[ZavStrast]

So I have been looking for a way around this flash issue for quite a while. I design “learning” modules for a company by using Flash CS4 AS3. In most of these modules, it shows how to do certain functions of their job in the software they are using. I take screen shots of certain portions of the software and create a replica of the software look in flash; the user will go then through and press the correct keys or type the correct info to proceed through the module. These modules are located out on the company’s internal website in which they access the .html flash file. All the key presses and such work great in the flash player itself, but when you are viewing them from a web browser, they don’t work well at all; about 80+% of the [TAB] key presses will go to the browser’s address bar. In the code, I have the focus going to the input text fields, but IE seems to ignore that? and just go straight to the address bar.

The company’s current default browser is IE6. My work-around solution was to have the .html file open as a pop-up window so that the address bar and the menu bar wouldn’t show up. That only half-way worked as it would go to the “address bar” even though it wasn’t there. So the user would hit [TAB], it won’t look like it’s doing anything, the user hits [TAB] again and then proceeds. Some of the company is on IE7 though, and this pop-up window idea doesn’t work well in 7.

Please let me know your thoughts for this. I am open to any ideas about this… Maybe I’m going about this all wrong and there’s a better way for me to be doing this task? Thanks in advance! ~Steph

[r0x0rcist]

Not to derail you from Flash, but I like Camtasia for sim stuff when I have to do explanatory videos like demos.

ZavStrast, on 7 Oct, 2009 - 08:38 AM, said:

So I have been looking for a way around this flash issue for quite a while. I design “learning” modules for a company by using Flash CS4 AS3. In most of these modules, it shows how to do certain functions of their job in the software they are using. I take screen shots of certain portions of the software and create a replica of the software look in flash; the user will go then through and press the correct keys or type the correct info to proceed through the module. These modules are located out on the company’s internal website in which they access the .html flash file. All the key presses and such work great in the flash player itself, but when you are viewing them from a web browser, they don’t work well at all; about 80+% of the [TAB] key presses will go to the browser’s address bar. In the code, I have the focus going to the input text fields, but IE seems to ignore that? and just go straight to the address bar.

The company’s current default browser is IE6. My work-around solution was to have the .html file open as a pop-up window so that the address bar and the menu bar wouldn’t show up. That only half-way worked as it would go to the “address bar” even though it wasn’t there. So the user would hit [TAB], it won’t look like it’s doing anything, the user hits [TAB] again and then proceeds. Some of the company is on IE7 though, and this pop-up window idea doesn’t work well in 7.

Please let me know your thoughts for this. I am open to any ideas about this… Maybe I’m going about this all wrong and there’s a better way for me to be doing this task? Thanks in advance! ~Steph

[thehat]

Does this only happen before the user has interacted with the flash, say by clicking on it? It sounds like you maybe need to make the browser focus on the flash object when it's loaded.

[ZavStrast]

thehat, on 9 Oct, 2009 - 04:45 AM, said:

Does this only happen before the user has interacted with the flash, say by clicking on it? It sounds like you maybe need to make the browser focus on the flash object when it's loaded.

Sorry that I did not get back to this post in a timely manner! This problem occurs whether the user clicks onto an input line or button. In all the modules that I have develop, there is an intro page and the user clicks the "next" button to continue on from that 1st page. I thought at one point I had tried the browser focus thing, but I can't recall for sure - and maybe it might've been wrong code too? I'll search around on the net for code and see how it works out. Thanks! ~~Steph~~