This utility converts a Flash MX Reference XML file to a set of HTML help files with the same information. It creates a single HTML file for each reference entry, an “all-in-one” html file for searching, a table of contents with a DHTML tree, and a frameset.
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I’ve written tutorial for ultrashock.com introducing the topic of developing components for Flash MX 2004. Components have really come a long way since MX and in this article I introduce some and go through building a v2 component. I left a few things out purposely as there really is a lot to cover and I wanted to keep it approachable.
Also, this tutorial was part of a new series of tutorials released by Ultrashock.com. If you have not checked them out and want to get up to speed on Flash MX 2004 I highly recommend them.
Since the new version of Internet Explorer was announced, I’ve been curious to know why an alert box nullifies the patent issues. It turns out that since the patent only covers automatic loading of plugins, the fact that IE pops up a message box and requires user interaction makes the loading of plugins no longer automatic and thus the patent no longer applies.
Thanks to Macromedia for providing this explanation. They have a lot of great content on their Active Content Development Center.
Microsoft posted a few work-arounds on their developer network to deal with the Eolas patent covering plugins. The three work-arounds include embedding the plugin content directly in the HTML page as base64 encoded data, tagging content as non-external, thereby disabling external communication, and using external script to instantiate the content. Of these, only the last is backwards and cross-browser compatible.
The changes we’ll all need to make to our sites are quite straightforward…