Richard Eagle's Instructions for AMC to BGSOUND for Flash


These are the instructions that Richard Eagle provided to embed a Flash file using the 2 altered scripts so that recipients that have WMP 9 can view them as they were intended without them being an attachment. The person embedding the Flash file needs Bill Scott's WMP9 Registry Toolkit (WMP9 Registry Toolkit download here) if AMC file embedding has been disabled as a result of installing WMP9, or they must use the alternate (and more complicated) AMC to BGSOUND embedding instructions below, which are based on Greg Campbell's work. Those receiving the stationery with flash embedded don't need the WMP9 Registry Toolkit installed.

Instructions for using the 2 altered flash scripts with AMC to BGSOUND embedding to make embedded SWF's viewable by everyone, even those with WMP9 installed who have not used the Registry Toolkit to re-enable AMC file embedding.



Instructions with AMC file embedding ENABLED

  1. In the message window Source tab, make sure that the src of the BGSOUND tag (id=bSWF1) is empty, as in: src="" and then specify the full path/filename for the SWF in the Filename PARAM of the AMC OBJECT (id=aSWF1). Example:
    <PARAM NAME="Filename" VALUE="    file:///C:/folder/flashfile.swf">
    2.  
  2. While in the message window Edit tab, close the post/email by clicking the "X" close button in the upper-right corner to save to the drafts folder and to embed the SWF in the AMC OBJECT. You will get a "One or more of the pictures in this message could not be found" etc. prompt when you do, since the src of the BGSOUND tag is empty. No problem - just click "Yes".
    3.  
  3. Re-open the post/email from the drafts folder, click on the Source tab, and carefully CUT (not copy!) the cid: string
    (example: cid:01ff01c484c5$776862d0$0100a8c0@letterman) from the AMC OBJECT and PASTE it into the src="" of the BGSOUND tag (id=bSWF1). Now click on the Edit tab and your post/email is ready to send.



In addition, you can also comment out the AMC OBJECT and delete all of the PARAM's except 'Filename' from the commented out AMC OBJECT to save about 1kb in the size of your post, while still leaving the script easy to re-use by anyone who saves it from your post/email.

Note: Since the majority of those who had AMC file embedding disabled as a result of installing WMP9 use Bill's Registry Toolkit to re-enable AMC file embedding, the above instructions are Included in the flash/swish templates that have been modified for AMC to BGSOUND embedding. The alternate AMC to BGSOUND embedding instructions below are not included in the modified templates.



The following instructions are written by Richard Eagle. This alternate method of doing AMC to BGSOUND embedding for SWF's with AMC file embedding disabled is based on the method discovered by Greg Campbell (Thanks, Greg), and described by Greg in the sound embedding tutorial that he posted on October 7, 2003 explaining how to do this with sound files. Shortly after Greg posted his discovery and tutorial, I tried the same basic method described in Greg's sound embedding tutorial with embedded SWF's, EOT's and cursors, and it worked like a charm. With Greg's discovery, anyone can do AMC to BGSOUND embedding, even if they have AMC file embedding disabled, though it's still easier using Bill's Registry Toolkit to re-enable AMC file embedding if it has been disabled as a result of installing WMP9.

Instructions with AMC file embedding DISABLED

  1. In the message window Source tab, make sure that the src of the BGSOUND tag (id=bSWF1) is empty, as in: src="" and then specify the full path/filename for the SWF in the Filename PARAM of the AMC OBJECT (id=aSWF1). Example:
    <PARAM NAME="Filename" VALUE="    file:///C:/folder/flashfile.swf">
    2.  
  2. While in the message window Edit tab, close the post/email by clicking the "X" close button in the upper-right corner to save to the drafts folder and to embed the SWF in the AMC OBJECT. You will get a "One or more of the pictures in this message could not be found" etc. prompt when you do, since the src of the BGSOUND tag is empty. No problem - just click "Yes".
    3.  
  3. Go to the drafts folder, click on the message header to highlight it, and then do a CTRL+F3 (not CTRL+F2) to bring up the message source window. You may want to maximize this window. Now scroll down in it until you find the name of your SWF file (shown in blue). It will look something like this:

    ------=_NextPart_000_0036_01C48533.38B70000
    Content-Type: application/x-shockwave-flash;
    name="myflash.swf"
    Content-Transfer-Encoding: base64
    Content-ID: <003501c48554$beefa520$0100a8c0@letterman>

    Copy the cid: string (shown in red - note that the cid: prefix is missing) to the clipboard (without the < and >), and then close the CTRL+F3 message source window.
    4.  
  4. Re-open the post/email from the drafts folder, click on the Source tab. You will notice that all of the PARAM's have been stripped from the AMC OBJECT. Do not worry. This is not a problem. Find the BGSOUND tag (id=bSWF1) and PASTE the cid: string into the src="". You will then need to add the cid: prefix to it (as shown in blue). It should look something like this:
    src="cid:003501c48554$beefa520$0100a8c0@letterman"
    5.  
  5. You will see that the SWF file also shows as an attachment in the message. Look at 'Attach:' just below 'Subject:'. Delete the SWF showing as an attachment. If you don't, it will be both embedded and attached and your post/email will be unnecessarily large in bytes.
    6.  
  6. Now click the Edit tab and your post/email is ready to send. You will get a "One or more of the pictures in this message could not be found" etc. prompt when you send your post/email to the outbox, because of the stripped AMC OBJECT. It's not a problem and you can just click "Yes". You can also comment out the stripped AMC OBJECT to avoid this prompt, while still leaving the script easy to re-use by anyone who saves it from your post/email.


    Richard Eagle