Flash, IE, the OBJECT tag, and non-SWF extensions, oh my!

[ESBertrand]

We have the trial version of Download Studio and are very happy with the features. It's downloading good-size sites and have very, very few issues.

The only "big" issue we see has to do with the way the Flash content is downloaded. The SWF files are downloaded fine, but inside the HTML markup, inside the OBJECT tag, the path to the SWF file is not being updated correctly, when the filename for the Flash files isn't "SWF".

We're using a .NET-based CMS called Kentico which allows us to store SWF files in the CMS; however, to refer to SWF files in the CMS we need to use a special alias path which ends with an ASPX extension. Here's an example of the markup for a Flash object as it's output from the CMS:

<object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=10,0,0,0" width="688" height="322" id="FlashTemp" align="middle">
	<param name="allowScriptAccess" value="sameDomain" />
	<param name="wmode" value="opaque" />
	<param name="allowFullScreen" value="false" />
	<param name="movie" value="/getfile/95575019-7d70-4657-b3bf-be0388954eac/Email-Management.aspx" />
    <param name="quality" value="high" />
    <param name="bgcolor" value="#003366" />	
    <embed src="/getfile/95575019-7d70-4657-b3bf-be0388954eac/Email-Management.aspx" quality="high" bgcolor="#003366" width="688" height="322" name="FlashTemp" align="middle" allowscriptaccess="sameDomain" allowfullscreen="false" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" wmode="opaque" />
</object>

In the version downloaded by DownloadStudio, the path inside the EMBED tag is correctly updated, but the PARAM value is not:

<object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab" width="688" height="322" id="FlashTemp" align="middle">
	<param name="allowScriptAccess" value="sameDomain" />
	<param name="wmode" value="opaque" />
	<param name="allowFullScreen" value="false" />
	<param name="movie" value="/getfile/95575019-7d70-4657-b3bf-be0388954eac/Email-Management.aspx" />
    <param name="quality" value="high" />
    <param name="bgcolor" value="#003366" />	
    <embed src="../../getfile/95575019-7d70-4657-b3bf-be0388954eac/email_management.swf" quality="high" bgcolor="#003366" width="688" height="322" name="FlashTemp" align="middle" allowscriptaccess="sameDomain" allowfullscreen="false" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" wmode="opaque" />
</object>

DownloadStudio correctly downloaded the "email_management.swf" file and referenced it correctly in the EMBED tag, but the path to the same file is not updated within the PARAM tag (i.e. it remains the path to the "file" in the CMS).

This discrepancy is ignored in Firefox and the Flash object plays fine, but in Internet Explorer (6, 7, and 8) the SWF is not even loaded -- understandably so, I suppose. Can handling be added to support at least Flash paths like this inside PARAM tags, either within the product itself, or via user-set options? Has anyone experienced and perhaps worked around this?

Erik

[Brent]

Hi Erik,

We have taken a look at the issue you reported and have made some changes to DownloadStudio.

Please fill in a support request on our site and we will be able to provide you with the updated 5.1.4 files.

[Brent]

If you want to download the fix directly, you can get it from here

Unzip over existing downloadstudio files.

[ESBertrand]

Wow, you guys really rock for answering and addressing that so quickly. The fix works great now.

One slightly related issue I realized while testing this -- if the SWF depends on other SWF/FLV files, can DownloadStudio handle bringing those in as well? (I feel like I'm asking for the moon here, but can't hurt.) The main flash header on this page:

http://newforma.gbkdev.com

references an FLV and another SWF for the movie, and an optional (hidden in this case) set of interactive buttons for pausing/playing and muting, respectively. DownloadStudio didn't bring those in; I had to download them myself.

The main flash file (contains last/ending frame and references to other two depending files): http://newforma.gbkdev.com/Flash/SiteIntro.swf

Secondary "controls" SWF: http://newforma.gbkdev.com/Flash/Cle...aySeekMute.swf

Actual movie: http://newforma.gbkdev.com/Flash/Website_Intro.flv

Thanks for the help thus far - we'll be purchasing this great product today!

Erik

[Brent]

Hi Erik,

I am currently unable to access the URL's you mentioned in your last post. Everything at http://newforma.gbkdev.com times out at the moment. I will try again later to see if the site is up.

[ESBertrand]

Hi Brent. The site is up - just a little IT misunderstanding. Thanks for taking a look.

http://newforma.gbkdev.com

Erik

[Brent]

Hmmmm, still can't access the page. Ideas?

[ESBertrand]

Argh, I'm sorry about that, Brent. The site was on a box that was running a temporary license of some virtualization software, so it was on a 24-hour shutdown timer. I've moved the site to another server without such a limitation, so it should come up fine now. Again, many apologies!

http://newforma.gbkdev.com

Erik

[Brent]

Still have not been able to access the site, tried yesterday and just now.