Dynamic assets in Director – an overview
A common commercial situation calls for a Director application to load some of its assets at runtime – either because they require a currency (news reports, venue schedules etc.) or, because the end-user should be able to add their own materials to a project. Director provides functions which are able to manipulate files, folders and casts to allow this. XML is often used to specify where the application should look for additional material).
Getting files from a folder
The following function is a simple example showing how to assemble a list of sound files in a folder. The folder in this example is called sounds and is in the same location as the host director movie (or projector in the production version). The list is then passed to a second function which actually imports the files into newly created cast members in the empty cast library called assets.
Before importing, it is usual to clear out any old versions from a cast – it is often easiest to do this as part of a movie’s exit routine. The following example clears all the sound cast members from the cast library assets (it should be placed in the same movie script as the makeSoundList() and loadSounds() functions).
OOP approach to dynamic asset management
This example shows a more generalised approach where assets of different types are loaded into a given cast (the script needs to be placed in a movie script).
To use this class, you would first make an object from it: -
You would then call the addAsset() method with each file you wanted to add (either in a loop from a configuration file or using all the files in a folder as we did earlier): -
At the end of your movie (or when you wanted some fresh assets), you could empty a cast by calling the clearAll() function: -
A common commercial situation calls for a Director application to load some of its assets at runtime – either because they require a currency (news reports, venue schedules etc.) or, because the end-user should be able to add their own materials to a project. Director provides functions which are able to manipulate files, folders and casts to allow this. XML is often used to specify where the application should look for additional material).
Getting files from a folder
The following function is a simple example showing how to assemble a list of sound files in a folder. The folder in this example is called sounds and is in the same location as the host director movie (or projector in the production version). The list is then passed to a second function which actually imports the files into newly created cast members in the empty cast library called assets.
- Make a new director movie and create a new external cast called assets.
- Save your movie into a new folder called dynamic_loading. Call your movie dynamic_load_1.
- You will be asked for a filename for your new cast, call it assets and save it in the same folder.
- Open a movie script and then type the following: -
- Make a new folder inside your dynamic_loading folder and call it sounds.
- Put 3 or 4 soundfiles inside this folder.
- To get them loaded into your cast, type the following in a behavior script attached to frame 1 (double click the script channel): -
function makeSoundList() {
// gets list of sounds in sounds Folder
_global.gsoundlist = list();
for(var i = 1; i<100;i++){
// files are in a folder called ‘sounds’
var fname = _movie.getNthFileNameInFolder("@/sounds", i);
if (fname == "") {
// no more sounds in folder - exit repeat
break;
}
// don't load non-sound files
// or system files
if (fname.charAt(1) != ".") {
if((fname.indexOf(".aif")!=-1)||(fname.indexOf(".wav")!=-1)){
// add sound files to sound list
_global.gsoundList.add(fname);
}
}
}
}
// this links sounds in gSoundList to new sound cast members
function loadSounds() {
// get the cast number
var cNum = castLib("assets").number;
// if there are some sounds
if (_global.gSoundList.count > 0) {
// go through each item
for (var n = 1 ; n <= _global.gSoundList.count;n++) {
// make a new cast member
var memNum = _movie.newMember("sound",castLib(cNum));
// set its name
member(memNum,cNum).name ="sound "+n;
// link to the file
member(memNum,cNum).filename="@/sounds/"+gSoundList[n];
}
}
}
Note that Director does not allow you to distinguish easily between a folder and a file or to get a file’s type other than by using its file extension (which is unreliable on a Mac). For this, you will need to use an Xtra such as the popular BuddyAPI by Magic Modules (http://www.mods.com.au/frameset.htm).
Deleting members from a castBefore importing, it is usual to clear out any old versions from a cast – it is often easiest to do this as part of a movie’s exit routine. The following example clears all the sound cast members from the cast library assets (it should be placed in the same movie script as the makeSoundList() and loadSounds() functions).
function clearSounds() {
// deletes all sounds from cast ‘assets’
cNum = castLib("assets").number;
for(var m = 1 ;m <= castLib(cNum).member.count; m++){
if (castLib(cNum).member[m].type == "#sound") {
trace("deleting sound: "+castLib(cNum).member[m].name);
castLib(cNum).member[m].erase();
}
}
}
OOP approach to dynamic asset management
This example shows a more generalised approach where assets of different types are loaded into a given cast (the script needs to be placed in a movie script).
//a class definition for an asset manager
// needs to be sent a cast library Number to use
function AssetManager(libNum){
// *** properties ***
this.libNum = libNum; // the cast number to use
// *** methods ***
this.addAsset = function(fileName){
// makes a new cast member and links the file to it
// find out what sort it is
var assetType = this.getType(fileName);
// make a new member of the right type
var memNumber = _movie.newMember(assetType,castLib(this.libNum));
// link the file to the new member
member(memNumber).filename = fileName;
// send back a reference to the new cast member
return member(memNumber);
}
// a function that finds out what sort of asset
// a file contains from the file extension
this.getType = function(fileName){
var fileType = "";
// is it a bitmap?
if (fileName.indexOf(".jpg")!= -1) {
fileType = "bitmap";
}
// is it a sound?
if ((fileName.indexOf(".aif")!=-1)|| (fileName.indexOf(".wav")!=-1)){
fileType = "sound";
}
// send back the type
return fileType;
}
this.clearAll = function() {
// deletes all assets from cast
for (var m = 1 ; m <= castLib(this.libNum).member.count; m++){
castLib(this.libNum).member[m].erase();
}
}
}
To use this class, you would first make an object from it: -
var aman = new AssetManager(2);
You would then call the addAsset() method with each file you wanted to add (either in a loop from a configuration file or using all the files in a folder as we did earlier): -
aman.addAsset("low_loop_1.aif");
At the end of your movie (or when you wanted some fresh assets), you could empty a cast by calling the clearAll() function: -
aman.clearAll();
This page was last updated on 17th January 2009