Re: [Gnash-dev] Questions on actions and assets

[strk]

On Mon, Aug 14, 2006 at 03:14:45PM -0700, Jon Steinhart wrote:
> Part of the flash virtual machine is the data stack used by the swfs of
> the latter day versions.  Also the current execution context in which
> variables are stored, etc.  When is this stuff initialized?  Per flash
> movie, per action script, per frame?

It should be per movie (where nested loading doesn't count as a new movie).
The as_environment class should be what you're looking for, have
ctor and dtor log a message to confirm.

> It appears that actions saved up and executed as when a ShowFrame is hit.
> What is the ordering of work on a ShowFrame?  Are all of the actions
> executed before drawing the display list or some other ordering?

This seems to be a current problem in Gnash. Vitaly was reporting
problems with ordering. Theoretically, actions associated with
a frame should be executed *after* the frame is rendered.
When I did some research on the topic of nested clips actions
I've been told that the proprietary IDE allows programmers to set
a flag as to wheter internal clips actions are executed before
or after the containing clip actions, but did never complete that
research. Help from flashcoders (@ chattyfig) could be helpful.

> What is the range of the action script program counter?  If a script
> calls another, is there a separate program counter per script, a stack
> of program counters, one per instance, or is the whole thing treated
> linearly?

The ActionExec class takes care of execution and stores program counter.
There's no call stack implemented, so the whole thing is *not* treated 
linearly. Doing so should be a design goal.
Currently it's a mess of call_method, call_method0 and other undocumented
functions.

> What is the lifetime of characters exported via ExportAssets?  Forever?
> This would work in a web plugin that goes away occasionally but not real
> well in a standalone device where the player never goes away.

Exports should  only be available until the exporting movie goes away.

> Hope that these questions aren't too stupid.  Thanks,

Not at all. It's very helpful to read and answer them.

BTW, check your spam log, I sent you a message that bounced back.

--strk;