Zeus Productions
Needs Assessment FAQ

(Last substantive change to this page made July 7, 1997)
Copyright © 1996-1997. Zeus Productions™. All Rights Reserved.

At Zeus Productions, our goal is to meet your needs, not simply to push our products. We hope that the following information will guide you to an appropriate solution, but we are glad to point you in whatever direction is most helpful. Because you have found this web site, you most likely have heard about one or more of our products, so we start with a brief description of them. The remaining questions address specific problems or concerns that you might have for which one of our products may be appropriate. Please contact Zeus if you have any questions.

Which Zeus utilities work with Acrobat, Netscape and MIE?

We have a number of utilities that work with popular external applications. Refer to our Application-Specific FAQ.

What is the difference between zLaunch, zOpen and zScript?

zLaunch for Mac and Windows is primarily designed allow you to launch external applications in low RAM situations. zLaunch is also application-centric: whereas it accepts a document name to be opened, zLaunch assumes that you know the name and location of the application you are trying to launch (or at least its Creator Code on the Macintosh). zLaunch is a standalone executable, not an Xtra, because it must survive outside Director. It does the best job at minimizing conflicts between Director and other applications.
zOpen for Windows is an Xtra that allows you to run external applications or open and print documents with external applications from within Director. It is document-centric, in that it allows you to access documents without knowing the exact name and location of the associated executable. zOpen requires that Director remain in RAM while the other application runs, and is only supported under Windows. If you have sufficient RAM to keep Director open along with the external application, zOpen allows you to switch more quickly between applications and easily maintain the state of your projector while running an external application.
zScript for Macintosh is an Xtra which allows Director to communicate with AppleScriptable applications via AppleEvents. It requires that AppleScript be installed (something it will check for), and only runs on the Macintosh. zScript requires that Director remain in RAM while the other application runs. zScript is a general purpose tool that allows you to send any AppleEvent that is supported by the target application.

How can I launch external applications from Director?

Lingo's open command will launch external applications, although you should read on to learn more about how zLaunch for Mac and Windows, zOpen for Windows and zScript for Macintosh improve upon the open command and remedy some of its deficiencies.

How can I open a document with an external application from Director?

Lingo's "open...with" command will open an external document with an external application, although you should read on to learn more about how zLaunch for Mac and Windows, zOpen for Windows and zScript for Macintosh improve upon the "open...with" command and remedy some of its deficiencies.

How can I print documents from Director?

There are several ways to print from Director, depending on your needs and the type of file you wish to print.

Director's printFrom command will print the contents of a frame in the Score containing text and graphics. It will not print puppeted sprites however.
zOpen/zPrint for Windows allows you to print a document, such as a PDF file, with an external application (in this case Acrobat Reader).
zScript for Macintosh can tell AppleScriptable applications to print a document.
zLaunch for Windows and Macintosh can open a document with an external application. From there, the user could print the document manually.
Third Party Xtras, such as PrintOmatic and PrintX give printing capabilities within Director beyond the printFrom command. Consult Macromedia's web site for more info.

How can I create a software sampler using Director as a front end?

zLaunch for Macintosh and Windows facilitates creating software samplers with a Director front end. zOpen for Windows and zScript for Macintosh may also be of interest if you have sufficient RAM to keep Director open along with the external applications.

How can I wait in a certain frame while an external application runs?

Our zOpen for Windows Xtra will suspend execution of Director while an external application runs.

zLaunch for Macintosh and Windows allow you to (optionally) quit Director while running an external application and then restart Director. zLaunch is required if you need to conserve RAM while running the secondary application.

How does the user exit the launched application and return to the projector from where he left off?

Usually, the user would manually quit the launched application, and then be returned to Director. If you use zOpen for Windows' zOpenCover method, you can disable the "Animate in Background" Projector option. This will suspend execution of Director while an external application runs.

zLaunch for Macintosh and Windows allow you to quit Director while running an external application. To return to where you left off, consult the Lingo example that comes with zLaunch which restores your projector previous position.

How can I cover the desktop while my secondary application is running so that it appears to be a seamless part of my Director presentation?

Both zLaunch for Mac and Windows, and zOpen for Windows will cover the desktop while the launched application runs.

How can I run my external application from a Director Projector if I do not have enough RAM for both applications?

zLaunch for Mac and Windows is specifically designed to allow you to run an external application in low RAM situations.

How can I control external applications from Director?

What type of control do you require? zScript for the Macintosh will allow you to control any AppleScriptable application from Director. zOpen for Windows will allow you to open and print documents using external applications from Director. zLaunch for Mac and Windows will launch an executable and wait for it to finish. These can all be used to pass documents to an application or to open a browser to a specific URL.

How can I control external devices from Director?

The Serial Port XObject and COMM.DLL from Macromedia can interface to the computer's serial port. Zeus's products are not specifically designed to control external devices, although they can control applications that may in turn control devices.

How can I print a PDF (Acrobat) file from Director?

We are not aware of any Xtra that currently allows PDF files to be printed without the aid of Acrobat. zOpen for Windows will print a PDF file with Adobe Acrobat Reader under Windows. zScript for Macintosh allows you to control Acrobat, including causing it to print, via AppleScript on the Macintosh. zLaunch for Mac and Windows can open a PDF file with Acrobat, and the user could then print a file.

How can I find the user's web browser and open a URL or HTML file?

Depending on the platform and your situation, there are a number of possibilities:

zOpen for Windows will locate the application associated with the HTML or URL file type under Windows. This should return the user's default browser.
Under Windows, Read the WIN.INI or Registry file to locate the browser.
Both zLaunch Windows allows you to open a browser with a specific HTML file, but you'll need to know the browser's location.
zLaunch for Macintosh allows you to locate an application based on its Creator Code on the Macintosh. It will not, however, look for multiple browsers. That is, you can ask it to run Navigator, but if the user does not have Netscape, it will not try to find MIE.
zScript for Macintosh can control AppleScriptable browsers, including AOL, MIE and Navigator via AppleScript on the Macintosh.
On the Macintosh, there may be a generalized "Find" XFCN in the Rinaldi Collection
Post a file dialog box and ask the user to locate their browser.
Ship the browser on the CD so you are sure that the user will have it.
Use an Xtra that supports the necessary browser functions
Use Director 6.0's built-in browser functions.

How do I resolve conflicts between Director and an external application?

What type of conflict does it seem to be? zLaunch for Mac and Windows will reduce various types of conflicts between Director and other applications. These include palette conflicts, RAM limitations, and video driver conflicts. This often allows you to run presentations created in other multimedia intensive applications that require full access to the computer's hardware.

How do I resolve palette conflicts between Director and an external application?

zLaunch for Mac and Windows will resolve most, if not all, palette conflicts between Director and other applications. Refer to the TechNote, "Resolving Palette Conflicts with zLaunch". Palette problems within Director itself are discussed in the TechNote, "Using Palettes in Director".

My Windows 95 application which uses DirectX won't run from a Projector. Will zLaunch help?

Director and DirectX (no relation) both attempt to install temporary video drivers, so they won't peacefully coexist. zLaunch for Windows will allow you to quit Director so that the DirectX application can load its drivers. When the external application terminates, zLaunch will restart your projector.

How can I run a DOS application from Director?

zLaunch for Windows will allow you to run a DOS application from Director. It requires a PIF file to accomplish this.

I have an old presentation done in Director, but I only have the projector, not the source files. Can I launch this old projector from another new projector?

Both zLaunch for Mac and Windows will enable you to run one projector from another, although there are other preferable solutions, such as obtaining the source (DIR) files or protected (DXR) versions that you can call with Lingo go movie command.

When using the `open` command under Windows 95, I get "Protection violation" or "File in use" errors (error -49 or -51). What's wrong?

The protection violation is the result of a bug in the 32-bit version of DfW's implementation of the open command, and does not occur with the 16-bit version of Director. You can solve it by making your external DIR, DXR or CST files "Read-Only". For a complete discussion, refer to the TechNote, "Solving Protection Violation Errors"

When using the `open` command I get an error stating that the external application can't find some of its assets or components. What's wrong?

If an application can't find its assets, you either have omitted some required external components, placed those components in the wrong folder, or need to set the working directory. zLaunch for Windows can set the working directory for a launched application. Some applications use INI files that contain references to specific directories. If you have relocated the application, updating these references in the INI file may solve the problem.

How can I determine the Windows version (3.1, 95, or NT) on which my projector is running ?

Lingo's the platform command reports the projector type, and not the actual platform. This is okay if the user always uses 16-bit projectors only under Windows 3.1, and not under Windows 95. Zeus's zWinVer utility will reliably report the Windows platform regardless of the type of projector. Refer to the TechNote, "Determining the Playback Platform at Runtime"

How can I automatically start the correct Windows projector when a user double-clicks on the icon?

You must create at least one projector for Windows. You may want to create both a 16-bit and 32-bit projector. Macromedia includes a utility called "launcher" on the D5 CD that will branch to the 16-bit or 32-bit version of your projector, but it is reportedly slow. The Zeus utility zWinVer may be of assistance as well. Refer to the TechNote, "Creating Projectors for Mac and Windows".

One solution is to insure that the user always starts the desired projector. This can be accomplished with an installer which only installs the proper version for the OS, and/or explicit directions in the documentation or ReadMe file instructing the user to run a particular projector.

How can I automatically start the correct Macintosh projector when a user double-clicks on the icon?

Ordinarily, you would simply build a FAT Macintosh projector (which has been an option since Director v4.0.4.). The FAT projector will run natively on PowerMacs, but also run on 680x0 Macs.

How can I force other applications to the foreground or background or kill other applications?

You should advise your users to quit all other running applications before starting your projector. zOpen for Windows and zScript for Macintosh offer some control over the active application. zLaunch for Macintosh and Windows and zOpen for Windows also give you control over the sequence of events in such a way that may address your needs.

Zeus Productions does not currently offer a utility to specifically rearrange or kill other applications. If you are interested in such a utility, please e-mail Zeus with your request.

How can I pass a new document to an application that is already open?

zOpen for Windows will pass a document to an existing application under Windows. Some applications, such as Netscape Navigator under Windows 95, may spawn another copy of the application, however. Other applications will allow multiple documents to be opened, (such as MS-Word) and others will switch documents, closing the currently open document if any. zScript for Macintosh and zLaunch for Macintosh can be used to pass a document to an open application on the Macintosh.

How can I open a document from Director without opening another copy the application if it is already open?

Some applications, such as Netscape Navigator under Windows 95, may spawn another copy of the application when passed another document. Refer to the previous question for a fuller discussion.

How can I open multiple documents simultaneously in an application?

That is highly application-dependent. If the application can open multiple documents simultaneously, you can start it up with one document and then allow the user to manually open as many documents as they like.

If you want Director to pass the application the names of documents to open on an on-going basis:

zLaunch for Macintosh can be used to pass a document to an open application.
zScript for Macintosh can send the "open document" AppleEvent to an AppleScriptable application.
zOpen for Windows allows you to pass document names to an open application.

How can I open a document and limit it to a specific window size on-screen such that the Projector can still be seen alongside it?

zOpen for Windows allows you to open a document in a "Normal" window, which would allow for the Director application to be seen behind it.

We sincerely hope that this FAQ has helped you to locate a utility to solve your particular needs. If not, please check out our FAQs, Products for Sale and TechNotes or Contact Zeus for more advice.

Zeus Productions Needs Assessment FAQ