About HTML publishing templates

A Flash HTML template is a text file that contains both unchanging HTML code and template code or variables (which differ from ActionScript variables). When you publish a Flash SWF file, Flash replaces the variables in the template you selected in the Publish Settings dialog box with your HTML settings, and produces an HTML page with your SWF file embedded.

Flash includes various templates, suitable for most users' needs, that eliminate the need to edit an HTML page with the Flash SWF file. For example, one template simply places a Flash SWF file on the generated HTML page so that users can view it through a web browser if the plug-in is installed.

You can easily use the same template, change the settings, and publish a new HTML page. If you're proficient in HTML, you can also create your own templates using any HTML editor. Creating a template is the same as creating a standard HTML page, except that you replace specific values pertaining to a Flash SWF file with variables that begin with a dollar sign ($).

Flash HTML templates have the following characteristics:

• A one-line title that appears on the Template pop-up menu.
• A longer description that appears when you click the Info button.
• Template variables beginning with $ that specify where parameter values should be substituted when Flash generates the output file.

  Note: Use a backslash and dollar sign (\ $) if you need to use a $ for another purpose in the document.

• HTML object and embed tags that follow the tag requirements of Microsoft Internet Explorer and Netscape Communicator/Navigator, respectively. To display a SWF file properly on an HTML page, you must follow these tag requirements. Internet Explorer opens a Flash SWF file using the object HTML tag; Netscape uses the embed tag. For more information, see Using object and embed tags.