Detect if user has Flash

[Bullschmidt]

Hi I'm an ASP developer.

I have a site for a client of mine where the initial page is Flash.

But the client said that some people don't have Flash installed so he would like a link to show up to obtain Flash:
http://www.macromedia.com/shockwave/.../download.cgi?

But here is the trick - he would only like the link to show up if the user does not already have Flash installed.

Is there a way to do this - perhaps with JavaScript somehow?

Thanks in advance!

[brothercake]

First of all, I would challenge the base assumption - you can safely assume that the only people who don't have Flash don't have it by choice or necessity, not by accident or because they didn't know about it. So catering to people who don't have Flash means offering alternative content, not a link for them to download it.

No detection script is necessary. <object> semantics include a mechanism for providing content to browsers that don't support the object mime-type. The basic syntax goes like this:

<!-- flash content -->
<object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" 
	data="flash_file.swf" width="500" height="350">

	<param name="movie" value="flash_file.swf" />
	
	<!-- noflash content -->
	<p>
		... etc ...
	</p>

</object>

Plus whatever other <param/>s you're using.

[Bullschmidt]

That looks great - and I love it when I can keep things simple - thanks a lot!!!