Recently, I loaded the most recent version of Flash Player (9,0,115,0) or
flashplayer9e.ocx. I am using IE7 on a windows xp system.

The problem: I have javascript buttons that open a window from within a
Captivate generated swf (at least they used to). It is clear that the
combination of IE7 and fp9e.ocx is the problem. And that it primarily effects
running the files locally. However, I placed the SCORM packaged content on two
different LMS provider sites. One works and one doesn't. In combination with it
not playing locally, I am stumped.

- I have read as many tech notes as I could find. I have tried
allownetworking, allowscriptaccess, crossdomain.xml and on and on. Nothing has
solved the problem.
- I have checked all my IE7 security settings and have completely opened up
the security. Nothing.
- I've downloaded the fpdbg9e version and examined the log file. No problems.
Further indicating it is not the crossdomain issue.
-I've tried the Mark Of The Web (MOTW) route from microsoft kb site. No go.

I did pop over to the Flash Player forum and noticed that the combination of
IE7 and fp (9,0,115,0) break javascript locally. The suggestions over there
were framesets, not using getURL() and domains. Since Captivate users don't
control the actionscript in the swf file, we can't implement the suggestions.

I posted on the flash player site, but figured that since this new flash
player impacts Captivate and our hands are more tied that a Flash developer,
someone may want to know.

Sorry, so I left out the question:

Has anyone else found this problem or found the solution?

Is your window.open() call being executed directly from Captivate or are you
calling a function that resides in the HTML page?

If your function is hardcoded into Captivate, you might try creating a generic
version in the HTML page (the standard.js file is a great place to put reusable
code) and calling that code from Captivate, using parameters to pass the
necessary values.

I'm just guessing, but it may be that the browser is still free to execute
Javascript code, while the Flash Player is being limited for some reason.

For what it's worth, I'd expect to see problems when running locally, but
things should always work when running from the LMS server unless the LMS
actually loads content from a separate domain from the application server
itself. But if you're sure it's not a cross-domain issue, then it's definitely
a stumper.

The window.open() is scripted in the standard.js file and is called from with
the flash file. In Captivate, using the Execute Javascript option, we place

newWin9('FolderName/FileName.htm',
'','width=925,height=655,toolbar=0,menubar=0,scrol lbars=0,
resizable=1,status=0,top=0,left=0');

In the standard. js file is:

function newWin9(theURL,winName,features){
window.open(theURL,winName,features);}


I still don't understand why flash9e (9,0,115,0) would restrict it locally.
I've read the technotes, but none of the suggested solutions seem to work. So,
I go back to it being the problem described in the FlashPlayer forum.

As far as the LMS. I have since discovered that the version of Saba that we
are trying to deploy on, does not support IE7. Right now that is the only thing
I can fall back on. Plans are in the works to test the content in the latest
Saba version to see if that fixes the weirdness.

> I still don't understand why flash9e (9,0,115,0) would restrict it
> locally.
> I've read the technotes, but none of the suggested solutions seem to work.
> So,
> I go back to it being the problem described in the FlashPlayer forum.

It's not Flash that restricts the file locally. It's IE 7 ...

>
Steve


--
Adobe Community Expert: eLearning, Mobile and Devices
My blog - http://stevehoward.blogspot.com/

^ could you explain that a little more. Does that mean that java will not work
in IE7 if it's coming from within the Captivate swf. Or when you say "locally"
do you mean the local machine. I have to test from my local machine. I can't
put something on a server to test it (this is a problem in it's own right).
Althought if that is the problem, I may have to talk to the IT dept. about
changing that.

I ask because I also have had some trouble with javascript from a Captivate
..swf in IE7.

I have a print button and an exit (closes the browser) button in a captivate
file. I've tried launching just the .swf in the browser and embedding it in an
html file. Both buttons work fine in IE6 whether I open the file or an html.
They do not work in IE7 at all. I have these files on my local hard drive and I
have opened them from a networked drive. I don't know if they would behave
differently from the server.

Would it be better to have these functions called from the html file?

I tried to create a print button in Flash with actionscript and then import
that. It works, but for some reason it sees it as 75 pages , unless I load the
filename_skin.swf, in which case it's 2 pages. There is probably a way to fix
this but I haven't been able to find many resources. And I know Mr. Dewhurst
provides a widget for printing, but for various reasons I do not want to us
that widget.

Thanks

> I ask because I also have had some trouble with javascript from a
> Captivate
> .swf in IE7.
>
> I have a print button and an exit (closes the browser) button in a
> captivate
> file. I've tried launching just the .swf in the browser and embedding it
> in an
> html file. Both buttons work fine in IE6 whether I open the file or an
> html.
> They do not work in IE7 at all. I have these files on my local hard drive
> and I
> have opened them from a networked drive. I don't know if they would behave
> differently from the server.

The recommendation is always to test this sort of functionality from a
server. Windows is adding more and more security features, and one that
causes us pain is the inability to freely run applications from a local or
shared drive. There are workarounds, but it is best to just go ahead and
test from a server.

Steve


--
Adobe Community Expert: eLearning, Mobile and Devices
My blog - http://stevehoward.blogspot.com/

Thanks. After posting my first message I recalled that one of our IT guys had
placed a file I created (which had the exit and print buttons) on the server a
while ago.

When opening the file on the server in IE7 the print and exit buttons worked
fine. I went back and tried the same exact file (since it was not the file I
was refering to originally) both from my hard drive and a networked drive and
they wouldn't work in IE7.

Seems like that was definitely the problem.

Sorry for hijacking the topic.

Since my last post, I have discovered I have been mixing apples and oranges.

Problem 1: My Captivate 3 SCORM generated content that contains Javascript
buttons that launch a window when clicked, does not work from my local drive.
The main flash file plays, but clicking the buttons acts like nothing is there.
No errors or anything. I have followed the Adobe technotes as best as I could,
but have not been able to solve the problem for the combination of IE7 and
Flash9e. I didn't have this problem with Flash9d and I already added the
AllowScriptAccess PARAM to the object tag of the html.

Problem 2: The same type of problem where the javascript wasn't being executed
was taking place when loaded on a Saba 5.2 version LMS. Apparently, Saba 5.2
does not support IE7. When Saba tested our content on Saba 5.4 (that does
support IE7), it worked. Solution: Pay to upgrade or pay to have Saba alter the
calls in my content or remove the javascript in the content.

As far as playing content on your local drive. I have read, but have not
tested, that you can turn a Windows XP or Vista machine into a small web
server. You may be able to investigate and test your content that way. If you
aren't an admin on your machine, you are at the mercy of your IT group.