| The CRYPT Mag |
If you still use you Amiga for web browsing, then undoubtedly you have come across the odd site that uses "Flash" Animations.
Now, I believe that the newer version of the Amiga Browser Voyager has a plug in to enable you to use Flash files, But I really can't comment on this, as every time I try to open the latest demo of Voyager my Amiga freezes up, forcing me into a re-boot.
Using IBrowse I get quite fustrated when these "flash" sites fail to load and direct me to download a "Windows Flash player".More annoying, is those kind people that send you a "Flash" greetings card .... Arrrg ..How do you talk your way out of that one. Do you tell them again (For the umpteenth time) that you use an Amiga and can't view them.
Actually the answer is very simple. You see, you can view "Flash" files on your Amiga. Ok, admittedly it is not perfect and you have to use a stand alone program, but you can configure Ibrowse to use this to view a "Flash" Animation.
Unfortunately, most flash animations are loaded via the HTML EMBED element, which IBrowse ignores because it does not have a suitable plugin. This prevents flash animations from automatically being shown.
However with a little work we can overcome this and at last reveal what these "Flash" animations look like.
Ok! first off we need to get a suitable Flash player .. So head over to the aminet and download :
Right, we have downloaded, unpacked and installed "FlashPlayer" Now we require to configure Ibrowse to use it.
Go to Ibrowse prefs/Settings and click on General which gives you access to the "Mime" settings page. Now you have to configure the "Mime" settings as in the graphic below (Full instructions in the FlashPlayer read-me file).
Click to EnlargeOk, remember to save your settings in IBrowse. However because of the EMBED tab we still cannot view the Flash animations.
As a simple test click on the Famous Grouse link at the top of this article ... A big box with an "Error" sign where the "Flash" animation should be.
Ok .. While on the Famous Grouse site, go to the top menu bar on Ibrowse and click "Webpage/Display Source" and scroll down this until you see this line:
"object data="liqueur/flash/splash.swf" type="application/x- shockwave-flash" width="500" height="400"
Click to EnlargeHighlight the part "liqueur/flash/splash.swf" and copy it (Using Amiga c) ...Now go to the Location bar on Ibrowse and paste (Amiga v) this after the URL ...So it now reads
http://www.famousgrouse.com/liqueur/flash/splash.swf
Now press the Return/Enter button.
If you have completed everything correctly, IBrowse should start to load and after a short time a New window will open and the Animation will play.
Click to EnlargeNote if the animation has background sound, FlashPlayer will also play this providing you have AHI installed.
To use FlashPlayer and Ibrowse like this ... all you have to remember is that all "Flash" Files use the (.swf) extention, So running through the webpage source code you know when you have found the file required.
OK. I'll be the first to admit that this solution is far from perfect ...However those "Flash" Gits can no longer snigger behind your back when you say you can't view there cards/animations on your Amiga.
© RIYAN Productions
www.famousgrouse.com
