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Using ActionScript to load external files

If you have existing XML data you want to load, or prefer a different format for the XML file, instead of using the Strings panel, you can create a document containing multilanguage text by placing the text in an external text or XML file and loading the file into the movie at runtime, using the loadVariables action, the getURL action, the LoadVars object, or the XML object.

You should save the external file in UTF-8 (recommended), UTF-16BE, or UTF-16LE format, using an application that supports the format. If you are using UTF-16BE or UTF-16LE format, the file must begin with a byte order mark (BOM) to identify the encoding format to Flash Player See Unicode encoding formats supported by Flash Player.

Note: If the external file is an XML file, you cannot use an XML encoding tag to change the encoding of the file. You should save the file in a supported Unicode format. See About encoding in external XML files.

To include multilanguage text using an externally loaded file:

  1. In the Flash authoring tool, create a dynamic or input text field to display the text in the document. For more information, see Working with Text.
  2. In the Property inspector, with the text field selected, assign an instance name to the text field.
  3. Create a text or XML file that defines the value for the text filed variable.
  4. Save the file in UTF-8 (recommended), UTF-16BE, or UTF-16LE format.

    If you are using UTF-16 format, make sure a byte order mark is included at the beginning of the file to identify the encoding:

    • For UTF-16BE, the first byte of the file should be OxFE, and the second byte should be OxFF.
    • For UTF-16LE, the first byte of the file should be OxFF, and the second byte should be OxFE.

    Note: Most text editors that can save files in UTF-16BE or LE automatically add the BOMs to the files.

  5. Use one of the following ActionScript procedures to reference the external file and load it into the dynamic or input text field:
    • Use the loadVariables action to load an external file. For more information, see loadVariables().
    • Use the getURL action to load an external file from a specified URL. For more information, see getURL().
    • Use the LoadVars object (a predefined client-server object) to load an external text file from a specified URL. For more information, see LoadVars class.
    • Use the XML object (a predefined client-server object) to load an external XML file from a specified URL. For more information, see XML class.
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