Cross-posted on groups.drupal.org

I'm getting close to doing an official release of SWF Tools. The goal of SWF Tools is to standardize Flash embedding and replacement code for Drupal. Every-so-often, a new coder commits their own slice of Flash to the repository. Usually it offers only a small subset of possible goodness, and usually with no opportunity to integrate.

In more depth

Some examples of what SWF Tools does.

The function call swf('filename.flv') will do different things on different sites. One site is configured to play flv files through a custom flash player, embedded directly into the page (no javascript). The second site is configured to use Jeroen Wijering's media player and embed using SWFObject flash replacement.

That said, swf() also takes a many additional parameters. Alternative players, params and flashvars can be overridden on a case-by-case basis.

Existing modules in the repository can be greatly improved by integrating with SWF Tools. For example, Flash Gallery converts an image gallery and outputs it as xml to SimpleViewer. But unfortunately it is not possible to switch to a different image viewer like Jeroen Wijering's Image Rotator, even though the input is basically just a list of images. A rewrite of Flash Gallery will see that change, all it will take is a simple change in the administration area and all galleries in a site will switch to a new viewer.

I'm looking forward to seeing support for many more image viewers and flash players so that site designers can quickly and easily switch between them.

Already available:

  • centralized embedding and simple playlist management
  • ships with 2 basic generic GPL flash players.
  • integration with players by Jeroen Wijering
  • offers SWF Object and flash.jquery.js flash-replacement (or normal embedding), UFO to come
  • lots of admin configuration options and smart handling.
  • mass embedding of multipple flash players without redundant code (using jquery).
  • filter support, eg: [flash:filename.flv]
  • working example of how easy it is to integrate with SWF Tools. Tutorials to come.

Features nearly ready:

Future ideas:

  • give users much more control over how they view flash, with optional account settings and so on.

I'm interested in feedback and people who'd like to collaborate.

Thanks
Simon