ABCMerge - Merges DoABC tags in AS3 SWF files, removes non-essential MetaData and debug actions

August 23, 2014: Version 1.02 now available!
Build on November 27, 2013, released today, version 1.02 fixes a 'freeze' bug.
August 10, 2011: Version 1.01 now available!
This version fixes an important issue discovered. Thank you all for the feedback.
July 28, 2011: ABCMerge version 1.00 released!
Yay!

What is ABCMerge?

ABCMerge is a Windows console (Win32 command-line) utility application, that optimizes AS3 Flash (SWF) files by

Merging DoABC tags in each frame,
Sorting constant pool items by usage count,
Removing non-essential AS3 MetaData (with name "...goto_definition_help"),
Removing debug actions.
(All the above will -hopefully- reduce the SWF file size)

SWF files created with Flash Professional IDE will contain these optimizable elements, if 'Export SWC' option was checked while publishing the SWF. This is required to preserve custom MetaData tags (such as [Inject], used for dependency injection) in the exported SWF. Debug actions will be present if 'Permit debugging' option was checked.

ABCMerge is free to use (at your own risk), you cannot distribute it or link directly to the download. All rights other than granted here belong to Manitu Group.

Linking to this page is welcome. [http://www.buraks.com/abcmerge].

[Note: ABCMerge has an undisclosed use case].

Notes

Apparat by Joa Ebert also has ABC merging and constant pool sorting functionality and more.
Adobe Flex Optimizer tool also has ABC merging and constant pool sorting functionality and more.

How to use ABCMerge?
You can run ABCMerge from the command-line. For this, start/run cmd, use it like ABCMerge yourswf.swf. If you can afford not to see the result, you can simply drag and drop your SWF onto ABCMerge.exe.

More Info
ABCMerge.exe takes parameters from the command line. Usage is:

AbcMerge InFile

inFile is the AS3 SWF file, which will be 'optimized'.

ABCMerge will rename inFile with appending .BAK extension (If a file with the same name with .BAK extension exists. it will be overwritten). Processed and optimized SWF file will have the original inFile name.

ABCMerge will preserve the the compression method in the original SWF. ABCMerge supports uncompressed, ZLIB compressed and LZMA compressed SWF files.

abcmerge.exe will return the following exit codes:

Value	Meaning
0	Optimization completed successfully. ABCMerge will display some statistics and file size.
1	Parameter count error. ABCMerge expects exactly 1 parameter.
2	Generic error. Try again... If you can consistently reproduce this, we will appreciate if you can let us know the steps necessary.
3	InFile not found. Make sure the file exists and you have specified it correctly. If InFile has spaces, make sure you use quotes.
4	An error occured while loading the InFile SWF.
5	An error occured while processing the InFile SWF.
6	An error occured while deleting existing .BAK file.
7	An error occured while renaming inFile as infile.BAK.
8	An error occured while saving processed SWF file.

Change log
Version 1.02 (November 23, 2013)
Bug fixes.

Version 1.01 (August 10, 2011)
Bug fixes.

Version 1.00 (July 28, 2011)
Initial release.

Current Status
Current Status
Version 1.02. No known bugs.

Version 1.0x Known issues:

None.

Downloads

ABCMerge 1.02 (abcmerge102.zip 445KB)

MD5 checksum of abcmerge102.zip is 57E49E5A00EBF3ED66B07A71B060F8F1.

Links
FlashDevelop is a free and open source (MIT license) source code editor.

You need to submit your link in order to be listed in this section. We reserve the right to reject/accept any link submitted.

Thanks
For direct or indirect help in the making of ABCMerge
Philippe Elsass - http://philippe.elsass.me/
Makc - http://twitter.com/makc3d
Mika Palmu - FlashDevelop

FAQ
I get a black window pop up and disappear when I run ABCMerge.exe. What's going on?
This is expected behavior. ABCMerge is a command-line console application.

Can I distribute ABCMerge?
No.

Can I use ABCMerge to provide an online optimization service?
No.

Can you provide me license to distribute ABCMerge?
Can you provide me a custom ABCMerge build to include in my application?
Yes, please contact us with your specific need. (This is about distributing ABCMerge. Using ABCMerge on your SWF files is completely free).

I love ABCMerge so much. How can I help with further development of ABCMerge?
Thank you! You can consider purchasing Manitu Group products to support us...

Support
ABCMerge is not an officially supported product. But you'll most likely receive a response when you write to support@buraks.com, if you also mention abcmerge in the subject line (otherwise we may miss your email). Please let us know your experience and about bugs, suggestions are always welcome.