What is the best tool to make a CD-ROM Demo Application?

Question

Hi there, I have to make an application that will do the following:

• Open a video file embedded in the application
• Open some pdf files, preferably embedded in the application, but if it will have to open externally, it's no problem.
• Work in fullscreen on the user computer, with a minimal resolution of 1024x768. I'm thinking in make the application in 1024x768, centered in and a black background fit to the user resolution.

I was thinking in use Flash, but I don't have much experience, so if there is another easier IDE that creates a Flash application, it will work for me either. So, if anyone knows any Flash component to do this specification I'll be very thankful.

Answer 1

You can use the Flash Projector. Here is a tutorial to get you started. Now, you won't be able to embed the PDF files but you can open them easily enough using fscommand("exec","foo.pdf")

Answer 2

You can create an Adobe AIR Application; however it won't run off the CD ROM; it'll need to be installed locally.

If creating a projector from Flash Pro doesn't work; look at a tool like Janus or Zinc

Answer 3

Creating a Flash CDROM takes a little bit of care, but from my experience it's well worth it. From your requirements, the Flash IDE is well up to the task. The common requirements are as follows:

• Windows / Mac platform
• Flash Projector file
• Autorun file (For the Windows platform)
• Net access or all local

If your client is happy with creating the CDROM just for Windows, there will be very few dramas - but if they want to create a Mac-friendly version, you can do that too and I will explain afterwards.

Your Flash should preferably be an .exe projector file - the reason for this is so that the Windows user can open your app without downloading a Flash player (If the client wants a CDROM, they probably have limited net access, so this is a good thing!)

Within Flash, you can perform all your standard fs commands including full-screen.

You will likely need an Autorun file so that the user sees your application as soon as you put in the CDROM - simply create a file named 'autorun.inf' in notepad and enter the following:

[autorun] open=yourProjector.exe

Where 'yourProjector.exe' is the name and path of your projector file.

It sounds like you're going to embed your videos and content in the CDROM - this is usually the ideal case, since your client won't receive annoying security messages, but this can also be a bad thing if you want to correct your content later (spotting errors after a thousand CDROMS have been distributed can be a PAIN). You can serve some of your content online to avoid this, but it would give your user some ugly messages, so as long as you triple-check your content and embed everything, it would be the best scenario.

Now for a Mac, Apple has done away with autorun features years ago - there is a way to turn it on through Quicktime, but this is off by default for almost all Mac users, and turning it on is not recommended because it makes the Mac vulnerable to the 'Hong Kong Virus', one of the few Mac viruses around.

You can make your CDROM mac-friendly by creating a Mac Projector and adding instructions for how to use it by changing the background image of the CDROM window. I haven't had to do it before, but I hear that it's not too difficult.

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