Many thanks to everyone here for your help and sharing your insights and knowledge with me.
So, from what I understand from your replies, it would probably be better for me to use a static embed method and call swfobject.registerObject() in the head of the printed page, and this also allows version detection and express install if JavaScript is enabled. Is that right? All the best, Matt On Jan 11, 7:55 pm, Vincent Polite <[email protected]> wrote: > Delurking from a long period of inactivity on this thread: > > All of the points the various folks have brought up are valid. As someone > who has experienced a great deal of pain and suffering in regards to > dynamically generated Flash via PHP/js using SWFObject, I can categorically > and emphatically say that SWFObject, as a code base, is quite effective. > Unfortunately, various iterations of web browser will cause all sorts of > headache with very specific Flash parameters, especially if you are using % > with width/height and wmode=transparent. These issues have almost always > been found to be browser specific and as a result, extremely difficult to > track, and impossible to debug/troubleshoot unless you happen to have some > juice with either Adobe or Mozilla's dev teams. > > In order to really convince yourself that SWFObject is working, my > suggestion to you is to simplify your Flash Embed. The best way to do this > is to create static pages that embed one or more .swf files on your web > pages. The point of being specific about using either the static or dynamic > content method is key. This really is an either/or proposition. The code > generator that is linked to in the FAQ provides an easily templated web page > that you can use to embed one .swf. Extending this to deal with multiple > SWFObjects is a fairly trivial programming exercise in PHP. > > You'll likely find that the actual "job" of SWFObject, which is to simply > embed/bring forth the Flash file in question is done quite well. > > Depending on the DOM methods you are using around the flash object and > specific parameters you are using (say if you are embedding them within > dynamic "window" like regions on your screen), you may find some very > painful truths among the various web browsers where the Flash movie doesn't > render as expected. My particular bugaboo is in FF3.5.x where a Flash movie > that didn't have problems before is now inverting the screen color on > specific click and mouseover actions (wth). This isn't SWFObject, although > one might argue that there is something that moved underneath the scenes > that SWFObject isn't compensating for, as someone who has peeked under the > hood at the SWFObject codebase... the good folks who are maintaining this > project have done an excellent job. > > So, simplify first. Programatically, I always found it easier to use the > dynamic method, but I certainly respect your needs regarding the static > publishing method. If you do have flags in your PHP generator functions to > switch things around, it sounds like maybe you've created some sort of PHP > abstract object (if not you should) and manager of the SWFObject embeds. > Invoking it as such and unit testing it in a simple environment is key for > you understanding whether or not your code base is really at issue or if > there's really some cool new condition (we call it a feature) where > SWFObject's code base should be modified. > > something like: > > $x = new SWFObject; > $x->swf = '<pathtofile>'; > $x->params = array('width'=>'400', 'height'=>'200'); > . > . > . > $x->renderjs(); // header output > $x->renderHTML(); // actual in page output > > and/or > > $swfmanager = new SWFObjectManager; > $swfmanager->addSWFObject($x); > $swfmanager->render(); > > The concept illustrated by the PHP skeleton above is... having a SWFObject > in PHP that basically mirrors all the setup methods for a single SWFObject > file. It has a renderjs() method that basically outputs the HTML needed to > show the file in both the header and the inline HTML as needed. The reason > I personally advocate using an SWFObjectManager class is to simplify the > whole putting some code in the <head> section and the other code in the > <body> section. Then the ObjectManager is "smart" enough to only do a > single .js include as needed and then just iterates over a collection of > SWFObjects (added via the addSWFObject method). > > Obviously you can choose your own method given your server platform (PHP). > But right now, ideally to get your problem solved. Simplify the error case, > and take the time to develop simple versions of the pages based on the > generated template output to convince yourself that SWFObject is doing what > it needs to do. > > Best wishes, > > Vincent Polite > > On Mon, Jan 11, 2010 at 9:33 AM, Philip Hutchison <[email protected]>wrote: > > > > > Using both static and dynamic publishing makes no sense and bloats the > > page's code. If the dynamic embed fails, it's usually because Flash Player > > is missing (or an inadequate version is installed). Using static publishing > > as a fallback won't fix that. > > > If you're worried about JavaScript restrictions, you should just use static > > publishing from the get-go, since it will work even if JavaScript is > > disabled (though some extra features will stop functioning, such as Express > > Install and version detection). > > > - philip > > > On Mon, Jan 11, 2010 at 3:02 AM, Matt Bury <[email protected]> wrote: > > >> Hi Philip, > > >> Thanks for your prompt reply. This forum is a great idea. I've read > >> the FAQ page you linked to and bookmarked it - very useful! > > >> Re: #1 - I'll look into this one more, although since my code works > >> perfectly with SWFObject 2.0, I'm sceptical. I came across a similar > >> issue (with % width and height values) in Firefox a while ago when > >> upgrading from SWFObject 1.5 to 2.0. A few months later, the issue > >> seemed to have been resolved. > > >> Re: #14 - I don't have any such extensions installed in Firefox. > > >> Re: I'm curious... Let's see if I'm getting this right - I use dynamic > >> embedding as the primary method which overwrites the > >> "myAlternativeContent" div tag. If that fails for some reason then the > >> static content remains and you can still see embedded Flash. Since > >> this is a PHP script, it's very easy to switch either embed method on > >> or off to test it with various browsers with various settings. Since > >> this plugin is intended for use in various schools, colleges, > >> universities, companies, NGOs and govt. organisations, where they > >> often have strange restrictions on what users can and can't do, I need > >> a "foolproof" embed method. > > >> Are you saying that I should only use static content? Please let me > >> know if I'm way off track! > > >> @Kyle: Here's a link to my demo course where I've got the plugin > >> working with SWFObject 2.0 - > >>http://matbury.com/moodle/course/view.php?id=9 > >> (Login as a guest) Unfortunately, I can't use SWFObject 2.2 on this > >> site since it would prevent some of my user groups from accessing > >> Flash applications. You can view/download the SWF Activity Module and > >> FLV Player code from these Google Code project sites: > > >> SWF Activity Module:http://code.google.com/p/swf-activity-module/ > > >> FLV Player:http://code.google.com/p/moodle-flv-player/ > > >> Thanks again for your help :) > > >> On Jan 10, 10:57 pm, Philip Hutchison <[email protected]> wrote: > >> > hi matt > > >> > swfobject 2.x has been thoroughly tested in firefox 2.x and 3.x. > > >> > check out the FAQs to see if any apply to you (esp #1 and #14) > >>http://code.google.com/p/swfobject/wiki/faq > > >> > i'm curious: why are you using both static publishing AND dynamic > >> publishing > >> > for the same swf? you should normally use one or the other, not both > >> (using > >> > both is redundant and won't get you any extra functionality or > >> > compatibility). > > >> > - philip > > >> > On Sun, Jan 10, 2010 at 1:14 PM, Matt Bury <[email protected]> wrote: > >> > > Hi, > > >> > > I'm developing a plugin module for an open source PHP learning > >> > > management system (Moodle) that leverages the JW FLV Player from > >> > > LongtailVideo.com. Previous versions have worked without any problems > >> > > with various versions of the player across IE, Chrome, Safari and > >> > > Firefox. > > >> > > I've updated the SWFObject version from 2.0 to 2.2 and I've come > >> > > across this problem (SWFObject 2.2 doesn't work in Firefox 3.5). > >> > > Everthing is fine in all other browsers and I've tried switching > >> > > between SWFObject embed and "alternativeContent" embed which is just > >> > > bog standard HTML code. The alternative content, which is not > >> > > dependent on SWFObject, works. > > >> > > Like I've said, everything works fine with SWFObject 2.0 and it's only > >> > > when I try 2.2 that things go wrong, so I tried opening the example > >> > > files that come in the swfobject.zip download package - index.html and > >> > > index_dynamic.html (both of which are dependent on SWFObject) - and > >> > > neither of them display the test.swf file in Firefox! Again, no > >> > > problems with the other browsers. > > >> > > Is this a Firefox or a SWFObject bug? Does anyone know? > > >> > > In case you're interested, here's an instance of the code my module > >> > > prints out: > > >> > > <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" "http:// > >> > >www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> > >> > > <html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"; dir="ltr" lang="en" > >> > > xml:lang="en"> > >> > > <head> > >> > > <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; > >> > > charset=utf-8" /> > >> > > <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href=" > >>http://localhost/moodle19/ > >> > > theme/standard/styles.php< > >>http://localhost/moodle19/%0Atheme/standard/styles.php>" > >> > > /> > >> > > <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href=" > >>http://localhost/moodle19/ > >> > > theme/standardwhite/styles.php< > >>http://localhost/moodle19/%0Atheme/standardwhite/styles.php>" > >> > > /> > >> > > <script type="text/javascript" src=" > >>http://localhost/moodle19/mod/flv/ > >> > > swfobject/swfobject.js< > >>http://localhost/moodle19/mod/flv/%0Aswfobject/swfobject.js> > >> > > "></script> > >> > > <script type="text/javascript"> > >> > > var flashvars = {}; > >> > > flashvars.abouttext = ""; > >> > > flashvars.aboutlink = " > >> > >http://www.longtailvideo.com/players/";; > >> > > flashvars.author = ""; > > ... > > read more »
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