Flash no longer a Kiosk solution? Can't run 24/7?

Question

I'm a bit panicked here.
I have been using Flash to build applications for 24/7
accessable public kiosk applications. Until recently this seemed to
be a good solution, especially with help from programs like Zinc.
A recent situation with a client and one of our programs has
revealed a HUGE PROBLEM though. When REPEATIVELY loading and
unloading exteral files (swfs, jpgs, etc), Flash Player 8 seems to
keep the page file loaded with the data from these files even after
they've been unloaded.
Some of our applications load huge files (300mb or so). Some
of them may load 100s of jpegs per day, depending on user traffic.
Needless to say, once the page file gets large enough, the
app fails.
Am i understanding things correctly? IS THERE A SOLUTION? We
have a huge project launching next month! Should I revert
everything back to Flash Player 7 because i need a 24/7 app that
loads and unloads external files?
This isn't a huge issue for web apps, as they load into a
browser for a bit, and then go away when the user leaves the site
or closes the browser... But I need an app that runs 24/7... Is
Flash no longer a solution for this?

Answer 1

The Feldkircher wrote:
> Hi
>
> Take a look at this, it might fix your problem - seems
Macromedia is aware of the problem.
>
>
http://www.adobe.com/cfusion/knowledgebase/index.cfm?id=tn_14743
Think you confused something. The user refer to the problem
with player memory
management in standalone application. Your tech note refers
to browser based SWF
cashing. Which by the way is incorrect and has never worked.
Meta tags can barely
force text from caching, it has no effect on the SWF content
whatsoever. Secondly,
the technote was las updated: September 20, 2000
In regard to the original question.
The memory leak problems are known to us. Some experience it
savior, some of us
can barely notice. There is huge number of factors, from the
programming itself to
OS and its available resources, type of file and of course
the size of files...
I do many kiosks and cd based content, the bottom line is
that whatever is that you
load should be kept to as small as possible. The bigger the
file, the more you gamble
with its performance. Flash was design to be browser based,
short time playback. The
Projector is barely a convenience to distribute (web size
like files) to a clients who
have no player or access to download it. It wasn't meant to
run full blown application,
handling big files. This is what Director is made for.
Perhaps you should check it out.
It can video, 3d, sound, huge images, 300 hours a year
playback , w/o problems...
If I do happen to be running video files, large number and
large files than I will
usually set up an empty swf - movie holder, which restart the
content every so hours.
Sometimes I check for idle time to make sure there is no user
interacting with it and
if say 30 min passed and no one is there I will unload it and
reload it.
Do it with some Fade out transitions, making it look like
happens on purpose, part of
the concept.
Best Regards
Urami
!!!!!!! Merry Christmas !!!!!!!
Happy New Year
<urami>
If you want to mail me - DO NOT LAUGH AT MY ADDRESS
</urami>