Opening word and pdfs from a projector

[pachamam]

Dear All, I have this project which I would 'prefer' to do in flash for both Mac and PC. It's a standalone CD projector where users can view images, word docs and pdfs - I would also like them to have the option of saving these files to disk. I know this issue has been covered before but cannot find the specific information available. Does anyone know the .as for this or work arounds (ie putting Flash in Director). Would greatly appreciate any info someone may have on the subject. Please be as clear as possible so that I dont hassle you for more info.

Thanks

[ricardoarias]

You can do it by using an external app.

There are some option that exists, i can tell you about PowerSWF that let you do this and more

http://www.pro-software.com.ar/flash.html

Take a look of all the options : )

[BenG]

Hi,

Im a bit busy at the moment, but heres the basics.

Basically on a mac you can record an applescript. of opening a pdf (or any document) and exec the applescript (saved as run-only) from flash. You can place acrobat reader on the cd and it will open from their so you don't have to install anything.

For pc, you can call the exec to open the file and specify the program to open it with. Can use reader of the CD again.

As for word - probably exists on end-users machines, but if not don't know a way round that problem.

// this is the mac script to open up the applescript
// it will use reader off cd automatically
on (release) {
fscommand ("exec", "abvctmp");
}
// this is pc calls program to open and then the file
// two versions because 98 and 2000 treat it differently
on (release) {
fscommand ("exec", "reader\acrobat.exe\tpdf\abvctmp.pdf");
fscommand ("exec", "reader/acrobat.exe" add Chr(9) add "pdf/abvctmp.pdf");
}


good luck
beng

[BenG]

HI,

Just a quick note, the files are all called relative to the projector file. Reader was placed in a folder of that name - to help you dissect the above code.

When you record your applescript you have to name the drive that the file is being opened from - which is a pain for testing.

You can use disk copy to make a temporary drive of your cd and test it that way.

benG