User Guide

116 Cross-Product Extensions
How Flash panels and commands work
Macromedia Flash developers can create interactive movies that contain a combination of
ActionScript and calls to the Fireworks API for two types of deployment: interactive panels or
modal commands. Basically, while writing ActionScript, you can embed commands for the
Fireworks API in the
MMExecute() function, or you can embed them using the API wrapper
extension for Macromedia Flash (download the API wrapper from the Macromedia website at
www.macromedia.com/go/fw_documentation). You can construct these Macromedia Flash
animations as interactive panels that work just as the Layers panel, the Frames panel, and
other built-in panels do.
Shockwave files that are published to the Fireworks MX installation directory,
Configuration\Command Panels folder, act as panels in the Fireworks interface at runtime
and are available through the Window menu.
Shockwave files that are published to the Configuration\Commands folder act as modal
commands and are available through the Commands menu in the Fireworks interface.
At runtime, Fireworks starts Flash Player, which either plays Shockwave animations or runs
commands (if the user selects the custom command options). The Align panel (Window >
Align menu option) is an example of how Flash panels work in the Fireworks interface.
Embedding API commands
You can call any part of the Fireworks API by embedding the API commands in the following
functions. These functions communicate directly with Macromedia Flash Player, which is
distributed with Fireworks 8.
MMExecute()
Usage
MMExecute(jsToPass)
Arguments
jsToPass A string of JavaScript for Fireworks to execute.
Returns
Nothing.
NOTE
On multiuser systems, Fireworks supports a Command Panels folder inside of each
user’s Configuration folder, so users can save favorite panels.