Appendix D: Writing Scripts For Earlier Versions Of Flash Player; About Targeting Earlier Versions Of Flash Player - MACROMEDIA FLASH 8-LEARNING ACTIONSCRIPT 2.0 IN FLASH Manual

APPENDIX D
Writing Scripts for Earlier
Versions of Flash Player
ActionScript has changed considerably with each release of the Macromedia Flash authoring
tools and Flash Player. When you create content for Macromedia Flash Player 8, you can use
the full power of ActionScript. You can still use Flash 8 to create content for earlier versions of
Flash Player, but you can't use every ActionScript element.
This chapter provides guidelines to help you write scripts that are syntactically correct for the
player version you are targeting.
You can review surveys for Flash Player version penetration on the Macromedia
website; see www.macromedia.com/software/player_census/flashplayer/.
About targeting earlier versions of Flash
Player
When you write scripts, use the Availability information for each element in the ActionScript
2.0 Language Reference to determine if an element you want to use is supported by the Flash
Player version you are targeting. You can also determine which elements you can use by
showing the Actions toolbox; elements that are not supported for your target version appear
in yellow.
If you create content for Flash Player 6, 7 or 8, you should use ActionScript 2.0, which
provides several important features that aren't available in ActionScript 1.0, such as improved
compiler errors and more robust object-oriented programming capabilities.
To specify the player and ActionScript version you want to use when publishing a document,
select File > Publish Settings and make your selections on the Flash tab. If you need to target
Flash Player 4, see the next section.
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