Review: MDM Zinc Improves Flash Apps In A Flash

Zinc version 2.5, from U.K.-based Multidmedia (MDM), is the fastest tool to make SWF2EXE applications with Flash files, and it's one of the few tools on the market that can provide synchronous command execution of .exe files on Windows and Mac OS X, the CRN Test Center finds.

Zinc comes with a comprehensive IDE that helps developers run through a step-by-step code and file-building sequence to craft Flash projector files.

Zinc .exe files can work like any stand-alone executables, so the Flash plug-in doesn't have to be installed on a machine. Zinc 2.5 supports Adobe Flash 9 and the new ActionScript 3, which is based on the latest ECMAScript 4.0 standard. Since ActionScript and JavaScript are based on ECMAScript, most Web developers can learn Flash code quickly. The Flash API, however, requires a deeper understanding of object behavior through a time line.

Zinc isn't an SWF development tool, so developers have to use the Adobe Authoring tool or other third-party tools to first create all of the graphical elements in a Flash application. Once all of the graphical elements are created and imported into Zinc, developers can use a proprietary language called mdm that extends Adobe's ActionScript language. Mdm integrates into any ActionScript 1.0 or 2.0 programs, so developers can mix the two inside Zinc.

With mdm, developers can create various file players, including PDF, QuickTime, RealMedia and Windows Media Player. Developers also can create DLLs and even gain low-level access to system resources, such as a registry.

Zinc, too, supports Flex 2 code in native format. Flex code can be converted into Flash projector files by adding a special parsing library and modifying with an initiation function that points to an mdm parser. Test Center engineers used the Flex 2 photo-viewer sample code to test the conversion but weren't able to verify if the image-loading process works correctly.

The application needed generic methods to access external file-system paths, and Zinc supports command-line parameters or points to local resources. However, the Test Center couldn't figure out how to combine the two, since Zinc can mix Flash 8 and mdm with Flex code.

Zinc includes some simple tutorials, and sample applications are available online. In many ways, Zinc can be used to further enhance existing Flash and Flex applications. Still, users must be experts to use many of the advanced APIs, since Zinc currently lacks a large developer site with sample code.

The Test Center also recommends learning the Flash Authoring tool before jumping into Zinc. Nonetheless, Zinc is well worth learning because it offers functionality not available in the Adobe tools.