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NetStream.play()

Availability

Flash Player 7.

Note: This method is also supported in Flash Player 6 when used with Flash Communication Server. For more information, see the Flash Communication Server documentation.

Usage

my_ns.play("fileName":String);

Parameters

fileName The name of an FLV file to play, in quotation marks. Both http:// and file:// formats are supported; the file:// location is always relative to the location of the SWF file.

Returns

Nothing.

Description

Method; begins playback of an external video (FLV) file. To view video data, you must call a Video.attachVideo() method; audio being streamed with the video, or an FLV file that contains only audio, is played automatically.

If you want to control the audio associated with an FLV file, you can use MovieClip.attachAudio() to route the audio to a movie clip; you can then create a Sound object to control some aspects of the audio. For more information, see MovieClip.attachAudio().

If the FLV file can't be found, the NetStream.onStatus event handler is invoked. If you want to stop a stream that is currently playing, use NetStream.close().

You can play local FLV files that are stored in the same directory as the SWF file or in a subdirectory; you can't navigate to a higher-level directory. For example, if the SWF file is located in a directory named /training, and you want to play a video stored in the /training/videos directory, you would use the following syntax:

my_ns.play("videos/videoName.flv");

To play a video stored in the /training directory, you would use the following syntax:

my_ns.play("videoName.flv");

Example

The following example illustrates some ways to use the NetStream.play() command: 

// Play a file that is on the user's computer
// The joe_user directory is a subdirectory of the directory
//       in which the SWF is stored
my_ns.play("file://joe_user/flash/videos/lectureJune26.flv");

// Play a file on a server
my_ns.play("http://someServer.someDomain.com/flash/video/orientation.flv");

See also

MovieClip.attachAudio(), NetStream.close(), NetStream.pause(), Video.attachVideo()

Comments


recoveredfromflashMX2004 said on Aug 4, 2004 at 3:43 PM :
No screen name said on Jun 10, 2004 at 5:04 PM :

I'm finding with flv's served from WinXP that there's no way to initiate a stream without it first playing a few frames of video? is there any way to to load a flv stream, and immediately pause that stream on a "poster" frame? (calling NetStream.play() always starts the stream playing even if the it is immediately followed with a NetStream.pause()-- this is a problem from my faster WinXP Flash Comm server but not a slower machine Flash Comm serving flv's from Win2K).
Tony Jacobson said on Aug 31, 2004 at 7:20 PM :
It should be noted that when you pause a netStream and want to use the ".clear()" method on it you should consider using a setInterval() function to delay the execution of the clear() method until the pause method() has had a chance to run and the video object can be freely clear to execute another method on itself.

example:
---------------------------------------------------------------------
v_ns.pause(true);
v_ns.seek(0);
cvINT = setInterval(clearVideo, 100);

function clearVideo() {
clearInterval(cvINT);
vp.the_video.clear();
};

-------------------------------------------

Otherwise the video file stays visible and doesn't clear.
SilverDev said on Dec 9, 2004 at 10:20 AM :
The help file states: "you can’t navigate to a higher-level directory". This is technically inaccurate.

For example, if the SWF file is located in a directory named /training, and you want to play a video stored in the /videos directory on the same level as training, you would use the following syntax:

my_ns.play("../videos/videoName.flv");

You can use "../" to navigate 'up' as many levels as necessary. I'm running on WinXPSP2, but that should be irrelevant. I do not know how this acts on a Mac. This also works when running the files through IE on a LAN.
Flash-Ripper.com said on Jan 24, 2005 at 10:55 AM :
No screen name said: <blockquote>there's no way to initiate a stream without it first playing a few frames of video. Is there any way to to load a flv stream, and immediately pause that stream on a "poster" frame?</blockquote>

Yes, the solution exists, you just have to additionally invoke the seek method like in following example:

<pre> ns.play(pathToFile);
ns.pause(true);
ns.seek(0);</pre>

I had the same problem and in my case this solution was helpful, hope so be with you too.
kobajashi said on Mar 14, 2005 at 3:10 AM :
Hi,

I encountered a problem while streaming an flv-file over a local network.
If more than one user is viewing the same video content the screen of the mediaDisplay stays black for the one who started the videos later.

Thanx for any help.
regards
Tobias
No screen name said on Apr 21, 2005 at 10:30 PM :
Apparently you can't stream multiple instances of FLVs on a local network. As long as there is only one client playing the flv you're fine, any more won't work.
Malish' said on Aug 4, 2005 at 5:19 PM :
Hello,

There is already a comment here on the fact that you cannot play an flv file either called by .swf or stand alone over a network.

This is a huge issue for my project, where one of the deliverables is Network CDs with video activities for kids to be viewed in the classroom.

Is Macromedia going to fix this and when?

Why does it work just fine if accessed through Mac clients, flvs play on as many machines as you want at the same time from one location.

We did program for progressive download, however, learned from tech-support that if delivered through the local network it becomes streaming and the files will not play.

There is no explicit documentation on this issue from Macromedia.

 

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Current page: http://livedocs.adobe.com/flash/mx2004/main_7_2/00001598.html