Configuring your System for Local Shapefiles

A "Local" shape file is one that is stored on your local computer and not a remote web server. This configuration is recommended for testing and not production deployments because it requires the following user configuration for every computer.

1. Open the Flash Player security sandbox settings:
CLICK HERE

2. With the security folder selected, click "Add Location"

3. Click Browse for Folder and either select the folder that you would like to enable, or just the drive. If you select the drive, any sub folders are granted access.

4. You can now close your browser without any further configuration.

5. You must do these steps for Internet Explorer and one non-IE web browser. The reason is Internet Explorer uses a different Flash Player controller than browsers like Chrome, Firefox, and others.

Configuring your System for Remote Shapefiles

Flash Player requires a "Crossdomain.xml" policy when a SWF connects to any file located on a server, once the SWF is deployed. The exception is when a SWF is executed from a local PC. This is why a shapefile may appear within Xcelsius or on a desktop, but not when it is deployed to your server. The following steps will resolve this issue.

1. Check to see if you have a crossdomain policy file.

If your shapefile is stored at a URL like: http://gmapsplugin.net/shapes/us/usa.shp, you should check the root URL for a crossdomain like: http://gmapsplugin.net/crossdomain.xml. If you click on this link you can see exactly what it should look like.

2. Obtain a crossdomain.xml policy file.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD

3. Place the XML file in the ROOT directory of your web application.

4. Test in your browser, the root URL for your site to ensure your crossdomain.xml was placed in the correct place.

http://yourserver/crossdomain.xml.