Re: FLASH: Shared Buttons bug MUZAK?

[Andrew Shirk]

Muzak, 


Sincere thanks for contributing to this discussion.


> No, you can't put actions in buttons (AFAIK).

> 

> But, there seems to be a problem when you have a shared button symbol, bring

> it into some movie as a shared object and then attach

> an action to it as with any normal non-shared button -> it won't work. It does

> not execute any action.

> I must say I never really looked into the shared library thing.


Which is what Macromedia was banking on.


> I just had a quick run through the F5 help documentation and nowhere does it

> say that you CAN share 'button symbols'.


Totally incorrect. Page 11 in "Using Flash" under the heading "Workflow":


"Shared libraries let you link to library items as external assets. You can

create font symbols to include in shared libraries, as well as buttons,

graphics, movie clips, and sounds."



> It doesn't say

> you can't either though. But then again, should documentation provide you with

> information about what you CANNOT do with the

> program? Sounds silly to me.


Yes, good documentation should, especially when it's something you'd so

intuitively expect to work.



> Using shared libraries can optimize your workflow and movie asset management

> in numerous ways. For example, you can use shared

> libraries to do the following:


Are you copying this out of the book? How do you know if any of these work

if you've never really looked at shared libraries??


> Share a sound file across a site


I haven't tried this. Can anyone confirm this works completely as it should?


> Share a font symbol across multiple sites


Simply doesn't work in dynamic text or dynamic text with html, exactly the

places shared font symbols would be most useful. This problem was confirmed

by Macromedia Support Engineer Bentley Wolfe last week. It's a confirmed

dual platform problem.


> Provide a single source for elements in animations used across multiple scenes

> or movies


Just a more general way of saying the previous two.


> Create a central resource library to use for tracking and controlling

> revisions


Yes, except, revisions that are made aren't apparent in the authoring

environment.


> And Andrew, you make it sound as if you bought F5 just because of the shared

> library feature.

> Oh boy, you must be dissappointed. Get over it!


Muzak, let me ask you something. If you bought a car that you thought had a

powerful V8 engine, only to find out a few months later (after opening the

hood) that it actually had a wimpy 4 banger, would you "get over it?" I

don't think so. Instead, you'd demand the engine be replaced or your money

be given back. (I tried to do the latter, but was turned down. I would be

happy with the previous.)


But you see, this is exactly what happened to everyone that bought Flash 5.

And, for the life of me, I can't understand why there aren't more angry

developers. Maybe noone is using them, I don't know. However, this accepting

and forgiving attitude you're calling for, Muzak, is exactly why we have the

shared library problems in the first place!! Macromedia knows they can get

away with it. Wake up! You're being hookwinked, scammed, swindled, and you

don't care!!! You're actually begging for it to happen again, and it will

unless we do something.


Macromedia calculated the risks of releasing an incomplete Flash 5, and thus

far, they've been right to assume the potential for gain was much greater.

Understand, this is *their* gain, not ours. We are the ones that must hunt

around like animals for scraps of information Macromedia already has. Do you

realize the shared buttons bug appeared in the Macromedia forum two weeks

ago and was confirmed, but there still isn't a technote documenting the

problem?? WHY? Because Macromedia is acting only with their interests in

mind. They can't advertise the amazing "features" of Flash 5 on one page and

then publish a technote documenting the lack of that feature on another

page. Don't you see? They're only trying to sell software, not help

developers.


I, like every other multimedia / web developer, have a high tolerance for

features not working quite as they were advertised. I am accustomed to

finding and adopting workarounds to limitations and bugs. Usually, it

doesn't phase me. It comes with the territory. But this time, Macromedia has

gone over the line in deceptively marketing their product. Shared libraries

simply do not work as advertised.


Believe it, Muzak,  I bought F5 because of shared libraries. Bloated file

sizes and long download times are the single most frequent complaint I hear

about Flash content. People will not revisit a site they perceived to be

slow. They will stop it from downloading and leave without thinking twice. A

proper implementation of shared libraries will promote an efficient use of

bandwidth, and as a result will promote Flash as a trusted technology and a

true web ui development environment. We will all benefit from Macromedia's

quick response to these problems.


I'm a longtime Director / Shockwave developer that regularly uses shared

libraries to keep file sizes to a minimum, but Macromedia's enthusiasm and

support for Shockwave is dwindling. Employers, project managers, and clients

don't understand technical details like "poor shared library support."

They're really only interested in the market penetration numbers Macromedia

parades around with. So, I feel immense pressure to use Flash 5 as an

alternative to Shockwave. That's fine. I'm not opposed to change. Because of

the feature list, F5 seemed like a good entry point. So I bought it. But

yes, I am very disappointed. In my opinion, the problems with shared

libraries are criminal and I'm left in a major state of limbo.



Andrew




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