FMP256 Flash Music Playhead::Support

DNeX FMP256

Installation and setup of the playheads in our catalog are designed to be as simple as possible, while also giving you control over as many aspects as you may need.

The most important thing to remember is that the playhead needs to be told what to do, via a configuration file. If it can't read one, it will complain. Loudly.

Having problems? read the FAQ!

Basic concepts

The playhead is a Flash 8 document (SWF file), but in the package there are other files:-

The SWF file should be uploaded straight to your webserver
The configuration file (fmp256.xml) should now be edited to set your playlists and options
The playlist file itself should be created and uploaded - either an extended-M3U or XSPF text file
The configuration file is then uploaded into the same folder on your webserver as the SWF file was stored
A web page can now be created that embeds the Flash document - an example is given in the package for you to start with
Point your browser at your newly-created page, and the playhead should load!

You should NEVER upload any files from within the 'source_files' or 'documentation' folders of your package. Any fonts supplied must be installed on your computer if you are editing the source FLA files, but are not needed by your listeners and should not be uploaded to your website.

The configuration file

This will be loaded from the same website folder as the SWF file, and using the same name as the playhead (but with an XML extension). For example, if the playhead is available at

http://www.mywebsite.xx/music/fmp256.swf

then the configuration file must be at

http://www.mywebsite.xx/music/fmp256.xml

The file contains XML data that defines all of the startup parameters for the playhead (autostart, volume, etc), the initial colors for playheads that allow color changes, and of course the location of the playlist itself. The configuration file must be present, and must have a playlist defined, or the playhead will stop and display an error.

A sample configuration file is shown below:-

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="iso-8859-1" ?> <config version="1" xmlns="http://www.draftlight.net/dnex/config/ns/0/"> <color bg="#202020" icon="#ffffff" marker="#BA4709" text="#ffff00" bars="#0000ff" skin="0" skinurl="myskin.jpg" /> <init autoplay="0" volume="80" continue="1" id3="0" /> <playlist type="m3u" media="audio" static="0">http://www.playlists.xx/files/music/playlist.m3u</playlist> </config>

The first two lines are essential, and defines the file XML namespace. Please don't alter them.
Line 3 defines color information, and is optional.
Line 4 defines startup settings, and is required.
Line 5 defines a playlist URL, and is required.
Line 6 closes the config structure, and is required.

The <color> tag

The parameters in a color tag are as follows (some may not influence your particular playhead design):-

bg Color for background area - only used by some playheads [in HTML #RRGGBB format]
icon Color for transport buttons (play.pause.ff.rew etc) [in HTML #RRGGBB format]
marker Color for position marker blip [in HTML #RRGGBB format]
text Color of display screen text [in HTML #RRGGBB format]
bars Color of 'amount loaded' and position-indicator bars [in HTML #RRGGBB format]
skin A single digit ["0" or "1"] to choose one of the predefined skins - only used by some playheads
skinurl Link to a JPEG, GIF or PNG image to load instead of the default skin - only used by some playheads. [XML-compatible encoding of URL is required]

The <init> tag

The parameters in an init tag are as follows (some may not influence your particular playhead design):-

autoplay A single digit ["0" or "1"] defines if the playhead starts playing track 1 as soon as it loads. Default is "0".
volume An integer ["0" to "100"] setting the initial playback volume. Default value "100".
continue A single digit ["0" or "1"] to define the action when the last track has been played. Default value "0".
shuffle A single digit ["0" or "1"] sets if the playlist should be shuffled after every use. Default value "0".
id3 A single digit ["0" or "1"] sets if the playhead uses ID3 tags for title displays. Default value "0".

The <playlist> tag

This contains a relative or absolute URL linking to a playlist. There should be only one playlist tag per configuration file. The opening tag has three parameters:-

type Either "m3u" or "xspf", defining the expected playlist contents. Default is "xspf".
media Either "audio" or "video", defining the expected playlist contents. Default is "audio".
static A single digit ["0" or "1"] defines if the playlist is always the same. Default is "1". If this is set to "0", the Skipjack engine and shuffle-mode are both disabled.

Playlists

The playlist will read details of the MP3 files from a playlist (a text file). It will support two of the most common formats - XSPF and extended-M3U. The location of the playlist, and the type of file to be read, is defined in the configuration file (see above). The playlist can be loaded from anywhere on the web, provided you ensure the server hosting the playlist has provided a policy file permitting access.

Details of the formats required for XSPF and extended-M3U can be found in the Documentation folder within your software package.

What your website users will see and do...

The playhead will show an error and disable itself if the configuration file or playlist file cannot be opened. If a user has an older version of the Flash player, they will be prompted to update.

If the playlist contains more than one entry, the user can move between tracks using the transport buttons. Depending on the skin design, the user can pause, loop, fast-forward and rewind playback at any time using buttons and the jog-shuttle progress bar. When the playhead first starts opening a track, it will begin playback as soon as enough data has loaded - this usually means about 5 seconds of audio. A progress bar shows the state of download. Once the track has downloaded once, it is stored in memory on the user's computer and so is not re-downloaded if they listen to the track repeat (except where the webserver delivers the MP3 file with a special No-Cache header).

If a track cannot be loaded (the MP3 file is unavailable) the playhead will remove it from the list and try the next file. If it ends up with only one valid track, it will turn on looping and replay that track over and over. If it finds NONE of the MP3 files can be loaded, it reports an error.

If a track has an <info> tag, then a clickable link is activated to the website URL given in the tag - usually a button on the playhead. Without an <info> tag this button acts as a help link.

Remember - the player ONLY accepts native MPEG encoded MP3 files. It will reject any other audio format, streams, or Microsoft ADP encoded MP3s. Flash also has problems with interpolated bitrates, so we advise you stick to 44k mono or stereo, CBR encoding. Test your files before publishing your site!

The Skipjack Engine

All our commercial playheads support Skipjack™, our world-leading playback session control system. Whenever a user is listening to a static playlist, Skipjack continually records the exact track and position information. If the user navigates to a different page on your website and reloads the playhead with the same playlist, Skipjack automatically finds the correct track and position, and begins playback. It also remembers volume and mute settings. Skipjack stores information on the client computer, not on your website - so requires no extra work on your part.

Users normally have up to 30 seconds between navigating away and returning before Skipjack erases the track memory. If the playlist is not static, or has changed in the configuration file, then Skipjack is disabled. You should use Skipjack with caution if the server delivering your MP3 files uses No-Cache headers, as users will face a long delay as the track reloads from the beginning. Frankly, No-Cache headers on MP3 data are pointless and cause far more user complaints than benefits.

ADVANCED INSTRUCTIONS

The following instructions are normally not required for basic use of the playhead. users wishing to change some of the default settings should read on..

Changing the configuration file

By default, the playhead looks for a file called 'XXX.xml' where XXX is the player's own filename. If you generate your configuration files dynamically using PHP or ASP, then you will need to tell the playhead to load this new URL. This is done by adding a special variable to the page code, both in the OBJECT and the EMBED tags. If we wanted to tell 'player01.swf' to open a configuration file called 'dynamic.php', then you need to add this line to the OBJECT param list:-

<param name="flashVars" value="config=dynamic.php" />

and in the EMBED tag, add the variable definition

flashVars="config=dynamic.php"

You can specify any filename, but if you wish to use a URL containing non-alphabetical characters you MUST URLencode the name using RFC2396. For example, if your configuration file is at

http://www.myfiles.com/radioplayhead/config.php?music=madonna

then the URLencoded version is

http%3A%2F%2Fwww.myfiles.com%2Fradioplayhead%2Fconfig.php

There is an encoder-decoder provided with your package in the Documentation folder.

Cross-Domain Policy Files

With Flash Player 7 and above, enhanced security prevents a Flash document from loading data (XML or M3U) from another website unless that site has given permission. This means that the server hosting your configuration and playlist files must also publish a small XML file called "crossdomain.xml", that informs the Flash Player that they allow others to read their data. If this file is missing, your FMP256 playhead will display an error.

This is only a concern where the PLAYLIST or CONFIGURATION FILE are on a different website domain to your SWF playhead. If they are on the same domain, then a policy file is not needed.

For example, if our playhead is at

http://www.mysite.com/users.smith/fmp256.swf

Then it tries to load a playlist from

http://www.othersite.com/playlist.m3u - Policy file is needed
http://mysite.com/playlist.m3u - Policy file is needed
http://www.mysite.com/playlist.m3u - Policy file is NOT needed

Policy files are not needed to access MP3 data or images. For more information on the format of a Policy file, CLICK HERE.

IMPORTANT NOTICE: COPYRIGHT OF AUDIO FILES

You are solely and entirely reponsible for obtaining the permissions, licenses and agreements needed to play audio files on your website. We accept no liability for the music you play, and any license or intellectual property infringements you may make. ALL commercial music is copyrighted and you MUST buy a license from the songwriter, record label and/or Performer Rights agency before you can put music on a website, unless you are the sole owner of all such rights. Normally if you have written the music yourself, including all scores and lyrics, have performed it yourself and have not signed any agreement with a record label, you are the rights owner and need no extra permission. For cover versions or sampled works, you DO need permission. For detailed info on copyright and licenses, see our online guides at http://bandfoundry.draftlight.net/resources/copyright/. Draftlight do not supply licenses and will not assist in obtaining them.