Flash Player Socket Connections Now Require a Policy File

In April 2008, Adobe imposed new security restrictions on socket connections made by Flash Player. Starting with Flash Player 9.0.124.0, all socket connections made to a server require authorization via a socket policy file.

For a general introduction to the issue of mandatory socket policy files, see Unity technote 00005.

For full, gory coverage of the security changes made in Flash Player 9.0.124.0, including their motivation and required action, see the following resources:

>> Setting up a socket policy file server
>> Understanding Flash Player 9 April 2008 Security Update compatibility
>> Policy file changes in Flash Player 9

Unity users can meet the new socket-policy-file requirement by following the instructions in Unity Technote 00001.

public bug database for flash player

Think you've found a legitimate bug in Flash Player? You now have a public place to report it: Adobe's new bug-tracking database for Flash Player.

Beyond its usefulness as a feedback channel for developers, the bugbase should be a nice resource to check when researching known Flash Player issues and their workarounds. Bugbase users can also voice support for fixes to existing bugs, which will help Adobe prioritize their engineering efforts based on community feedback.

fitc toronto 08 in one month

there is just under a month left until fitc toronto, one of the Flash industry's premier events. this year I'll be talking about the new features planned for the next version of ActionScript (i.e., features in ECMAScript 4). my lecture notes are already available online.

if you are interested in attending, you can register here. (get 10% off with this discount code: moock55)

as usual, there's a great list of speakers and presentations, but I'm particularly excited to see that Adobe is sending a real, live Flash Player engineer, Jim Corbett. if you are a programmer, you definitely will not want to miss Jim's presentation: Flash Player Internals.

also, this year, multiple attendees from one company can share a single ticket (called a "flex pass" *cough*). that should definitely make the cost of attending more approachable for smaller agencies. cool stuff.

i'm definitely looking forward to the heavy dose of education and inspiration that's always found at fitc!

flex builder 3 now free for students

just thought i'd help spread the word that Flex Builder 3 is now free for students and faculty of eligible educational institutions.

>> students: get your free flex builder here

(Flex Builder 3 is a code editor and visual layout tool for making Flash applications using either pure ActionScript or MXML.)

New Flash Apps: Aviary, Hobnox Audio

Now that Adobe's new desktop runtime AIR has been released, the Flash industry is eagerly waiting for the first real killer AIR app. At least one potential contender comes from a company in New York called Aviary. Aviary is making a suite of graphics tools with some very interesting interactions for generating designs. German mad scientist Mario Klingeman is producing one of the tools, known as Peacock. Peacock dynamically produces patterns (output) based on input sources and a series of filters and distortions applied through an interface reminiscent of an audio mixer. Mario has a collection of results on flickr.

Though the Aviary suite is not yet public, there is a beta program now accepting applications. Mario demonstrated Peacock to me in Munich, and I can say it's definitely worth keeping an eye on. More press on Aviary below:

>> Ryan Stewart's Aviary Review (zdnet)
>> Alan Stern's Aviary Launch Impressions

Also in Germany, André Michelle and Joa Ebert are working on a sophisticated mixer/synthesizer audio tool in Flash that might find its way to AIR if Adobe ever makes some noise.

XFL: Flash's New Source Format

I recently met with Flash authoring product-manager, Richard Galvan, to talk about Diesel, the next version of Flash (i.e., Flash CS4, or version 10 for those counting). Adobe has already demonstrated a bunch of high-impact features for Diesel, including inverse kinematics, a new tweening model, 3D "postcards in space", and advanced text components (see MAX 07 keynote, FOTB 07 keynote, and FITC Amsterdam 08 keynote). But Richard was keen to talk about a lesser known feature quietly percolating behind the scenes: XFL.

Since its inception, the Flash authoring tool has stored documents in a binary source-file called .fla. Historically, interchanging source with the Flash authoring tool has been virtually impossible for third-party software because the specification for .fla has never been public. But things are changing in the next version of Flash. Flash CS4 will be able to export *and* import a new source format called XFL. An XFL file is a .zip file that contains the source material for a Flash document. Within the .zip file resides an XML file describing the structure of the document and a folder with the document's assets (graphics, sounds, etc). The exact details of the XFL format are not yet available, but Richard assures me that Adobe intends to document them publicly, allowing third-party tools to import and export XFL.

So in theory, you might one day edit the images of an XFL file directly in Photoshop without disturbing the timeline information also contained in that file. Or you might be able to import a page from a word processing document into a Flash presentation.

But perhaps even more exciting is the potential for the smaller, grass-roots community. Being XML-based, the new XFL format should be fairly easy to understand and generate. That means any small tool company, web agency, or even independent developer will be able to create a purpose-built authoring tool that can output XFL. Of course, the XFL file would then need to be opened in the Flash authoring tool for final .swf export. But a .jsfl script should be able to ease the workflow between an XFL-generating tool and the Flash-authoring .swf-compilation process.

The natural next step in the evolution of XFL authoring would be to take the Flash authoring tool out of the equation altogether. If Adobe were to offer a command-line XFL-to-SWF compiler along with XFL, nearly any decent programmer would be able to create a .swf-authoring tool, even in ActionScript. The Flash developer community itself would finally be able to create its own custom Flash-authoring tools. I wonder who would be the first to nostalgically make Flash 4 for AIR in ActionScript?

XFL might not have the instant appeal of inverse kinematics, but it could eventually prove to be the feature in Flash CS4 that has the greatest impact on the Flash industry. After all, its name has an "X' in it.

Upcoming Lecture: ActionScript 4.0??

Last fall, the working group responsible for designing the next version of ECMAScript released an overview of proposed features for ECMAScript 4. ActionScript is based on ECMAScript, so the hypothetical ActionScript 4.0 will undoubtedly support some, if not all, of the proposed features.

In February and April (in Amsterdam and Toronto, respectively), I'll be doing a lecture at FITC covering the ECMAScript 4 features that will theoretically be added to ActionScript 4.0.

Read my FITC lecture notes here:
>> http://moock.org/lectures/newInECMAScript4/

Get information about FITC here:
>> http://www.fitc.ca/

munich ActionScript 3.0 training: spots still available

i'll be in munich, germany on february 20 doing a free all-day seminar on object-oriented programming with ActionScript 3.0. apparently there are lots of spots still available, so if you're anywhere near munich and want to learn ActionScript 3.0, drop on by!

>> register for ActionScript 3.0 training in munich

(i'll also be doing the seminar in amsterdam on feb 27, and london on march 3, but those venues are almost booked up.)

hope to see you there!

Francis Cheng's New Blog

Adobe engineer-turned-technical writer, Francis Cheng, recently started a blog about ECMAScript 4 and ActionScript. Francis was one of my main contacts during the writing of Essential ActionScript 3.0 (he responded to 334 of my emails during the book's writing!). Francis sits on the ECMAScript 4 committee, and was one of the authors of the ActionScript 3.0 language specification. His new blog already has some great posts about proposed ECMAScript 4 features, such as proper tail calls. I'm looking forward to lots more interesting reading!

>> visit Francis Cheng's blog

ActionScript 3.0: Is It Hard or Not?

In parts of the Flash community, ActionScript 3.0 seems to have gained a reputation for being "hard"—particularly among those who have not yet tried the new language. Is the reputation warranted? To find out, read my article at O'Reilly's new InsideRIA.com...

(there's a good discussion happening in the comments after the article too. contributions welcome!)