changes not seen by browser

[swrzzzz]

Hi

This is probably an HTML question rather than flash and I apologise for the imposition, but when I change an swf on my web pages people tell me they can't see the new flash component unless they clear their caches. I never have this problem with html or javascript components.

Is there a way to force a reload?

Thanks

Steve

[necromanthus]

Originally posted by swrzzzz
This is probably an HTML question rather than flash and I apologise for the imposition, but when I change an swf on my web pages people tell me they can't see the new flash component unless they clear their caches. I never have this problem with html or javascript components.

Is there a way to force a reload?
This is a common (and very old) issue.
The solution for Internet Explorer (v6):
click on "Tools / Internet Options / Settings"
"Check for newer versions of stored pages" MUST be "Every visit to the page".

For other browsers (Mozilla,FireFox,etc) you'll find a similar setting.
;)

[swrzzzz]

Thanks, but thats not quite what I meant.

I have changed only an swf on a web page, the enclosing html has not been changed or uploaded to the server. Some people can see the new swf and some can't.

Clearing the cache works for some (me) and not for others. I assume that some people are going through a proxy and not getting an update - how can I ensure all people can see the updated file?

Do I set expired="0" on all pages or is uploading the unchanged web page so the date changes on it enough?

Steve

[blanius]

You cannot ensure that. Closest thing you can do is to trick the browser into thinking it's loading a dynamic page by adding a dummy variable to the url like ?temp=9999

that can help there are a couple META tags that are supposed to help but I've found them unreliable as well.

[tmoore935]

This only applies to some 56k users but a web accelorator can cause the mentioned problem. I learned this once when I was unable to upload a page and then look at it.

[necromanthus]

Originally posted by swrzzzz
Clearing the cache works for some (me) and not for others. I assume that some people are going through a proxy and not getting an update - how can I ensure all people can see the updated file?
Indeed,proxy servers are a real pain.
Many of them,to spare bandwidth are using a kind of local buffer (a cache) to store the requested files.This buffer is updated from time to time,but you need to be lucky ...
There're several methods to prevent these annoying things.
More details here: http://www.macromedia.com/cfusion/knowledgebase/index.cfm?id=tn_14743
;)