Flash Content - swf file not appearing in 2.9.0

I've been using TYPOlight through version 2.8.3 over the last 18 months and have used extensively the extension ce_flash to embed Flash headers and custom slide show viewers with SlideShowPro. The ce_flash extension still appears in one of my TYPOlight websites v 2.8.3 and has an update to version 4.0 of the ce_flash extension. The update works and the flash header in that website works as expected.

I'm now starting to upgrade websites to Contao version 2.9.0 and I'm installing my own website graphics into the template system for Contao. The previous extension ce_flash is no longer listed in the Extension Repository for Contao and it appears to have been replaced with something called "Flash Content" which lists itself as reading "dynamic content".

I activated the Flash Content extension in Contao v2.9.0 on my website, created a module for the Flash Content to appear in the header, navigated to my .swf file using the file manager, checked the box for transparent flash, and when I check the website, the Flash header does NOT appear.

Questions:

1. There is a curious box in the "Content Flash" module "Make Interactive" which when checked shows a box that indicates that in order for the Flash to "interact with the browser" javascript is "required" and there is a box with

JavaScript _DoFSCommand(command, args) {

and a field to enter the "required" Javascript, but no explanation or manual is provided. What on earth is this field supposed to do? Are there any written instructions anywhere in the User Guide or on the Forum on what this box does?

2. I can't seem to find ANY documentation on this module either in the extension itself, and there is no link to a "Manual" for the extension in the Extension Manager. Anyone on the forum have any suggestions here?

3. The older extension ce_flash worked well in previous versions of TYPOlight, is there some reason that this previously working extension is not being offered in Contao version 2.9.0? It appeared to me to be very easy to implement, and it actually worked both in modules and as an element in an Article. Is there a way to install this in Contao 2.9.0?

I would appreciate any suggestions on how to make this work in the new Contao v2.9.0, and if anyone else is seeing this problem, please let me know.

Ernest McDermon
Snellville, GA

I think this is just a bit of confusion. Flash Content is leo's built-in extensions to manage semi-dymanic content passed to your flash file. In that module, you add content text pieces that you read into your flash file to use inside it. In this way its actually possible to have a Flash-only website, pulling its content from the CMS. This is more for static content, since you can pull in news and events now through XML feeds into the flash file.

This Flash Content never displays anything, nor does it configure settings for displaying a flash file. That you still have to do that with a flash module, or flash CE. You need to get an updated version of the flash CE instead.

Thanks for the comeback. The ce_flash extension doesn't seem to be in the Repository 2.0 for Contao 2.9.0 and did not install successfully when I tried to manually install it in 2.9.0 using version 4.0 of the old extension.

Since the Flash Content extension DOES NOT display a Flash .swf as you state (I agree, it doesn't work for a static .swf file), where is the extension to display Flash in Contao 2.9.0 ? This existed in versions 2.8.0 - 2.8.3 of TYPOlight.

Is this an oversight on Leo's part by not including the ce_flash extension in the current repository? Or am I missing something here?

This is not an oversight... There is no CE flash entry for TL. Its a Flash module, that you can insert into a CE as a module...

you were using an extension called CE_Flash... or something... not all developers are full-time -- we don't always find the time to update extensions to newer versions.

Thanks for the thoughts. There is an update for the Flash Content extension this morning "Build 14" that once I updated the extension in the Repository 2.0, the Flash movie seems to be working now. I'm still playing around with it, hopefully the developer on the extension saw these posts.

This may have it fixed.