About Xtra Extensions - MACROMEDIA DIRECTOR MX 2004-USING DIRECTOR Use Manual

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About Xtra extensions

All Xtra extensions a movie requires must be installed on your user's system when the movie runs.
When you distribute a movie, you must either include these Xtra extensions or provide the user
with the means to download them. Using the Movie Xtras dialog box (select Modify > Movies >
Xtras), you can specify the Xtra extensions to include in a projector and whether Xtra extensions
should download for use with Shockwave content. The Movie Xtras dialog box contains a list of
the most commonly used Xtra extensions. Including all these Xtra extensions ensures that your
movie will work in most cases but makes the projector much larger. You may want to remove Xtra
extensions you know you aren't using to help manage memory.
Each time you create a sprite that requires an Xtra, Director adds the Xtra to the list of required
Xtra extensions in the Movie Xtras dialog box. If you remove the sprite, Director does not remove
the Xtra from the list, in case you later re-create the sprite. Director cannot detect Xtra extensions
required in Lingo or JavaScript syntax. You must manually add any Xtra extensions required by
your scripts to the list in the Movie Xtras dialog box. For more information, see
extensions for distributed movies" on page
Managing Xtra extensions controls the size and capabilities of the movie you distribute. Many
important features in Director, such as text and vector shapes, are controlled by Xtra extensions,
as is the ability to import all types of linked media. If you don't use a feature or import a media
type that is controlled by an Xtra, you should not distribute the related Xtra with your movie.
This is especially true for movies distributed on the Internet.
Including Xtra extensions
The Shockwave Player includes the Xtra extensions that support the most common features and
media types. These include text; vector shapes; Macromedia Flash; BMP, PICT, JPEG, and GIF
file importing; sound management; and Shockwave Audio.
Xtra extensions not included with the Shockwave Player must be installed in a user's system
before the movie plays. Use the Download If Needed option in the Movie Xtras dialog box to
make the movie prompt the user to download the Xtra. Director downloads Xtra extensions from
the URL specified in the Xtrainfo.txt file in the Director application folder.
Xtra extensions downloading from projectors requires use of Lingo or JavaScript syntax. For more
information, see the Scripting Reference topics in the Director Help Panel.
Xtrainfo.txt includes URLs for all Macromedia Xtra extensions included with Director, but you
may need to manually edit Xtrainfo.txt to add the URL for third-party Xtra extensions or
Macromedia Xtra extensions not included with Director. Xtrainfo.txt includes a description of
how to enter this information. Xtra developers may also provide installation programs or other
means of modifying Xtrainfo.txt automatically.
If a user chooses to download an Xtra extension, Director retrieves the Xtra extension from the
URL specified in Xtrainfo.txt using the Verisign download security system. Verisign is a standard
means of downloading software from secure sources.
You can also include Xtra extensions in projector files. Select the Include in Projector option in
the Movie Xtras dialog box for any Xtra extension you want to include.
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