ClickTAG in flash v.8 ?

Question

Hi,
Is it true that ClickTAG is no longer supported since Flash
version 8?
I created a banner for my client, and used Blur filter (Flash
version 8) as
an effect.
Then, for the button action I used this code:
on (release) {
getURL(clickTAG, "_blank");
But banner's action didn't work. Then I published file to a
lower version -
from v8 to Flash v6 - and everything worked, except my Blur
filter.
So my question is: how to use clickTAG in later versions
(Flash 8 and Flash
9).
Thanks in advance,
B.

Answer 1

Bare,
> Is it true that ClickTAG is no longer supported since
Flash
> version 8?
ClickTAG (aka clickTAG, aka clickTag) isn't a feature,
really. The
concept is a merely convention loosely adhered to by a number
of banner ad
agencies. All this constitutes is a variable passed into
Flash by way of
the HTML document that embeds the SWF. This can be done via
FlashVars or a
query string appended to the SWF's file name. The act of
variable-passing
in this matter has been supported for a long time, and is
still supported.
> I created a banner for my client, and used Blur filter
(Flash
> version 8) as an effect.
Right.
> Then, for the button action I used this code:
>
> on (release) {
> getURL(clickTAG, "_blank");
> }
I'm with ya.
> But banner's action didn't work. Then I published file
to a lower
> version - from v8 to Flash v6 - and everything worked,
except
> my Blur filter.
Here's my hunch. Flash Player 7 introduced case-sensitivity
into the
mix (see ...
http://www.adobe.com/support/documentation/en/flashplayer/7/releasenotes.html
... for details). If the variable passed into Flash happens
to be passed in
as ClickTAG, Flash Player 6 won't care that the ActionScript
is looking for
a variable that starts with a lowercase "c" -- but Flash
Player 7 will.
This is one of the biggest headaches when working with the
"clickTAG"
concept ... I guess agencies don't realize (or don't care)
that case
sensitivity became an issue several versions of Flash Player
ago.
If you don't nail the correct case in your reference to the
phantom
clickTAG variable -- and I say "phantom" because it doesn't
appear in the
SWF timeline until it is "fed" that variable from the HTML --
your Flash
Player 7+ SWFs won't "see" the variable in question.
Based on your description, I realize my input doesn't match
your
circumstances exactly. You're saying it seems to hinge on
Flash Player 8,
rather than 7. I'm afraid I can't explain that discrepancy.
The blur
effect will disappear before 8, because Flash 8 was the first
to support
filters and blend modes.
> So my question is: how to use clickTAG in later versions
(Flash
> 8 and Flash 9).
Again, it's not "clickTAG" that works or doesn't work -- the
term is
merely a convention -- it's the fact that ActionScript is
case sensitive
after Flash Player 7. You'll either have to make sure you
know how the HTML
is spelling that variable as it gets passed in, or you can
use an if()
statement to check for the existance of the variable.
on (release) {
if (clickTAG) getURL(clickTAG, "_blank");
if (clickTag) getURL(clickTag, "_blank");
// etc.
David Stiller
Adobe Community Expert
Dev blog,
http://www.quip.net/blog/
"Luck is the residue of good design."