C.2 Player Build Updates

	ActionScript for Flash MX: The Definitive Guide, 2nd Edition By Colin Moock
	Appendix C.  Backward Compatibility and Player Build Updates

The following sections describe changes and fixes introduced by minor versions of the Flash Player.

C.2.1 Updates to Flash Player 6, Build 61

As this book was going to press (November 2002), Macromedia released Build 61 of Flash Player 6 (Flash Player 6.0.61.0). The following list summarizes the main features of the new build:

Windowless mode

Implemented for Netscape for Windows and Mac OS X, in addition to Internet Explorer for Windows. See the WMODE attribute in Appendix H.

Improved ActionScript performance

Variable registers are now used to speed up variable access, which generally results in faster ActionScript execution times. The improved performance is particularly noticeable in FUI components.

Customization of HTTP headers

HTTP headers for POST operations can be customized using the new XML.addRequestHeader( ) and LoadVars.addRequestHeader( ) methods.

Dependent runtime shared libraries

Allows runtime shared libraries to use items from other runtime shared libraries.

Dynamic Accessibility properties (Windows, ActiveX only)

Allows properties of accessible objects (previously settable via the Flash MX Accessibility panel at authoring time only) to be set at runtime using the new Accessibility.updateProperties( ) method and the Accessibility._accProps object (whose properties are silent, forceSimple, name, description, and shortcut).

Linux support

Support for Mozilla 1.1 and the Standalone Player under RedHat Linux 7.3.

Miscellaneous fixes

Fixes were made, especially to Flash Player 6 for Internet Explorer for Windows.

For many more details, see the release notes at:

http://www.macromedia.com/support/flash/releasenotes/player/rn_6.html

C.2.2 Updates to Flash Player 6, Build 47

The following list summarizes the major changes that were made between Build 40 and Build 47 of Flash Player 6 (Flash Player 6.0.47.0), released in August 2002:

• When minimized or hidden, Netscape for Windows no longer consumes CPU cycles.

• Multiple cursors no longer occasionally appear in text fields.

• Fixed security issue "Macromedia Flash URL Modification Issue." See:

  http://www.macromedia.com/v1/handlers/index.cfm?ID=23294

C.2.3 Updates to Flash Player 6, Build 40

The following list summarizes the major changes that were made between Build 29 and Build 40 of Flash Player 6 (Flash Player 6.0.40.0), released in July 2002. Various minor optimizations and bug fixes are discussed at: http://www.macromedia.com/support/flash/ts/documents/flashplayer_r40.htm

• POST method fixed in Netscape (all platforms) and Internet Explorer for Macintosh.

• Plugin for Netscape 6.2 and above now supports JavaScript communication and fscommand( ) via XPConnect (Netscape's replacement for its LiveConnect technology).

• Fixed word-wrap bug that made text appear to quiver.

• Sound.start( ) enabled for stream sounds. See Sound.start( ) for details.

• Device-font masking feature added. See MovieClip.setMask( ) for details.

• MP3 ID3 properties now accessible via Sound objects, as described under Sound.id3 in the ActionScript Language Reference.

• Windows German keyboard input fixes (German keyboards can now type @ and other special characters).

• Fixed high-ASCII-to-Unicode character mapping on Macintosh. High-ASCII should now display correctly on the Macintosh Flash Player.

• A new OBJECT/EMBED attribute, allowScriptAccess, can prohibit unwanted cross-domain scripting of an HTML page. See http://www.macromedia.com/support/flash/ts/documents/allow_script_access.htm.

C.2.4 Updates to Flash Player 6, Build 29

Build 29 of Flash Player 6 (Flash Player 6.0.29.0), released in May 2002, fixed the following bugs that were present in the original public version of Flash Player 6 (Flash Player 6.0.25.0, released in March 2002):

• Halting the download of loading media (.swf, .jpg, or .mp3 files) now stops the download of the file properly.

• An event sound attached to a Sound object now stops playing when there are no more references to the Sound object.

• Large media (video or MP3 content) no longer causes the Player to lock up.

C.2.5 Updates to Flash Player 5, Build 41 and 42

The following list summarizes the major changes that were made in Build 41 (Netscape) and 42 (Internet Explorer) of Flash Player 5 (the previous public build was 30, initially released with the Flash 5 authoring tool in August 2000):

• I-beams in text fields take on the color of the text.

• Movies in a table cell do not cause Internet Explorer 5.5 to crash.

• A text field's scroll position does not reset when field's content is modified.

• Text fields with embedded fonts do not leak outside their visual boundary when scrolled.

• The XML.contentType property was added.

• The XML.ignoreWhite property was added.

• When XML source is parsed and the characters &, ', ", <, and > appear in a text node, they are converted to the following entities: &amp;, &apos;, &quot;, &lt;, and &gt;. This conversion is transparent in Flash because the entities are converted back to characters when an XML object is converted to a string; however, the entities will show up in XML source sent to the server.

• Math.random( ) no longer returns the value 1. The maximum return value is 0.999...

• General performance is improved, especially on Windows 98.