Re: Java Flash Questions

[John Dowdell]

At 2:28 AM 5/22/98, Joe Crawford wrote:

> - Aftershock is what I need to use the Flash player, yes?


Aftershock makes it easy to choose a media-substitution strategy... you

don't *have* to use it to download the Flash Java Player on demand, but

it's a lot easier than scripting it manually.



> - The .jar, .zip, and .class files are used by different JV

>   machines - which ones use which? Should I care?


Nah, shouldn't care much... just upload 'em all. Java-enabled Netscape 4

uses JARs (Java Archives, single-package, compressed), and IE/Win32 uses

CABs (cabinet files, single-package, compressed), and Netscape 3.0 browsers

use ZIPs (single-package, uncompressed), and some of the minority browsers

use the raw class files (many HTTP connections).


Although you can upload just the class files, the additional formats are a

courtesy for people with more modern browsers... will help them download

faster.



> - I had trouble making a .swf file (version 2) use java - not

>   sure what I did wrong - What I did was:


A good first step is to check whether that browser can view the Flash Java

test files on the Macromedia website. This would help point towards either

the browser's Java configuration, or the upload process.



> - Any tips on using Aftershock successfully?


Biggest one is that the "Scripting" page is most important, and the popup

menu is the most important on that page. You can greatly customize that

Scripting page, but most times, just flipping the "Scheme" popup will do

it.


One other tip is to stay with the "Robust Java" default on the "Java" page.

Some older versions of Java just don't play up to par, and dropping down to

GIF on those pages is probably a kinder thing to do for the audience.


Save out in Flash 2 format for Java playback, too... the Java Player

doesn't understand transparency and other new features yet.


(We've also currently got an Aftershock/Dreamweaver intercommunication

problem, because Dreamweaver will fail if an OBJECT tag does not have WIDTH

and HEIGHT attributes. Please be sure these are filled in, until we can fix

the problem, thanks.)


jd




John Dowdell, Macromedia Tech Support, San Francisco CA US


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