AS3 - replacing / taking over base AS function - actionscript-3

I have following scenario:
I load many external swf files (they are at same domain) dynamically inside my AS3 loader.
All of them using navigateToURL (AS3) or getURL (AS2) on some buttons, that redirects to currently no more existing old domain.
Is it possible to replace (take over) navigateToURL and getURL base AS functions to change redirect link to up to date one or at least block loaded swf from opening urls?

No. You can extend classes, and implement your own override for methods/properties, but the previously compiled swf would need to point to your new class (which it won't).
You could try catching the error thrown (perhaps with UncaughtErrorEvent) and judiciously interpret the intended URL and dispatch the appropriate commands. The ideal would still be to just recompile the loaded SWF after running a search-and-replace for the deprecated method.

Related

crossdomain problems: swf frame script not calling when swf loading from sub-domain

I have character.swf (published with flash CS6) that contains character animations with some simple frame scripts in child movieClips(gotoAndPlay(), stop() etc) and game.swf - main programm that loads character.swf for using it in game.
If game and character are in the same domain (http://client.mygame.com) then frame scripts in character.swf are working fine. But if I put character to different domain (http://resources.mygame.com) then frame scripts are not working. Possible not envoked at all.
crossdomain.xml is correct and all swf-s contain allow domain code such as :
Security.allowDomain("*");
Security.allowInsecureDomain("*");
Is there any ideas why it happens?
[upd] I found some pattern in the behavior of scripts working. It seems they are not working only if I create an instance of character by ApplicationDomain.getDefinition(className). If I use loaded content directly, scripts are working
First of all - any Security Error would've been traced to the output - can you confirm that you don't see any errors in the output? Have you set checkPolicyFile when loading character.swf with Loader? Check if you have this: LoaderContext - checkPolicyFile

Main menu on game

I have created a menu for my game with buttons and whatnot as a separate .fla file named Menu. My actual game is another .fla file called Game.fla. I was wondering what the best way would be of loading this menu before the game plays?
Thanks.
I would suggest that you create a .swc with your Menu.fla, and then just add that .swc to your Game.fla
If you are using CS6, make sure that you are setting linkage for any MovieClips you want to create instances of in your code.
In the actionscript settings on the library path tab, you can add a .swc that will be included into your .swf when compiling.
In your code, you can now create an instance and add to the display list :
// Assuming MainMenu was a movieclip with linkage set in your .swc
var mainMenu:MainMenu = new MainMenu;
addChild(mainMenu);
I should note that this does not load the .swc at runtime, it includes the .swc to your .swf at compile time. I would recommend this method over loading a .swf in most cases. Cases where I might not, is if there was a large amount of content that wasn't needed all at once. That would allow you to minimize the amount of memory you were using and reduce the .swf size of your main .swf so it loads quicker.
Anytime you are loading .swf's in at runtime you are adding another layer of complexity, so I'd not recommend it unless you do have a good reason to do so. From what you have described, this doesn't sound like a situation where I'd load an external .swf at runtime.
Load the swf output from Menu.fla and keep a check on the progressEvent from loader. Don't show the game screen until Menu.swf is completely loaded and initialized.
Some more details wrt comment from OP:
You can you http://help.adobe.com/en_US/FlashPlatform/reference/actionscript/3/flash/display/Loader.html#load%28%29 to load external swfs. init Event would mark that the swf's actionscript has started executing. OTOH, complete event would tell that all the swf bytes have been loaded.

Pass file from AS3 into embedded AS2 wrapper to load

I have a Flash AS3 application that uses FileReference.browse() to request a SWF from the user. If the chosen SWF is AS3, I'm good to go. However, if it's AS2, I need to load it into an AS2 wrapper first (so my app can alter it). All of these files (including my app and wrapper) are intended to exist locally on the user's machine, but the file they select can exist in any directory. So to be clear: Main application (AS3) -> Wrapper (AS2) -> User's file (AS2)
I know how to get the uploaded file's ActionScript version from the Loader's loaderInfo.actionScriptVersion variable, and that's working correctly. My issue is how to pass the file from the AS3 application to the AS2 wrapper so it can load it.
My first thought was to dump the ByteArray from the FileReference's load() function into a SharedObject "cookie". This method seemed pretty bad from a user-experience point of view, but it seemed most likely to work. However, I've been unable to find any method within AS2 to load the ByteArray as a movie (in fact, AS2 doesn't even seem to have a ByteArray class). So the first potential solution to my problem would be if anyone knew of a method for loading a movie from a ByteArray in AS2.
My second thought was to pass the uploaded file's path to my wrapper via the already-setup LocalConnection bridge, and then just have it load the file from that. However, I can't find any way to get the file's path, and my Googling suggests the security model intentionally prevents it. Not to mention, I'm not sure I can load an arbitrary file from the user's machine.
My "hands up in the air; I give up" solution was to just create separate buttons for loading AS3 and AS2 files (leaving it up to the users to guess which it is!) and have the AS2 button actually within the AS2 wrapper. However, it looks like AS2 doesn't have a file browsing uploading API, and the PHP-hybrid solutions I've found aren't an option (because this is meant to be run locally).
So, I would be eternally grateful if anyone could point me in the right direction for solving any of these three roadblocks. Alternative workarounds are of course welcome.
(Edit)
Ok, I found the documentation for AS2's version of the FileReference class. It supports the same file-browsing capability, but does not support directly loading the selected file into the SWF.
However, the security sandbox doesn't seem as strict for local files as I expected, and it looks like I can load any SWF on the user's machine once I have a path to it. So I should be able use JavaScript and an HTML form with a file input to get and pass the file path to my application. It's not ideal having to do all of this from within a web browser, but it should work. If it turns out satisfactorily I'll submit it as an answer.
(Edit 2)
Scratch the HTML-form idea. Looks like the path is hidden from JavaScript for the same reasons Flash hides it. The only option I can think of now is to have the user copy and paste the path to the file...
After reading over your post, you may be able to retry one of your previous attemps with some new information. Actionscript 2 DOES have a method for looking up files from a browser, same as AS3 does. AS2 also has a FileReference class. Check out the documentation here:
http://help.adobe.com/en_US/AS2LCR/Flash_10.0/help.html?content=00001040.html
Also, here is a tutorial:
http://markshu.ca/imm/flash/tutorial/fileReference.html
Well, all of my other leads have dried up, so I'm submitting the two answers that will actually work, although neither is ideal:
A) Use Adobe AIR, which will give more access to the filesystem (such as for getting path info) at the cost of requiring the separate AIR runtime to be installed.
B) Have the user enter the path to the file themselves (cumbersome for the user)

Partial updates to an SWF

WHat is the standard method for say a server to update an already loaded SWF on the client browser, i.e. something analogous to how an html page is partially updated via ajax (though I don't know a lot about ajax yet either.) Would the mechanism be the same if user-initiated.
I assume the .SWF should have public functions that can be invoked, then you'll use javascript to access the swf from the html page its in, then invoke a public function of that swf.
Just the specific terms or functions I need to search for to get a primer on this would be great.
ALso, How would one go about testing the public functions of an swf that is already loaded in a browser (wihtout having a full Adobe devleopment suite for example).
This is quite a vast subject actually. This is the whole RIA concept. Flash can look after itself in terms of communicating with a server , you don't necessarily need Javascript. You only need a server side language to communicate with.
Since it all can happen within the swf , public functions don't really come into it. A User initiates an action in the movie that triggers a call to a remoting service which in turn sends a response which consequently updates the movie.
A few areas you can look into, in no particular order:
Flash PHP communication
Zend Amf Server ( Zend Framework )
http://framework.zend.com/
For testing purposes , try MonsterDebugger
http://gotoandlearn.com/play.php?id=109
Edit:
Flash can use PHP to retrieve a XML , then parse the XML & change the data inside the SWF according to the data retrieved in the XML
http://gotoandlearn.com/play.php?id=90
In case of a link, the concept is a bit different, because depending on the type of link this may cause a page refresh. The approach in the above tutorial could be user initiated by clicking on a swf element, entering text in a text input box etc... this is what I meant by the RIA concept. It's quite standard now in Flash that user interaction will introduce changes in your SWF by making calls to the server.

AS3: How to dynamically load movieclip from library without exporting in frame 1?

I have some fairly large movieclips in the library which need to be dynamically loaded at runtime. I don't want to export them all in frame 1, because that would slow down initial loading of the movie.
I tried putting an instance of each of these clips later in the timeline where they wouldn't normally be encountered. When I then tried to load one from the library dynamically, I was able to successfully get an instance of the movieclip, but its currentFrame property was 0 and I couldn't see anything on the stage. As soon as I enabled "Export in frame 1", it worked properly.
Does this old trick of putting an instance on the timeline somewhere no longer work in AS3?
I have had similar issues with large library assets and to solve my issue I would always just put the assets into separate swf's and load the external swf file when I needed it.
Check out the Loader class 'content' property - http://livedocs.adobe.com/flash/9.0/ActionScriptLangRefV3/flash/display/Loader.html#content
The only downfall to this is managing the assets in separate files.
I hope this helps.