moviecliploader to load external swf files into a "container"
>> swf.
>
> Okay.
>
>> The files that I load contain their own timelines and functions etc.
>>
>> How can I be sure that the file has downloaded before the loaded clip
>> starts calling its own functions?
>
> You'll want to check out the MovieClipLoader class in the ActionScript
> 2.0 Language Reference. Classes define objects -- they're effectively
> blue prints -- so if you want to know what the object can do, look up
> methods; if you want to know what characteristics are available to you,
> look up properties; to find out what the object can respond to (which is
> what you want here), look up events.
>
> In this case, you're after the MovieClipLoader.onLoadInit event (scroll
> down a bit in this blog entry):
>
>
> http://www.quip.net/blog/2006/flash/how-to-tell-when-external-swf-loaded
>
>
> David Stiller
> Co-author, Foundation Flash CS4 for Designers
> http://tinyurl.com/5j55cv
> "Luck is the residue of good design."
>

dave,

> I am using onLoadInit already, so that I can fade in the clip
> once it has loaded.

Cool. Gotcha.

> My question is more to do with the loaded clip itself.
>
> For example the loaded clip may be a fairly large animation,
> which on frame 1 has the script gotoAndPlay(20)

Okay.

> If frame 20 has not loaded by the time frame 1 has loaded,
> does the script fail?

Yes, because frame 20 "doesn't exist yet," as far as the SWF is
concerned (or at least, as far as frame 1 is concerned). But the event
we're discussing isn't dispatched until the external SWF has fully loaded --
which means all of its frames are accounted for.


David Stiller
Adobe Community Expert
Dev blog, http://www.quip.net/blog/
"Luck is the residue of good design."

Hi David

Thanks again for your reply.

So, if my loaded swf has its own timelines and functions and variables, what
can I do to make sure it doesn't start executing code that cannot
workbecause the swf hasn't fully loaded?

Is there any specific technique to achieving this?



"David Stiller" <stiller@quip-remove-.net> wrote in message
news:gi654q$8ns$1@forums.macromedia.com...
> dave,
>
>> I am using onLoadInit already, so that I can fade in the clip
>> once it has loaded.
>
> Cool. Gotcha.
>
>> My question is more to do with the loaded clip itself.
>>
>> For example the loaded clip may be a fairly large animation,
>> which on frame 1 has the script gotoAndPlay(20)
>
> Okay.
>
>> If frame 20 has not loaded by the time frame 1 has loaded,
>> does the script fail?
>
> Yes, because frame 20 "doesn't exist yet," as far as the SWF is
> concerned (or at least, as far as frame 1 is concerned). But the event
> we're discussing isn't dispatched until the external SWF has fully
> loaded -- which means all of its frames are accounted for.
>
>
> David Stiller
> Adobe Community Expert
> Dev blog, http://www.quip.net/blog/
> "Luck is the residue of good design."
>

dave,

> So, if my loaded swf has its own timelines and functions and
> variables, what can I do to make sure it doesn't start
> executing code that cannot workbecause the swf hasn't fully
> loaded?

AHA! Man ... I'm sorry for completely missing the gist of your
question. I understand now (knock on wood!). Yes, you're right, when the
child SWF is requested, it will progressively download, just like the parent
SWF. Because of this, certain features -- like referencing frames that
haven't yet downloaded) might fail. If you have access to the child SWF's
source FLA, you could add a stop() action to frame 1 and wrap the remainder
of its frame 1 code into a custom function (say, init()), that you can then
execute from the parent SWF after loading is complete. Alternatively, you
could bump the child's frame 1 code into frame 2 -- while leaving the stop()
action in frame 1 -- and then instruct that SWF to play() after loading is
complete.

Does that make sense?


David Stiller
Adobe Community Expert
Dev blog, http://www.quip.net/blog/
"Luck is the residue of good design."

Thanks David

I probably hadn't explained very well at first.

So I guess this could be quite a major problem if you were downloading 3rd
party content for whatever reason.

The content in this case is all mine so I can do as you have suggested.

Thanks again.

Dave


"David Stiller" <stiller@quip-remove-.net> wrote in message
news:gi8kaj$fve$1@forums.macromedia.com...
> dave,
>
>> So, if my loaded swf has its own timelines and functions and
>> variables, what can I do to make sure it doesn't start
>> executing code that cannot workbecause the swf hasn't fully
>> loaded?
>
> AHA! Man ... I'm sorry for completely missing the gist of your
> question. I understand now (knock on wood!). Yes, you're right, when the
> child SWF is requested, it will progressively download, just like the
> parent SWF. Because of this, certain features -- like referencing frames
> that haven't yet downloaded) might fail. If you have access to the child
> SWF's source FLA, you could add a stop() action to frame 1 and wrap the
> remainder of its frame 1 code into a custom function (say, init()), that
> you can then execute from the parent SWF after loading is complete.
> Alternatively, you could bump the child's frame 1 code into frame 2 --
> while leaving the stop() action in frame 1 -- and then instruct that SWF
> to play() after loading is complete.
>
> Does that make sense?
>
>
> David Stiller
> Adobe Community Expert
> Dev blog, http://www.quip.net/blog/
> "Luck is the residue of good design."
>

dave,

> So I guess this could be quite a major problem if you were
> downloading 3rd party content for whatever reason.

True ... but there are often creative ways to hack around issues like
this. Ultimately, the responsibility lies with the content creator. If
someone makes a SWF to be given, sold, or otherwise shared as a 3rd party
widget, that widget should be "smart enough" to handle its own functionality
correctly. If the widget's first frame tells it to jump to another frame
that hasn't yet loaded, the problem you're describing holds true even when
the SWF is embedded directly into an HTML page. In other words, this isn't
a MovieClipLoader issue per se. Make sense?

Off the top of my head, I can imagine (this is theoretical) requesting
the child SWF via MovieClipLoader -- using the Sound class if necessary to
silence that container that loads it -- and, as soon as the child content is
fully loaded, dumping the container with MovieClip.unloadMovie(). By doing
this, you've stored the child SWF in the user's temporary Internet files.
When you request it again, on the heels of the first request, it should load
instantly (because it's already downloaded). Obviously, this hack assumes
that the user has room in his/her browser cache. Food for thought, anyway.
:)


David Stiller
Adobe Community Expert
Dev blog, http://www.quip.net/blog/
"Luck is the residue of good design."

Yes, it's a fair point.

It would be nice if there were a "do nothing unitl loaded" flag but I guess
that is really not the point of flash.

The hack seems an interesting concept, but for now I think I wll put a
stop() in frame 1 of all loaded content and issue a play() when the
onloadinit is fired.

Thanks for your input.


"David Stiller" <stiller@quip-remove-.net> wrote in message
news:gi8o97$kv5$1@forums.macromedia.com...
> dave,
>
>> So I guess this could be quite a major problem if you were
>> downloading 3rd party content for whatever reason.
>
> True ... but there are often creative ways to hack around issues like
> this. Ultimately, the responsibility lies with the content creator. If
> someone makes a SWF to be given, sold, or otherwise shared as a 3rd party
> widget, that widget should be "smart enough" to handle its own
> functionality correctly. If the widget's first frame tells it to jump to
> another frame that hasn't yet loaded, the problem you're describing holds
> true even when the SWF is embedded directly into an HTML page. In other
> words, this isn't a MovieClipLoader issue per se. Make sense?
>
> Off the top of my head, I can imagine (this is theoretical) requesting
> the child SWF via MovieClipLoader -- using the Sound class if necessary to
> silence that container that loads it -- and, as soon as the child content
> is fully loaded, dumping the container with MovieClip.unloadMovie(). By
> doing this, you've stored the child SWF in the user's temporary Internet
> files. When you request it again, on the heels of the first request, it
> should load instantly (because it's already downloaded). Obviously, this
> hack assumes that the user has room in his/her browser cache. Food for
> thought, anyway. :)
>
>
> David Stiller
> Adobe Community Expert
> Dev blog, http://www.quip.net/blog/
> "Luck is the residue of good design."
>