How to detect the presence of the Flash Player
The Macromedia Flash Player is preinstalled on many computer systems and with many browsers. This helps assure developers that users can see their sites. However, due to the wide variety of browsers, player versions and possible configurations, there are many potential situations that need to be considered in order to make the end user experience a smooth and seamless one. This is the reason that player detection is important to many Flash developers. Note:
The Macromedia
Flash deployment kit is a complete Flash Player detection system
that meets the needs of most developers. If you have a specific
detection requirements, the methods discussed in the rest of this
TechNote may prove useful. Otherwise, download
and install the deployment kit.
Note: To see the latest Macromedia Flash Player download figures, see the Player Statistics page. Built-in
detection
Script-based
detection
Another
potential issue to be aware of when implementing script-based detection
is that some users manually disable JavaScript and/or VBScript in their
browser configurations. When this method encounters such a situation, it
will assume the user does not have the Flash Player installed.
Flash-only
detection Experienced
Web users may already be familiar with installing plug-ins, and can
download the necessary Flash Player installer without specific
instructions. However, due to the fact that this involves additional
user configuration, there is room for error, especially with new users.
Because of this, many developers do not wish to risk abandonment of
their site by people who are intimidated by browser and installer
conventions. Additional
information Version
detection
Testing
a page with older players
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What effect does the version have in the codebase attribute of the OBJECT tag?
Microsoft Internet Explorer versions 3.0 and later use the CODEBASE attribute to detect which version of the Macromedia Flash Player ActiveX Control is installed on a user's computer. If the user's version is earlier than the version specified by CODEBASE Internet Explorer can automatically download and install the newer version of the Macromedia Flash Player from the location specified in CODEBASE. This is done by changing the version number at the end of the CODEBASE tag where '1,1,0,0' is the minimum version of the player needed to display the SWF properly. Consider the following code: codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave /cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" The numbers '6,0,40,0' specify which version of the control is required. The first number '6' tells Internet Explorer what the major version number of the Macromedia Flash Player should be and the third number '40' specifies the minor revision of the Flash Player required to correctly view the Flash content on the page. In most cases the best practice is to specify the latest version of the Flash Player ActiveX Control. This guarantees that viewers can see all of the features in the SWF. The latest version of the control will work with movies created using earlier features. However, attempting to view newer SWF files with an older version of the player may cause problems when newer features of the player are encountered during playback. The following table shows what happens when viewers hit a URL with various versions specified in the codebase (some scenarios reflect a player update):
Note: Using '6,0,0,0' is not recommend. As shown above, if the original shipping version of the Macromedia Flash Player ActiveX Control is installed (6,0,21,0) using '6,0,0,0' as the codebase will not update the Player to the latest version. Additional
information
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Flash OBJECT and EMBED Tag Attributes
This document lists the required and optional attributes of the OBJECT and EMBED tags used to publish Flash movies. For specific usage information for these attributes refer to Flash OBJECT and EMBED Tag syntax (TechNote 4150) or the "Publishing and Exporting" section of the Using Flash manual for more information on publishing Flash movies. Required attributes:
Optional attributes and possible values:
Note: Values in italics indicate that the developer chooses the value.
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Detecting Flash Player version information with $version
Introduction Determining
version information In Flash 4
the
The
In both cases, the version information is returned as a string in the following format:
The string consists of an abbreviation for the platform, followed by numbers indicating player version number (major version, zero, minor version, zero). In pre-4.0r11 releases of the Flash Player no version information is returned by these methods. A
basic detection script Note: This script cannot be used to detect the presence of the Flash Player, but only to determine version information of an installed Player (4.0r11 or later). The Flash Deployment Kit provides a complete framework for script-based detection of Flash Player. How to detect the presence of the Flash Player (TechNote 14526) discusses some other detection techniques. To use, copy and paste the code into the first frame of a new Flash 5 movie. Replace the commented sections (within the If statements) with commands that either re-direct to alternate content or alert the user that they need to upgrade their Player, for instance. Export the file as a version 4 SWF file, to ensure compatibility with that version of the Player. playerVersion = eval("$version"); myLength = length(playerVersion); while (i<=myLength) { i = i+1; temp = substring(playerVersion, i, 1); if (temp eq " ") { platform = substring(playerVersion, 1, i-1); majorVersion = substring(playerVersion, i+1, 1); secondHalf = substring(playerVersion, i+1, myLength-i); minorVersion = substring(secondHalf, 5, 2); } } // Here are some example statements to determine // specific major/minor version information. if (majorVersion >= 4) { // Player version is 4.0r11 or later. if ((majorVersion >=4) && (minorVersion >=20)) { // Player version 4.0r20 supports printing. } if ((majorVersion >=5) && (minorVersion >=41)) { // Player versions 5.0r41 and 42 are latest releases (as of January 2000) } } else { // This traps for Players that are version 4.0r11 or earlier. } To test these
expressions, preview the Flash movie in a browser by choosing File >
Preview in Browser. To test the detection script against older versions
of the Flash Player see Archived
Macromedia Flash Players available for testing purposes (TechNote
14266).
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Why Does IE Install Components When a Site Uses Flash Player?
Question Answer Unfortunately
with Internet Explorer 3.0, if a page using Flash Player has already
been viewed in the browser, the upgrade process will fail and Explorer
will try again to download and install the player if the page is
reloaded. Note: To avoid this problem close all Internet Explorer windows, reopen Internet Explorer and go directly to the page that will upgrade the ActiveX control.
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