Using Version Detection

Version detection is the process of verifying what version of Flash Player is running on a viewer's system. Two of the HTML templates that come with Flash 8 create the coding necessary to carry out one form of version detection. If an end user is trying to view your Flash content from a system that has the required player, the browser displays your content. If Flash Player is missing or the version number is too low, the browser displays a Web page containing a link to Macromedia's Web site where the correct player can be downloaded.

To detect the viewer's Flash Player version

1.	Open your Flash document, and choose File > Publish Settings. The Publish Settings dialog appears; choose a new publishing profile, or leave the current setting.
2.	Click the Flash tab (Windows) or button (Mac) in the dialog. The settings for Publishing SWF files appear.
3.	From the Version pop-up menu, choose Flash version 4 or higher (Figure 16.49). Figure 16.49. To get automatic version detection when you publish your Flash document, you must select version 4 or later in the Flash section of the Publish Settings dialog.
4.	Click the HTML tab (Windows) or button (Mac) in the dialog.
5.	From the Template menu, choose Flash Only or Flash HTTPS. These are the only included templates that automatically create version-detection code for you.
6.	Select the Detect Flash Version check box. If you want to detect specific revisions to the Flash Player, enter them in the fields for minor and incremental revisions (Figure 16.50). Figure 16.50. When you select the Detect Flash Version check box, the fields for minor and incremental revision numbers become active. Enter the precise version numbers that your end user will need to view your Flash content.
7.	To confirm your settings, click OK. When you publish a document using version detection, Flash creates an HTML file that displays the SWF file in a browser window; this HTML file also contains JavaScript coding for detecting the Flash Player version on the end user's system.