FLASH: FAO: MACROMEDIA - Flash functionality hindered in Microsoft's future

[Christian Cook]

I take it from the non responses that no-one from MM has looked into

Microsoft's Digital Dashboards yet... ;) (Sorry, just blatant shallow bait

for a response.) Some of the simplest Flash functionality (Particularly

mailto: links) fail to function correctly in a Digital dashboard. From what

we are hearing from MS and from a lot of our clients, a lot of people are

going to be wanting Dashboards real soon and unless you want to get bogged

down in a lot of Javascript workarounds etc. (to reapply the lost

functionality) then you have to limit what you use Flash for. Which is a

shame, with all Flash 4's complex functionality, it's a pity to relegate it

to Flash 2 style 'navigation dressing and animated interactive logos.'


We did have a slick looking transparent bulletin board created entirely in

Flash that pulled out from the side of the interface using DHTML. We may

have had to drop it in favour of a bog standard ugly generic MS looking

board all for the fact that we can't get a mailto: link to fire up an email

window without launching a blank browser window too.


If anyone has even had the slightest experience with Dashboards, I'd be

interested to hear what your own findings were.


original post below.



------------------------------


Date: Tue, 22 Feb 2000 09:51:18 -0000

From: Christian Cook <

christian [dot] cookisluk [dot] com

>

Subject: FLASH: mailto: opening blank browser window in Flash Intranet


When using a mailto: link in Flash within a Microsoft Outlook Digital

Dashboard, the link throws up a blank browser window as well as the email

window. I have tried changing the target window settings but it doesn't

work.


I think it has something to with the fact the in an Outlook Digital

dashboard, although the intranet page is an HTML file, it is within Outlook

and not the browser. So a get URL will call a window as there is no browser

window involved at all until that point.


Anyone else had any experience with this. With the way Microsoft are

currently pushing things, Digital Dashboard Intranets are going to take off

fairly soon, and with lots of Flash functionality compromised from What I

have

seen so far. You can also launch an .exe seamlessly from a regular hyperlink

in

Dashboard just using the path, but it won't work as a Flash Link.



Anyone from MM looked into this yet?


Regards,

Christian Cook

Designer, ISL

Tel: +44 (0)1372 227400

Fax: +44 (0)1372 225120

<

cccisluk [dot] com (mailto:cccisluk [dot] com)

>

<http://www.isluk.com>


selection of ISL developed websites:

 http://www.shanice.co.uk                

 http://www.barchester.demon.co.uk  

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 http://www.seabrooks.co.uk



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