Waldo Smeets .com

David Burows from FlashBlog.net considers Fireworks for offline .SWF generation after having seen it’s Data Driven Graphics Wizard.

True, I think that is possible. However, I am not sure which file format FireWorks MX supports and I am affraid that it’s just the Flash 5 format. If so then you can be even more flexible using the Flash Generator API which is build into Dreamweaver. This one also only supports Flash 5, but I think is far more complete than the FireWorks SWF export feature. Especially because Dreamweaver can approach FireWorks and so can also use all it’s features.

Simply have a look at the Flash Buttons object in Dreamweaver and imagine how powerfull it can be in the hands of a decent extension developer. Massimo Foti has already shown what cool things can be done with it (the Flash Panel extension and more). It’s a shame that Macromedia could not have the generator API in Dreamweaver MX support the Flash 6 file format; it would have been a very strong combination.

Still, I expect some very cool SWF generation tools for both FireWorks MX and Dreamweaver MX. Maybe by Massimo, maybe from Joseph Lowery who built the Data Driven Graphics Wizard for FireWorks MX, or maybe from others like WebAssist who already showed their interest in Dreamweaver and Flash extensions. Let’s hope it won’t take too long.