Flypaper swf accessing csv file on web server

[cswanson]

Hello,

I have a swf that was built in Flypaper that pulls data from a csv file on a web server.  I added the resource to Digital Signage, marked it as "trusted" and "3rd party" ; however, when run under Digital Signage it will not pull the data from the csv file.  It works within Flypaper or running in IE after setting the file as trusted locally, but how do I get it to bring in the data from the csv file while running in Digital Signage?

I was able to create an HTML component, place the swf on my web server and get it to work that way, but because the swf is an external resource, it will not cache the file locally.  This is not a viable solution as it causes a problem when running with intermitten internet connectivity.

Thanks in advance for your help!

[criley]

This is one of the main issues I had with Flypaper. Though it is still a SWF, the ones built with Flypaper are built with an older version (SDK 3.x) and there fore is not compatible with the latest version that MS uses (SDK 4.6). To make this work, MS "wraps" the SWF with the HTML component (this is done with checking 3rd party SWF). With all of this, you cannot have it trusted with 3rd party checked. So this is why it works with you placing it on a we server somewhere else. This is the only way for Flypaper SWFs to work with Media Signage. Even with paying Flypaper $10k+, they were not willing to upgrade their system as it would effect too many if their current customers.

So my solution was to just purchase Flash Builder and create what I needed with that so it would work natively. If Flypaper ever upgrades their platform, I would consider purchasing their system again, but it currently is not in the cards.

I hope this helps with some of the understanding.

Chris

[cswanson]

Thanks for the information and suggestions.  It is not the answer I wanted to hear but at least now I know it is not going to work.  Thanks again!

[ANOOP]

What about people like us who have purchased flypaper and kept it on the trash 
I wish mediasignage had done little more testing and done the joint promotion

[criley]

Well, I would not blame MediaSignage for Flypaper's lack of willingness for keeping up to date with their software and the industry. Digital Signage is still young and therefore not as explosive as other technologies that support it. Adobe and the end user (you and I) are just as much to blame for the issue. Adobe made possible, some of the features we currently have now that were not available in 3.0. There lies the fault on Adobe besides that fact that some of their code between the 3.0 SDK and 4.0 SDK are not compatible. I am not going into the hole ordeal that it is no longer an Adobe program anymore, so how knows where it will go. Maybe it will get better, time can only tell. Now for our part in this mess. We kept asking and in some regards, demanded that MediaSignage give us all of these cool new features that are now possible that were not before.

So now MediaSignage had a choice to make. What half of their customers did they want to make happy by keeping ahead of the curve and making sure that their platform stayed current or what half did they want to upset by not keeping with the good OLD code that was stable, but may not meet the standards of tomorrow or allow the addition of requested features? Either way they're damned if they do and damned if they don't.

There will be some give and take as the standards for coding have made some huge changes in recent years. There will no doubt be some major growing pains. Also you get what you pay for in most cases. MediaSignage has to rely on 3rd party foundations like FLEX and Flash from Adobe which allows them to be competitive price wise, while other companies have built their systems with their own proprietary code from the ground up, but there you pay the larger price tag and it is usually like pulling teeth to get then to listen to what you want in a system. Of course the advantage there is that they are not affected by third party companies as much if at all.

If anyone knows of another system that does what Flypaper and Bannersnack do and will work natively with MediaSignage or any CMS on the Flex 4.6 platform for that matter, please let all of us in the forum know. Until then, there really is no substitute for getting the work you need done by professionals. MediaSignage was just trying to help those customers who were trying to find an alternative to either hiring a professional programmer or trying to learn to code themselves.

Anoop, you have been around here for a bit and are supper helpful and knowledgable from what I can tell. We all really appreciate the terrific knowledge that you share with all of us here on the forum and it is what makes this a great community. So, please do not take this as a negative rant on you at all. It's not. In fact, most of this was about other comments and complaints from users in other posts about similar things, and I just could not stop myself from typing this. So I hope all of the others are reading this as well. From my angle, I see a company who by no means provides a flawless product which at times can be frustrating to deal with, but is willing to listen to our needs and do what they can with the resources they have to make those requests a reality. I do not believe that I have ever had a bad customer service response, at least not one that I can think of right now. To me, that says a lot for a company.

I too am a victim as you probably know, so I feel your pain, believe me. It took me months and lots of lost $ and time and business before I had to find out the hard way on the Flypaper/MediaSignage issues. So, could it have been explained a little better? Yeah no question, which is why I have posted the several posts about the issues so others would not have to learn the same way. But...... to their own credit, Flypaper does offer a free trial that I believe is 30 days and a pretty good support team. So anyone can test their project out with the data feed or what ever their heart desires and see if it will work with MS before they shell out a boat load of money.

In the end, I try to see things from both side of the table. After all, are we not on both sides many times. 

[ANOOP]

In business and technology there are always hits and misses, this was one miss out of lot of hits from mediasignage. We need to accept both

[admin]

We have removed Flypaper from our partner list as the Flypaper software is not up to par.

[cswanson]

Does anyone know what the other issues/limitations are with Flypaper and MediaSignage?

[criley]

Just remember that if you are building zones or scenes with Flypaper, you cannot use it in layers as it is used through a HTML wrapper that will always be on top. If you are using it as the only resource and just build your presentation with Flypaper, and use MS to play only, you should be fine as long as you are not connecting it with data resources. Not 100% sure as to why some data resources such as weather work, while others will not though.

[ANOOP]

Dont use flypaper with larger resolution say 800 X600 , whenever you try saving the save dialog box will appear behind the swf and u will not be able to access it and will have to close the signage studio without saving

[Bergerad]

Really disappointed to see all the Sr. members struggling with the flypaper/bannersnack compatibility issue.  I've purchased both and all sorts of irregular activity seems to occur.  The only work around I've found is to convert all the swf files into mp4 files and use these.  But the loss of resolution is hard to hide.  Still hoping for a solution.