Flash prospectus - best practice?

Hello all,
I'm currently pitching to put together a 110 page Flash based
prospectus for a local college. The finished result will be made
available online, and also via CD-ROM.
The layout of the pages will be very consistent in terms of
what elements appear where, only the text content and relevant
imagery will change from spread to spread.
The smart solution would seem to be a template, into which
the content is dynamically loaded as the user navigates, possibly
from xml files. In this way amendments could be made directly to
the xml, each page could be populated by a set of scripts, and I
wouldn't be left with a huge and unwieldy Flash document full of
static content.
Assuming I could make this work, what are the implications
when it comes to delivering the same solution on CD-ROM?
Thanks

>>Assuming I could make this work, what are the
implications when it comes
>>to
delivering the same solution on CD-ROM?
None that I can think of. It should all just work, and it
sounds like you've
got a good handle on it.
Dave -
www.offroadfire.com
Head Developer
http://www.blurredistinction.com
Adobe Community Expert
http://www.adobe.com/communities/experts/

Similar Messages

Flash/HTML best practice

What's the recommended method for inserting Flash on a web
page? (to work
in
Mozilla, IE etc)
I'm on DW8, but the code it generates doesn't validate. My
current
test page is at
http://blastoff.kpdirection.com/playertest.php
(Warning - it
plays music as soon as you go to the page. It won't on the
live site, I
promise.... )
I could make it validate to xhtml strict, but before I spend
time doing
that, I'd like to know which method of inserting Flash on web
pages is
currently best practice.
Thanks in advance.
Pete.
Peter Connolly
http://www.kpdirection.com
Utah

No, your code it's not valid in
http://validator.w3.org/
You can use swfobject
http://code.google.com/p/swfobject/
Hope this helps
PeteC escribió:
> What's the recommended method for inserting Flash on a
web page? (to work
> in
> Mozilla, IE etc)
>
> I'm on DW8, but the code it generates doesn't validate.
My current
> test page is at
http://blastoff.kpdirection.com/playertest.php
(Warning - it
> plays music as soon as you go to the page. It won't on
the live site, I
> promise.... )
>
> I could make it validate to xhtml strict, but before I
spend time doing
> that, I'd like to know which method of inserting Flash
on web pages is
> currently best practice.
>
> Thanks in advance.
>
> Pete.

Best practice for putting together scenes in a Flash project?

Hi, I'm currently working on a flash project with the following characteristics:
using a PC
2048x1080 pixels
30 fps
One audio file that plays (once) continuously across the whole project
there are actions that relate to the audio, so the timing is important
at least 10 scenes
about 7 minutes long total
current intent is for it to be played in a modern theater as a surprise
What is the best practice for working on this project and then compiling it together?
Do it all in one project file?
Split the work into different project (xfl) files for each scene and then put it together when all the scenes are finalized?
Use one project file but create different "scenes" for each respective scene? I think this is the "classic" way (?).
Make the scenes "movie clips" and then insert them into the timeline with the audio as its own layer?
Other?
I'm currently working on it by having it all in one project file. But I've noticed that there's some lag (or it gets choppy) at certain parts during playback and the SWF history shows 3.1 MB with a yellow triangle with exclamation point symbol. Thanks in advance.

you would only do that if it makes your job easier. generally speaking, it would not.
when trying to sync sound and animation i think most authors find it easiest to use graphic symbols because you can see their animation when scrubbing the main timeline. with movieclips you only see their animation when testing.
however, if you're going to use actionscript to control some of your symbols, those symbols should be movieclips.

Best Practices? Rendering to Flash for streaming web....

I am always impressed with the flash based videos I see streaming on YouTube, FastCompany.Tv and other sites....
My question... can you please either explain or point me in the right direction for streaming video best practices? Specifically, I am looking for info on best settings to produce the flash video (codecs and/or FCP render settings) and then what do people use as a flash player on their websites to show the end result.
My goal is to create internal instructional videos for corporate training and then host them on my site (or streaming from Akamai). I would like people to be able to watch it in a flash player embedded on my site (and have it look good even if they click on a full screen button) or download to their iPod.
Examples of what I like, but I don't know how to do:
http://www.fastcompany.tv/video/getting-government-work
Thank you in advance for your expertise and insight.
-Steven

I would like people to be able to watch it in a flash player embedded on my site (and have it look good even if they click on a full screen button) or download to their iPod.
Use the H.264 setting for iPod in Compressor. The h.264 file will play in a JW Flash Player and it's able to be downloaded for iPod viewing.

Best Practices: Flash Player 10.1 and Flash Lite 4

I've found the documentation for Flash Lite 4. It appears to support most everything you'd want to do in AS3, aside from some desktop-specific APIs like Clipboard, File, ContextualMenu, etc..
I've also noticed that there's a Flash Lite 4 compile target in Flash CS5. Would it be considered a best-practice to target Flash Lite 4 instead of Flash Player 10 for web content? (Obviously, desktoppy web apps would still need to be compiled for 10).

TJ,
Thanks for your great feedback and your kind words. I'll certainly be making sure the team sees your comments, though I can't say we'll have 10.1 in place for you by Monday.
Thanks
-D

Flash Alternative Content ~ Best Practice ~ Safari on iOS Devices ~ iPad iPhone iPod Touch

Hi Folks,
Is there a documented best practice for providing alternate content for Flash in Safari on iOS devices?
I am getting white space where my Flash animation would normally appear, and management is displeased. I need to display alternative content in this space. I'm hopeful that Adobe has published a best practice for how to accomplish this.
tyvm
Keith

Not sure about Adobe official stance but they have started using swfobject Flash detection to place Flash <objects> on the Web page. The problem I see with the Adobe implementation is that about the only alternate content they recommend is "Click here to download the latest version of Flash player".
That is about the lamest alternate content you could possibly imagine! Just because you recommend that your viewers download the new version.... doesn't mean they will... so they still go without REAL alternate content.
A MUCH BETTER use of swfobject is to actually provide alternate content! For your review::
If you think that Flash is somehow bad for SEO, it's time to dispell that MYTH!
If fact, in some circumstances I'll use Flash INSTEAD of just HTML because then I'll have better SEO than with just HTML alone.
http://www.worldbarefootcenter.com/
The link to World Barefoot Center in the above post is just one example. View the source code and you see a couple paragraphs of text along with regular HTML links.... but what displays is the Flash version of the image and Flash links.
The client provided the artwork for the page... and that's what they wanted to use a .jpg image. Well yes, that could be done in HTML but it would be virtually invisible to Google. So Instead I converted the image into a Flash .swf and used swfobject to display the Flash. swfobject allows you to create alternate content inside the <div> which also holds the Flash .swf, then when the page is loaded it detects if the browser has the Flash pluggin. If it does, it displays just the Flash content, if not, it displays the alternate content. Since almost everyone has the Flash pluggin, for most people the Flash version of the <div> will display.
The alternate content for that <div> can be any regular HTML text, images, media player, links, etc., anything that you would use if you were not using the Flash. Now the best part is that the alternate content can be "over the top" as far as optimizing for SEO, since it will not be seen by most viewers.
Here's another example of SEO with Flash.. again, the page is just a single image provided by the client:
http://www.ksowetsuits.com/
View the source code. The alt content is paragraph after paragraph of information about the site, including lists and links. If it was just the HTML, it might be kind of a boring Home page. But for SEO I can go "over the top" in promoting the site, since most viewers will never see that part... but it's all indexed by search engines. The end result is BETTER SEO using Flash than just HTML.
On another Web site, a Flash video is displayed, the alt content is the complete text narration of the video. Now how many people would take the time to read that if they could just watch the video instead?? again, better SEO with Flash than without. In fact in one case we had first page search result from that video narration within 4 hours of posting the page.
On still another site with a Flash video, the alt content is another video, but a .mov version, which will, in effect play Flash video on the iPhone (not possible you say??). Well since the iPhone does not have Flash pluggin, it simply displays the .mov version of the video, while everyione else sees the Flash version.
So anyway, if Flash is a part of your Web development, you should look into using swfobject and alternate content.
http://code.google.com/p/swfobject/
Best wishes,
Eye for Video
www.cidigitalmedia.com
So it is and has been for a number of years now, very easy to provide alternate content for non Flash devices... and that includes text, images, and video.
Best wishes,
Adninjastrator

Flash Lite Server Redirect - best practice?

Hey all,
I work in a small creative department in Japan, and we are
starting to take orders for mobile Flash apps. We have, until
recently, only done inline Flash movies, but I've been put in
charge of our first full-Flash app. The only thing I'm not clear on
is this: How should I implement the switch on the server side that
a) redirects people trying to get to the content from a PC to a PC
page; and b) keeps people from being able to access the content
directly so they can download and decompile the Flash file?
Capcom, for example, is doing an excellent job at this, and
even if I spoof the server with a mobile user-agent, I still can't
get the mobile content to come up on my PC.
Anyway, I was hoping maybe somebody would know something
about this and would be able to advise on best practices: PHP?
.htaccess? JavaScript redirects? Also how do you hide the content
(no need to type up an example script - but what are the key
parameters that I should be testing against)?
Thanks in advance!
Ryoma

Kunerilite is free, but you can install only one sis
application at a time, for the Basic version.
Yeah, it does have plugins, etc, but then comes the pain,
register at symbiansigned, UID, etc.
For the simple choice and for a quick sis, nothing fancy,
swf2go might be good.
At least this is my initial thought. Haven't tested
yet.

Building complex flash game in Flash Builder 4 - Workflow/Best Practices

I'm investigating switching to Flash Builder 4 for building a complex game that currently lives purely inside Flash CS4. CS4 is a pretty terrible source code editor and debugger. It's also quite unstable. Many crashes caused by bad behavior in the SWF will take out the entire IDE so are almost impossible to debug. And I've heard other horror stories. To be clear, for this project I'm not interested in the Flex API, just the IDE.
Surprisingly, it seems Flash Builder 4 isn't really set up for this type of development. I was hoping for an "Import FLA" option that would import my Document Class, set it as the main entry point, and figure out where other assets live and construct a new project. What is the best workflow for developing a project like this?
What I tried:
-Create a new Actionscript Project in the same directory where my CS4 lives
-Set the primary source file to match the original project's source file and location
-Set my main FLA as "export to SWC", and added "SWC PATH" to my flash builder 4 project.
-Compile and run.. received many errors due to references to stage instance. I changed these to GetChildByName("stagename"). Instead, should I declare them as members of the main class? (this would mimic what flash CS4 does).
-My project already streams in several external SWF's. I set these to "Export SWC" to get compile-time access to classes and varaibles. This works fine in cs4, the loaded SWF's behave as if they were in the native project. Is the same recommended with FB4?
-Should I also be setting the primary FLA as "export to swc"? If not, how do I reference it from flex, and how does flex know which fla it should construct the main stage with?
Problems:
-I'm getting a crash inside a class that is compiled in one of the external SWF's (with SWC). I cannot see source code for the stack inside this class at all. I CAN see member variables of the class, so symbol information exists. And I do see the stack with correct function names. I even see local variables and function parameters in the watch window! But no source. Is this a known bug, or "by design"? Is there a workaround? The class is compiled into the main project, but I still cannot see source. If FLEX doesn't support source level debugging of SWC's, then it's pretty useless to me. The project cannot live as a single SWF. It needs to be streaming and modular for performance and also work flow. I can see source just fine when debugging the exact same SWC/SWF through CS4.
-What is the expected workflow with artists/designers working on the project? Currently they just have access to all the latest source, and to test changes they run right through flash. Will they be required to license Flash Builder as well so they can test changes? Or should I be distributing the main "engine" as a SWF, and having it reference other SWF files that artists can work on? They they compile their SWF in CS4, and to test the game, they can load the SWF I distribute.
A whitepaper on this would be awesome, since I think a lot of folks are trying to go this direction. I spent a long time searching the web and there is quite a bit of confusion on this issue, and various hacks/tricks to make things work. Most of the information is stale from old releases (AS2!).
If a clean workflow I would happily adopt Flash Builder 4 as the new development tool for all the programmers. It's a really impressive IDE with solid performance, functional intellisense, a rich and configurable interface, a responsive debugger..I could go on and on. One request is shipping with "visual studio keyboard layout" for us C++ nerds.
Thanks very much for reading this novel!

Flash builder debugging is a go! Boy, I feel a bit stupid, you nailed the problem Jason - I didn't have "Permit Debugging set". I didn't catch it because debugging worked fine in CS4 because, well, CS4 doesn't obey this flag, even for externally loaded SWF files (I think as long as it has direct access to the SWC). Ugh.
I can now run my entire, multi SWF, complex project through FB with minimal changes. One question I do have:
In order to instantiate stage instances and call the constructor of the document class, I currently load the SWF file with LoaderContext. I'm not even exporting an SWC for the main FLA (though I may, to get better intellisense). Is this the correct way of doing it? Or should I be using , or some other method to pull it into flex? They seem to do the same thing.
The one awful part about this workflow is that since almost all of my code is currently tied to symbols, and lives in the SWF, any change i make to code must first be recompiled in CS4, then I have to switch back to FB. I'm going to over time restructure the whole code base to remove the dependency of having library symbols derive from my own custom classes. It's just a terrible work flow for both programmers and artists alike. CS5 will make this better, but still not great. Having a clean code base and abstracted away assets that hold no dependencies on the code seems like the way to go with flash. Realistically, in a complex project, artists/designers don't know how to correctly set up symbols to drive from classes anyway, it must be done by a programmer. This will allow for tighter error checking and less guess work. Any thoughts on this?
Would love to beta test CS5 FYI seeing as it solves some of these issues.
Date: Thu, 21 Jan 2010 15:06:07 -0700
From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: Building complex flash game in Flash Builder 4 - Workflow/Best Practices
How are you launching the debug session from Flash Builder? Which SWF are you pointing to?
Here's what I did:
1) I imported your project (File > Import > General > Existing project...)
2) Create a launch configuration (Run > Debug Configuration) as a Web Application pointing to the FlexSwcBug project
3) In the launch config, under "URL or path to launch" I unchecked "use default" and selected the SWF you built (I assume from Flash Pro C:\Users\labuser\Documents\FLAs\FlexSwcBug\FlexSwcBugCopy\src\AdobeBugExample_M ain.swf)
4) Running that SWF, I get a warning "SWF Not Compiled for Debugging"
5) No problem here. I opened Flash Professional to re-publish the SWF with "Permit debugging" on
6) Back In Flash Builder, I re-ran my launch configuration and I hit the breakpoint just fine
It's possible that you launched the wrong SWF here. It looks like you setup DocumentClass as a runnable application. This creates a DocumentClass.swf in the bin-debug folder and by default, that's what Flash Builder will create a run config for. That's not the SWF you want.
In AdobeBugExample_Main.swc, I don't see where classCrashExternal is defined. I see that classCrashMainExample is the class and symbol name for the blue pentagon. Flash Builder reads the SWC fine for me. I'm able to get code hinting for both classes in the SWC.
Jason San Jose
Quality Engineer, Flash Builder
>

Flash`s Best Tweening/Animating Practices

Hi there (again),
Looking for best practices over the net I found only some obvious things such as organize your library, layers, frames, one layer for actions only and these kind of things.
What I want to know is something more... I don`t know, advanced, maybe?
Here is my context: I`m learning ActionsScript 3.0 now and with it Flash too. However I did already know the basics of Flash animation (tweening, creating buttons with gotoAndPlay functions and so on). Earlier I used to make some simple animation sites which didn`t use actionscripting (just stop, play, gotoAndPlay/Stop and that basic stuff).
Now I`m learning actionscript and I find myself in a completly new world on which I can make animations without needing the timeline that was the fundamental part of my earlier knowledge.
I ended up finding the TweenLite opensource library ( http://blog.greensock.com/tweenliteas3/ ) and now I even more end up making animations through actionscripting.
Now I find myself in doubt of when I should use frame animations and actionscript animations.
Let me give you an example.
Making site with between sections animations (something like fade out to leave a section and fade in other one). When you click a button you need to fadeout the current section and fade in the other one.
Well, usually I wouldn`t know how to do this. Now I know 2 ways (lol).
Method 1 (using frames): For each section I have a fadeIn animation (frames: x until x+10 with a stop() at the end) and a fadeOut (x+11 until x+21 with a gotoAndPlay(nextSection).
This way, when I click in a button I just change the nectSection string and run the play() command.
If I`m in a section it means it is stopped at the end of the FadeIn parte. Clicking a button will execute play() command and will show the fadeout animation. When it gets to the last frame it will go to the next section fade in frame.
If I`m in the middle of an animation the play() command wont disturb the animation. Only the nextSection will be updated. Keeping the site smooth.
Method 2(using actionscript): Here it isn`t important how do I do this since you can do it in many ways. But it is important to know that I can make it with 1 keyframe in the timeline. Can make it with coding only.
Can you guys see what I`m trying to explain? I just don`t know what is the best way to make my site with lots of buttons rollin rollout animations, sections, subsections and everything else since I can make frame animations and coding animations.
Is there any best practice for this ?
Thanks again,
Oscar

There are no tips relating this subject?
Thanks

What is the best practices workflow from illustrator to flash in cs 6?

Hello- question from an illustrator to flash workflow n00b.
I'm creating a flash experience with animated characters.
I'm building my art assets in illustrator.
I've found it relatively easy & straightforward to import assets from illustrator into flash.
I can conveniently import my layers and symbols from illustrator as separate layers and symbols in flash and manipulate them.
However, let's say after import I want to change something with an asset using illustrator. For example, I have a character with facial features, including eyes. I want to change the eyes in illustrator and have those changes then be propogated in some way- automagically or manually- in flash.
What is the right way to do this? Are there best practices for being able to go back and forth between flash and illustrator?
Thank you!
~ sae

Thanks for the reply Suhas.
I guess the answer to my question is that there is no good way. In the photoshop/illustrator workflow, I can paste a document from illustrator into photoshop and then double-click it in photoshop to open it back up in illustrator and edit the original. I have seen posts on people doing this between Flash and Illustrator with the now-discontinued Flash Catalyst- a process that was apparently called round-tripping. Ideally, this is the functionality I'd like to have between Flash and Illustrator but I take it from your reply that the answer is 'Does not exist.'
~ sae

Best practices for setting up projects

We recently adopted using Captivate for our WBT modules.
As a former Flash and Director user, I can say it’s
fast and does some great things. Doesn’t play so nice with
others on different occasions, but I’m learning. This forum
has been a great source for search and read on specific topics.
I’m trying to understand best practices for using this
product. We’ve had some problems with file size and
incorporating audio and video into our projects. Fortunately, the
forum has helped a lot with that. What I haven’t found a lot
of information on is good or better ways to set up individual
files, use multiple files and publish projects. We’ve decided
to go the route of putting standalones on our Intranet. My gut says
yuck, but for our situation I have yet to find a better way.
My question for discussion, then is: what are some best
practices for setting up individual files, using multiple files and
publishing projects? Any references or input on this would be
appreciated.

Hi,
Here are some of my suggestions:
1) Set up a style guide for all your standard slides. Eg.
Title slide, Index slide, chapter slide, end slide, screen capture,
non-screen capture, quizzes etc. This makes life a lot easier.
2) Create your own buttons and captions. The standard ones
are pretty ordinary, and it's hard to get a slick looking style
happening with the standard captions. They are pretty easy to
create (search for add print button to learn how to create
buttons). There should instructions on how to customise captions
somewhere on this forum. Customising means that you can also use
words, symbols, colours unique to your organisation.
3) Google elearning providers. Most use captivate and will
allow you to open samples or temporarily view selected modules.
This will give you great insight on what not to do and some good
ideas on what works well.
4) Timings: Using the above research, I got others to
complete the sample modules to get a feel for timings. The results
were clear, 10 mins good, 15 mins okay, 20 mins kind of okay, 30
mins bad, bad, bad. It's truly better to have a learner complete
2-3 short modules in 30 mins than one big monster. The other
benefit is that shorter files equal smaller size.
5) Narration: It's best to narrate each slide individually
(particularly for screen capture slides). You are more likely to
get it right on the first take, it's easier to edit and you don't
have to re-record the whole thing if you need to update it in
future. To get a slicker effect, use at least two voices: one male,
one female and use slightly different accents.
6) Screen capture slides: If you are recording filling out
long window based databse pages where the compulsory fields are
marked (eg. with a red asterisk) - you don't need to show how to
fill out every field. It's much easier for the learner (and you) to
show how to fill out the first few fields, then fade the screen
capture out, fade the end of the form in with the instructions on
what to do next. This will reduce your file size. In one of my
forms, this meant the removal of about 18 slides!
7) Auto captions: they are verbose (eg. 'Click on Print
Button' instead of 'Click Print'; 'Select the Print Preview item'
instead of 'Select Print Preview'). You have to edit them.
8) PC training syntax: Buttons and hyperlinks should normally
be 'click'; selections from drop down boxes or file lists are
normally 'select': Captivate sometimes mixes them up. Instructions
should always be written in the correct order: eg. Good: Click
'File', Select 'Print Preview'; Bad: Select 'Print Preview' from
the 'File Menu'. Button names, hyperlinks, selections are normally
written in bold
9) Instruction syntax: should always be written in an active
voice: eg. 'Click Options to open the printer menu' instead of
'When the Options button is clicked on, the printer menu will open'
10) Break all modules into chapters. Frame each chapter with
a chapter slide. It's also a good idea to show the Index page
before each chapter slide with a progress indicator (I use an
animated arrow to flash next to the name of the next chapter), I
use a start button rather a 'next' button for the start of each
chapter. You should always have a module overview with the purpose
of the course and a summary slide which states what was covered and
they have complete the module.
11) Put a transparent click button somewhere on each slide.
Set the properties of the click box to take the learner back to the
start of the current chapter by pressing F2. This allows them to
jump back to the start of their chapter at any time. You can also
do a similar thing on the index pages which jumps them to another
chapter.
12) Recording video capture: best to do it at normal speed
and be concious of where your mouse is. Minimise your clicks. Most
people (until they start working with captivate) are sloppy with
their mouse and you end up with lots of unnecessarily slides that
you have to delete out. The speed will default to how you recorded
it and this will reduce the amount of time you spend on changing
timings.
13) Captions: My rule of thumb is minimum of 4 seconds - and
longer depending on the amount of words. Eg. Click 'Print Preview'
is 4 seconds, a paragraph is longer. If you creating knowledge
based modules, make the timing long (eg. 2-3 minutes) and put in a
next button so that the learner can click when they are ready.
Also, narration means the slides will normally be slightly longer.
14) Be creative: Capitvate is desk bound. There are some
learners that just don't respond no matter how interactive
Captivate can be. Incorporate non-captivate and desk free
activities. Eg. As part of our OHS module, there is an activity
where the learner has to print off the floor plan, and then wander
around the floor marking on th emap key items such as: fire exits;
first aid kit, broom and mop cupboard, stationary cupboard, etc.
Good luck!

ASA 5505 Best Practice Guidance Requested

I am hoping to tap into the vast wealth of knowledge on this board in order to gain some "best practice" guidance to assist me with the overall setup using the ASA 5505 for a small business client. I'm fairly new to the ASA 5505 so any help would be most appreciated!
My current client configuration is as follows:
a) business internet service (cable) with a fixed IP address
b) a Netgear N600 Wireless Dual Band router (currently setup as gateway and used for internet/WiFi access)
c) a Cisco SG-500-28 switch
d) one server running Windows Small Business Server 2011 Standard (primary Domain Controller)
     (This server is currently the DNS and DHCP server)
e) one server running Windows Server 2008 R2 (secondary Domain Controller)
f) approximately eight Windows 7 clients (connected via SG-500-28 switch)
g) approximately six printers connected via internal network (connected via SG-500-28 switch)
All the servers, clients, and printers are connected to the SG-500-28 switch.
The ISP provides the cable modem for the internet service.
The physical cable for internet is connected to the cable modem.
From the cable modem, a CAT 6 ethernet cable is connected to the internet (WAN) port of the Netgear N600 router.
A Cat 6 ethernet cable is connected from Port 1 of the local ethernet (LAN) port on the N600 router to the SG-500-28 switch.
cable modem -> WAN router port
LAN router port -> SG-500-28
The ASA 5505 will be setup with an "LAN" (inside) interface and a "WAN" (outside) interface. Port e0/0 on the ASA 5505 will be used for the outside interface and the remaining ports will be used for the inside interface.
So my basic question is, given the information above of our setup, where should the ASA 5505 be "inserted" to maximize its performance? Also, based on the answer to the previous question, can you provide some insight as to how the ethernet cables should be connected to achieve this?
Another concern I have is what device will be used as the default gateway. Currently, the Netgear N600 is set as the default gateway on both Windows servers. In your recommended best practice solution, does the ASA 5505 become the default gateway or does the router remain the default gateway?
And my final area of concern is with DHCP. As I stated earlier, I am running DHCP on Windows Small Business Server 2011 Standard. Most of the examples I have studied for the ASA 5505 utilize its DHCP functionality. I also have done some research on the "dhcprelay server" command. So I'm not quite sure which is the best way to go. First off, does the "dhcprelay server" even work with SBS 2011? And secondly, if it does work, is the best practice to use the "dhcprelay" command or to let the ASA 5505 perform the DHCP server role?
All input/guidance/suggestions with these issues would be greatly appreciated! I want to implement the ASA 5505 firewall solution following "best practices" recommendations in order to maximize its functionality and minimize the time to implement.
FYI, the information (from the "show version" command) for the ASA 5505 is shown below:
Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance Software Version 8.4(7)
Device Manager Version 7.1(5)100
Compiled on Fri 30-Aug-13 19:48 by builders
System image file is "disk0:/asa847-k8.bin"
Config file at boot was "startup-config"
ciscoasa up 2 days 9 hours
Hardware:   ASA5505, 512 MB RAM, CPU Geode 500 MHz
Internal ATA Compact Flash, 128MB
BIOS Flash M50FW016 @ 0xfff00000, 2048KB
Encryption hardware device : Cisco ASA-5505 on-board accelerator (revision 0x0)
                             Boot microcode   : CN1000-MC-BOOT-2.00
                             SSL/IKE microcode: CNLite-MC-SSLm-PLUS-2.03
                             IPSec microcode : CNlite-MC-IPSECm-MAIN-2.06
                             Number of accelerators: 1
0: Int: Internal-Data0/0    : address is a493.4c99.8c0b, irq 11
1: Ext: Ethernet0/0         : address is a493.4c99.8c03, irq 255
2: Ext: Ethernet0/1         : address is a493.4c99.8c04, irq 255
3: Ext: Ethernet0/2         : address is a493.4c99.8c05, irq 255
4: Ext: Ethernet0/3         : address is a493.4c99.8c06, irq 255
5: Ext: Ethernet0/4         : address is a493.4c99.8c07, irq 255
6: Ext: Ethernet0/5         : address is a493.4c99.8c08, irq 255
7: Ext: Ethernet0/6         : address is a493.4c99.8c09, irq 255
8: Ext: Ethernet0/7         : address is a493.4c99.8c0a, irq 255
9: Int: Internal-Data0/1    : address is 0000.0003.0002, irq 255
10: Int: Not used            : irq 255
11: Int: Not used            : irq 255
Licensed features for this platform:
Maximum Physical Interfaces       : 8              perpetual
VLANs                             : 3              DMZ Restricted
Dual ISPs                         : Disabled       perpetual
VLAN Trunk Ports                  : 0              perpetual
Inside Hosts                      : 10             perpetual
Failover                          : Disabled       perpetual
VPN-DES                           : Enabled        perpetual
VPN-3DES-AES                      : Enabled        perpetual
AnyConnect Premium Peers          : 2              perpetual
AnyConnect Essentials             : Disabled       perpetual
Other VPN Peers                   : 10             perpetual
Total VPN Peers                   : 12             perpetual
Shared License                    : Disabled       perpetual
AnyConnect for Mobile             : Disabled       perpetual
AnyConnect for Cisco VPN Phone    : Disabled       perpetual
Advanced Endpoint Assessment      : Disabled       perpetual
UC Phone Proxy Sessions           : 2              perpetual
Total UC Proxy Sessions           : 2              perpetual
Botnet Traffic Filter             : Disabled       perpetual
Intercompany Media Engine         : Disabled       perpetual
This platform has a Base license.

Hey Jon,
Again, many thanks for the info!
I guess I left that minor detail out concerning the Guest network. I have a second Netgear router that I am using for Guest netowrk access. It is plugged in to one of the LAN network ports on the first Netgear router.
The second Netgear (Guest) router is setup on a different subnet and I am letting the router hand out IP addresses using DHCP.
Basic setup is the 192.168.1.x is the internal network and 192.168.11.x is the Guest network. As far as the SBS 2011 server, it knows nothing about the Guest network in terms of the DHCP addresses it hands out.
Your assumption about the Guest network is correct, I only want to allow guest access to the internet and no access to anything internal. I like your idea of using the restricted DMZ feature of the ASA for the Guest network. (I don't know how to do it, but I like it!) Perhaps you could share more of your knowledge on this?
One final thing, the (internal) Netgear router setup does provide the option for a separate Guest network, however it all hinges on the router being the DHCP server. This is what led me to the second (Guest) Netgear router because I wanted the (internal) Netgear router NOT to use DHCP. Instead I wanted SBS 2011 to be the DHCP server. That's what led to the idea of a second (Guest) router with DHCP enabled.
The other factor in all this is SBS 2011. Not sure what experience you've had with the Small Business Server OS's but they tend to get a little wonky if some of the server roles are disabled. For instance, this is a small busines with a total of about 20 devices including servers, workstations and printers. Early on I thought, "nah, I don't need this IPv6 stuff," so I found an article on how to disable it and did so. The server performance almost immediately took a nose dive. Rebooting the server went from a 5 minute process to a 20 minute process. And this was after I followed the steps of an MSDN article on disabling IPv6 on SBS 2011! Well, long story short, I enabled IPv6 again and the two preceeding issues cleared right up. So, since SBS 2011 by "default" wants DHCP setup I want to try my best to accomodate it. So, again, your opinion/experiece related to this is a tremendous help!
Thanks!

What is the best practice in securing deployed source files

hi guys,
Just yesterday, I developed a simple image cropper using ajax
and flash. After compiling the package, I notice the
package/installer delivers the same exact source files as in
developed to the installed folder.
This doesnt concern me much at first, but coming to think of
it. This question keeps coming out of my head.
"What is the best practice in securing deployed source
files?"
How do we secure application installed source files from
being tampered. Especially, when it comes to tampering of the
source files after it's been installed. E.g. modifying spraydata.js
files for example can be done easily with an editor.

Hi,
You could compute a SHA or MD5 hash of your source files on
first run and save these hashes to EncryptedLocalStore.
On startup, recompute and verify. (This, of course, fails to
address when the main app's swf / swc / html itself is
decompiled)

Best practice for setting or detecting screen size?

Hi All,
Trying to determine a best practice for setting or detecting the screen size. For playbook and iOS, I can set them. But for Android, the number of devices is too large so I'd rather detect. My first choice is to use the stage.stageHeight and stage.stageWidth. This works fine if I set my stage properties with standard meta data:
[SWF(height="320", width="480", frameRate="64", backgroundColor="#010101")]
However, if I use the application descriptor file to set the stage dimentions (as suggested by Christian Cantrell here http://www.adobe.com/devnet/flash/articles/authoring_for_multiple_screen_sizes.html)
<initialWindow>
<aspectRatio>landscape</aspectRatio>
<autoOrients>false</autoOrients>
<width>320</width>
<height>480</height>
<fullScreen>true</fullScreen>
</initialWindow>
Then the stage.stageHeight and stage.stageWidth are not the correct numbers when my main class is added to the stage. Sometime after the main class is added to the stage, then those numbers are fine. Is there an event I can wait for to know that the stage.stageHeight and stage.stageWidth are correct?
Thanks in advance!

Hi Lee,
Thanks for the quick response! However, for some reason the heightPercent & widthPercent metadata tags are not working as expected for me.
I have a wrapper class that I target for compiling, WagErgApplePhone.as where I've got my metadata
[SWF(heightPercent="100%", widthPercent="100%", frameRate="64", backgroundColor="#010101")]
sets some stage properties
stage.quality=StageQuality.LOW;
stage.scaleMode = StageScaleMode.NO_SCALE;
stage.align = StageAlign.TOP_LEFT;
and instantiates my main class
var main:Main = new Main();
addChild(main);
my main class constructor even waits for the stage
public function Main(){
if (stage) init();
else addEventListener(Event.ADDED_TO_STAGE, init);
in my init function, stage.stageHeight traces out as 375 (expecting 320).
i have a function which is called via a button press event by the user, and stage.stageHeight traces out correctly (320) there. that's what makes me think that if i wait long enough, i can get the correct stageHeight before init/drawing. but i'm not sure what event to listen for, or if there's another trick.
if i use Capabilities.screenResolutionX and Capabilities.screenResolutionY the correct values are provided for mobile, but these values are not useful for the desktop and web version of the app. if there's no other solution, i'll execute different code depending on platform.
again, for reference, my app descriptor:
<initialWindow>
<aspectRatio>landscape</aspectRatio>
<autoOrients>false</autoOrients>
<width>320</width>
<height>480</height>
<content>bin-iOS/WagErgApplePhone.swf</content>
<title>WAG ERG</title>
<fullScreen>true</fullScreen>
<renderMode>cpu</renderMode>
</initialWindow>
looking forward to any other ideas to try out & thanks so much for your thoughts! if you want to really dig in, this is an opensource project at code.google.com/p/wag-erg/

Best practice for adding text to Flex container?

Hi,
I'm having some troubles to lay a TextFlow class out properly
inside a Flex container. What's the best practice to achieving
this, for example adding a lot of text to a small Panel?
Is it possible to pass anything other than a static width and
height to DisplayObjectContainerController constructor, or is this
not the place to implement this? I guess what I am looking for is
the layout logic I'd normally pack into a custom Flex component and
implement inside measure() and so on.
My use case: a chat application which adds multiple TextFlow
elements to a Flex container such as Panel. Or use TextFlow as a
substitute for UITextField.
Some example code would help me greatly.
I'm using Flex 3.2.
Regards,
Stefan

Thanks Brian, the example helps. However problems quickly
arise if I modify it slightly to this (please compile it to see):
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<mx:Application xmlns:mx="
http://www.adobe.com/2006/mxml"
layout="absolute" initialize="init()">
<mx:Script>
<![CDATA[
import flashx.textLayout.compose.StandardFlowComposer;
import
flashx.textLayout.container.DisplayObjectContainerController;
import flashx.textLayout.container.IContainerController;
import flashx.textLayout.elements.TextFlow;
import flashx.textLayout.conversion.TextFilter;
private var _container:Sprite;
private var _textFlow:TextFlow;
private function init():void
_container = new Sprite();
textArea.rawChildren.addChild(_container);
var markup:String = "<TextFlow xmlns='
http://ns.adobe.com/textLayout/2008'><p><span>Hello
World! Hello World! Hello World! Hello World! Hello World! Hello
World! Hello World! Hello World! Hello World! Hello World! Hello
World! Hello World! </span></p></TextFlow>";
_textFlow = TextFilter.importToFlow(markup,
TextFilter.TEXT_LAYOUT_FORMAT);
_textFlow.flowComposer.addController(new
DisplayObjectContainerController(_container, 200, 50));
_textFlow.flowComposer.updateAllContainers();
]]>
</mx:Script>
<mx:Canvas width="100" height="100" id="textArea" x="44"
y="46" backgroundColor="#F5EAEA"/>
</mx:Application>
What is the best way to make my textflow behave like a
'normal' UIComponent in Flex? Should I use UIComponent instead of
Sprite as a Container? Will that take care of resize behaviour?
I have never before needed to use rawChildren.addChild for
example, maybe you can explain why that's needed here?
I realise that the new Textframework works on an AS basis and
is not Flex or Flash specific, but this also poses some challenges
for those of us using the Flex framework primarily.
I think it would help to have some more basic examples such
as using the new text features in a 'traditional' context. Say for
example a TextArea that is just that, a TextArea but with the
addition of inline images. I personally feel that the provided
examples largely try to teach me to run before I can walk.
Many thanks,
Stefan

Flash prospectus - best practice?

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