Embedding SWF hosted on webserver

[mrw]

I'm currently evaluating Madcap Flare for purchase. A key requirement for me is the ability to display content in the CHM (such as videos and images) that are hosted on a webserver. I would like to integrate more media into our CHM, but don't want to increase the file size too drastically.

After testing this with an SWF file generated through Captivate, I was able to embed the SWF into a topic and direct Flare to the correct source, but the movie would continually get stuck at the loading stage. I tested this exact same thing with RoboHelp9 and was able to get the file to play without any problems, so it's not an issue with the host.

Similarly, I love the capability to embed images as thumbnails and have them pop-up as full-size images when clicked. This is a great way to save on topic real estate. When I tried this with a hosted image though, the thumbnail/pop-up functionality simply does not work.

Are there ways to get both of these things to work that I'm missing, or are these just limitations in the software?

Many thanks,
Mike

[rob hollinger]

Hello Mike,
I tried this with the following code and it appears to work fine.

Code: Select all

<object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" codebase="http://fpdownload.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab" width="498" height="380" id="test1">
			<param name="movie" value="http://www.tizag.com/pics/example.swf" /><embed src="http://www.tizag.com/pics/example.swf" width="498" height="380" name="test1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.adobe.com/go/getflashplayer" /></object>

What code are you using in the topics for embedding the SWF file?

We are looking at the hosted images issue.

[rob hollinger]

Some further testing.
The Thumbnail support is based scripting and the scrips revolve around the output as the homepage. They cannot apply themselves to files that are not included in the project.

I did find that using code like this can produce something that might help:

Code: Select all

<a href="http://www.madcapsoftware.com/images/home/showcase/prosBack.png" target=""><img src="http://www.madcapsoftware.com/images/home/showcase/prosBack.png" alt="Resized JPEG graphic" title="Click to view" border="2" width="158" height="150" hspace="10" /></a>

This is an image taken from our website. I dont know how long it will be available.
http://www.madcapsoftware.com/images/ho ... osBack.png

By making it an href - you can size the image to who big you want it and then when clicked on, it will produce the full size image.
Using things like Popup and hover don't work very well because the scripting come into play and its not working on remote images.

Experimenting by building webhelp, then viewing the source of the topic, you can see the types of code you would need to use in the topics.

[mrw]

Hi Rob,

Thanks for the replies. They were very helpful. The solution you provided for the images works very well and resolves my problem there. I am still unable to get the Captivate SWF to work correctly though.

When I tried the code you provided with your SWF file it worked perfectly, so I don't think it's a code issue - it's something to do with the file itself. I've tried hosting the file on a couple of different sites, but it makes no difference. It loads just fine in a browser, but when I embed it into my Flare project the file never finishes loading. As I'm having no problems with standard SWFs, I'm guessing this issue is something to do with the playback controls that are built into the Captivate file.

Again, thanks for the help. I appreciate your time.
Mike

[Madcap Guru]

What version of captivate ate you using? Older version of captavite. Kept the controls outside of the swf