Javascript to control flash navigation?

[rugbystud]

Check this site. http://www.heaveninyourhands.com/mental_health/

If you have a look at different pages, you can see the flash navigation bar at the top has to load in every time a new HTML page is loaded. I was wondering if there was a way that if the user went back to a page they had already seen the flash nav (alerady cached) would just go straight to the last frame of animation.

ANy ideas ppl? Need you help here

[phloss]

Easiest way would probably be to have 2 index pages. Say "index.htm" and "index2.htm". The first page would be exactly as it is- including the header animation. In the 2nd page, add a variable to your SWF- like "flashmovie.swf?anim=1". This value will be passed into your Flash movie. In the Flash movie, before the animation begins, check for this value. If anim==1, go to the last frame. Adding this variable value would of course need to be done to the rest of your html files. That way, only the index.htm page displays the animation.

Hope this simple method works for you.

[le_saut]

Cookie the user, then check for the cookie. Add some variables to the movie name ...to be passed into the movie on load up...in the object and embed tags.

src="movie.swf?cookie=1"//if cookie present
src="movie.swf?cookie=0"//if not
//this can be done with js or php or whatever.

in actionscript

if(_root.cookie==1)
{
gotoAndStop("lastFrame");
}
else
{
play();
}

This is a pretty cool way of getting info into a flash movie without using loadVariables etc... good for bookmarking flash movies as well.
It's not a relatively well known thing either.

Downside
1.User can clear cache then reload with the cookie present, then you are stuffed.
2.User can ban cookies, in which case no enchilada...


HTH
James

[LuxFX]

check out this Scripting With Flash to get some info on controlling the flash movie from javascript.