Publishing Flash DataPlayer .SWFs on the Web

Omniscope DataPlayer & Enterprise Editions export web-ready file structures (with minimalist HTML display page) containing the DataPlayer .SWF files ready for display on the open Internet.  DataPlayers produced by licensed copies of Omniscope can be displayed on any inter/intranet domain. DataPlayers produced by FeatureFinder Web will display on nominated domains/sub-domains only.

Note on managing images: Although DataPlayer .SWF files can incorporate images for use in Tile View, they will be fixed in size and often reduced resolution. The original, higher resolution images can also be displayed on the web in the DataPlayer Details View, but only if the entire folder containing the original, larger/higher resolution images is also uploaded to the web server in the same relative directory location as when the image set was originally specified in the .IOK configuration file from which the DataPlayer was exported.

Export File Set

Once you have configured an Omniscope DataPlayer .IOK project file, previewed the .SWF on your desktop and saved all your configuration settings in the .IOK data file, you are ready to export your DataPlayer SWF file set for display on the web.  Just click the 'Save for Web' button on the Save Settings and SWF page. When you click 'Save for Web', the DataPlayer is exported within a web-ready file structure with a minimalist HTML display page in the top level of the directory structure.

Copy and Edit Top Page

Once DataPlayer/FeatureFinder Studio has finished exporting the web file set containing the DataPlayer, open the resulting HTML display page (bearing the name of the project, in the top directory of the file structure) with a standard HTML editor such as Adobe DreamWeaver or Microsoft FrontPage. You will see that the exported display page is minimalist, with only enough mark-up to display the DataPlayer .SWF in a browser. The minimalist page has none of the final HTML layout, scripting or content (with which you or your web master will want to surround the DataPlayer) for display on the web.
 
Suggestion: Good practice at this point is to make a copy of the top-level, minimalist HTML display page, change its name and put the copy into the same location alongside the original. From then on, only paste your own mark-up, scripting etc. into the re-named copy. This way, if you modify the DataPlayer and re-export its file set, the original minimalist display page is overwritten, not your own elaborated version. The underlying DataPlayer files referenced in your own version of the display page are all updated, and they are still referenced properly assuming their relative position in the directory structure has not changed.

Upload

When you are happy with the look of both the DataPlayer and your own HTML mark-up and scripting surrounding it, upload the entire file set and the original images folder (if any) to your web server (preserving the directory structure).

Warning: If you are using UNIX/LINUX web hosting, remember that all file names/references will be case-sensitive. Check all the references in the files produced by Omniscope against your own namings to make sure that upper and lower case is being used consistently in the file names and all references to the files.