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Last updated 12/8/2009
Chapter 7: Cross-Product Extensions
Cross-product extensions include any Fireworks-related extensions developed for, or in, another Adobe application.
These cross-product extensions include those written for other tools, such as Adobe Dreamweaver that use existing
Fireworks functionality. They may use JavaScript APIs for adding image-editing functionality to those applications as
well as custom Fireworks panels developed in Adobe Flash to enhance the functionality of Fireworks. For example, a
developer may want to create an ActionScript command so that a user can replace text in an image without leaving the
current movie. Similarly, a Flash developer may create a panel so that a Fireworks user can easily create spirals and
other nonstandard shapes repeatedly.
Cross-product architecture
The Fireworks cross-product communication architecture provides a new way for extension developers to create
Fireworks-related features for other applications. With this new architecture, your extensions allow a user to perform
common image-editing operations (cropping, rotating, adjusting color, blurring, and almost all Fireworks operations)
without leaving the current application or opening Fireworks.
XML and remote procedure calls
Applications written with Flash ActionScript 2.0 or C++ applications can control Fireworks by sending JavaScript
instructions, called remote procedure calls (RPC), encoded in XML through a local socket. The Fireworks RPC gives
other applications access to functionality previously restricted to JavaScript programs running inside Fireworks. The
RPC mechanism exposes the Fireworks JavaScript DOM through XML and a TCP socket connection. In this way, an
application (written with ActionScript 2.0 or C++) running on the same computer as Fireworks (only local
connections are allowed to the loopback address) can be used to open Fireworks documents, slice them, optimize
them, and then export them. Users can also create a new Fireworks document through another application, draw in
the document, and preview it in the browser. Nearly anything that can be accomplished with a JavaScript program
running in Fireworks can now be done through remote procedure calls.
Note: Fireworks excludes functionality related to starting other applications or manipulating non-Fireworks related files
(for more information, see "Security" on page 110).
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