Author Topic: Challenge for all...Including Corey..  (Read 2565 times)

jodybingo

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Challenge for all...Including Corey..
« on: June 08, 2010, 11:49:52 PM »
Most of my layouts have flash animations embedded in them. When the .swf file is local, TD2 will update any changes I make to the swf file during the tournament when I press F2 (or when my screens rotate). However, when the swf files are on a network drive (or in the case of my last layout located on the internet), the swf animations will not update. They update only if TD2 is shut down and restarted.
F2, loading a different layout and coming back to the original, removing the cell then putting it back in do not update the animation.

Unfortunately, I need to store the swf file on the internet so I can update the animation when I am on the road or simply not at work.
Thanks All,
Jody
www.jodystacey.com

Corey Cooper

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Re: Challenge for all...Including Corey..
« Reply #1 on: June 09, 2010, 10:17:23 AM »
Not sure what to tell you about that.  Why are you updating the SWFs in the middle of a tournament?

Magic_fubu

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Re: Challenge for all...Including Corey..
« Reply #2 on: June 09, 2010, 10:41:31 AM »
I think it has something to do with it being stored on a network drive - if I'm not mistaken, TD ONLY calls on information from the local machine, and not the internet or network drive(s), which may be why you're experiencing what you are
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jodybingo

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Re: Challenge for all...Including Corey..
« Reply #3 on: June 09, 2010, 02:02:39 PM »
I modify animations during the tournaments at the bosses request. Often to modify our Bad Beat Jackpot amount. Very often additional ads are requested during a session. Unfortunately, my boss will not allow anybody to access any of our computers from outside (remote/ftp/vnc/vpn), otherwise I would store the swf files locally and there wouldn't be a problem.
We do own 2 copies of TD2 installed on different laptops, and use the same layouts, including swf's. The swfs were on a network drive to allow both laptops access the same ads. When I updated swfs, they would not update on my screens unless I restarted TD. I have cut down my hours and decided to store the swf files on my web server. The layouts reference a url ( embed src="http://www.jodystacey.com/logos.swf" ) . Naturally, any updates are seen through any web browser.
Do I tell my boss that ads are only effective on the next tournament?

Corey Cooper

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Re: Challenge for all...Including Corey..
« Reply #4 on: June 10, 2010, 10:35:16 AM »
I see.  The loading and displaying of flash is completely handled by Internet Explorer.  The Tournament Director can't really do anything to affect that.  I suspect there's a caching issue going on, and when the file is local, IE can easily see that the SWF file has been updated (it can read the Date Modified on the file).  If it were over VPN, it would be the same situation, since it would be on a connected drive, and again IE could just read the Date Modified.  Getting the SWF from a web server is different, using a completely different protocol.  With what I know about HTTP protocol, there's no reason it shouldn't be able to just as easily check to see if file has been updated and retrieve it again from the web server if so.  In fact, that's all part of the HTTP protocol.  But IE may be doing something else ... maybe a shortcut (or a bug) where it doesn't retrieve the SWF file from the server if it has the file already in its cache, regardless of the modified date.

A simple thing to try is clearing IE's cache before and/or after making your change(s).

A more involved, and annoying, solution might be to rename the SWF file when you make a change, and update the layout to point to the new name.  That might work around any caching.  For example, if you've got an ad on your web server named myad.swf, and referenced in your layout as http://yourwebserver.com/path/to/myad.swf, you could:

(1) Copy myad.swf to myad1.swf
(2) Make changes to myad1.swf
(3) Modify the layout to point to http://yourwebserver.com/path/to/myad1.swf

Repeat when you need to make changes, using a different filename each time (myad2.swf, myad3.swf, etc).

jodybingo

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Re: Challenge for all...Including Corey..
« Reply #5 on: June 10, 2010, 05:03:31 PM »
I'll try setting IE to not store anything, and see what happens...

jodybingo

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Re: Challenge for all...Including Corey..
« Reply #6 on: June 10, 2010, 06:43:23 PM »
NEWS FLASH...
I cleared all Temp Internet Files and this has worked...

jhisey

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Re: Challenge for all...Including Corey..
« Reply #7 on: June 11, 2010, 10:03:47 AM »
Any chance of seeing a layout file that has a swf in it?  That would be neat to do.

Corey Cooper

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Re: Challenge for all...Including Corey..
« Reply #8 on: June 11, 2010, 10:32:23 AM »
Awesome.  I actually cleared IE's cache and watched the cache folder while the TD ran to see if cached files got dropped in there, but I didn't see anything, so I wasn't sure if this would work.  Now that I think about it, I doubt IE caches local files at all.  And I've just added a file from a website to my layout and see that it does end up in IE's cache, as I would expect.

jodybingo

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Re: Challenge for all...Including Corey..
« Reply #9 on: June 11, 2010, 02:23:07 PM »
Hi jhsley, I havent come across any layouts other tyanmy own that use swfs in the layout. I have two layoutson my personal webpage that need swfs to get the full effect. The one I am most proud of is my Christmas layout that uses flash for the entire background. And my NHL uses swf just to update playoff progress. The layouts I use at work all use swfs, but for info pjrposes only.
www.jodystacey.com