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SWF

Toggle Quality

SWF Action
Action Category: 
Movie
Action Details: 
0
Action Identifier: 
8
Action Structure: 
<n.a.>
Action Length: 
0 byte(s)
Action Stack: 
n.a.
Action Operation: 
if (_root.quality == HIGH_QUALITY) {
  _root.set_quality(LOW_QUALITY);
}
else {
  _root.set_quality(HIGH_QUALITY);
}
Action Flash Version: 
1
See Also: 
Get Member
Get Property
Set Member
Set Property

Change the quality level from low to high and vice versa. At this time, not sure what happens if you use medium!

Note that the quality is defined on the root only and affects the entire output.

Newer SWF versions (since version 5) should use the movie quality variable member instead of this direct action.

String Less Than

SWF Action
Action Category: 
String and Characters
Action Details: 
0
Action Identifier: 
41
Action Structure: 
<n.a.>
Action Length: 
0 byte(s)
Action Stack: 
pop 2 (s), push 1 (b)
Action Operation: 
s1 := pop();
s2 := pop();
r := s2 < s1;
push(r);
Action Flash Version: 
4
See Also: 
Equal
Equal (typed)
Greater Than (typed)
Less Than
Less Than (typed)
Strict Equal
String Equal
String Greater Than

Pop two strings, compare them, push the Boolean result back on the stack.

This operation was available since version 4 of SWF. Since Macromedia introduced String Greater Than (typed) in version 6, it is likely that this operator is expected to legally be used, although it seems to me that the Less Than (typed) action should be used instead.

String Greater Than

SWF Action
Action Category: 
Comparisons
Action Details: 
(typed)
Action Identifier: 
104
Action Structure: 
<n.a.>
Action Length: 
0 byte(s)
Action Stack: 
pop 2 (s), push 1 (b)
Action Operation: 
s1 := pop();
s2 := pop();
r := s2 > s1;
push(r);
Action Flash Version: 
6
See Also: 
Greater Than (typed)
Less Than
Less Than (typed)
String Equal
String Less Than

Similar to Swap + String Less Than although not exactly the same.

It checks whether the second string is greater than the first and return the Boolean result on the stack.1

IMPORTANT

  • 1. I'm not too sure why Macromedia introduced this action in SWF version 6.

String Equal

SWF Action
Action Category: 
Comparisons
Action Details: 
0
Action Identifier: 
19
Action Structure: 
<n.a.>
Action Length: 
0 byte(s)
Action Stack: 
pop 2 (s), push 1 (b)
Action Operation: 
s1 := pop();
s2 := pop();
r := s2 == s1;
push(r);
Action Flash Version: 
4
See Also: 
Equal
Equal (typed)
Strict Equal
Logical Not

Pops two strings, compute the equality and put the Boolean result back on the stack.

IMPORTANT

The true meaning of this operator was to apply the String cast to both values, then compare the result as strings. This is not really good JavaScript as per ECMA, so later Macromedia added the strict comparison operators instead. This is why this action should only be used in a Version 4 of SWF. Newer versions should use Strict Equal or plain Equal.

Store Register

SWF Action
Action Category: 
Variables
Action Details: 
0
Action Identifier: 
135
Action Structure: 
unsigned char   f_register;
Action Length: 
1 byte(s)
Action Stack: 
pop 1 (a), push 1 (a)
Action Operation: 
a1 := pop();
target.g_register[f_register] = a1;
push(a1);
Action Flash Version: 
5
See Also: 
Get Variable
Push Data
Set Variable

Pop one value from the stack, push it back on the stack and also store it in one of 4 or 256 registers which number is specified in the tag (0, 1, 2 or 3 only if not in a Declare Function (V7). I tried other numbers and they don't work in SWF version 6 or older.) Until set a register has the value undefined. The value of a register can be retrieved with a Push Data action and the register type with the matching register number.

Set Target

SWF Action
Action Category: 
Movie
Action Details: 
(dynamic)
Action Identifier: 
139
Action Structure: 
string   f_target;
Action Length: 
-1 byte(s)
Action Stack: 
n.a.
Action Operation: 
set_target(f_target);
Action Flash Version: 
1
See Also: 
Call Method
DefineSprite
Get Member
Set Member
Set Target (dynamic)

If the string f_target is the empty string, then the next actions apply to the main movie.

Otherwise it is the name of a Sprite and the followings actions apply to that Sprite only.

In order to use a dynamic name for the target, use Set Target (dynamic) instead.

Set Property

SWF Action
Action Category: 
Movie
Action Details: 
0
Action Identifier: 
35
Action Structure: 
<n.a.>
Action Length: 
0 byte(s)
Action Stack: 
pop 2 (a), pop 1 (s)
Action Operation: 
a1 := pop();
a2 := pop();
s3 := pop();
s3[a2] = a1;
Action Flash Version: 
4
See Also: 
Get Member
Get Property
Set Member

Pop a value from the stack representing the new property value.

Pop the name of the property to be changed. Note that the property scheme is from version 4 and as such the property name can be represented by a number. Older version actually only accepted floating point numbers.

Finally, pop the name of the object where the specified field property is modified.

The following is the list of currently accepted properties or fields for the Get Property and the Set Property actions. Note that the properties can be specified with either an integer (type 7, requires V5.0+) or a single precision floating point (type 1, V4.0 compatible). And since strings are automatically transformed in a value when required, one can use a string to represent the property number (type 0). It works with a double value, I even tested a Boolean and null and it works. Obviously it isn't a good idea to use these. The default should be a single precision float. Please, see the Push Data action for more information about data types.

WARNING: Adobe is trying to phase out this functionality. It is very likely not working in ABC code and it is not necessary since objects have member functions that can be used for the exact same purpose and it is a lot cleaner to use those instead.

 

Float Decimal Name Comments Version
0x00000000 0 x x position in pixels (not TWIPs!) 4
0x3F800000 1 y y position in pixels (not TWIPs!) 4
0x40000000 2 x scale horizontal scaling factor in percent (50 — NOT 0.5 — represents half the normal size!!!) 4
0x40400000 3 y scale vertical scaling factor in percent (50 — NOT 0.5 — represents half the normal size!!!) 4
0x40800000 4 current frame the very frame being played; one can query the root current frame using an empty string ("") as the name of the object; note that the first current frame is number 1 and the last is equal to the total number of frames; on the other hand, the Goto instruction expects a frame number from 0 to the number of frames - 1 4
0x40A00000 5 number of frames total number of frames in movie/sprite/thread 4
0x40C00000 6 alpha alpha value in percent (50 — NOT 0.5 — means half transparent) 4
0x40E00000 7 visibility whether the object is visible 4
0x41000000 8 width maximum width of the object (scales the object to that width) 4
0x41100000 9 height maximum height of the object (scales the object to that height) 4
0x41200000 10 rotation rotation angle in degrees 4
0x41300000 11 target return the name (full path) of an object; this can be viewed as a reference to that object 4
0x41400000 12 frames loaded number of frames already loaded 4
0x41500000 13 name name of the object 4
0x41600000 14 drop target object over which this object was last dropped 4
0x41700000 15 url URL linked to that object 4
0x41800000 16 high quality whether we are in high quality mode 4
0x41880000 17 show focus rectangle whether the focus rectangle is visible 4
0x41900000 18 sound buffer time position (or pointer) in the sound buffer; useful to synchronize the graphics to the music 4
0x41980000 19 quality what the quality is (0 - Low, 1 - Medium or 2 - High) 5
0x41A00000 20 x mouse current horizontal position of the mouse pointer within the Flash window 5
0x41A80000 21 y mouse current vertical position of the mouse pointer within the Flash window 5
0x46800000 16384 clone this flag has to do with the depth of sprites being duplicated 4

Push Data

SWF Action
Action Category: 
Stack
Action Details: 
0
Action Identifier: 
150
Action Structure: 
struct {
	unsigned char   f_type
	<type>          f_data
} f_push_data[<variable>];
Action Length: 
-1 byte(s)
Action Stack: 
push <variable> (a)
Action Operation: 
a1 = f_data[0];1
push(a1);
a2 = f_data[1];
push(a2);
a3 = f_data[2];
push(a3);
...
an = f_data[n];
push(an);
  • 1. Notice that the first data in the action is the last accessible on your stack.
Action Flash Version: 
4
See Also: 
Duplicate
Pop
Swap

Push some immediate data on the stack. This action was introduced in V4.0. The supported data types vary depending on the version of the player you have. As many values as necessary can be pushed at once. The f_push_data structure will be repeated multiple times as required. For instance, to push two strings on the stack at once, you would use the following code:

96
0C 00
00 't' 'e' 's' 't' 00
00 'm' 'o' 'r' 'e' 00

Most of the time, it is a good idea to push more data and then use the Swap action to reorder. Extra PushData ...

Instance Of

SWF Action
Action Category: 
Objects
Action Details: 
0
Action Identifier: 
84
Action Structure: 
<n.a.>
Action Length: 
0 byte(s)
Action Stack: 
pop 1 (s), pop 1 (o)
Action Operation: 
s1 := pop();
o2 := pop();
r := o2 instance of s1;
push(r);
Action Flash Version: 
6
See Also: 
Cast Object
Extends
Implements
Type Of

Pop the name of a constructor (s1 - ie. "Color") then an object (o2). Checks whether the object is part of the class defined by the named constructor. If so, then true is push on the stack, otherwise false.

Since SWF version 7, it is possible to cast an object to another using the Cast Object action. This action returns a copy of the object or Null, which in many cases can be much more practical.

Get URL2

SWF Action
Action Category: 
Movie
Action Details: 
0
Action Identifier: 
154
Action Structure: 
unsigned char    f_method;
Action Length: 
1 byte(s)
Action Stack: 
pop 2 (s)
Action Operation: 
s1 := pop();
s2 := pop();
s1.load(s2, f_method);
Action Flash Version: 
4
See Also: 
Duplicate Sprite
Get URL
FSCommand2

Pop two strings, the URL (s2) and the target name (s1).

All the usual HTML target names seem to be supported (_top, _blank, <frame name>, etc.) You can also use the special internal names _level0 to _level10. _level0 is the current movie. Other levels, I'm still not too sure how these can be used.