User Guide

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CHAPTER 19
Using the External API
The ActionScript 3.0 External API enables straightforward communication between
ActionScript and the container application within which Adobe Flash Player 9 is running.
There are several situations in which you may want to use the External API—for example,
when you create interaction between a SWF document and JavaScript in an HTML page, or
when building a desktop application that uses Flash Player to display a SWF file.
This chapter describes how to use the External API to interact with a container application,
how to pass data between ActionScript and JavaScript in an HTML page, and how to
establish communication and exchange data between ActionScript and a desktop application.
Contents
About the External API . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 502
Using the ExternalInterface class . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 503
Example: Using the External API with a web page container . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .507
Example: Using the External API with an ActiveX container . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 514