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finally

Declare Dictionary

SWF Action
Action Category: 
Objects
Action Details: 
0
Action Identifier: 
136
Action Structure: 
unsigned short    f_count;
string   f_dictionary[f_count];
Action Length: 
-1 byte(s)
Action Stack: 
n.a.
Action Operation: 
<n.a.>
Action Flash Version: 
5
See Also: 

Declare an array of strings that will later be retrieved using the Push Data action with a dictionary lookup. There can be a maximum of 65534 strings. The visibility of a dictionary is within its DoAction or other similar block of actions. Note that you should have only one Declare Dictionary. The dictionary is visible from everywhere in the DoAction. In other words, you can access it from functions1, With blocks, try/catch/finally blocks, etc.

When multiple Declare Dictionary actions are used, ...

End (action)

SWF Action
Action Category: 
Miscellaneous
Action Details: 
0
Action Identifier: 
0
Action Structure: 
<n.a.>
Action Length: 
0 byte(s)
Action Stack: 
0
Action Operation: 
<n.a.>
Action Flash Version: 
1
See Also: 
End

End a record of actions. There are no valid instances where this action is optional.

The End action itself as no meaning other than marking the end of the list of actions. Yet, if reached, the execution of the script ends and is considered complete.

IMPORTANT NOTE

SWF Any Filter (swf_any_filter)

SWF Structure Info
Tag Flash Version: 
8
SWF Structure: 
/* the filter type */
struct swf_filter_type {
	unsigned char	f_type;
};

struct swf_filter_glow {
	swf_filter_type	f_type;		/* 0, 2, 3, 4 or 7 */
	if(f_type == GradientGlow || f_type == GradientBevel) {
		unsigned char		f_count;
	}
	else {
		f_count = 1;
	}
	swf_rgba		f_rgba[f_count];
	if(f_type == Bevel) {
		swf_rgba		f_highlight_rgba[f_count];
	}
	if(f_type == GradientGlow || f_type == GradientBevel) {
		unsigned char		f_position[f_count];
	}
	signed long fixed	f_blur_horizontal;
	signed long fixed	f_blur_vertical;
	if(f_type != Glow) {
		signed long fixed	f_radian_angle;
		signed long fixed	f_distance;
	}
	signed short fixed	f_strength;
	unsigned		f_inner_shadow : 1;
	unsigned		f_knock_out : 1;
	unsigned		f_composite_source : 1;
	if(f_type == Bevel) {
		unsigned		f_on_top : 1;
	}
	else {
		unsigned		f_reserved : 1;
	}
	if(f_type == GradientGlow || f_type == GradientBevel) {
		unsigned		f_passes : 4;
	}
	else {
		unsigned		f_reserved : 4;
	}
};

struct swf_filter_blur {
	swf_filter_type		f_type;	/* 1 */
	unsigned long fixed	f_blur_horizontal;
	unsigned long fixed	f_blur_vertical;
	unsigned		f_passes : 5;
	unsigned		f_reserved : 3;
};

struct swf_filter_convolution {
	swf_filter_type	f_type;		/* 5 */
	unsigned char	f_columns;
	unsigned char	f_rows;
	long float	f_divisor;
	long float	f_bias;
	long float	f_weights[f_columns × f_rows];
	swf_rgba	f_default_color;
	unsigned	f_reserved : 6;
	unsigned	f_clamp : 1;
	unsigned	f_preserve_alpha : 1;
};

struct swf_filter_colormatrix {
	swf_filter_type	f_type;		/* 6 */
	long float	f_matrix[20];
};

struct swf_any_filter {
	swf_filter_type			f_fitler_type;
	swf_filter_blur			f_filter_blur;
	swf_filter_colormatrix		f_filter_colormatrix;
	swf_filter_convolution		f_filter_convolution;
	swf_filter_glow			f_filter_glow;
};

A filter defines how to transform the objects it is attached to. The first byte is the filter type. The data following depend on the type. Because each filter is much different, they are defined in separate structures. You can attach a filter to an object using an ActionScript or the PlaceObject3 tag.

The following describes the different filters available since version 8.

...
Value Name Version
0 Drop Shadow 8

About SWF

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 ...

Adding a header & footer in a Cute Menu dropdown

Image & text at the top and bottom

The Cute Menu Module is all about making your menu look cute... This is achieved, in part, by the nice top bar, and a gradient in your dropdown. But what makes it even better are the images that you can make appear inside your menus.

There are two areas for that purpose: the Header and the Footer. Both are handled the same way, it is just a flag in your menu item that changes between one and the other.

Order Made!® version 1.10

We have finally published version 1.10 of Order Made!®

This version include one important change: the ® after Order Made!. Made to Order Software now owns the Order Made!® trademark.

We also included a few bug fixes, mostly transparent to our users.

July 2008, a new limit reached!

I heard of Voyager 2 and the fact that it was still functional: 30 years after it left Earth! Just that is amazing to me.

The craft went through the termination shock several times now (5 if I’m correct). This is far. Further away from the Sun than Pluto. And Pluto is on average around 39.5 AU from the Sun. It is even further than Eris and Eris lies at about 67 AU on average.

Order Made!® has its own website

After a couple of months, we finally released the Order Made! website.Order Made! Demo Page

Order Made! is an online system for ordering food from restaurants. This isn’t new, others have done it before, however, Order Made! uses our Instant Cart technology. This means: it is very fast! So fast, that customers will return to the ordering page over and over again. All the better for the restaurant owners using Order Made!

And it is not just fast, it is also very easy to use. Customers can order an item by clicking on it. Voilà! For the few items that require you to select a specific ingredient ...

Really… What is a goal?

I’m writing this blog after meeting with a few people with great experience at the NCAE networking group in Roseville.

I have been in business for quite some time now and I have read many things about goals. But what is a goal? How do you set a goal? How do you make sure that you reach your goals?

So, let’s start by setting a goal.

“I want a home worth $1.2 million dollars”

Ah! Is that really a goal?

The truth is that this is so blurry that it cannot be a realistic goal, at least not for most people. This does not mean you won’t be able to get the home of ...

HTML Forms and the action attribute

Today I had to debug a set of HTML pages. One feature of a website would not work with Internet Explorer. The code was like this: