Article

From:
To:
Edmundo C. Filho
Subject:
Re: Displaying flash files
Newsgroup:
borland.public.delphi.vcl.components.using

Re: Displaying flash files


"Edmundo C. Filho" <✉terra.com.br> wrote in message
news:3c18b7d5_2@dnews...
> Hi,
>
> How can I display a flash file (.swf) on a form of a desktop application? I
> work with D5.


First of all you must find the file titled

"SWFLASH.OCX" usually in the C:WindowsSystemMacromedFlash directory.
You can then in Delphi click on the menu Component --> Import ActiveX Control. Choose the SWFlash.OCX file and import it. Once you install it, you will then have the TShockWaveFlash component to drag onto your form.
PROBLEM: The important thing to remember is that if deploy your application then they must have this OCX file or it will not run.
SOLUTION: To keep your program simple and only have 1 file to distribute, I would suggest to create a resource file of the OCX and include in your .EXE. Extract the file if needed and register it. I have included some sample code on how to do this.
CREATING RESOURCE FILE: (Skip this section if you already understand it). Create a new Text File in Notepad. Type the following line:
Flash RCDATA "SWFLASH.OCX"
Make sure the text file is saved as Filename.rc, I saved mine as FlashOCX.rc. You must also have the .rc file in the same directory as the SWFLASH.OCX file in order for this to work.
Open your command prompt (DOS window) and find the brcc32.exe file in your bin directory wherever you installed Delphi. Type this and execute it in DOS:
Brcc32 DirofFileFlashOCX.rc Example: Brcc32 c:windowssystemflashocx.rc
It should now have created a file titled "FLASHOCX.RES". You can now include this into your application.
{$R *.RES} {$R FLASHOCX.RES}
The R Directive tells your program to include that Resource File.
HOW TO EXTRACT AND REGISTER:
First off we need to check to see if we can play the Flash File or not. Click on Project --> View Source (in Delphi 5) and pull up the project source code. We want to check for the EOleSysError Message when creating the first form. If we encounter the error, then we know we must register the OCX on that particular machine.
uses comobj
begin  Application.Initialize;  try    Application.CreateForm(TForm1, Form1);  except    On EOleSysError Do    begin       //Register OCX File because not found.    end;  end;  Application.Run; end.
This next bit of source code that I will display will give you what is needed to extract the resource file and place into the Windows System Directory.
uses windows, classes, sysutils
var  aSystemDirZ : array[0..2047] of Char;  fSystemDir : String;
....
GetSystemDirectory ( aSystemDirZ, 2047 ); fSystemDir := aSystemDirZ;
ResStream := TResourceStream.Create(0, 'Flash', RT_RCDATA); try    FileStream := TFileStream.Create(fSystemDir+'SWFLASH.OCX', fmCreate);    try        FileStream.CopyFrom(ResStream, 0);    finally        FileStream.Free;    end; finally    ResStream.Free; end;
ENTIRE CODE:
You must still register the OCX file, and I will now display the entire code so you can see how it would all fit together.
program FlashPlayer;
uses  Forms, Dialogs, comobj, windows, classes, sysutils,  uMain in 'uMain.pas' {Form1};
{$R *.RES} {$R FLASHOCX.RES}
type  TRegFunc = function : HResult; stdcall;
function WinExecAndWait32( FileName: String; Visibility : Integer ) : Cardinal; var { by Pat Ritchey }    zAppName : array[0..512] of char;    zCurDir : array[0..255] of char;    WorkDir : String;    StartupInfo : TStartupInfo;    ProcessInfo : TProcessInformation; begin    StrPCopy( zAppName, FileName );    GetDir ( 0, WorkDir );    StrPCopy( zCurDir, WorkDir );
   FillChar( StartupInfo, Sizeof( StartupInfo ), #0 );
   StartupInfo.cb := Sizeof( StartupInfo );    StartupInfo.dwFlags := STARTF_USESHOWWINDOW;    StartupInfo.wShowWindow := Visibility;
   if ( not CreateProcess( nil,                            zAppName, { pointer to command line string }                            nil, { pointer to process security attributes }                            nil, { pointer to thread security attributes }                            false, { handle inheritance flag }                            CREATE_NEW_CONSOLE or { creation flags }                            NORMAL_PRIORITY_CLASS,                            nil, { pointer to new environment block }                            zCurDir, { pointer to current directory name }                            StartupInfo, { pointer to STARTUPINFO }                            ProcessInfo ) ) then    begin        Result := $FFFFFFFF; { pointer to PROCESS_INF }        MessageBox( Application.Handle, PChar( SysErrorMessage( GetLastError ) ), 'Yipes!', 0 );    end    else    begin        WaitforSingleObject( ProcessInfo.hProcess, INFINITE );        GetExitCodeProcess ( ProcessInfo.hProcess, Result );        CloseHandle ( ProcessInfo.hProcess );        CloseHandle ( ProcessInfo.hThread );    end; end;
var  aSystemDirZ : array[0..2047] of Char;  aShortPath : array[0..2047] of Char;  fSystemDir : String;  aCommand : String;  aHandle : Cardinal;  aFunc : TRegFunc;  ResStream : TResourceStream;  FileStream : TFileStream; begin
 GetSystemDirectory ( aSystemDirZ, 2047 );  fSystemDir := aSystemDirZ;  Application.Initialize;  try  Application.CreateForm(TForm1, Form1);  except    On EOleSysError Do    begin      ResStream := TResourceStream.Create(0, 'Flash', RT_RCDATA);        try          FileStream := TFileStream.Create(fSystemDir+'SWFLASH.OCX', fmCreate);          try            FileStream.CopyFrom(ResStream, 0);          finally            FileStream.Free;          end;        finally          ResStream.Free;        end;
     try        {Register the OCX File}        aHandle := LoadLibrary( PChar( fSystemDir+'SWFLASH.OCX' ) );        if ( aHandle >= 32 ) then        begin            aFunc := GetProcAddress( aHandle, 'DllRegisterServer' );            if ( Assigned( aFunc ) = TRUE ) then            begin                GetShortPathName( PChar( fSystemDir+'SWFLASH.OCX' ), aShortPath, 2047 );                aCommand := Format( '%s egsvr32.exe /s %s', [fSystemDir, aShortPath] );                WinExecAndWait32( aCommand, SW_HIDE );            end;            FreeLibrary( aHandle );        end;
       //Try Creating the Form Again        try          Application.CreateForm(TForm1, Form1);        except          ShowMessage('Unable to find Macromedia Shockwave Flash.');        end;
     except        ShowMessage('Unable to register Macromedia Shockwave Flash.');      end;        {End of Registering the OCX File}    end;  end;  Application.Run; end.
END OF PROJECT SOURCE
HOW TO USE ACTIVEX CONTROL:
Properties
ReadyState (get only) - 0=Loading, 1=Uninitialized, 2=Loaded, 3=Interactive, 4=Complete.
TotalFrames (get only) - Returns the total number of frames in the movie. This is not available until the movie has loaded. Wait for ReadyState = 4.
FrameNum (get or set) - The currently displayed frame of the movie. Setting this will advance or rewind the movie.
Playing (get or set) - True if the movie is currently playing, false if it is paused.
Quality (get or set) - The current rendering quality (0=Low, 1=High, 2=AutoLow, 3=AutoHigh). This is the same as the QUALITY parameter.
ScaleMode (get or set) - Scale mode (0=ShowAll, 1= NoBorder, 2 = ExactFit). This is the same as the SCALE parameter.
AlignMode (get or set) - The align mode consists of bit flags. (Left=+1, Right=+2, Top=+4, Bottom=+8). This is the same as the SALIGN parameter.
BackgroundColor (get or set) - Override the background color of a movie. An integer of the form red*65536+green*256+blue use -1 for the default movie color.
Loop (get or set) - True if the animation loops, false to play once. Same as the MOVIE parameter.
Movie (get or set) - The URL source for the Flash Player movie file. Setting this will load a new movie into the control. Same as the MOVIE parameter.
Methods
Play() - Start playing the animation.
Stop() - Stop playing the animation.
Back() - Go to the previous frame.
Forward() - Go to the next frame.
Rewind() - Go to the first frame.
SetZoomRect(int left, int top, int right, int bottom) - Zoom in on a rectangular area of the movie. Note that the units of the coordinates are in twips (1440 units per inch). To calculate a rectangle in Flash, set the ruler units to Points and multiply the coordinates by 20 to get TWIPS.
Zoom(int percent) - Zoom the view by a relative scale factor. Zoom(50) will double the size of the objects in the view. Zoom(200) will reduce the size of objects in the view by one half.
Pan(int x, int y, int mode) - Pan a zoomed in movie. The mode can be: 0 = pixels, 1 = % of window.
Events
OnProgress(int percent) - Generated as the Flash Player movie is downloading.
OnReadyStateChange(int state) - Generated when the ready state of the control changes. The possible states are 0=Loading, 1=Uninitialized, 2=Loaded, 3=Interactive, 4=Complete.
FSCommand(string command, string args) - This event is generated when a GetURL action is performed in the movie with a URL and the URL starts with "FSCommand:". The portion of the URL after the : is provided in command and the target is provided in args. This can be used to create a response to a frame or button action in the Shockwave Flash movie.
For further information see the Macromedia Flash Website
In order to include your Flash files into your Delphi Application, just type in the directory of the .SWF file, then make "Embed Movie" = True, and it will be included in your file and not look at the Movie parameter any longer.
FYI: Phrase searches are enclosed in either single or double quotes
 
 
Originally created by
Tamarack Associates
Fri, 29 Mar 2024 13:20:03 UTC
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