Creating and managing projects (Flash Professional only)

You use the Flash Project panel to create and manage projects.The panel displays the contents of a Flash Project in a collapsible tree structure. The panel title bar displays the project name.

If a project file is missing (not in its specified location), a Missing File icon appears next to the filename. You can search for a missing file or delete the file from the project.

When you publish a project, each FLA file in the project is published with the publish profile specified for that file. You should specify the publish profiles in the Project Settings dialog box before you publish a project.

Only one project can be open at one time. If a project is open and you open or create another project, Flash automatically saves and closes the first file.

To view the Flash Project panel:

Select Window > Project.

To view the Project pop-up menu:

When a project is open, click the Project button at the upper left corner of the Flash Project panel.

To create a new project:

Do one of the following to open a new project:
- Select New Project from the Project pop-up menu.
- If no other project is open, open the Flash Project panel and select Create a New Project in the panel window.
- Select File > New. On the General tab, select Flash Project.
- If no project is currently open, right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh) in the Document window of a saved Flash document or ActionScript file and select Add to New Project from the context menu.
In the New Project dialog box, enter a name for the project and click Save.

To open an existing project, do one of the following:

Select Open Project from the Project pop-up menu. Navigate to the project and click Open.
Double-click the file.
If no other project is open, open the Flash Project panel and select Open an Existing Project in the panel window. Navigate to the project and click Open.
Select File > Open. Navigate to the project and click Open.

To add a file, do one of the following:

Click the Add Files (+) button at the lower right corner of the Flash Project panel. Select one or more files and click Add.
Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh) in the Document window of an open FLA or AS file and select Add to Project from the context menu.

Note: A file must be saved before you can add it to a project. You can add a file to a given project only once. If you attempt to add a file to the same project more than once, Flash displays an error message.

To create a folder:

Click the Folder button at the lower right corner of the Flash Project panel.
Enter a name for the folder and click OK.

Note: Folders at the same level on the same branch of the project tree structure must have unique names. If there is a folder name conflict, Flash displays an error message.

To move a file or folder:

Drag the file or folder to a new location in the project tree structure. When you move a folder, all of its contents are moved.

Note: If you drag a folder to a location with another folder of the same name, Flash merges the contents of the two folders in the new location.

To delete a file or folder, select the item in the Flash Project panel and do one of the following:

Click the Remove button at the lower right corner of the Flash Project panel.
Press the Delete key.
Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh) the file or folder and select Remove from the context menu.

To open a file from the Flash Project panel in Flash:

Double-click the filename in the Flash Project panel.
If the file is of a native file type (a type supported by the Flash authoring tool), the file opens in Flash. If it is nonnative file type, the file opens in the application used to create it.

To test a project:

Click Test Project in the Flash Project panel.
If the project contains no FLA, HTML, or HTM file, Flash displays an error message. Click OK and add a file of the appropriate type.
If no FLA, HTML, or HTM file is designated as the default document, Flash displays an error message. Click OK. In the Select Default Document dialog box, select a document and click OK.
When a default document is present, the Test Project feature publishes all FLA files in the document. If the default document is a FLA file, the Test Movie command is executed. If it is an HTML file, a browser is opened.

To specify a publish profile for a FLA file in a project:

Select the file in the Flash Project panel and do one of the following:
- Select Settings from the Project pop-up menu.
- Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh) and select Settings from the context menu.
In the Project Settings dialog box, select the FLA file in the tree structure.
Select a publish profile from the Profile menu. For information on publish profiles, see Using publish profiles.

To publish a project:

Select Publish Project from the Project pop-up menu.

Note: Flash uses default publish profiles for publishing FLA files in the project, unless you select other profiles. See the procedure above for selecting publish profiles.

To save files in a project when testing or publishing:

Select Edit > Preferences (Windows) or Flash > Preferences (Macintosh) and click the Editing tab.
Under Project Preferences, click Save Project Files on Test Project or Publish Project.
When this option is selected, Flash saves all open files in the current project before executing the Test Project or Publish Project operation.

To close a project:

Select Close Project from the Project pop-up menu.
By default, Flash closes all files in a project when you close the project. To change this behavior, deselect the Close Open Files on Project Close option in Editing Preferences.

To close all files when you close a project:

Select Edit > Preferences (Windows) or Flash > Preferences (Macintosh) and click the Editing tab.
Under Project Preferences, click Close Open Files on Project Close (selected by default).
When this option is selected, Flash closes all open files in the current project when the project is closed.

To rename a project or a folder:

Select the project name or folder name in the Flash Project panel and do one of the following:
- Select Rename from the Project pop-up menu.
- Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh) the item and select Rename from the context menu.
Enter a new name and click OK.

Note: By default, a project is given the same name as the first file added to the project. To rename a project, you must use the Rename menu item. Renaming the FLP file for a project does not rename the project.

To find a missing file:

Select the filename in the Flash Project panel.
Do one of the following:
- Select Find Missing File from the Project pop-up menu.
- Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh) and select Find Missing File from the context menu.
Navigate to the file and click OK.