ActionScript 3 - Opening External files

Question

Does anyone know of a way to open an external file from Flash in ActionScript 3 without the request first going through the browser. Specifically, I want to open a PowerPoint presentation directly with PowerPoint.

I've tried:

var url:String = "MyContent/My presentation.pptx";
var request:URLRequest = new URLRequest(url);
navigateToURL(request);

Which works well, but it first makes the request to the browser instead of opening it natively with PowerPoint.

NOTE: This is a desktop Flash piece that won't be on the web.

Answer 1

i'm fairly certain that this isn't possible with just flash or air for that matter. Mainly because of sandboxing issues. Being able to open up other apps could cause security loop holes.

It should be possible through Zinc but it's a bit more work and obviously extra cost... still if you need it to happen it may be worth the cost.

Answer 2

You need one of the external wrappers. Either Zinc as James told you, Adobe AIR or also Open Source alternatives such as HippoHX.

Should be pretty simple.