As announced earlier on the IE Automatic Component Activation update is now available as part of the April 2008 Internet Explorer Cumulative Update. You can read all about it on the IEBlog.
After 14 months of development we are happy to present SWFObject 2.0!
Before we are going to drink champaign to celebrate the fruits of our labor, we would like to thank everybody who has made a contribution to the project. The end result has very much been shaped by the enormous amount of feedback that we did receive, which allowed us to lift the library to a level higher than we could have achieved ourselves. Thank you all!
We are very sad in having to announce that our fellow team member Michael Williams has passed away suddenly, being 31 years of age. We have no further details of what happened to him.
In the past year we have worked very closely with Michael on a topic we are all very passionate about. It is hard to believe that he is not with us anymore.
Michael, we’ll miss you. We will remember your friendliness, enthusiasm and honesty. Farewell and may your spirit live on.
We have made a few small updates to both the SWFObject 2.0 library and the generator.
SWFObject 2.0 generator 1.1 is now updated to support AIR 1.0 and includes a missing value for the allowScriptAccess parameter.
SWFObject 2.0 rc4 includes a couple of file size optimizations, resulting in another 7.5% reduction; the library’s file size is now only 8.5Kb! Further we have made a few small code enhancements, e.g. consistent typing for internal version numbering.
And we finally have a release planning: if no big issues arise in the coming weeks, we will release the final version of the library around Friday March 14th!
I have just uploaded the presentation (pdf) I gave yesterday at FITC Amsterdam. It shortly discusses the history and goals of the SWFObject 2.0 project, thoroughly explains the underlying problems it aims to solve, and gives an overview of the final solution.
Several people have pointed us to a series of code enhancements and the use of YUI Compressor instead of Dojo Shrinksafe to optimize the library’s file size. The result is a stunning 19% smaller file size that made us break through the targeted magical-maximum-of-10Kb file size barrier. Packed with tons of dynamite, SWFObject 2.0 is now only 9.2Kb in size!
I just uploaded the final version of the SWFObject 2.0 HTML and JavaScript generator. It comes in two flavors: plain vanilla HTML and a pimped Adobe AIR version (NOTE: requires Adobe AIR beta3) with which you can save your HTML page or use the clipboard with the press of a button. Enjoy!
Includes the following bug fixes, code enhancements and feature requests:
1. A dynamically embedded object element (using swfobject.createSWF or swfobject.embedSWF) now automatically inherits the id attribute from the alternative content container element if no id is defined for the object element in the attObj JavaScript Object
2. swfobject.createSWF(attObj, parObj, el) has now become swfobject.createSWF(attObj, parObj, replaceElemIdStr)
3. swfobject.createSWF(attObj, parObj, replaceElemIdStr) now returns the newly created object element
4. Fixes an express install related bug when using percentages for width and height
5. Contains a workaround for a potential Norton AV issue
6. Contains a series of code enhancements
We’re slowly nearing the end of development: Features are frozen, all known bugs are squeezed, so we are happy to present SWFObject 2.0 rc1. Please give it a good crunch, and let us know what you think of it.
For the SWFObject 2.0 generator we have implemented most of your feedback, version v0.3 beta is the fruit to be picked. An Adobe AIR version is in the planning, which will add new features like clipboard support, the generation of an HTML file and the option to store default settings. Please keep the feedback coming, so we can improve the application to make it suit your needs.
For those who are planning to attend FITC Amsterdam 2008, Bobby will be giving a presentation on SWFObject 2.0, so this will be a good opportunity to hear some more about the project or meet him in real life.
In the past week I have been tinkering on this little one-page-HTML-application that generates the SWFObject 2.0 HTML and JavaScript code for you. It’s the first public version, and I would like to hear your feedback on it: what do you like about it, what doesn’t work for you, thoughts on improvements, etc.
There is one known issue. It uses HTML title attributes to create tool-tips with help texts, however a years-old Firefox bug truncates longer title values after a certain amount of characters, making the rest of its contents inaccessible.
My future plans are to improve its usability, to address possible bugs, to give it a formal style, and to also make it available as a standalone AIR desktop HTML application that can generate the HTML page for you.
Ladies and gentlemen, the SWFObject 2.0 HTML and JavaScript generator has arrived. Enjoy!