207762 - When view Macromedia Flash movie, scrolling the browser window misaligns mouse-over buttons

Status: RESOLVED INCOMPLETE

(Core Graveyard :: Plug-ins, defect)

Description

[Greg]

User-Agent:       Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.0; en-US; rv:1.4b) Gecko/20030507
Build Identifier: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.0; en-US; rv:1.4b) Gecko/20030507

This problem was first found in Mozilla 1.4b.  It worked fine with 1.3b;
however, I did not test it with Mozilla 1.3.x or 1.4a.  Observed using
Macromedia Flash 6 plugin, all versions.

When viewing some Macromedia Flash movies, which are too large to fit on the
screen whole, one will naturally scroll down within the browser window to see
the entire Flash movie.  However, in doing so, mouse-over buttons/objects no
longer respond properly.  It appears that the coordinate system that tracks
mouse position for the browser changes while the one for the Flash movie plugin
does not.

For example:
 1. Open "http://www.flahertyfunding.com/mortgage_calculator.shtml" in a browser
window
 2. Now, enter all the information in the input boxes and click a green
percentage button
 3. A new screen appears, which should be too large to fit completely on-screen
without scrolling (try 1024x768 or smaller).
 4. Mouse-over a few of the blue help buttons, noticing the pop-up dialogs
 5. Now, scroll down to the bottom of the window
 6. Again, mouse-over a few of the blue help buttons, noticing now that some of
the buttons do not respond or respond with the wrong dialogs

I've tested this same Flash movie in IE6 and Mozilla 1.3b without any problems,
so this must be new to 1.3.x or 1.4x.

If the "http://www.flahertyfunding.com/mortgage_calculator.shtml" link becomes
unavailable, please drop me an email at grd8301.rit.edu, and I can provide you
with the actual HTML and SWF files.  Thanks.

Reproducible: Always

Steps to Reproduce:
1. Open a Macromedia Flash movie (SWF) that is large than the browser window size
2. Mouse-over a few buttons, noticing their responses, particularly animations
3. Scroll through the browser window to see the off screen portion of the movie
4. Again, mouse-over the buttons, noticing how some respond wrongly or nothing
5. Move the mouse around the window
6. Notice how original button positions still work although the button has moved
Actual Results:  
No matter where you may scroll within the screen, only the original locations of
the buttons or objects will respond to the mouse.

Expected Results:  
The Macromedia Flash movie objects should respond properly, regardless of the
browser window scroll position.

Comment 1

[Jason Barnabe (np)]

Confirming on WinXP 2003052808

Comment 2

[Olivier Cahagne]

confirming using Firebird 20030529 + Flash 6.0r79 on Win2k.

Comment 3

[Greg]

I can dual boot between Win2k and RedHat linux, but I've only recently had time
to test this bug in linux.  After trying RedHat 7.3 + Mozilla 1.4b + Flash
6.0r79 plugin, I can confirm that the bug does appear in linux for Mozilla 1.4b.

I'll be trying the new Mozilla 1.4 RC1 soon.

Comment 4

[Greg]

I just installed Mozilla 1.4 RC1 and tested using the previously described
procedure.  The bug appears resolved in Mozilla 1.4 RC1 in Linux.  I will
install RC1 for Win2k when I get a chance.

Comment 5

[Olivier Cahagne]

wfm too using Firebird 2003060508 on Win2k + Flash 6.0r79 and flashplayer.xpt
properly installed.

Comment 6

[Jason Barnabe (np)]

I still see the bug. WinXP 2003060808 and Flash 6.0 r79.

Comment 7

[Olivier Cahagne]

Jason, are you sure you have flashplayer.xpt in your components/ directory ? If
so, Flash to JavaScript scripting should work ('yes' in next test), see
http://gemal.dk/browserspy/flash.html

Comment 8

[Jason Barnabe (np)]

Yes.

Comment 9

[Greg]

I just checked Win2k and Flash 6 r79 plugin, and the bug STILL exists.  Linux is
fine, but not Win2k.  Also, looking at the comments here, the bug still exists
in WinXP.  Apparently, it might be a WinNT-based O/S problem.

Remember, it worked fine pre-Mozilla 1.4

Comment 10

[Bjørn S Tennøe]

Confirming this bug in Mozilla 1.3 on this platform:
Windows 2000 SP3
Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.0; en-US; rv:1.3) Gecko/20030312
Flash 6,0,65,0

Reproducible on page:
http://www.abry.no/html/_news.html

All the anti-aliased text (buttons and headlines) is different instances of the
same Flash file. The Flash file has the NORESIZE flag set to true, and is
thereafter resized as needed, so that Flash buttons and headlines can have
different sizes. However, all the Flash buttons stop responding after scrolling
the browser window.

Nasty bug. Leaves the page totally useless. I would say this is of Major severity.

Note: All the links on this test page are dead on purpose.

Comment 11

[Elmo Recio]

I get this problem too. This is definitely a severity issue because it leaves
the page completely useless, and I am having to have to use other browsers
(Safari, for example) instead. There are lots of pages out there which use flash
(which I found out the hardway, b/c all the sties out there were screwing up.)

Comment 12

[John Opgrande]

This seems to be happening on flash movies that have transparent backgrounds. 
It only happens when the page is scrolled away from either edge of the window
and near the center.  If you are scrolled to the far right or far left edge of
the window then the problem does not occur.  

This does not seem to be in issue of the movie wmode is NOT transparent.

I have tested this using the latest flash player to date (7,0,19,0) and mozilla
1.6b.

Comment 13

[Greg]

Yes, the bug only exists when using transparent mode for the backgrounds.  This
problem occurs for Flash Players 6 & 7.  Although there is no user workaround,
the developer workaround is to export/publish the movie with WINDOW MODE set to
"Window".  This workaround holds for Windows 2000/XP and Linux Mozilla 1.5+ builds.

Comment 14

[Wayne Mery (:wsmwk)]

neither of the two URLs are valid testcases anymore - one is 404 the other doesn't have all it's content

=> INCOMPLETE