April 18, 2001 - Stopping and Re-Triggering Flash | WebReference

April 18, 2001 - Stopping and Re-Triggering Flash

Yehuda Shiran April 18, 2001
Stopping and Re-Triggering Flash
Tips: April 2001

Yehuda Shiran, Ph.D.
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Flash has four different sync options: event, start, stop, and stream. The event sync enables layering of sounds which may create an amplification effect. The start sync forces you to wait until the end of the track before you can re-trigger the sound. Sometimes, the "Stop before Re-Trigger" technique is best suitable for your needs. It stops any instance of the same frame before start playing a new instance. This technique ensures that the new frame is the only instance playing -- no layering of tracks is allowed. It also allows you to stop the sound immediately instead of waiting for the end of the track (start sync).

As a reminder, in order to sonify your page, follow this recipe:

flashsound.js in the HEAD section.
  • Create a flashsound object in the
    • HEAD section.
  • Embed your SWF file in the
    • BODY section.
  • Create an anchor tag and set the
    • onmouseover event handler to the TGotoAndPlay() method.

    The left link below demonstrates the "Stop before Re-Trigger" technique. Mouse over the link over an dover. The track will always stop and then restart from the beginning. As a reference, you can layer sounds with the middle link. Stop the layered sounds with the right link:

    Play a Scale    Start a Looping Sound    Stop a Looping Sound

    Here is the source code:

    <HTML>
<HEAD>
<SCRIPT SRC="flashsound.js"></SCRIPT>
<SCRIPT>
  var mySoundObj1 = new FlashSound();
  var mySoundObj2 = new FlashSound();
</SCRIPT>
</HEAD>
<BODY>
<A HREF="javascript://" onmouseover="mySoundObj1.TGotoAndPlay('/scale-event','stop');
 mySoundObj1.TGotoAndPlay('/scale-event','start')">Play a Scale</A>
<A HREF="javascript://" onmouseover="mySoundObj2.TGotoAndPlay('/loop-event','start')">Start a Looping Sound</A>
<A HREF="javascript://" onmouseover="mySoundObj2.TGotoAndPlay('/loop-event','stop')">Stop a Looping Sound</A> 
<SCRIPT>
  mySoundObj1.embedSWF("scale.swf");
  mySoundObj2.embedSWF("loop.swf");
</SCRIPT>
</BODY>
</HTML>

    Here are links you can use to download flashsound.js, loop.swf, and scale.swf:

    Download flashsound.js

    Download loop.swf

    Download scale.swf