Flash 8/AS2 Slideshow Memory Leak in Safari

programming flash
1

I built a slideshow in Actionscript which I have to run in Safari, but I’ve noticed with each image load, Safari’s memory footprint grows and never decreases. I’ve tried placing a delete(variable) after each use of a variable, and adding an mcl.unload(mc) after each transition, but neither has helped. The memory leak doesn’t occur in Firefox or the standalone Flash Player, but I don’t have the option to use browsers/apps other than Safari.

System Info:
Intel Mac Mini 2.0
Mac OS X 10.4.10
Safari 2.0.x
Flash 9

I’m pasting in my code. Before playing the slideshow, the SWF also loads some variables from an external file.

import mx.transitions.*;
import mx.transitions.easing.*;
/* LOAD VARS */
var slideshow_length:Number;
var fade_duration:Number;
var slide_duration:Number;
var idx:Number;
var myVars:LoadVars = new LoadVars();
myVars.onLoad = function() {
	slideshow_length = (myVars.slideshow_length ? myVars.slideshow_length : 1);
	fade_duration = (myVars.fade_duration ? myVars.fade_duration : 2);
	slide_duration = (myVars.slide_duration ? myVars.slide_duration : 10)*1000;
	traffic_controller();
};
myVars.load("../vars/my_slideshow_right.vars");
/* END LOAD VARS */
this.createEmptyMovieClip("empty_mc1", this.getNextHighestDepth());
this.createEmptyMovieClip("empty_mc2", this.getNextHighestDepth());
var mcl1:MovieClipLoader = new MovieClipLoader();
_level0.empty_mc1._x = 23.5;
_level0.empty_mc1._y = 47;
_level0.empty_mc2._x = 23.5;
_level0.empty_mc2._y = 47;
/* SWAP DEPTHS */
function swap_containers() {
	this.empty_mc1.swapDepths(empty_mc2);
}
/* TRAFFIC CONTROLLER */
function traffic_controller() {
	clearInterval(the_delay);
	if (idx == undefined || idx>slideshow_length) {
		idx = 1;
	}
	if (current_mc == empty_mc1) {
		current_mc = empty_mc2;
	}
	else {
		current_mc = empty_mc1;
	}
	current_mc._alpha = 0;
	mcl1.unloadClip(current_mc);
	mcl1.loadClip("../images/rt_slide_"+idx+".jpg", current_mc);
	swap_containers();
	fade_in_var.onMotionFinished = function() {
		delete (fade_in_var);
	};
	fade_in(current_mc, fade_duration);
	get_caption();
	the_delay = setInterval(traffic_controller, slide_duration);
}
/* CAPTIONS */
function get_caption() {
	fade_out_var.onMotionFinished = function() {
		delete (fade_out_var);
	};
	fade_out(r_caption1_mc, (fade_duration/2));
	fade_in_var.onMotionFinished = function() {
		delete (fade_in_var);
		if (myVars['r_caption'+idx] == undefined) {
			r_caption1_mc.r_caption1.text = '';
		}
		else {
			r_caption1_mc.r_caption1.text = myVars['r_caption'+idx];
		}
		fade_in(r_caption1_mc, (fade_duration/2));
		idx++;
	};
}
/* TWEENS */
function fade_in(mc, time) {
	easeType = mx.transitions.easing.Regular.easeInOut;
	var begin = 0;
	var end = 100;
	fade_in_var = new Tween(mc, "_alpha", easeType, begin, end, time, true);
}
function fade_out(mc, time) {
	easeType = mx.transitions.easing.Regular.easeInOut;
	var begin = 100;
	var end = 0;
	fade_in_var = new Tween(mc, "_alpha", easeType, begin, end, time, true);
}