Lingo Dictionary > O-R > preloadNetThing() |  |

preloadNetThing()

Syntax

    preloadNetThing (url)

Description

Function; preloads a file from the Internet to the local cache so it can be used later without a download delay. Replace `url` with the name of any valid Internet file, such as a Director movie, graphic, or FTP server location. The return value is a network ID that you can use to monitor the progress of the operation.

The Director player for Java doesn't support this command because Java's security model doesn't allow writing to the local disk.

The `preloadNetThing()` function downloads the file while the current movie continues playing. Use `netDone()` to find out whether downloading is finished.

After an item is downloaded, it can be displayed immediately because it is taken from the local cache rather than from the network.

Although many network operations can be active at a time, running more than four concurrent operations usually slows down performance unacceptably.

Neither the cache size nor the Check Documents option in a browser's preferences affects the behavior of the `preloadNetThing` function.

The `preloadNetThing()` function does not parse a Director file's links. Thus, even if a Director file is linked to casts and graphic files, `preloadNetThing()` downloads only the Director file. You still must preload other linked objects separately.

Note: Executing any network Lingo operations concurrently with a Shockwave Audio (SWA) stream can cause interruptions in the playback of the SWA stream.

Example

This statement uses `preloadNetThing()` and returns the network ID for the operation:

    set mynetid = preloadNetThing("http://www.yourserver.com/menupage/mymovie.dir")

After downloading is complete, you can navigate to the movie using the same URL. The movie will be played from the cache instead of the URL, since it's been loaded in the cache.

See also

`netDone()`