System.capabilities object

Availability

Flash Player 6.

Description

You can use the System.capabilities object to determine the abilities of the system and player hosting a Flash movie. This allows you to tailor content for different formats. For example, the screen of a cell phone (black and white, 100 square pixels) is different than the 1000-square-pixel color PC screen. To provide appropriate content to as many users as possible, you can use the System.capabilities object to determine the type of device a user has. You can then either specify to the server to send different SWFs based on the device capabilities, or tell the Flash movie to alter its presentation based on the capabilities of the device.

You can send capabilities information using a GET or POST HTTP method. The following is an example of a server string for a device that does not have MP3 support and has a 400 x 200 pixel, 8 x 4 centimeter screen:

"A=t&MP3=f&AE=gsm&VE=h11&ACC=f&V=WIN%206%2C0%2C0%2C129&M=Macromedia%WINDOWS&R=400x200&DP=72&COL=color&AR=1.0&OS=WINDOWS%2000&L=en-US"

You must access all properties of the System.capabilities object through the System.capabilities object.

Property summary for the System.capabilities object

Property Description Server string
System.capabilities.hasAccessibility Indicates whether the device meets accessibility standards. ACC
System.capabilities.hasAudio Indicates whether the device has audio capabilities. A
System.capabilities.hasAudioEncoder Indicates whether the player can encode an audio stream, such as that coming from a microphone. AE
System.capabilities.hasEmbeddedVideo Indicates whether the player supports embedded video. EV
System.capabilities.hasMP3 Indicates whether the device has an MP3 decoder. MP3
System.capabilities.hasPrinting Indicates whether the player is running on a system that supports printing. PR
System.capabilities.hasScreenBroadcast Indicates whether the player supports the development of screen broadcast applications to be run through the Flash Communication Server. SB
System.capabilities.hasScreenPlayback Indicates whether the player supports the playback of screen broadcast applications that are being run through the Flash Communication Server. SP
System.capabilities.hasStreamingAudio Indicates whether the player supports the playback of streaming audio. SA
System.capabilities.hasStreamingVideo Indicates whether the player supports the playback of streaming video. SV
System.capabilities.hasVideoEncoder Indicates whether the player can encode a video stream, such as that coming from a webcam. VE
System.capabilities.isDebugger Indicates whether the player is an officially released version or a special debugging version. DEB
System.capabilities.language Indicates the language the Flash Player supports. L
System.capabilities.manufacturer Indicates the manufacturer of the Flash Player. M
System.capabilities.os Indicates the operating system hosting the Flash Player. OS
System.capabilities.pixelAspectRatio Indicates the pixel aspect ratio of the screen. AR
System.capabilities.playerType Indicates the type of player: stand-alone, external, plug-in, or ActiveX. PT
System.capabilities.screenColor Indicates whether the screen is color (color), grayscale (gray), or black and white (bw). COL
System.capabilities.screenDPI Indicates the dots-per-inch screen resolution, in pixels. DP
System.capabilities.screenResolutionX Indicates the horizontal size of the screen. R
System.capabilities.screenResolutionY Indicates the vertical size of the screen. R
System.capabilities.serverString A URL-encoded string that specifies values for each System.capabilities property, n/a
System.capabilities.version A string containing the Flash Player version and platform information. V