Flash as desktop application

A Macromedia Flash movie executes inside a sandbox. Any information inside the sandbox can be communicated only to the domain from which the movie came. Access to information within the sandbox from outside of the sandbox is severely limited. (Macromedia Flash MX Security)

Practically, a Flash file cannot read data from the hard drive or write to disk except saving Flash cookies. See also: Flash limitations.

Several applications overcome this Flash limitation by putting a Flash file inside a (Windows) executable, thereby acting as an intermediate between Flash and the operating system. The code in Flash then is able to call Windows commands.

SWF Studio

• http://www.northcode.com/

ScreenWeaver

• http://www.screenweaver.com/
  Feature set

Works on Windows 95, 98, ME 2000 and XP. Screenweaver IDE was built in Flash and the Screenweaver engine.

Flash Studio Pro

• http://www.multidmedia.com/software/flashstudio/
  Overview of functionalities

Also available: a MacOSX? plugin (US$ 299) to create MacOSX? projectors with.

SharpFlash

Open source (GNU) application written in .NET. Pre-alpha state.

• http://sharpflash.sourceforge.net/
  SharpFlash is a third-party tool (released under the GNU General Public License) allowing Flash applications to have more power on operating systems supporting the .NET Framework. It exposes (read: in the future, it will expose) an ActionScript API allowing a Flash application to have as much control over the environment as a native desktop application has.Ý This includes things like allowing file access (both read/write), registry access, internet access, etc. The API is still under heavy development, but the code has stabilized to a pre-alpha state.Ý Written in C#, SharpFlash takes advantage of a Flash User Interface. Additionally, SharpFlash was built with SharpFlash, demonstrating the power of the program.

mProjector

• http://www.screentime.com/software/mprojector/

mProjector is the only Flash application builder to offer synchronous calls -- No FSCommands or callbacks are required. mProjector methods run synchronously, returning results immediately. mProjector removes the need for splitting code into multiple frames just to make it work.

Flash in Java applications

SWT Flash. Open source LGPL. Only Win32 platforms are supported currently. Macromedia Flash plugin must be installed.

• http://www.docuverse.com/eclipse/swtflash.jsp

Read more

• Macromedia Flash MX Security -- Macromedia white paper (PDF)
• Sti Media: The Source: A quick review of swf to exe tools