Question

Is it possible to detect when a Flash embed object has loaded completely? Are there events that can be subscribed to that work in all browsers?

Answer 1

Not directly, but it’s easy to do if you have control over the SWF via ExternalInterface. First, in the flashvars for the SWF pass a callback name:

loadedCallback=swfLoadedCallback

Additionally, be sure the SWF has scriptAccess set to sameDomain or all

Next, Define a callback function in your page:

function swfLoadedCallback()
{
   // Note... if these were a real application, you would want 
   //    to use a setTimeout here to avoid Flash choking while 
   //    waiting for a response.
   alert('SWF loaded.  Do something.');
}

Then, in your SWF, add code like this:

import flash.external.ExternalInterface;
import flash.utils.setTimeout;

var params:Object = root.loaderInfo.parameters;
if (params && params.loadedCallback)
{
   // Set timeout to avoid syncronous issues
   setTimeout(function():void {
      if (ExternalInterface.available)
         ExternalInterface.call(params.loadedCallback);
   }, 1);
}