JavaSWF2

Installation and Requirements

There are no special installation instructions - JavaSWF2 is provided as Java source code and it is assumed that you know how to compile it.

JavaSWF2 requires JDK 1.2 (Java 2) or later. It is pure Java and has no native platform dependencies.

Features

JavaSWF2 provides parsing and generating facilities for Flash 4 and Flash 5 content.

Transparent JPEGs and Sound are not implemented in this release, but they are on the list. Also - ActionScript is only supported in its compiled form (action codes) - support for ActionScript source is also on the list.

JavaSWF2 Architecture

The code centers around the interfaces defined in the com.anotherbigidea.flash.interfaces package. These interfaces are used to pass various information about the contents of a Flash SWF file. The SWF parsers and writers implement these interfaces and drive other classes that implement them.

There are two levels within JavaSWF2 - the file format level and a more abstract object model. The file format level provides access to all the details of the SWF file format - both in parsing and in writing - and is useful if you have knowledge of the file format and need to implement fast and optimal parsing or generating code.

The object model level is implemented by the classes in the com.anotherbigidea.flash.movie package and provides a means to access and create SWF content without knowing all the details of the file format.

Refer to the Summary of Classes below for further details.

XML to/from SWF

The DTD for the XML representation of SWF is given in javaswf-dtd.txt

To compile the classes mentioned below you will need the org.xml.sax.. packages in the classpath. These are the standard SAX(2) interfaces that are included in the JavaSWF2 releases and should also come included in all recent XML parser packages. The Apache Xerces and Crimson parsers are recommended - but any compliant SAX2 parser will do.

To convert from SWF to XML use the com.anotherbigidea.flash.readers.SWFSaxParser class. This implements the standard org.xml.sax.XMLReader interface - so it looks like an XML parser. It also implements SWFTagTypes and so can be driven by a SWF parser. The main method of SWFSaxParser is a command line utility to read a SWF and write out XML.

To convert from XML back to SWF use the com.anotherbigidea.flash.writers.SWFSaxWriter class. This can be driven by any SAX2 XML parser and will drive a SWFTagTypes implementation. There is no utility provided for XML to SWF since this would mean a dependency on a particular XML parser (until JAXP in incorporated). However, there is a sample provided below of how to hook up the Xerces parser to produce SWF output.

Samples

More documentation will follow. However, the following samples provide an introduction to using JavaSWF2:

How to unprotect a SWF file: See the com/anotherbigidea/flash/Unprotector.java class in the distribution file.

How to parse a SWF and dump its contents as text.

How to extract all the static text in a movie.

How to create a simple movie at the file format level.

How to create a simple movie using the object model.

How to append some frames to an existing movie.

How to create a Movie object from an existing SWF.

How to create text using the object model.

How to load a JPEG using the object model.

Sample of writing frame actions.

How to convert an XML file to SWF.

VerdanaFont.swf - font used by the TextHigh.java sample.

Summary of Classes

Package com.anotherbigidea.flash

Unprotector Simple Utility to unprotect a Flash movie

SWFConstants Constants used by many of ther other packages - including tag type codes and various flags

SWFActionCodes Constants used in Action Script processing

Package com.anotherbigidea.flash.interfaces

SWFHeader Interface for passing the SWF File Header details

SWFTags Interface for passing the contents (as a blob) of a SWF tag (extends SWFHeader)

SWFSpriteTagTypes Interface for passing the details of the tags that can be used in both the main timeline and sprite timelines (extends SWFTags)

SWFTagTypes Interface for passing the details of the remainder of the tags that can only be used in the main timeline (extends SWFSpriteTagTypes)

SWFActions Interface for passing action codes

SWFVectors Interface for passing Shape and Glyph vectors

SWFShape Interface for passing Shape style definitions and style changes (extends SWFVectors)

SWFText Interface for passing text records as part of the definition of the SWF Text definition tags

Package com.anotherbigidea.flash.readers

SWFReader Reads a SWF file input stream and passes the header and tag contents to any implementation of the SWFTags interface.

TagParser Implements the SWFTags interface. Parses the contents of all tags and passes the detail to any implementation of the SWFTagTypes interface.

ActionParser Parses an action code array (chunk of compiled ActionScript) and drives any implementation of the SWFActions interface.

SWFSaxReader Implements SWFTagTypes and the XML standard SAX2 XMLReader interface. Converts SWF to XML.

MovieBuilder Implements the SWFTagTypes interface and builds an instance of the com.anotherbigidea.flash.movie.Movie "object model" class.

Package com.anotherbigidea.flash.writers

SWFWriter An implementation of the SWFTags interface that writes to an output stream or file. SWFWriter will also calculate the length and frame count of the movie if not known.

TagWriter An implementation of the SWFTagTypes interface that reconstructs the tags in binary form and writes them to any implementation of the SWFTags interface.

ActionWriter An implementation of the SWFActions interface that builds a binary action code array.

ActionTextWriter An implementation of the SWFActions interface that writes a textual representation of the action codes.

SWFSaxWriter An implementation of the standard SAX2 ContentHandler interface that drives any implementation of SWFTagTypes. When driven by a SAX2 XML Parser will convert XML back to SWF.

SWFTagDumper An implementation of the SWFTagTypes interface that writes a textual representation of the entire Flash movie.

SWFTagTypesImpl An implementation of the SWFTagTypes interface that passes all the method calls directly to another implementation of the same interface. Useful as a parent class when implementing tag filters.

SWFActionsImpl An implementation of the SWFActions interface that passes all the method calls directly to another implementation of the same interface. Useful as a parent class when implementing action filters.

DummySWFWriter An implementation of the SWFTags interface that does nothing - use as a sink when output is not required.

Package com.anotherbigidea.flash.structs

... Various structures used in the other packages

Package com.anotherbigidea.flash.movie

Movie The root class in the Flash object model.

... Other classes represent different symbol types in the object model.

Package com.anotherbigidea.flash
Unprotector	Simple Utility to unprotect a Flash movie
SWFConstants	Constants used by many of ther other packages - including tag type codes and various flags
SWFActionCodes	Constants used in Action Script processing
Package com.anotherbigidea.flash.interfaces
SWFHeader	Interface for passing the SWF File Header details
SWFTags	Interface for passing the contents (as a blob) of a SWF tag (extends SWFHeader)
SWFSpriteTagTypes	Interface for passing the details of the tags that can be used in both the main timeline and sprite timelines (extends SWFTags)
SWFTagTypes	Interface for passing the details of the remainder of the tags that can only be used in the main timeline (extends SWFSpriteTagTypes)
SWFActions	Interface for passing action codes
SWFVectors	Interface for passing Shape and Glyph vectors
SWFShape	Interface for passing Shape style definitions and style changes (extends SWFVectors)
SWFText	Interface for passing text records as part of the definition of the SWF Text definition tags
Package com.anotherbigidea.flash.readers
SWFReader	Reads a SWF file input stream and passes the header and tag contents to any implementation of the SWFTags interface.
TagParser	Implements the SWFTags interface. Parses the contents of all tags and passes the detail to any implementation of the SWFTagTypes interface.
ActionParser	Parses an action code array (chunk of compiled ActionScript) and drives any implementation of the SWFActions interface.
SWFSaxReader	Implements SWFTagTypes and the XML standard SAX2 XMLReader interface. Converts SWF to XML.
MovieBuilder	Implements the SWFTagTypes interface and builds an instance of the com.anotherbigidea.flash.movie.Movie "object model" class.
Package com.anotherbigidea.flash.writers
SWFWriter	An implementation of the SWFTags interface that writes to an output stream or file. SWFWriter will also calculate the length and frame count of the movie if not known.
TagWriter	An implementation of the SWFTagTypes interface that reconstructs the tags in binary form and writes them to any implementation of the SWFTags interface.
ActionWriter	An implementation of the SWFActions interface that builds a binary action code array.
ActionTextWriter	An implementation of the SWFActions interface that writes a textual representation of the action codes.
SWFSaxWriter	An implementation of the standard SAX2 ContentHandler interface that drives any implementation of SWFTagTypes. When driven by a SAX2 XML Parser will convert XML back to SWF.
SWFTagDumper	An implementation of the SWFTagTypes interface that writes a textual representation of the entire Flash movie.
SWFTagTypesImpl	An implementation of the SWFTagTypes interface that passes all the method calls directly to another implementation of the same interface. Useful as a parent class when implementing tag filters.
SWFActionsImpl	An implementation of the SWFActions interface that passes all the method calls directly to another implementation of the same interface. Useful as a parent class when implementing action filters.
DummySWFWriter	An implementation of the SWFTags interface that does nothing - use as a sink when output is not required.
Package com.anotherbigidea.flash.structs
...	Various structures used in the other packages
Package com.anotherbigidea.flash.movie
Movie	The root class in the Flash object model.
...	Other classes represent different symbol types in the object model.