Flash Desktop Application - how to update?

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speedy8888 - 09 Jan 2008 17:46 GMT

Hi all,
I'm trying to put together a flash desktop application. I want it show each of
my .swf's i created, per month ( i.e. january month plays 1.swf, february plays
2.swf, march plays 3.swf etc.)
how can i code the flash to update automatically or would i have to use some
external codes to accomplish this?
is it even possible to update if it's a desktop application?

any help would be greatly appreciated :)
thanks ! :confused;

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OurTown - 09 Jan 2008 21:49 GMT

I'm creating something like this at the moment. The way I have it
updating is using an XML file hosted on my server. It tells the Flash program
on the desktop what to load. That's the closest I think you're going to get to
having it update. The file has to be closed and then opened for it to update.
It's only retrieving the XML data once. I'm sure it could be done with the app
open, but I don't have that much of a need for that. I'm using the XML
connector and binding it to list and text areas to load data. You can use a
loader to have it load a swf or jpg. I saw a tut just a little bit ago. It's
on this site somewhere. It's for Flash MX, but it still works.

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speedy8888 - 10 Jan 2008 11:53 GMT

thank you, OurTown

I'm still in the beginning process - I'm more a designer than a
developer/programmer so all these codes are very confusing in terms of how they
connect to each other.

Another question - what program are you using to publish the file as a
standalone application that users can download? It seems that publishing the
flash file as a projector (.exe) file only makes it open in flash player

was that a dumb question? :grin;

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OurTown - 10 Jan 2008 17:30 GMT

[Q]Another question - what program are you using to publish the file as a
standalone application that users can download? It seems that publishing the
flash file as a projector (.exe) file only makes it open in flash player

was that a dumb question? [/Q]

I'm using Flash 8. As long as the user has Flash installed in their browser
than using the .exe file on the computer has no issues. I believe that the
reason the .exe file is larger than the .swf is that it contains the necessary
information to run the .exe file whether Flash is installed on the computer or
not. I haven't tested that out yet though.

Adobe's Air actually allows you to install the application. I haven't been
able to play with that as of yet, but I have seen some people using it and a
demo of it.

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Webmaster Forum / Flash / Data Integration / January 2008

Flash Desktop Application - how to update?