Getting Started > Setting up your hardware and software

Setting up your hardware and software

To write Flash Communication Server applications, you must install the Macromedia Flash MX authoring software, Flash Communication Server, and the latest Flash Player. If you want to write applications that capture audio or video, you also need to install a microphone or camera. Additionally, if your application requires server-side scripts for your Flash Communication Server applications, you'll need a UTF-8 JavaScript editor, such as Macromedia Dreamweaver MX. Each of these elements of the development environment is discussed in this section.

Flash MX authoring software If you haven't already installed Flash MX, see the Flash MX documentation.

Flash Communication Server software If you haven't already installed the server, see Installing Flash Communication Server, available as a PDF on the product CD or during download.

Flash Player Make sure that you are using the latest version of the Flash Player. To download the latest version, go to the Macromedia Flash Player Download Center.

Note: If you are running Flash Communication Server on UNIX, you'll need a Windows or Macintosh computer with Flash MX to create your communication applications, and you'll need to install the authoring extensions on your authoring computer. You'll also want to install the Flash Player on your UNIX server computer to use the administration tools. For more information, see Installing Flash Communication Server Help.

Camera and microphone To install a camera or microphone, follow the instructions that accompany your device. For a list of cameras that are known to be compatible with Flash Communication Server, see the documentation on camera compatibility on the Macromedia website. Cameras that aren't on this list may be compatible with Flash Communication Server, but haven't been tested by Macromedia.

Many cameras contain a built-in microphone. You can also install a separate microphone, or for best results, a microphone/headset combination.

After you've installed your devices, you can specify which camera or microphone Flash should use by default. Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh) while any Flash MX movie is playing, choose Settings from the context menu, click the Microphone or Camera panel, and select your preferred device from the pop-up menu.

Using a JavaScript editor You can use any text editor to write Server-Side Communication ActionScript code, which you'll store in files with an extension of .asc or .js. You may prefer to use software specifically designed for writing web-based applications, such as Macromedia Dreamweaver MX, which offers syntax highlighting and code hinting for ASC files.

If you want to include non-ASCII text in your server-side scripts, such as double-byte characters used in Asian languages, you must use an editor that supports UTF-8 encoding. The Flash Communication Server requires UTF-8-encoded ASC files in order to pass double-byte characters from one client to another. For more information on setting up Dreamweaver MX for double-byte languages, see Writing double-byte applications.