SWF Text Record (swf_text_record)

struct swf_text_record_end {
	unsigned		f_end : 8;	/* all zeroes */
};

struct swf_text_record_setup {
	unsigned		f_type_setup : 1;	/* always one */
	unsigned		f_reserved : 3;
	unsigned		f_has_font : 1;
	unsigned		f_has_color : 1;
	unsigned		f_has_move_y : 1;
	unsigned		f_has_move_x : 1;
	if(f_has_font) {
		unsigned short		f_font_id_ref;
	}
	if(f_has_color) {
		if(tag == DefineText) {
			swf_rgb		f_color;
		}
		else {	/* if tag is DefineText2 */
			swf_rgba	f_color;
		}
	}
	if(f_has_move_x) {
		signed short		f_move_x;
	}
	if(f_has_move_y) {
		signed short		f_move_y;
	}
	if(f_has_font) {
		unsigned short		f_font_height;
	}
};

struct swf_text_record_glyphs {
	unsigned		f_type_glyph : 1;		/* always zero */
	unsigned		f_glyph_count : 7;		/* at least one */
	swf_text_entry		f_entry[f_glyph_count];
};

struct swf_text_record_string {
	unsigned		f_type_setup : 1;	/* always one */
	unsigned		f_reserved : 3;
	unsigned		f_has_font : 1;
	unsigned		f_has_color : 1;
	unsigned		f_has_move_y : 1;
	unsigned		f_has_move_x : 1;
	if(f_has_font) {
		unsigned short		f_font_id_ref;
	}
	if(f_has_color) {
		if(tag == DefineText) {
			swf_rgb		f_color;
		}
		else {	/* if tag is DefineText2 */
			swf_rgba	f_color;
		}
	}
	if(f_has_move_x) {
		signed short		f_move_x;
	}
	if(f_has_move_y) {
		signed short		f_move_y;
	}
	if(f_has_font) {
		unsigned short		f_font_height;
	}
	unsigned char		f_glyph_count;		/* at least one */
	swf_text_entry		f_entry[f_glyph_count];
};

union swf_text_record {
	unsigned		f_flags : 8;
	swf_text_record_end	f_end;
	if(version >= 7) {
		swf_text_record_string	f_string;
	}
	else {
		swf_text_record_setup	f_setup;
		swf_text_record_glyphs	f_glyphs;
	}
};

The swf_text_record structure is a union composed of a swf_text_record_setup definition followed by characters. Multiple records can follow each others. The list is ended with one byte set to 0.

WARNING: it seems that Macromedia didn't think about a file having two records of type glyph one after another (it makes their plugins crash); you will have to insert a setup record between each glyph record (the setup can be empty: i.e. add one byte equal to 0x80). The very first setup has to at least define the font.

NOTE: this has been corrected by Macromedia it now shows as one structure including the style and an array of glyphs. This fixes the problem at once. It however makes the structure look a bit more complicated.

The very first byte of a record determines its type. When it is set to zero, it is the end of text records. In all versions (though it was not defined that way before), you need to alternate the setup and glyph records. It seems that even older versions would support more than 127 characters, however, if you plan to use 128 to 255 characters in a text records, I recommend you create a version 7 movie. So, in other words, go ahead and use the swf_text_record_string with f_glyph_count set to a value from 1 to 127 in a version 1 to 6 movie.

To make sure that none of the setup records are recognized as the end record, you should always set the bit 7 to 1 (f_type_setup). You don't otherwise have to have any font, color or displacement definition in setups (except the very first which needs to specify a font).

The f_glyph_count must be at least 1. If you don't have any characters, just don't create a text entry.

The f_move_x and f_move_y always specify a position from the origin where the text object is placed like in a shape.