Pros and cons of where to store image data

[Barry Levine]

Ken,

My app runs on OSX and XP (probably other Windows, as well). I haven't 
compiled it for OS9 yet but I know it will work there, as well.

I use a QT Player object for referencing ".mov" and ".wav" files. Now, 
I know that may seem like a bizarre combination but I remember reading 
somewhere that Windows likes ".wav" files better than ".aiff". I could 
use QT ".mov" files containing only an audio track but there are enough 
apps on Mac and Windows that will produce (or export) a ".wav" file and 
Rev seems to like them on both platforms. As I indicated in an earlier 
post on this topic, it makes it a bit easier for my clients to generate 
such files and replace older audio files with the newer ones. Not 
insisting on the audio being a ".mov" makes it easier for everyone.

Regarding your installer question: Absolutely. I have been using 
InstallCreator for Windows (www.clickteam.com) which is free (if you 
don't mind the last screen of the install displaying their name and 
website info). While I haven't used it enough to claim any expertise, 
it does have the appropriate capabilities to replace files (with or 
without asking for user approval). I'm not sure yet about -replacing- 
an entire folder (sub-directory) but it will do the files contained 
therein (and/or create a folder if it's not there).

And that brings us, full circle, back to the original topic of the 
post: Where to store image data.

There are so many up here who provide useful info to me that I don't 
remember who recommended keeping the interface and the code separate. 
I'll add my 2 cents: Keep the images, movies, and sounds separate, as 
well. The obvious benefit is that your stack won't have to load 'em all 
when it loads (so no out-of-memory problems); the other benefit is what 
we've been discussing: The ease of replacement should the need arise.

As for Rev using a ".wmv" file in place of a ".mov"...I don't really 
know. According to how I've interpreted the documentation, once a stack 
references a QT Player object, QT loads (if it's available). How would 
you show a movie without a Player object? And once QT loads, why use 
anything else? (Of course, it is possible that I've misinterpreted the 
docs yet again.)

Regards,
Barry

On Friday, Sep 19, 2003, at 20:25 America/Denver, Ken wrote:
>> your best advice to
>> your customers is to stick with the "standard" QT movie (assuming you
>> want to give them the info on how to change the movies displayed at
>> particular points in your app by dropping new, properly-named movies
>> into the 'data' folder).
> ----------
> OK, so you're saying to stick with .mov files, which willl display 
> movies
> and/or play sounds saved in that format.
>
> So, assuming the Windows user has some reasonable version of QT aboard,
> could an installer be built to automatically put a new downloaded 
> movie into
> the proper folder?
>
> This is an area I know relatively little about, especially with 
> Windows/PC.
>
> Actually, most Windows users have MS MediaPlayer aboard, don't they? 
> What
> files can I make that are compatible with MediaPlayer? Will Rev 
> players use
> MediaPlayer?
>
> TIA,
> Ken N.