Re: FLASH: Generator 2 and Flash 4 capabilities and limitations

[Nigel Randsley-Pena]

James,


First just to clear some minor incorrect assumptions. You say "...If

Flash 4 can read information from an external data source...". Flash4 is

capable of reading information from external data sources in two ways.

One is to have Flash statically read from an ASCII file, the other is to

have Flash read dynamically from external data sources via an

intermediate layer that connects the Flash movie to the data source.

This layer can be a CGI script for example.

With Generator you gain direct access to the data sources, as it

provides all the necessary layers of communication.

 

"One thing I am very keen to learn is if Generator can also have

dynamically generated functions attached to the dynamically generated

content. Can a button dynamically created through generator by also

assigned a flash function dynamically??"


The good news is that the answer to this is 'YES'. 

I would suggest that you download the trial version of Generator2 and

make use of the 60 days Macromedia gives you to try it out. I downloaded

it the day Macromedia announced it's release and have been playing and

testing it. This is the best way to get to know the product and it's

capabilities.

 

"I have been trying to get my head around the capabilities and limits of

both Flash 4 and Generator 2 and trying to work out which would be

better in certain instances. If anyone can help me in making these

capabilities clearer it would be much appreciated."


One decisive factor is budget. Generator based solution are in a

different budget bracket.

After dealing with this one, then other factors that should come into

play are deciding how important dynamic generation of content is towards

reaching your goals. If all you want to do is retrieve small amounts of

text based information from a database, or send some data from the

movie, or have some limited form of personalisation then Flash4 will be

upto the challenge.

If you want things like real time generation of dynamic content, that

includes text based and graphic based information, or full

personalisation, or graphic based information interfaces to present live

data, then Generator is the way to go.


Nigel



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