Question

plug-in detection.

Asked by: alanmcclure

I want a very specific answer to this question.  Not just a url.  And I would like to hear a few opinions.  I have created a site in flash 5, that contains actions not available in flash 4.  Therefore, I need to make sure that the browser has the flash 5 player installed.  Of course internet explorer automatically detects the need for the new player.  But not all netscape version do.  I need a detection system that will work with all 3.0 and above browsers, and will make sure that the user specifically has the flash 5 player before going to the flash content.  Now, I know of the normal sniffer, but this does not really work.  It does not really know which version of the flash player is reading it.  It just makes sure that there is a flash player and if not, refreshes to a new page.  Another way that I thought of is not possible either.  There is an action in flash 5 that checks the version of the flash player, but since this is not a flash 4 action, it cannot check to see which version.  The third way is javascript, which I am coming to feel is probably the best way.  I do not know how to do it though.  Obviously, the javascript would need to get the version of the player, and if it was the wrong version, would need to write to the document that the new player is needed.  I do not know of any other ways.  If someone knows of a better way, please explain in detail how it works, and why it is better.  If you think the javascript way is best, please explain the basics of it and then if you want, post a url.  Code would also be helpful.  By the way, I have dreamweaver if that makes a difference.  Please help me out here becasue I don't want anyone falling through the cracks, or viewing messed up animation.

Thanks,

Alan

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Asked On
2000-11-05 at 11:20:34ID11764378
Topic

Adobe Flash

Participating Experts
4
Points
50
Comments
22

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Answers

 

by: shekarkrPosted on 2000-11-05 at 21:06:21ID: 5115242

Hi Alan.

Well, I do know of a site that explains all that you want, and I'd rather not repeat it here :)!

Have you checked out Colin Moock's site(www.moock.org)? He's created a Flash Player Inspector, which kinda implements what you are looking for. I am not saying that this is the perfect solution, but you can check it out if you like.

Lemme know if this helps!

Cheers,
Shekar.

 

by: alanmcclurePosted on 2000-11-05 at 21:50:55ID: 5115721

I've seen that before, and it looks great, but when I download it, I can't figure out what to do.  It doesn't have instructions, and I don't see code anywhere.  Should I use the js or the non-js version?  I think this is the method that I will use, unless someone comes up with something better, but I need a bit of help in figuring out how to use it.

Alan

 

by: ssdesignPosted on 2000-11-05 at 22:52:11ID: 5116479

well if you have dreamweaver then its easy to to javascript plugin detectin using behaviours.

If you want a complete code then i'll be posting it here later in the day, do check in later also.

good luck.

 

by: stef4sPosted on 2000-11-06 at 04:47:49ID: 5122020

what about this for an idea.

you know the meta refresh methed that works with flash 4

how about you just have a couple of Flash 5 specific lines of code. if the code executes you redirect the page in other words the flash 5 plugin is loaded.

 

by: alanmcclurePosted on 2000-11-06 at 08:24:27ID: 5127008

well, the dreamweaver solution sounds easy as long as it does what I want.  And Stef, your comment sounds good, but could you give me a small example please.

Alan

 

by: Dr_SnipplePosted on 2000-11-06 at 10:28:35ID: 5131021

www.flashforum.de

There you get a tuturial "flash5 detection".
It really works well, I tried it.

 

by: alanmcclurePosted on 2000-11-06 at 11:15:20ID: 5132063

I may except your answer Snipple, but I don't know german.  If you could explain to me how to use that detection method, and what the german means, I would appreciate it.

 

by: alanmcclurePosted on 2000-11-06 at 12:28:16ID: 5133760

I think that I have fond a solution that will work.  Let me know if there is a problem with it.  Basically, I created two sites, one wiht flash content, one without.  The intro screen has a small animation on the left and next to the animation says if you have a slow internet connection, or slow computer visit "site1".  If not, then right clik on the aniimation to the left, if it says "about macromedia flash 5 player" then visit "site2".  If you don't see the animation or it states flash version 3 or 4, go to "site1."  I know that this is quite a bit for the first page.  And a few decisions to make that slow down the surfing, however, I also added some javascript and vbscript flashplayer detection to automatically load the flash 5 player if the person doesn't have it, and then take them to the flash content.  It eh browser doesn't support auto-update, it takes the to the non-flash content, and then if their browser doesn't support scripts, they end up at the screen I just explained above, and have to make their own decision.  But For the most part no one will ever see this screen for more than a split second, and it covers virtually all possibilities.  Anyway, here is the site

http://www.stpetersrotary.org

Please let me know if there are any problems or you can forsee any problems.  I am still going to give someone the points.  I will give them to the person who helped the most.

Alan

 

by: stef4sPosted on 2000-11-07 at 00:51:36ID: 5147221

nice!!

just a little suggestion though. My desktop is 1024 by 768 and the writing is a bit small. why don't you try to resize the flash movie to the guy's screen?

 

by: stef4sPosted on 2000-11-07 at 01:44:59ID: 5148120

nice!!

just a little suggestion though. My desktop is 1024 by 768 and the writing is a bit small. why don't you try to resize the flash movie to the guy's screen?

 

by: alanmcclurePosted on 2000-11-07 at 08:38:24ID: 5155762

I would love to do that, but how.  IIs there a setting in the publish settings that will make it do that.  I tried to figure it out before and just gave up.  That is a good idea though, and I have heard before that that is the best way to do things.

Alan

 

by: alanmcclurePosted on 2000-11-07 at 09:20:08ID: 5157120

You ever wish you could erase a comment? Now everybody ask in unison, how does he get those expert points when he claims to not know how to make a movie scale.  And unfortuneately, I can't answer the question.  But, I do know how to scale the movie now, so check in about 5 min.  to see it.

 

by: stef4sPosted on 2000-11-07 at 22:01:02ID: 5174767

here is some javascript
this is for a 4 to 3 aspect ratio movie i.e. 640 by 480


function change()
            {      
          if (document.body.clientWidth > 1 && document.body.clientHeight > 1)
                  {
                  myHeight=document.body.clientHeight
                  aids.width=myHeight*4/3 + "px"
                  aids.height=document.body.clientHeight + "px"
                  }
            }

      window.onresize=change
      window.onload=change

 

by: stef4sPosted on 2000-11-07 at 22:02:52ID: 5174774

where "aids" is the name of the swf object tag thingy

 

by: alanmcclurePosted on 2000-11-08 at 00:18:41ID: 5176366

Does this javascript do something different than the "show all" setting combined with 100% width and height tags.  Because this is what I did and it seems to be working just fine.  Could there be a potential problem with it?

 

by: stef4sPosted on 2000-11-08 at 02:44:34ID: 5178582

no the show all setting will autosize your movie to the size of the object height and width tags.

the 100% setting will keep the movie a standard 640 by 480 (if designed that way) in other words it will be640 pixels by 480 bixels no matter what the height and width parameters are.

I will send you an fla to show you

 

by: stef4sPosted on 2000-11-08 at 02:58:26ID: 5178759

I have sent you a fla file that explains this stuff

 

by: alanmcclurePosted on 2000-11-08 at 09:04:52ID: 5187267

But I think it is working perfectly .  Visit http://www.stpetersrotary.org again and look at how I've done it.  It has the same ratio.  I'm just wondering if there are any compatibility problems with any browsers.  But I think it is scaling correctly.

 

by: stef4sPosted on 2000-11-08 at 12:18:56ID: 5192439

yes it is sizing properly

just a little question: why is it in the top left?

 

by: alanmcclurePosted on 2000-11-08 at 13:20:21ID: 5193863

Instead of center you mean?  Because when I designed it.  I designed it to be in the upper left due to be not thinking about the scalability.  Now, if I centered it, it wouldn't look right because the upper left is cropped.  It doesn't look bad to you in the upper left does it?  I also figured that most people start looking at things from the upper left.  

Alan

 

by: stef4sPosted on 2000-11-09 at 03:22:22ID: 5207568

I prefer peronally to use the whole screen for all my stuff. bu maybe thats just me cause I am half blind. hhehe

20120131-EE-VQP-002

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