ThisIsLeon.co.uk

The Scenario

You are creating a Flash project that feeds text in from an external XML file. The text is currently in English but there is a requirement that the text be changed to other languages.

The Problem

You have added foreign characters such as é, ü or ß and they don’t show up in Flash.

The Solution

Follow these steps below and all should be well:

Ensure that your XML document is formatted as UTF-8. If you are using Coda, it’s simple enough.

and that is also has the correct XML declaration in the header: 

<?xml version=”1.0″ encoding=”UTF-8″ ?>

Ensure that you have a dynamic text box in Flash and that you have given it an instance name.

Ensure that the font you are using supports foreign characters.

Make sure that you embed the font and select the relevant glyphs. Use shift to select more than one set. It is also a good idea to manually add the specific characters that you need to embed. For example to add é on a Mac, hold down the Alt key and then the letter e. The accent will turn yellow and then press the e letter again.