MACROMEDIA FLASH MX 2004 - FLASH LITE AUTHORING GUIDELINES FOR THE I-MODE... Instruction Manual

Flash Lite Authoring Guidelines
for the i-mode Service by NTT DoCoMo

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Acknowledgments
Director: Erick Vera
Producer: Barbara Nelson
Writing: Paul Goldman
Editing: Lisa Stanziano
Print Design and Production: Adam Barnett
First Edition: March 2003
Macromedia, Inc.
600 Townsend St.
San Francisco, CA 94103

3
CONTENTS
CHAPTER 1: Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
About the i-mode service by NTT DoCoMo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Getting started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
CHAPTER 2: Developing Content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Navigation and key events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
i-mode compatible HTML . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
ActionScript and properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Sound . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Network access . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Screen size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Movie size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Performance Optimization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Interactive versus Inline content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
CHAPTER 3: Sound . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Embedding sound in Flash Lite movies for i-mode phones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
MFi sound substitution. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Associating an MFi sound file with an ActionScript sound symbol . . . . . . . . . . 16
Accessing sound on main and movie clip Timelines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
CHAPTER 4: Testing Content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
DoCoMo’s i-mode HTML Simulator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
APPENDIX A: Supported ActionScript . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
APPENDIX B: Supported Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
APPENDIX C: Warning and Error Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
APPENDIX D: References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Macromedia websites. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

4 Contents

5
CHAPTER 1
Introduction
Macromedia has created a new profile of the Flash Player called Macromedia®Flash™Lite,
designed for consumer mobile devices, including phones for the i-mode service by NTT
DoCoMo. This format is designed to run optimally on devices with limited memory, processor
speed, and display area. Content created for Flash Lite is most similar to Flash Player 4 content.
The Macromedia Flash MX Professional 2004 User Guide for Flash Lite describes, in general, tools
and guidelines for authors creating Flash Lite movies. This document contains authoring
information specific to creating movies for i-mode phones.
About the i-mode service by NTT DoCoMo
The i-mode service by NTT DoCoMo is a mobile phone service in Japan that provides its
customers with both voice and comprehensive data services. With an i-mode phone, users can
exchange i-mode e-mail and obtain information from i-mode menu sites and i-mode compatible
Internet sites.
The i-mode phone contains a browser that displays i-mode compatible HTML web pages.
Beginning with the 505i phones, you can view Macromedia Flash Lite movies from the i-mode
browser. You can also use the phones’ My Picture and Standby Screen applications to view Flash
Lite movies. Although a number of manufacturers produce 505i phones, all of them support the
same Flash Lite functionality.
Getting started
To create Flash Lite movies for i-mode phones, you need to install Macromedia Flash MX
Professional 2004, available from the Macromedia website. (See Appendix D, “References,”
on page 47, for links to the Macromedia website.) . Read the Macromedia Flash MX Professional
2004 User Guide for Flash Lite for an overview of Flash Lite and basic authoring information.
To test your completed Flash Lite movies for i-mode phones, you should obtain the i-mode
HTML Simulator from the DoCoMo website. (See Appendix D, “References,” on page 47.) The
Simulator is an application tool that emulates the operation of an i-mode phone and allows you
to test the validity of Flash Lite movies. Though useful, the Simulator is no substitute for testing
on actual i-mode phones—only testing on actual phones will give you a true picture of your Flash
Lite movie’s performance.

6 Chapter 1: Introduction

7
CHAPTER 2
Developing Content
Starting with the 505i phones, the i-mode service by NTT DoCoMo supports the ability to view
Flash Lite movies. The same Flash Lite functionality is available on all 505i phones, regardless of
manufacturer. This chapter describes considerations for creating Flash Lite movies that run on i-
mode phones, from general functionality to performance and size constraints.
The 505i phones support Flash Lite in both English and Japanese. However, there are a few
exceptions to the standard Flash Lite specification. To review the standard specification, see the
Macromedia Flash MX Professional 2004 User Guide for Flash Lite. The exceptions to the standard
are detailed in this document.
Navigation and key events
Flash Lite for i-mode uses three keys for navigation: Up, Down, and Select. The Left and Right
keys are reserved for the i-mode browser. These three keys correspond to the Shift+Tab, Tab, and
Enter keys on the desktop versions of the Flash Player.
The keys 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, *, and # are also available. These correspond to the same keys
on the desktop versions of the Flash Player. You can attach ActionScript to these keys and the
Enter key as you would normally in Flash. ActionScript attached to other keys is ignored.
Text and fonts
Flash Lite includes support for both device and embedded fonts. You can use embedded fonts to
give you more control over the design of your movie, but doing so increases the SWF file size.
Using the device font for text limits you to a single font, but helps keep your file size small.
When using device fonts, Flash Lite limits special text formatting for dynamic text fields to
justification (left, center, right) and color. Formatting options such as superscript, subscript,
kerning, bold, and italic are not supported.
Flash Lite does not support input text fields—input text fields are not selectable and cannot be
used to enter text.

8 Chapter 2: Developing Content
Emoji
i-mode phones support special pictographic characters called Emoji. The following characters are
examples of Emoji:
These are encoded by replacing characters in the standard Shift-JIS table. As long as the phone’s
font supports Emoji encoded as standard Shift-JIS characters, Flash Lite can display them.
When authoring using Flash, you first need to ensure that you have Shift-JIS fonts installed on
your desktop authoring system. You also need to select a Shift-JIS font for the text fields in which
you want to display Emoji characters.
Note: The phone’s font set controls the color and appearance of Emoji characters.
For further information about Emoji, see Appendix D, “References,” on page 47.
i-mode compatible HTML
i-mode browsers can directly run Flash Lite movies, or movies can be embedded in i-mode
compatible HTML web pages.
The i-mode compatible HTML specification is based on a subset of HTML 2.0, HTML 3.2, and
HTML 4.0 specifications that DoCoMo extended with tags and attributes for special use on
mobile phones. As an example, extensions include the tel URL protocol, which is used to link to
a phone number and let users initiate a phone call.
For information on i-mode compatible HTML, see Appendix D, “References,” on page 47.
ActionScript and properties
Flash Lite for i-mode supports most Flash 4 ActionScript commands. The following are notable
exceptions:
•Use the add operator instead of the &command to concatenate strings.
•Button mouse events such as dragOver,dragOut, and releaseOutside cannot be used to
trigger ActionScript attached to buttons. However, in addition to keypress events, the events
press, release, rollOver, and rollOut can be used to trigger ActionScript when attached
to buttons and accessed through key-based navigation.
•Draggable movie clip functions and properties (for example: startDrag, stopDrag, and
_dropTarget properties) are not supported.
•Use the eq operator to compare strings and the == operator for numeric comparison.
•URL encoding must be done manually using ActionScript. The escape() ActionScript
function is not a Flash 4 function and is not available in Flash Lite.
•The fscommand() function is not supported.
•The default Quality level for Flash Lite during playback is medium and there is no support for
bitmap smoothing.

ActionScript and properties 9
•The getURL() function can only be called once per keypress, and can only be used for the
http, mailto, https and tel protocols. Only the first getURL() call in a keypress statement
block is executed; all subsequent getURL() calls in the same block are ignored.
•A button action can be assigned to launch an e-mail composition window with the address,
subject, and body text fields already populated. There are two methods to do this. Method 1
can be used for either Shift-JIS or English character encoding, while method 2 only supports
English character encoding.
Method 1
Set variables for each of the desired parameters, for example:
on (release, keyPress "#") {
subject = "email subject";
body = "email body";
getURL("mailto:[email protected]", "", "GET");
}
Method 2
Define each parameter within the getURL action, for example:
on (release, keyPress "#"){
getURL("mailto:[email protected]?subject=email subject&body=email
body");
}
•Key events can only be attached to the keys 0-9, #, *, and the Enter key.
•The loadMovie(), loadVariables(),loadMovieNum(),and loadVariablesNum()
functions are not supported.
•The MaxScroll and Scroll text-scrolling properties are not supported.
•Sound functionality is limited to event sound. An event sound can only be triggered to play
when it is attached to a keypress event. Only the first event sound in a keypress statement block
is played, and all other subsequent sounds in the same block are ignored.
•There is no synchronized audio, so the _soundBuffTime property is not supported.
•The range of valid integer numbers that can be represented is -2,147,483,648 to
2,147,483,647.
•Math functions are not natively supported. In Flash Lite, the methods and properties of the
Math object are emulated using approximations and may not be as accurate as the non-
emulated math functions supported in Flash Player 5 and above.
•The following Math functions can only be used with constants, not variables: Math.acos(),
Math.asin(), Math.atan(), Math.atan2(), Math.cos(), Math.pow(), and Math.tan().
•The _url property is not supported.
•The Number() and String() functions are not supported.
Note: Flash 4 ActionScript does not support arrays. However, they can be emulated using the
eval() function. For more information, see Macromedia TechNote 14219, “How to use Eval to
emulate an array,” at www.macromedia.com/go/flash_support (English) or
www.macromedia.com/go/flash_support_jp (Japanese).
ActionScript commands that are not recognized are ignored. For a detailed listing of supported
ActionScript and properties, see Appendix A: “Supported ActionScript” on page 25 and
Appendix B: “Supported Properties” on page 37.

10 Chapter 2: Developing Content
Sound
Flash Lite for 505i phones does not support the standard Flash Player audio formats—Raw,
ADPCM or MP3. Instead, only MFi (Melody Format for i-mode) is supported. In addition, each
manufacturer’s 505i phone supports the standard MFi format, plus its own proprietary
extensions.
Flash Lite does not support streaming sound, sound mixing, or looping of sound. Only event
sound is supported and only one sound can be played at a time.
For detailed information about embedding sound into Flash Lite movies for i-mode phones, see
Chapter 3, “Sound,” on page 15.
Network access
The Flash Lite specification for i-mode supports the getURL() function in a restricted manner.
The getURL() function is ignored unless the user first presses one of the following keys: 0-9, *, #,
or the Select key. Only the first getURL() call in a keypress statement block is executed; all
subsequent getURL() calls in the same block are ignored.
The getURL() function can be used to load another SWF or HTML page (http), a secured (SSL-
Secure Sockets Layer) HTTP page (https), send e-mail (mailto), or dial a phone number (tel).
Screen size
The i-mode phone screen size is one of the most important factors to keep in mind when
developing Flash Lite movies for i-mode phones. Generally, content looks better scaling up, rather
than scaling down, so it is best to create content for the smallest screen area. The screen area
available to Flash Lite varies from phone model to phone model, and across the applications
featuring Flash Lite. In order for a Flash Lite movie to look the best in the browser on all 505i
phones, a resolution of 240x240 is recommended. The screen area available to Flash Lite in the
My Picture and Standby Screen applications varies depending on the specific 505i phone.
Detailed information on the screen area available to Flash Lite on i-mode phones is available on
the DoCoMo website. (See Appendix D, “References,” on page 47).
Movie size
There are limitations on file size and run-time memory usage for Flash Lite movies running on i-
mode phones. There is a prescribed limit on how large a web page can be, whether it includes
Flash Lite movies or not. For 505i phones, this limit is 20KB. Full details can be found at the
DoCoMo website (see Appendix D, “References,” on page 47). This limit applies to an i-mode
page’s HTML, SWF content, and all graphic images combined. Web pages larger than this limit
cannot be downloaded to an i-mode phone and no error message appears. This limitation also
applies to Flash Lite movies played directly in the browser without being embedded in an i-mode
compatible HTML file.
The run-time memory available to Flash Lite movies running on i-mode phones is limited and
may vary from model to model. Generally, for the 505i phones, this limit is not less than
200KB. Because Flash MX Professional 2004 does not provide a mechanism for checking a
phone’s run-time memory consumption, Macromedia strongly recommends that you test all
content on actual i-mode phones.