Ventrilo hook read in Flash ActionScript 3 - actionscript-3

I would like to play a flash animation when someone talks in the VoIP program Ventrilo.
I have a simple animation setup within Adobe Flash and I would like to somehow trigger it when a specific person talks "keys-up" in Ventrilo.
I know the G15 keyboard can access Ventrilo remotely and display who is talking in real time so I think it should be possible to use this event to trigger a movie clip play command if I knew how to access it. I have looked for example code but can't find any.
I know this is probably a highly complex task but I'm sure there is a genius on Stackoverflow how knows how to do it or could at least set me on the right path.
Many thanks,

This is not going to be an easy task and is going to require writing a C/C++ ANE.
You can use Windows API hooking to intercept calls from Ventrilo.
http://www.gamedev.net/topic/387670-api-hooking/
http://www.codeproject.com/Articles/2082/API-hooking-revealed
You would need to write an ANE to use this inside your AIR app.
http://www.flexjunk.com/2011/11/30/developing-an-air-native-extension-for-osx-and-windows-in-c/

Related

Running Flash (AS3) code in Haxe

I am starting out developing in Haxe in combination with OpenFl, and am in a situation where I need to be able to run Flash/AS3 code in a Haxe program which is being compiled to Flash anyway.
I know I could use the command lime build -as3 as3source/ and then edit that code and manually insert the AS3 code I need to run, but I would prefer not doing that if I can.
Is there any way to do this?
You can compile your AS3 code into a separate swf or swc and then use -swf-lib to use it from Haxe.
You can always write a build script which enters the code in combination with the command for you, if you just want to avoid doing it manually, but I belive that´s the kind of answer you want.
I just find build script very usefull.
You may want to look at this article, some major options are described there (including tools for converting AS3 code to Haxe and technique with -swf-lib).

changing swf through reverse engineering

My aim is to change compiled swf flash games so they would send score to server through http. Unfortunately I only have compiled swf files. I would like to know is it even possible to make such changes with only decompilation, reverse engineering, etc. I have found a program called JPEXS Free Flash Decompiler (ffdec), but it only works with AS2. In AS3 I can see all the code but I cannot change anything bigger than constants. Do you know of any solution that would work with both AS2 and AS3 (probably not the same one)?
PS: For better or worse I am loading these swf into another one as a child, so apparently for example 'laodVariables' is not working.
I assume you have permission from the people who made those games to modify them in this way, in that case I recommend asking them for the source code and recompiling the games with the features you want. If you don't have permission then you shouldn't be doing this, so don't.

Adobe air or flex?

I am starting with my first application development. So far I have worked only with Html, css, js, jquery etc..
I want to create an app like the desktop gmail notifier which pings the server at regular interval, look for any messages and notifies the user. I read that Adobe Air and flex are the tools that can be used for this. I have developed the basic prototype in adobe air by studying the tutorials in net.
But the problem is that, my client doesn't want the source code to be made available to users. With air, you can see the complete source code after installation/unzipping the .air app.
Is there any way I can protect the source code? Or should I use flex and convert it to a swf? Is the source codes are protected in flex? I am not familiar with the flash action scripting. Please advice.
I think you are confused as to what Flex is. It is an SDK that is a level below the AIR and Flash SDKs. Flex is a secondary structural language that is meant to be used in conjunction with AS3, while AIR is compile-type.
It doesn't matter how you compile this, the source code will be attainable if someone really wants to get it. If you compile as an AIR app, you can unzip and get the SWF file. If you compile as a SWF, you already have that SWF. The SWF can then be decompiled using various tools.
There is no real way to hide front end code from prying eyes. Flash is definitely harder to read than HTML or CSS or Javascript, but definitely not impossible to view regardless of how you compile. Your best bet is definitely to offload as much as possible to a server and possibly obfuscate your code.
I would definitely try to explain to your client that it is simply not possible to truly hide source code from individuals who would like to access it. If someone really wants to steal the code, they can and will.
Code cannot be hided in any front end technologies, Flash (SWF, Flex or AIR) or HTML (JavaScript).
Do all the business logic at server and authentic properly for securing your data.
And AIR and Flash Player are both runtimes which play applications written in Adobe Flash or Apache Flex.
You can use a client-server implementation to hide the logic from the user and flex would just render a UI based on the business logic from the server side code(php,java or .NET) that interacts with the gmail servers
If you want proper notifications, go with AIR - access to some system-level features like toast notifications. With Flex, you'll be limited to webpage content.
About code protection - you can develop app in ActionScript and then protect compiled SWF with obfuscator for some fair defense, although there's probably no good free obfuscators. I paid some bucks for secureSWF license and consider it a good investment. Of course, determined hacker would crack app anyway (in theory,) but I would'nt worry about this too much for a simple pinger app.

Alternative to using Flash Projector as Autorun Interface?

I have been given the task of creating an Autorun installer for a distributable CD, and thought I would challenge the task with Flash. In previous versions of flash it was possible to use fscommand and trickery to run other local exe files, but due to virus creators and what-not, this has been reworked and totally destroyed for others to use.
So as a Flash developer I have hit a bit of a brick wall with this, and am asking out for any alternative ideas anybody may have? I am quite open with learning new languages/programs, and would like any expert advice from people in the know.
Just as a heads up for what features are required:
GUI with simple graphics/buttons
Ability to launch external exe/pdf files
must be able to be compiled to an exe, which can be launched by any windows machine without installing third party software eg Java.
The only simple solution I have thought of is making an html page, but using a browser is something I want to avoid doing!
Please Help :)
Christian
You can continue using flash freely if you want. There is a bunch of projector tools like northcode swf studion, Zink, mProjector and others. You can also create your own tool using any system programing language that produces windows executable - the only thing you will need - is to create an ActiveX instance of Flash Player and set up minimalistic API to allow Flash call required system functions.

Flash ActionScript 3.0 - Any free compiler, tools and tutorials?

I have got an assignment in which I have to implement a AS3 wrapper for any FLV player and I have to expose actionscript functions (External Interfaces?) so that other can be used in other different applications via CallFunction API. I have few questions regarding this -
Are the tools for this are freely available? I know Flex SDK is but I want standalone swf (I means Flash Player 10) that can be used anywhere without any dependency and should contain FLV player embedded or should be able to load it from a particular location by supplying the URL.
Is it possible only with an ActionScript compiler (or any free tools?). My problem is that I don't have flash or flex builder and I don't want to spend money on these because I don't work on it.
As I have almost zero knowledge about it. Can you guys please explain me (if possible with details) that what I need to do. Any resoures on how to create and compile?
If any of you have ever done this it would be really great if you guys can share samples. I've heard that many people have done the same thing for video players.
I can share a bit of my setup
I use Flash (CS5) for creating assets
I use FlexSDK as the compiler
And do all the code in FlashDevelop
Flashdevelop is for PC only for now, it's free and comes since the last few versions now with a debugger
I use FlexSDK to compile and Eclipse with AS IDE or something along those lines, and then preview things in a web browser using an html page with the swf file embedded.
check out projectsprouts. its a pretty nice Flash (as2/3/Flex/AIR) generation tool that can help you stub out your project, compile it, and even create unit tests if you want. pretty simple ruby install (i am a ruby newb, and got is running pretty easily). It was a pretty good support base, and an active mailing list where people will be happy to help you along.
It is important to note that the FlexSDK has very little to do with Flex unless you are linking against classes that are Flex specific. mxmlc does not have anything to do with MXML even though it will also compile MXML.
Here is an article that describes Flash development on Linux. It is pretty old, but the principles are the same. With an Actionscript 3 Compiler (contained in the FlexSDK) and a text editor, you are off to the races. It is a lot easier with Flash Builder 4, FDT 4, Intellij IDEA, Flash Develop, etc ;)