new

struct swf_definesprite {
	swf_tag			f_tag;		/* 39 */
	unsigned short		f_sprite_id;
	unsigned short		f_frame_count;
	...			<data>;
	swf_tag			f_end;
};

A sprite is a set of SWF tags defining an animated object which can then be used as a simple object. A sprite cannot contain another sprite. hHowever, you can use PlaceObject2 to place a sprite in another.

The following are the tags accepted in a Sprite:

DoAction
End
FrameLabel
PlaceObject
PlaceObject2
PlaceObject3
RemoveObject
RemoveObject2
ShowFrame
SoundStreamBlock
SoundStreamHead
SoundStreamHead2
StartSound

The data array of tags should always be terminated by an End tag though this can be inferred some players may not support a non-terminated list.

In order ...

Dec 2, 2009

Moved the monolithic documentation to a multi-page hierarchical document that includes everything we had before plus many links, many terms attached to all pages (tags, English words.) And revision of most of the text for better English and clarification in some places.

Strengthen the formatting with CCK fields so all declarations look alike.

Broken up the actions from one large table to a set of pages.

Dec 14, 2008

Started work on the Load() feature of the SSWF library. This helped fixing several small mistakes in the documentation.

May 18, 2008

Fixed the ...

struct swf_params {
	unsigned char		f_param_register;
	string			f_param_name;
};

Since version 7 of SWF, there is a new way to create a function allows you to not only name parameters but also to put their content in a register. This is done by specifying a register number along an (optional) parameter name.

The f_param_register specifies whether the corresponding parameter will be saved in1:

• 1. Note that "neither" is not an option, thus although both the register number and name are optional, at least one of them needs to be defined.

Since Flash version 9, actions can be saved in a new format named abcFormat by the Tamarin project from the Mozilla organization.

The code itself (action script) is the same, but the structure of an swf_action3 holds object oriented information about classes, methods and such in a really clean way (really! in comparison to the old way, that's dead clean!).

At this time, the swf_action3 structure is documented in the abcFormat.html file.

I will duplicate and test the structures at a later time.

struct swf_morph_shape_with_style {
	swf_styles		f_styles;
	swf_shape_record	f_shape_records[variable];
	char align;
	swf_styles_count	f_styles_count;
	swf_shape_record	f_shape_records_morph[variable];
};

The array of shape records starts with a set of styles definition and is followed by shape records. The list of shape records ends with a null record.

Note that f_shape_records_morph cannot include any reference to styles and lines, nor include new styles. It is likely that the f_styles_count will always be 0x11. Also, it is always byte aligned.

Made to Order Software is proud to announce a complete switch-over of our main site to Drupal! With this switch we are introducing new features which we hope will make your visit to our site more enjoyable.

struct swf_placeobject2 {	/* and swf_placeobject3 */
	swf_tag			f_tag;		/* 26 or 70 */
	/* NOTE: the following flags can be read as one or two bytes also */
	if(version >= 8) {
		unsigned	f_place_reserved : 5;
		unsigned	f_place_bitmap_caching : 1;
		unsigned	f_place_blend_mode : 1;
		unsigned	f_place_filters : 1;
	}
	if(version >= 5) {
		unsigned	f_place_has_actions : 1;
	}
	else {
		unsigned	f_place_reserved : 1;
	}
	unsigned		f_place_has_clipping_depth : 1;
	unsigned		f_place_has_name : 1;
	unsigned		f_place_has_morph_position : 1;
	unsigned		f_place_has_color_transform : 1;
	unsigned		f_place_has_matrix : 1;
	unsigned		f_place_has_id_ref : 1;
	unsigned		f_place_has_move : 1;
	unsigned short		f_depth;
	if(f_place_has_id_ref) {
		unsigned short		f_object_id_ref;
	}
	if(f_place_has_matrix) {
		swf_matrix		f_matrix;
	}
	if(f_place_has_color_transform) {
		swf_color_transform	f_color_transform;
	}
	if(f_place_has_morph_position) {
		unsigned short		f_morph_position;
	}
	if(f_place_has_name) {
		string			f_name;
	}
	if(f_place_has_clipping_depth) {
		unsigned short		f_clipping_depth;
	}
	/* 3 next entries since v8.0 */
	if(f_place_filters) {
		unsigned char		f_filter_count;
		swf_any_filter		f_filter;
	}
	if(f_place_blend_mode) {
		unsigned char		f_blend_mode;
	}
	if(f_place_bitmap_caching) {
		/* WARNING: this is not defined in the Macromedia documentation
		 * it may be that it was part of the blend mode whenever the person
		 * who defined this byte was testing (I copied that from somewhere else!).
		 */
		unsigned char		f_bitmap_caching;
	}
	/* since v5.0 */
	if(f_place_has_actions) {
		unsigned short		f_reserved;
		if(version >= 6) {
			unsigned long	f_all_flags;
		}
		else {
			unsigned short	f_all_flags;
		}
		swf_event		f_event[<variable>];
		if(version >= 6) {
			unsigned long	f_end;	/* always zero */
		}
		else {
			unsigned short	f_end;	/* always zero */
		}
	}
};

This tag will be used to specify where and how to place an object in the next frame. The PlaceObject is much different and is presented separately.

The f_depth field is used to indicate at which depth the character is inserted in the current frame. There can be only one object per depth value (thus a maximum of 65536 objects can appear on a single frame).

The f_place_has_move and f_place_has_id_ref flags are used to indicate what to do at the given depth. The following table presents what happens depending on the current value.

f_place_has_move	...

struct swf_definebuttoncxform {
	swf_tag			f_tag;		/* 23 */
	unsigned short		f_button_id_ref;
	swf_color_transform	f_color_transform;
};

The DefineButton does not include any means to transform the colors of the shapes it uses. This tag was thus added just so one can transform a button colors. It is wise to use the new DefineButton2 instead so the transformation can be applied on a per state basis.

The f_button_id_ref is a reference to the button to be transformed with the specified color matrix. The button should be defined first.

Brief History

At the very beginning, a company created the SWF format to generate small vector animations on the Internet called Shockwave Flash (hence the name of the format, SWF.) It also included images. This company was bought by Macromedia around 1997 (if I recall properly). This is when Flash v3 was created. Since then, Macromedia created a new version about once a year up to version 8. At that time (in 2005/2006), Macromedia sealed a deal with Adobe which wanted to use the SWF format in their PDF files.

Today (May 1st, 2008), the SWF format is available for free to all.

There was ...

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