SWFAddress

SWFAddress
Developer(s)	Rostislav Hristov from Asual, Matthew Tretter, Max Tafelmayer, Piotr Zema
Initial release	November 2006
Stable release	2.4 / October 7, 2009; 11 years ago
Repository	sourceforge.net/p/swfaddress/code/HEAD/tree/;
Written in	JavaScript
Platform	Web browser
Size	16 KB (output JS file)
Available in	English
Type	JavaScript library
License	MIT License
Website	www.asual.com/swfaddress/

SWFAddress is an open-source JavaScript library that enables Adobe Flash/Flex and JavaScript/AJAX websites and web applications to support deep linking, a practice that enables users to link to a specific section or page of the content.^[1]

Its importance is because such Rich Internet Application platforms provide only a single URL to access the specific content, and any user navigation within the content cannot be uniquely identified, or shared by means of the URL.

When the developer of the content integrates with SWFAddress, users are able to use standard browser navigation functionality, share and bookmark unique URLs that represent the currently displayed section or state of the content.^[2]

The library is commonly used on Flash websites and web applications being the only available deep linking JavaScript library for Flash on the web.^{[citation needed]} SWFAddress has been found to be used by over 100,000 websites as of 2011.^[3]

Functionality

SWFAddress uses the "hash" portion of the URL to interact with web browsers and simulate page navigation, and works in two ways:

When the user navigates within the content, it simulates a page navigation so browsers display the appropriate URL and page Title.
When the URL changes in the browser, either by users pressing Back/Forward or typing a specific deep link URL, it informs the content to navigate appropriately.

The library is built to integrate with the free Google Analytics web analytics system in order to record page view statistics and track popularity of individual pages, as the viewer navigates through the virtual pages or states of the content.^[4]^[5] It also integrates with the popular SWFObject JavaScript library to automatically enable deep linking on content loaded with the same.^[6]^[7]

SWFAddress works with all major web browsers on all major operating systems. It can be integrated with Flash content written in the outdated ActionScript 1, the recent ActionScript 2, or the latest ActionScript 3.^[8]^[9]

References

^ SWFAddress 2 Homepage, Asual
^ Using SWFObject and SWFAddress with Actionscript 3, Talk of modern-carpentry
^ SWFAddress Usage Statistics, BuiltWith
^ Part 5: Adding Google Analytics tracking to the SWFAddress include, ScottKing.com.au
^ SWFAddress 2.1 supports Google Analytics, Invassive
^ Deep Linking in Flash – SWFObject and SWFAddress, draw.logic
^ SWFAddress 2.1 & SWFObject 2 Work Together, Nobien
^ SWFAddress - Deep Linking for Flash, Adobe Flex Developer's Journal
^ SWFAddress Deep Linking Dynamic Paging Example Archived 2014-05-25 at the Wayback Machine, SQUIBL

[1] SWFAddress 2 Homepage, Asual

[2] Using SWFObject and SWFAddress with Actionscript 3, Talk of modern-carpentry

[3] SWFAddress Usage Statistics, BuiltWith

[4] Part 5: Adding Google Analytics tracking to the SWFAddress include, ScottKing.com.au

[5] SWFAddress 2.1 supports Google Analytics, Invassive

[6] Deep Linking in Flash – SWFObject and SWFAddress, draw.logic

[7] SWFAddress 2.1 & SWFObject 2 Work Together, Nobien

[8] SWFAddress - Deep Linking for Flash, Adobe Flex Developer's Journal

[9] SWFAddress Deep Linking Dynamic Paging Example Archived 2014-05-25 at the Wayback Machine, SQUIBL

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SWFAddress

Functionality

See also

References