David Stiller’s blog

I just finished a Flash movie that loads PNGs from a particular site folder.  In this case, the list of desired files is determined by an Array instance.  There are fifty-three files in this folder, and I didn’t relish typing out the names of each file by hand.  Old DOS trick to the rescue!  Keep reading »

People often want to create a “smart” skip intro button that allows a visitor to skip the intro on all future visits, as well as this one.  Or perhaps a banner that remembers the visitor’s name.  Maybe a local “high scores” listing for a game (just for the visitor, not a list of everyone’s high scores).  For any of these goals, and countless more, your SWF will need the capacity to store persistent data; that is, data that stay on the user’s machine even after the browser has been closed.  In traditional HTML development, this is often handled with JavaScript cookies.  Flash has its own version of that, available since Flash Player 6, and it’s very easy to use.  Let’s take a look.  Keep reading »

Just wanted to drop a quick note and mention that new content is coming soon.    Last week’s hiatus was occasioned by my first serious toe-dipping into the comparatively deep end of the pool, ActionScript 3.0.  I’ve also been preparing for Flashforward — less than two weeks away! — by putting together business cards and t-shirt designs in order to advertise my services.  Keep reading »