Flash trace output in firefox, linux

Question

I\'m developing an applications which I\'ve got running on a server on my linux desktop. Due to the shortcomings of Flash on Linux (read: too hard) I\'m developing the (smal

Answer 1

A different and mind-bogglingly simple workaround that I've used for years is to simply create an output module directly within the swf. All this means is a keyboard shortcut that attaches a MovieClip with a textfield. All my traces go to this textfield instead of (or in addition to) the output window. Over the years I've refined it of course, making the window draggable, resizable, etc. But I've never needed any other approach for simple logging, and it's 100% reliable and reusable across all platforms.

[EDIT - response to comment] There's no alert quite like javascript's alert() function. But using an internal textfield is just this simple:

ACTIONSCRIPT 1 VERSION

---

(See notes at bottom)

/* import ExternalInterface package */
import flash.external.*;

/* Create a movieclip for the alert. Set an arbitrary (but very high) number for the depth
 * since we want the alert in front of everything else.
 */
var alert = this.createEmptyMovieClip("alert", 32000);
/* Create the alert textfield */
var output_txt = alert.createTextField("output_txt", 1, 0, 0, 300, 200);
output_txt.background = true;
output_txt.backgroundColor = 0xEFEFEF;
output_txt.selectable = false;
/* Set up drag behaviour */
alert.onPress = function()
{
    this.startDrag();
}
alert.onMouseUp = function()
{
    stopDrag();
}

/* I was using a button to text EI. You don't need to. */
testEI_btn.onPress = function()
{
    output_txt.text = (ExternalInterface.available);
}

Notes: This works fine for AS1, and will translate well into AS2 (best to use strong data-typing if doing so, but not strictly required). It should work in Flash Players 8-10. ExternalInterface was added in Flash 8, so it won't work in previous player versions.

ACTIONSCRIPT 3 VERSION

---

var output_txt:TextField = new TextField();
addChild(output_txt);
output_txt.text = (String(ExternalInterface.available));

If you want to beef it out a bit:

var alert:Sprite = new Sprite();
var output_txt:TextField = new TextField();
output_txt.background = true;
output_txt.backgroundColor = 0xEFEFEF;
output_txt.selectable = false;
output_txt.width = 300;
output_txt.height = 300;
alert.addChild(output_txt);
addChild(alert);

alert.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_DOWN, drag);
alert.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_UP, stopdrag);

output_txt.text = (String(ExternalInterface.available));

function drag(e:MouseEvent):void
{
    var alert:Sprite = e.currentTarget as Sprite;
    alert.startDrag();
}

function stopdrag(e:MouseEvent):void
{
    var alert:Sprite = e.currentTarget as Sprite;
    alert.stopDrag();
}

[/EDIT]