Help System

[flashster]

I want to have a help 'window' appear automatically after a certain amount
of time with no user activity. I am using the 'lastevent' handler to test
when a certain amount of inactivity has elapsed.

However, the 'window' that appears I need to be transparent in areas. What
would be the best way to do this? Using a transparent flash app? (can you
use flash with director in this way?) Or using individual sprites and making
them visible/invisible?
The initial help window does not change throughout the app, so it could sit
behind the visible director sprites and appear when necessary (?)

I'd be grateful for any suggestions for an approach here,

Thanks,

Flash

[Rob Dillon]

If you need this help window to be translucent or transparent then
you'll have to use a set of sprites or one Flash .swf as a sprite.
MIAWs can't be made to be translucent.

You could build the whole thing in Flash, if Flash will do the job, and
then import the .swf. When you place that on the stage as a sprite,you
can adjust it's translucency by using the blend control. This will
adjust the whole .swf instance. If you need to have some parts be more
solid than others then you may want to use individual sprites to make
up the window. These individual sprites can be bitmaps, text, field, or
Flash members.

--
Rob
_______
Rob Dillon
Team Macromedia
[url]http://www.ddg-designs.com[/url]
412-243-9119

[url]http://www.macromedia.com/software/trial/[/url]

[flashster]

Thanks Rob - for both replies.

I think on this one I'll use a 'background transparent' swf file that is,
for the majority of the Director movie, invisible. When needed I'll make it
visible, and at the same time use a fade-in behaviour (activate it via a
message) to give it that extra 'professional' touch.

If you forsee any problems with this approach, please feel free to mention
them ;-)

Thanks again,

Flash

"Rob Dillon" <rob@ddg-designs.com> wrote in message
news:081220030926299144%rob@ddg-designs.com...

> If you need this help window to be translucent or transparent then
> you'll have to use a set of sprites or one Flash .swf as a sprite.
> MIAWs can't be made to be translucent.
>
> You could build the whole thing in Flash, if Flash will do the job, and
> then import the .swf. When you place that on the stage as a sprite,you
> can adjust it's translucency by using the blend control. This will
> adjust the whole .swf instance. If you need to have some parts be more
> solid than others then you may want to use individual sprites to make
> up the window. These individual sprites can be bitmaps, text, field, or
> Flash members.
>
> --
> Rob
> _______
> Rob Dillon
> Team Macromedia
> [url]http://www.ddg-designs.com[/url]
> 412-243-9119
>
> [url]http://www.macromedia.com/software/trial/[/url]

[Rob Dillon]

The only thing that comes to mind is that if you are going to fade away
the help window, then be sure to move it out of the visible area of the
stage when it's not in use. Just changing the blend value of the sprite
to 0 will not deactivate any buttons on the window. Even though you
can't see them, they'll still be clickable.

--
Rob
_______
Rob Dillon
Team Macromedia
[url]http://www.ddg-designs.com[/url]
412-243-9119

[url]http://www.macromedia.com/software/trial/[/url]

[flashster]

Hi Rob,

I intend to fade it out (using the standard behaviour)and then make the
sprite not visible (visible=false) by way of a lingo command. (The blend
value will not change - i.e. background transparency stays as the only
applied effect). Doesn't that deactivate the buttons aswell?

Or am I am getting it all wrong...? Maybe change the 'visible' setting is
actually altering the blend value behind the scenes - not sure??

"Rob Dillon" <rob@ddg-designs.com> wrote in message
news:081220031111071923%rob@ddg-designs.com...

> The only thing that comes to mind is that if you are going to fade away
> the help window, then be sure to move it out of the visible area of the
> stage when it's not in use. Just changing the blend value of the sprite
> to 0 will not deactivate any buttons on the window. Even though you
> can't see them, they'll still be clickable.
>
> --
> Rob
> _______
> Rob Dillon
> Team Macromedia
> [url]http://www.ddg-designs.com[/url]
> 412-243-9119
>
> [url]http://www.macromedia.com/software/trial/[/url]

[Rob Dillon]

No, that will work also. Blend and visible are two different things.
Visible is a sprite property and belongs to the sprite channel. For
instance, if you set a sprite channel to not visible in one frame and
then move to another frame where you have a different object in that
sprite channel, the object will not show because the channel is still
set to not visible. The blend property belongs to the object IN the
sprite channel, so if you set a blend value for one sprite, and then
move to another frame where you have something in that same sprite
channel, that new object won't inherit the blend value set in the first
location.

I like to move the objects off the visible area of the stage because,
if it keeps the stage clear. If you stop the movie at a frame where you
have a bunch of stuff set to not visible, then they suddenly appear.
This makes editing more difficult for me.

--
Rob
_______
Rob Dillon
Team Macromedia
[url]http://www.ddg-designs.com[/url]
412-243-9119

[url]http://www.macromedia.com/software/trial/[/url]