Flash Site Design - Locked Down Machine...

Author

Locked Down Machine...

jimbonics

2005-06-16, 7:26 pm

Hello!!

http://www.hhs1.com

Issue:

We have a few users in the field that have ZERO installation privledges, and
the flash player is NOT present.

I have the appropriate code that detects whether or not the player is present,
and if not, prompt them to install it.

This does not occur on locked down machines. Understandably...

The problem, is that the page load gets stuck at about that point, and doesn't
progress further, causing other code to not load.

Is there some sort of "bypass" code that can be written into it for a locked
down user?

"Flash player not detected, user cant install, stop trying to load" sort of
thing...

Thanks for any help at all..

jim

David Stiller

2005-06-16, 7:26 pm

> The problem, is that the page load gets stuck at about that point,
> and doesn't progress further, causing other code to not load.

This makes me wonder what your detection script actually does? If it
was written right, it would do whatever you want it to. That script is just
another one of the requirements on your list. You said you "have the
appropriate code" ... did you write it, or did you find it somewhere?

David
stiller (at) quip (dot) net
"Luck is the residue of good design."

jimbonics

2005-06-16, 7:26 pm

David Stiller

2005-06-16, 7:26 pm

jimbonics,

When you wrote this ...

> I have the appropriate code that detects whether or not
> the player is present, and if not, prompt them to install it

.... I was expecting to see a detection script. The code you've shown is
simply the HTML necessary for displaying a SWF in a web page. The object
and embed tags invoke the relevant plugin (in this case, the Flash Player)
and display the content (a SWF) in that plugin. Putting it gently, there is
no detection going on here at all.

Detection is a bit of a tricky endeavor, since various browsers handle
things in various ways. You'll need some sort of scripting language to help
you here (JavaScript makes the most sense to me). The most exhaustive
treatise I've seen on this subject is available here, but it's not for the
faint of heart ...

http://www.moock.org/webdesign/flas...ction/moockfpi/

.... still and all, the complete source code is there, and the author is
happy to give it away freely.

David
stiller (at) quip (dot) net
"Luck is the residue of good design."

jimbonics

2005-06-16, 7:26 pm

Originally posted by: Newsgroup User
... I was expecting to see a detection script. The code you've shown is
simply the HTML necessary for displaying a SWF in a web page. The object
and embed tags invoke the relevant plugin (in this case, the Flash Player)
and display the content (a SWF) in that plugin. Putting it gently, there is
no detection going on here at all.

There isn't??

When a user (that has install permissions) visits the site, and does not have
flash player, they are prompted to install it. Is that not detection?

Also bear in mind that for this site, with it's targeted audience, I'm only
concerned with IE and FireFox.

The solution of a flash and non-flash site doesn't appeal to me terribly.

The problem, is that on a locked down machine, it's seemingly still trying to
prompt the user to install flash, but the user cant. The user doesnt even see
the FlashPlayer prompt, and the page doesn't seem to load beyond that point.

Thanks for your input thus far.

Jim

David Stiller

2005-06-16, 7:26 pm

> When a user (that has install permissions) visits the site, and does
> not have flash player, they are prompted to install it. Is that not
> detection?

It may seem like splitting hairs, but that isn't detection. Thanks to
the classid, this is a prompt (for IE!) to download (or upgrade) the plugin
if it happens not to be there. If a fly goes near a venus flytrap, a claw
will snap shut -- but that doesn't mean the plant has any idea that a fly is
present.

Detection would be a scripted determination of the presence of the
plugin, upon which a decision could be made, rather than the mechanical,
"dumb" automation causing your site to hang.

> The solution of a flash and non-flash site doesn't appeal to me terribly.

I'm not suggesting you have to provide a non-Flash site -- but if your
users cannot install the plugin, what are you going to show them? You have
to show them something, otherwise their computers will hang, as you've seen.
If you dissect Colin Moock's script, you'll be able to see how he checks for
the plugin under various circumstances. You can leave out the checks for
AOL and browsers you don't care about. What you're aiming for -- if I
understand you right -- is to know if the correct plugin is installed: if
it is, keep going; if not ... well, that part is up to you, right? :)

> The problem, is that on a locked down machine, it's seemingly still
> trying to prompt the user to install flash, but the user cant.

Exactly. If you "sniff" for the plugin before that occurs, you can
avoid this situation. It will take programming along the lines of the Moock
script to accomplish this. It ain't easy, for sure. ;)

David
stiller (at) quip (dot) net
"Luck is the residue of good design."