Using the Flash command "_level" in XXPro.

[Xhris]

...by creating an html file for the first swf...

what's the recipe for creating an html file?

[Intbel]

what's the recipe for creating an html file?

The simplest way, for this particular purpose:

In Xtreme, use browser preview of your swf.

Select in Xtreme's browser window View HTML

Copy the resulting text and paste into Notepad.

Save the notepad file with .html extension instead of .txt.

Instant webpage

[Xhris]

Oh. Learn something everyday. Ok, I'll play around and then update the tutorial when I get time.

[Xhris]

Nintendo do some good interactive flash sites that use this levels stuff. Be good if one day Xara could do all of this kind of stuff:

http://www.metroidprimepinball.com/launch.html

[WolfMoonHP]

Xhris...

I'm really looking forward to more tutorial info from you. Your explanations and directions are always so clear and easy to understand and to follow...

You definitely know how to teach this old dog some new tricks.

By the way...I see you are planning to spend time in Oklahoma...That's my old home state. Lived there from first grade till I graduated from college.

Hope you will find it enjoyable. If I can answer any questions, etc., about Oklahoma, PM me and I'll be happy to respond.

---
Will

[Xhris]

Cracked it. A couple of things that weren't clear: levels have stacking order and are like acetates (clear sheets of plastic like animators use). Also, when you assign a blank swf to simulate an off command, it's level must be set to the same as the level of the swf you're working on.

Attached are all the Xar files you need to get it to work (I don't have web space to link too). Recipe for viewing HTML and flash:
1. Load each Xar file
2. Export flash animations for all 4 of them giving them appropriate names (For this, these have to be : LT0, LT1, LT2, and blank)
3. In the "Levels Test 0.xar", click flash preview and then click to see the HTML code.
4. Copy this and paste into notepad.
5. Change the two instances of the reference to a swf to whatever you saved the core/base swf as (e.g. LT0.swf). It should read as:

***********
<OBJECT classid="clsid27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" CODEBASE="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,0,0"
WIDTH=598 HEIGHT=502>
<PARAM NAME=movie VALUE="LT0.swf">
<PARAM NAME=quality VALUE=high>
<PARAM NAME=menu VALUE=true>
<EMBED src="LT0.swf" quality=high bgcolor=#FFFFFF WIDTH="598" HEIGHT="502" NAME="yourmovie" ALIGN="" TYPE="application/x-shockwave-flash" PLUGINSPAGE="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer">
</OBJECT>
***********

6. Save as an HTML instead of txt
7. Open the HTML file in a browser to view flash animation.

For any future changes to the Xar files, just re-export and refresh browser to see the changes.

In the animation, notice how after clicking "level 1", clicking it again to restart the animation is slightly different to having a "restart" button programmed in Xara to go to the start of the frame of animation.

Because this way of using Flash is like using clear acetates, you either have to draw over the contents of lower level flash files (as in "level 2"), or add extra buttons on free space (as in "level 1").

To clear all and restore to the beginning, just have a button on the core flash file that loads the core flash file. The button will have the level set to that of the core flash file. Look in the xar file and the web address dialogue to understand better. The best way to learn is to do.

[Tallis]

Something tells me this will be awfully informative once I hunker down and read it the way it should be read....

__________________________________________________ _____________
If nothing is never always impossible, why is something not always possible?

[Egg Bramhill]

Xhris,

You seem to have mastered it.

The only thing I would suggest is to keep your file names the same such that 0.xar exports an animation called 0.swf etc. In this manner it is far easier to understand what swf file is attached to what xar file.

Tallis,

Going beyond the AllFlashSitesRCrap tut, this is by far the best way to impliment your Flash site.