Publishing Animate files

[jackh8500410]

Hi all,

I've managed to publish my application as a Win & Mac Projector. The only confusion I have, not being an Apple expert, is how the user is to run the Mac version?

I see the Windows one is [AppName].exe. The page I've seen about exporting says Mac is exported as a [AppName].app. But when I click on it, it just takes me into the file structure.

If I put the [AppName].app onto a Mac machine, would that then become a launch-able app?

Thanks,
Jack

[Colin Holgate · Accepted solution]

Mac apps are really folders. The system shows them as a single executable. If you look at a .app on Windows I can imagine that it might reveal the real folder.

Have you tried it on a Mac?

[jackh8500410]

Ah, I see. I've not yet tried it on a Mac, but I can when I get back to Uni.

Thanks for your help

Jack

[Colin Holgate]

If it's not top secret and you can post a zip file somewhere of it, I can tell you if it works.

[jackh8500410]

Thanks Colin, that would be great!

I've attached a zip folder with the application inside. Its in the Universal Revision V1.1 folder and then Apple Mac. Could you let me know if the resources work on the app? I have a folder with the resources in and didn't know where to put it.

As this is for my uni project, I've included 2 testing sheets to see if it all works and you can provide feedback. If you have a spare minute, could you fill in the testing sheets? This would be very helpful as I don't know anyone with a Mac.

Microsoft OneDrive - Access files anywhere. Create docs with free Office Online.

Thanks again,

Jack

[Colin Holgate]

You need to make more friends who have Macs!

The file claims to be corrupted in some way. Can you try a zip file of just the "Apple Mac" folder?

Also give me a zip file of the FLA and the resources. I can make the Mac projector if your one doesn't work.

[jackh8500410]

I've always wanted to learn Mac, the price puts me off a tad. Maybe one day!

I've uploaded just the 1 folder:

Microsoft OneDrive - Access files anywhere. Create docs with free Office Online.

If this doesn't work, I'll get the .fla's together.

[Colin Holgate]

That still had problems. I made a Mac version, you should attempt to use your one, but have my one ready as a backup.

The failure to make a good Mac projector is a problem. I'll ask the Animate team to think about this.

Here's my version: http://colin.scienceninja.com/AppleMac.zip

[jackh8500410]

That's a shame it's not worked, thanks for your help anyway, much appreciated!

I'll have a look at yours when I get to a Mac.

Jack

[sciencegal]

I have a question about the Mac projector. I just finally got Animate to install (I use Windows) and am planning on purchasing it. I have used Flash since version 3. I created an application for both Windows and Macs making the projector in CS5. It has worked on Macs until the OS was upgraded to Sierra. Now the projector opens but when the launch button is clicked the screen goes black. The launch button opens the main menu by loading a swf. It worked fine until Sierra but now will not.

I have had other issues with the Mac projector showing as corrupt. I have an html file that can be used to open the application in a browser that has the Flash player.

I am hoping that this new version of Flash will address that problem. Colin, I wonder if you could try making a projector and seeing if it will load a swf (if you are using Sierra)

[Colin Holgate]

If you have the FLA I can try making the projector.

[sciencegal]

I can make a projector for macs in CS5 and it has always worked until Sierra. Since it is proprietary I don't want to release the fla files. I just wanted to know if a projector made in Animate will load an swf in SierraOS. Any old simple projector would work for a test. It seems that with the Sierra upgrade the projector cannot find the swf either due to pathways changing or Sierra managed to disable the function of the player. If it does, or does for you I could set it up myself in Animate once I purchase it and you could see if it works - if that is okay with you.

[Colin Holgate]

I just tried this test. With this script:

import flash.display.Loader;

import flash.net.URLRequest;

var loader:Loader = new Loader();

var req:URLRequest = new URLRequest("test.swf");

loader.load(req);

addChild(loader);

the test.swf did play in a projector in Sierra

[sciencegal]

That's quite a bit more code than I had. Is it Action Script 3.0? I am only familiar with AS 2. It is on my other computer which I will be working on tomorrow but I think it was just a load swf code. I will look at it tomorrow and get back to you. Thank you.

[Colin Holgate]

It's AS3. What was your existing code like?

[sciencegal]

In thinking back, publishing a Mac projector from the Windows version has not worked since CS5. I posted a report about it probably 5 years ago but received no interest or help at all from Adobe. I ended up having to use an old projector that was working that was exported from maybe Flash 5 or MX (maybe MX 2000 - I think) The projector even shows Macromedia in the top bar. It was the only way I could get it to work without a corrupt file error on Macs. That projector worked until the Sierra OS upgrade, and then it still launches but would not load the necessary swf.

So, it appears from the original post that the mac projector is still corrupt when exported from the windows version. From reading release notes the projector was deprecated in the 2013 release but has been brought back but with the problem. It is still more of an after thought rather than an important feature.

If you have a connection with the development team can you ask if the Mac projector bug in the Windows version is planned to be fixed in the future. This is the only reason for me to upgrade. I would like to use the new version but not if I have to buy a mac computer only to export one file.

And while you are talking the them on the same subject why on earth can't a compiler be a feature after all these years. Large complex interactive applications or games made in Flash need to contain multiple swf's. Making a standalone player you have to distribute all of the individual swfs along with it. With a compiler it is possible to put all of the swfs plus a standalone player in one file. There once was a product called Zinc (and a few others in the early days of Flash) which did this. Sadly they seem to be gone from the market place. Producing games and other complex interactive applications using Flash is very powerful or could be if it had more focus in development.

An upgrade that had that feature and could produce a functioning standalone player for macs from Windows would have me buying right now. But, the still broken Mac projector export in the Windows version has made me decide not to.

[Mohanaraj]

jackh8500410​ / sciencegal​ Could you please share a fla file for which generating a projector file is an issue?

Thanks!

Mohan

[sciencegal]

First, this is the current issue. You can download the projector and one file at http://www.imagecyte.com/mac_test.zip

This is the current player that goes out for Macs. It used to work until the of last year when people started upgrading to
the Sierra OS. As far as I know the projector launches but when the enter button is clicked the main.swf should and used to open. Now they get a black screen which usually means that the player is not in the folder with the main.swf.

I am currently trying to reinstall Flash CS5 on my main computer. I will have to open the files to see what the code is on the button. I will also find the correct fla. That might take an hour or two since - as expected - I am running into errors.

But, at least for now you can see the issue.

[Colin Holgate]

The showing a black screen instead of the main.swf is a different issue. The Mac projector itself is not corrupt, which is the case for Jack. I can't check out why the screen is black because the movie.swf is password protected, but I'm guessing it's a path issue.

There is another issue, in that the app is not from a certified developer. Mac users will need to right-click and select Open in order to run the projector the first time.

But as I say, this is a different issue, the projector file is not corrupt.

[sciencegal]

Yes, it is a different issue and yes it must have to do with the path. It is strange that the path worked until the Sierra upgrade. I do not know how to fix that without knowing what changes were made to the paths in Sierra. The one that ends up in a black screen was exported in an older version of Flash. I finally just got CS5 working so I hope to upload the mac app which so far ends up as corrupt.

[Colin Holgate]

Do you have the code that opens the main.swf? Seeing that might give me ideas about what the problem is.

[sciencegal]

This is the Mac projector exported from CS5 which had been resulting in a corrupt file. http://imagecyte.com/Mactest3_20.app.zip (I hope that works - naming the files was tricky

This is the fla -  http://imagecyte.com/mactest3_20.zip​

The button has the code

[Colin Holgate]

It uses ActionScript 2, so can't be opened correctly in recent versions of Flash Pro or Adobe Animate. But I could open it in Flash Pro CS6, and publish a projector, that worked ok.

Either there is a problem that only happens on Windows, or there was something fixed after CS5.

[sciencegal]

Except that the original poster had the problem exporting in Animate. He got a corrupt projector. I would like to try a test on Animate in Windows but I do not have enough time left in the trial to figure out the code. Did you get a corrupt error in trying launch the projector I exported from CS5?

[sciencegal]

Colin. I remembered that I didn't need any code to publish a projector. Can you tell me if this Mac projector published from the Windows version of Animate works on a Mac?

http://www.imagecyte.com/testprojector.app.zip