flash in an email ? possible ?

[sg]

Hello everybody,

Can I include a SWF file in an email in HTML format ?

What are the MIME settings ?

Any help is welcome

SG

[Laiverd.COM]

Not really.

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[Jeckyl]

Yes, you can indeed. There is a trick involved though ;)

However, not all email clients will be able to play it, and more recent
email clients that CAN do it will (by default) NOT do it unless you enable
ActiveX support.
--
All the best,
Jeckyl

[Laiverd.COM]

Hi Jeckyl, what's the trick then. I recently did some investigation and everything a saw documented out there, almost merely talked
about problems. Very curious. And what would you do if an emailcleint can't handle it?

John

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RESOURCES
[url]http://groups.google.com/advanced_group_search?hl=en&as_ugroup=*flash[/url]
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TUTORIALS at
[url]www.laiverd.com[/url]
Flash & PHP Emailform
Using textfiles in Flash
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[Jeckyl]

The trick involved including a small invisible control (think its media
player) that is capable of reading content from the email (as a mime part)
when that is there, the flash player control can be told to also read the
same content. Basically, those who use flash directly in email have some
stock html code that they use to make the embedding work.

However, unless you know that those receiving the email will have clients
that can understand embedded flash player and embedded swf in an email, it
is probably best not to use that technique.

Other techniques involve uploading the swf to a server, and have the player
activex embedded in the email html, but refer to the swf on the server ..
but even then it is limited to windows based clients that support activeX
controls in email. And it also relies on the client not blocking such
content by default.

Best thing if you do use either technique (or you do neither) is to ALSO
include a link taking the reader to a web page with the same flash content.

Just because you CAN do something doesn't mean you SHOULD !! :):)
--
All the best,
Jeckyl

[Laiverd.COM]

Tnx;especially for <q>Just because you CAN do something doesn't mean you
SHOULD !! :):)</q>

John

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:: RESOURCES ::
[url]http://groups.google.com/advanced_group_search?hl=en&as_ugroup=*flash[/url]
[url]http://www.macromedia.com/devnet/mx/flash/[/url]

[timberfish]

On 2005-02-02 09:23:28 -0800, "Laiverd.COM"
<share_your_knowledge@someserver.com> said:

> Not really.

What jeckyl's saying is absurd. The bottom line is this... if you have
an email client that can and will allow embedded ActiveX controls or
plugins inline of an email then it will work, but to my knowledge there
isn't a single client out there that allows this. Even if you did find
one what would be the point? You'd only be able to send emails to
those users who have this rare client or have hacked their computers to
allow for this.

Just send them a nice HTML email with a link to your Flash content on a server.
--
{ timberfish }
{ [url]www.grassapple.com[/url] }

[Jeckyl]

> What jeckyl's saying is absurd.

You may think it absurd (don't know why) .. but it is true nonetheless. You
CAN send email with embedded SWF files that can play in an email client.

> The bottom line is this... if you have an email client that can and will
> allow embedded ActiveX controls or plugins inline of an email then
> it will work, but to my knowledge there isn't a single client out there
> that allows this.

That just shows the limitations of your knowledge then .. nice of you to
make us aware of that. Outlook Express certainly does support embedded SWF
files in HTML emails. I've done it many times, and there are forums at
Microsoft that have a lot of discussion on putting embedded SWF files in
Outlook Express (for email and news) and have lots of examples of doing so.

> Even if you did find one what would be the point?

That's up to whoever is sending it .. I was commenting on whether it COULD
be done (it can), not if you should. Can you show me where I said "it is a
good idea" or "you should do it". I only commented that it can be done BUT
that you would have a limited audience because not everyone will be able to
view it, and even those who have clients that can view such email will
generally have that feature blocked.

> You'd only be able to send emails to those users who have this rare client
> or have hacked their computers to allow for this.

Wow ... that's exactly what I said .. only Outlook Express is NOT rare ...
guess your reply is even more absurd than mine. You argued with me and then
came to the same conclusion. Join the Club of the Absurd.
--
All the best,
Jeckyl

[timberfish]

On 2005-02-23 12:30:46 -0800, "Jeckyl" <Jeckyl@Hyde.com> said:

>> What jeckyl's saying is absurd.

>
> You may think it absurd (don't know why) .. but it is true nonetheless.
> You CAN send email with embedded SWF files that can play in an email
> client.
>

>> The bottom line is this... if you have an email client that can and will
>> allow embedded ActiveX controls or plugins inline of an email then
>> it will work, but to my knowledge there isn't a single client out there
>> that allows this.

>
> That just shows the limitations of your knowledge then .. nice of you
> to make us aware of that. Outlook Express certainly does support
> embedded SWF files in HTML emails. I've done it many times, and there
> are forums at Microsoft that have a lot of discussion on putting
> embedded SWF files in Outlook Express (for email and news) and have
> lots of examples of doing so.

Okay, let me be more clear here... there aren't any email clients that
allow this by default. For OE you have to turn off 3 default security
settings for this to work at all. It takes effort for every receiver
of the email to allow the content to be seen. I don't mean to imply
that it's 100% impossible - I mean to state that only a client that can
view activex or plugin material inline can view Flash inline and there
are zero clients that I know of that do this by default.

>

>> Even if you did find one what would be the point?

>
> That's up to whoever is sending it .. I was commenting on whether it
> COULD be done (it can), not if you should. Can you show me where I
> said "it is a good idea" or "you should do it". I only commented that
> it can be done BUT that you would have a limited audience because not
> everyone will be able to view it, and even those who have clients that
> can view such email will generally have that feature blocked.

I wasn't talking to "you" or claiming that you had said "should" - I
was asking a QUESTION to the original poster so relax. Did I say that
he SHOULDN'T? No. I merely asked what the pont would be because I'm
curious. Since each user would have to set their email client to allow
such content inline, it seems that for purposes of marketing this
method wouldn't be very effective so I wanted to know his intent.

>

>> You'd only be able to send emails to those users who have this rare
>> client or have hacked their computers to allow for this.

>
> Wow ... that's exactly what I said .. only Outlook Express is NOT rare
> ... guess your reply is even more absurd than mine. You argued with me
> and then came to the same conclusion. Join the Club of the Absurd.

When I said you were saying absurd things it's because you were talking
about all this trickery involved in sending an embedded Flash email
when there's none needed. The true problem lies on the receiving end
since no clients "without effort" allow such contentn to just be
viewed. So the RARE client I'm referring to is the one that after
installing can receive Flash content without any advanced configuration
needed. I just sent a Flash email to myself and read it in Outlook and
OE and both blocked it by default. So I had to go in and alter a
couple security settings to get it to work.

Hope this clarifies things.\

--
{ timberfish }
{ [url]www.grassapple.com[/url] }

[Jeckyl]

> Hope this clarifies things.\

Yeup .. still not sure what was absurd though :)

To get embedded SWF to play in a client that can support it (like OE), you
do need some 'tricks' (it involved things like adding a dummy additional
activex control) to make it work. But, as I said, even then, those that are
capable of viewing such content will block it by default anyway.

So looks like we are saying the same things ... how absurd is that :):):)
--
All the best,
Jeckyl

[timberfish]

On 2005-02-23 14:41:44 -0800, "Jeckyl" <Jeckyl@Hyde.com> said:

>> Hope this clarifies things.\

>
> Yeup .. still not sure what was absurd though :)
>
> To get embedded SWF to play in a client that can support it (like OE),
> you do need some 'tricks' (it involved things like adding a dummy
> additional activex control) to make it work. But, as I said, even
> then, those that are capable of viewing such content will block it by
> default anyway.
>
> So looks like we are saying the same things ... how absurd is that :):):)

That's the thing - I've not found any evidence that you need a dummy
additional control for it to work. The ones I'm sending that do work
when all secruity reduced do not utilize such a trick. That's what I
was referring to, but "absurd" was too harsh a word :)
--
{ timberfish }
{ [url]www.grassapple.com[/url] }

[Jeckyl]

I'd love to see an html email with an embedded swf (ie the swf is embedded
in the email, not living on a separate server with a link in the html)
without the tricks It has never worked before !!!
--
All the best,
Jeckyl

[Jeckyl]

see [url]http://www.lettermanstationery.com/flash.htm[/url] for details of the tricks
:)
--
All the best,
Jeckyl

[timberfish]

On 2005-02-23 18:52:45 -0800, "Jeckyl" <Jeckyl@Hyde.com> said:

> I'd love to see an html email with an embedded swf (ie the swf is
> embedded in the email, not living on a separate server with a link in
> the html) without the tricks It has never worked before !!!

I didn't say the actual file would be attached to the email... only
that the Flash is embedded in the HTML email using the embed tag.
Where the file lives is going to have to be on a server, yes. However,
you can receive an email with Flash content playing inside that email.
No need for a link pointing to the HTML or anything.

I think it's the way we're wording it that's confusing each other.

I'm saying, no the Flash file is not part of the email, but in the HTML
email there is the tag information that points to a .swf on a server
and that .swf is then played in that HTML email so it's inline like an
image would be. Hope that's clear.
--
{ timberfish }
{ [url]www.grassapple.com[/url] }

[Jeckyl]

The OP was talking about putting the SWF in the email (with mime types etc)
.... looks like you got a bit confused there fish-of-the-forest :) It was
very clear that we were talking about having SWF file (not the flash activex
control tags .. the SWF file) IN the email.

Just putting html in your email that references a SWF on a server is all but
trivial. That's not what I or the OP (nor Lavierd) were talking about
though :)

Anyway .. hope its all clear now.
--
All the best,
Jeckyl

[timberfish]

On 2005-02-23 22:13:33 -0800, "Jeckyl" <Jeckyl@Hyde.com> said:

> The OP was talking about putting the SWF in the email (with mime types
> etc) ... looks like you got a bit confused there fish-of-the-forest :)
> It was very clear that we were talking about having SWF file (not the
> flash activex control tags .. the SWF file) IN the email.
>
> Just putting html in your email that references a SWF on a server is
> all but trivial. That's not what I or the OP (nor Lavierd) were
> talking about though :)
>
> Anyway .. hope its all clear now.

I just re-read the original post and he doesn't clarify this at all - I
think it's kinda vague, but that's my interpretation. If this is what
he wanted to know then great - either way he has both of the answers
somewhere in this mess.
--
{ timberfish }
{ [url]www.grassapple.com[/url] }

[Jeckyl]

Well he says he wants the swf file IN the email (so that would mean not on a
server) and talks about the appropriate MIME types (which are what you use
for attachments .. i.e. embedding the file IN the email) .. but I guess it
depends on your knowledge of email structures and what you can read between
the lines.

Interesting that we are having a lovely time replying to each other .. and
the OP hasn't even been back !!! :):):))
--
All the best,
Jeckyl

[timberfish]

On 2005-02-24 13:05:30 -0800, "Jeckyl" <Jeckyl@Hyde.com> said:

> Well he says he wants the swf file IN the email (so that would mean not
> on a server) and talks about the appropriate MIME types (which are what
> you use for attachments .. i.e. embedding the file IN the email) .. but
> I guess it depends on your knowledge of email structures and what you
> can read between the lines.
>
> Interesting that we are having a lovely time replying to each other ..
> and the OP hasn't even been back !!! :):):))

Given how most of the people here use terminology, I don't assume that
"hints" at a specific thing actually means what I think it may mean. I
either ask questions to get 100% clarity or just answer a possibility
of what they may mean. I don't think arguing his intent is a very good
use of time though.

He has his answer either way.
--
{ timberfish }
{ [url]www.grassapple.com[/url] }

[timberfish]

On 2005-02-24 13:05:30 -0800, "Jeckyl" <Jeckyl@Hyde.com> said:

> Well he says he wants the swf file IN the email (so that would mean not
> on a server) and talks about the appropriate MIME types (which are what
> you use for attachments .. i.e. embedding the file IN the email) .. but
> I guess it depends on your knowledge of email structures and what you
> can read between the lines.
>
> Interesting that we are having a lovely time replying to each other ..
> and the OP hasn't even been back !!! :):):))

Also, MIME types aren't only for email. They can be set on a server to
indicate how to handle a file of a certain type so that certainly
didn't make me believe it was meant for a file attached inside an email.
--
{ timberfish }
{ [url]www.grassapple.com[/url] }