Editing SWF (section)

{{Short description|Adobe flash file format}}
{{other uses}}
{{About|the Adobe Flash file format sometimes referred to as "Shockwave Flash"|the [[Web browser|browser]] [[Plug-in (computing)|plug-in]] labeled "Shockwave Flash"|Adobe Flash Player}}
{{distinguish|Adobe Shockwave}}
{{Infobox file format
| name          = Small Web Format (SWF)
| icon          = [[File:Flash Player 34 SWF icon.png|64px]]
| logo          = 
| screenshot    = 
| caption       = 
| extension     = .swf
| mime          = application/vnd.adobe.flash.movie,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.iana.org/assignments/media-types/application/vnd.adobe.flash.movie|title=IANA Media Type registration}}</ref> application/x-shockwave-flash<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://svn.apache.org/viewvc/httpd/httpd/branches/2.4.x/docs/conf/mime.types?view=markup#l1310|title=[Apache-SVN] Contents of /httpd/httpd/branches/2.4.x/docs/conf/mime.types|website=svn.apache.org}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title= nginx's media type file |url= https://hg.nginx.org/nginx/file/2d3ed138ce65/conf/mime.types#l66 }}</ref>
| type code     = 
| uniform type  = 
| magic         = <code>CWS</code>,<code>FWS</code><ref name="swfspec10">{{cite web | title = SWF File Format Specification Version 10 | url = https://www.adobe.com/content/dam/Adobe/en/devnet/swf/pdf/swf_file_format_spec_v10.pdf | access-date = 2012-02-26 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120131083755/http://www.adobe.com/content/dam/Adobe/en/devnet/swf/pdf/swf_file_format_spec_v10.pdf | archive-date = 2012-01-31 }}</ref> or <code>ZWS</code><ref name="swfspec19">{{cite web | title = SWF File Format Specification Version 19 | url = http://wwwimages.adobe.com/www.adobe.com/content/dam/Adobe/en/devnet/swf/pdf/swf-file-format-spec.pdf | access-date = 2013-02-17 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130202203813/http://wwwimages.adobe.com/www.adobe.com/content/dam/Adobe/en/devnet/swf/pdf/swf-file-format-spec.pdf | archive-date = 2013-02-02 }}</ref>
| owner         = [[FutureWave Software]], <br/>later taken over by [[Macromedia]] and <br/>[[Adobe Systems]]
| type          = [[Vector graphics|Vector graphic]] animation
| container for = Adobe Flash (formerly Macromedia Flash and FutureSplash), sometimes labeled {{em|Shockwave Flash Object}}.
| contained by  = 
| extended from = 
| extended to   = 
| standard      = 
}}
'''SWF''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|s|w|ɪ|f}})<ref>{{cite web |date=2010-06-10 |title=Adobe Flash Player Administration Guide for Flash Player 10.1 |url=https://www.adobe.com/content/dam/Adobe/en/devnet/flash/articles/flash_player_admin_guide/flash_player_admin_guide.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101121232809/https://www.adobe.com/content/dam/Adobe/en/devnet/flash/articles/flash_player_admin_guide/flash_player_admin_guide.pdf |archive-date=2010-11-21 |access-date=2011-03-10 |website=Adobe.com |publisher=Adobe Systems |page=1}}</ref> is a defunct [[Adobe Flash]] [[file format]] that was used for [[multimedia]], [[vector graphics]] and [[ActionScript]].<ref name="swfopen">{{Cite web|url=https://www.adobe.com/openscreenproject|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140818173308/http://www.adobe.com/openscreenproject/|url-status=dead|title=Open Screen Project|archive-date=August 18, 2014}}</ref>

Originating with [[FutureWave Software]], then transferred to [[Macromedia]], and then coming under the control of [[Adobe Systems|Adobe]], SWF files can contain [[animation]]s or [[applet]]s of varying degrees of interactivity and function. They may also occur in programs, commonly [[browser game]]s, using [[ActionScript]].

Programmers can generate SWF files from within several Adobe products, including [[Adobe Flash|Flash]], [[Adobe Flash Builder|Flash Builder]] (an [[Integrated development environment|IDE]]), [[Adobe Animate]] (a rename of Adobe Flash since 2016), and [[Adobe After Effects|After Effects]], as well as through MXMLC, a command-line application compiler which forms part of the freely-available [[Adobe Flex|Flex SDK]]. Although Adobe [[Adobe Illustrator|Illustrator]] can generate SWF format files through its "export" function, it cannot open or edit them. Other than using Adobe products, one can build SWFs with [[open-source software|open-source]] [[MTASC|Motion-Twin ActionScript 2 Compiler (MTASC)]], the open-source [[Ming library]] and the [[free-software]] suite [[SWFTools]]. Various other third-party programs can also produce files in this format, such as [[Multimedia Fusion 2]], [[Adobe Captivate|Captivate]] and [[SWiSH Max]].

The term "SWF" originated as an abbreviation for '''ShockWave Flash'''.<ref name="Schaeffer2007">{{cite book|author= Mark Schaeffer|title= Adobe Flash CS3 Professional How-Tos: 100 Essential Techniques|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=ZshrkM5INSkC&pg=PT30|year= 2007|publisher= Adobe Press|isbn= 978-0-13-270129-7}}</ref> This usage was changed to the [[backronym]] '''Small Web Format''' to eliminate confusion with a different technology, [[Adobe Shockwave|Shockwave]], from which SWF derived.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.pcmag.com/encyclopedia/term/55333/swf |title= SWF Definition from PC Magazine Encyclopedia |access-date= 2013-11-02}}
</ref><ref name="NiederstRobbins2001">
{{cite book
|author= Jennifer Niederst
|title= Web Design in a Nutshell: A Desktop Quick Reference
|url= https://archive.org/details/webdesigninnutsh00nied_0
|url-access= registration
|year= 2001|publisher= O'Reilly Media, Inc.
|isbn= 978-0-596-00196-4|page= [https://archive.org/details/webdesigninnutsh00nied_0/page/438 438]|edition= 2nd
}}
</ref> There is no official resolution to the initialism "SWF" by Adobe.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://blogs.adobe.com/jd1/archives/2007/07/swf-stands-for.html|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160919212342/http://blogs.adobe.com/jd1/archives/2007/07/swf-stands-for.html|title= "SWF" stands for...?|access-date= 2021-02-23|archive-date= 2016-09-19}}</ref>

Adobe declared its Flash player EOL on December 31, 2020. On January 12, 2021, it pushed an update to its Flash player that blocked all Flash content from running.<ref name="flashdead">{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.wired.com/story/zombie-flash-security-problems/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210124120315/https://www.wired.com/story/zombie-flash-security-problems/|url-status=live|title=Flash Is Dead—but Not Gone|magazine=Wired |archive-date=January 24, 2021|access-date=October 7, 2023 |last1=Newman |first1=Lily Hay }}</ref>