Projector window and Display Template options | Director MX

Many developers are not aware of the Display Template Property inspector available in Director MX 2004. Some of the settings and options that were previously available in "Create Projector > Options" have moved to the new Display Template Property inspector. This inspector handles specific options for each window and window type.

To access the Display Template Property inspector, simply click in an empty area of the score or the stage. The Display Template tab is grouped with the Movie tab and the Guides tab in the Property inspector. For more information see the Help system available by choosing Help > Director Help. The topic is covered in Getting Started with Director > Getting to Know the Workspace> Using the Property inspector > Setting movie properties.

Director MX 2004 changes from previous versions how windows are accessed and used. Developers should think of each Director movie playing in its own window. Every window has its own unique display properties, which can include things like the window title, size, titlebar option, etc. The projector is more like an "engine" playing the Director file(s). For more information about MIAW, see the Help system available by choosing Help > Director Help. The topic is covered in Using Director > Movies in a Window.

Note: Adobe Shockwave does not support MIAWs. Use MIAWs with movies that you intend to distribute as projectors or as authoring utilities.

The Display Template inspector contains all the window specific properties. The shift to movie specific setting is due to enhanced MIAW features. The options displayed below are also available via Director's scripting languages. For more information see the _movie.displayTemplate property in the scripting reference. Every option is available for both querying and setting via scripting and can be changed at run time.

Shown below are the 2 modes the Display Template inspector can be used with: Normal view mode and List view mode (seen at the bottom). With the List view mode more properties are available, like systemTrayIcon, systemTrayTooltip, sideTitlebar, metal, shadow and liveresize. Some properties are platform specific.

The List view can also be used as a discovery tool, for learning the scripting names and the property values. To switch to and from List view mode, click the List View Mode button located in the top right side of the Display Template inspector.

Users should also be aware of the options that can be set in the Publish Settings, available by choosing File > Publish Settings. This is where a projector can be set to play full screen and also where the splash screen image can be set. Generally, playback options that are not part of a window display can be set with Publish Settings. For more information, see the Help system available by choosing Help > Director Help. This topic is covered in Getting Started with Director > Packaging Movies for Distribution > Changing Publish Settings.

In the past, Director developers could use an INI file with the projector to set or override certain properties of the projector. This can still be done, but the window display options in the INI file will not override the settings in the Display Template. This includes the "UseTitleBar" and "ResizeStage" options in the Director.ini file.

The INI file can, however, override Publish Setting options such as the "Full Screen" setting.

Listed below are the options available on the Display Template inspector. These option are available for both querying and setting via scripting and can be changed at run time. Developers can specify the display options of specific windows opened at run time. For more information see the _movie.displayTemplate property in the Director Scripting Reference > Properties > displayTemplate.

• Titlebar minimize Box
• Titlebar maximize box
• Titlebar close box
• Making the titlebar visible
• Giving the titlebar a name
• Document type (document, tool, dialog)
• Making the window dockable (available when opened during authoring)
• Window size and location
• Window Icon
• Center the window
• Border size
• Making the window resizable
• Creating masks and dragMasks
• Enabling the systemTrayIcon and systemTrayTooltip (Microsoft Windows only)
• Enabling the sideTitleBar (Macintosh only)
• Metal look (Macintosh only)
• Drop Shadow (Macintosh only)

Developers wanting projectors with no border must choose border"none". Developers should explore the different options in the Display Template inspector to see the full variety of window displays that are available.

The following image shows the Display Template Property inspector in normal mode.

The following image shows the Display Template Property inspector in List View mode.

• For information on known platform specific issues and guidelines when authoring MIAW, see MIAW (Movie in a Window) authoring guidelines (TechNote 19152)
• For information about the lingo.ini file, see What is the LINGO.INI file? (TechNote 827)
• For information about the director.ini file, see Director for Windows Profile Setting, Director.ini file (TechNote 3108)