Passage: In October 1998, Macromedia disclosed the Flash Version 3 Specification on its website. It did this in response to many new and often semi-open formats competing with SWF, such as Xara's Flare and Sharp's Extended Vector Animation formats. Several developers quickly created a C library for producing SWF. In February 1999, MorphInk 99 was introduced, the first third-party program to create SWF files. Macromedia also hired Middlesoft to create a freely available developers' kit for the SWF file format versions 3 to 5. Macromedia made the Flash Files specifications for versions 6 and later available only under a non-disclosure agreement, but they are widely available from various sites. In April 2006, the Flash SWF file format specification was released with details on the then newest version format . Although still lacking specific information on the incorporated video compression formats , this new documentation covered all the new features offered in Flash v8 including new ActionScript commands, expressive filter controls, and so on. The file format specification document is offered only to developers who agree to a license agreement that permits them to use the specifications only to develop programs that can export to the Flash file format. The license does not allow the use of the specifications to create programs that can be used for playback of Flash files. The Flash 9 specification was made available under similar restrictions. In June 2009, Adobe launched the Open Screen Project , which made the SWF specification available without restrictions. Previously, developers could not use the specification for making SWF-compatible players, but only for making SWF-exporting authoring software. The specification still omits information on codecs such as Sorenson Spark, however.
How many SWF file format versions did Macromedia hire Middlesoft to create a developers' kit for? How many months after Macromedia disclosed Flash 3 was Morphlnk 99 introduced? How many months after Macromedia disclosed the Flash Version 3 Specification on its website was MorphInk 99 was introduced? How many months after Macromedia disclosed the Flash Version 3 Specification on its website was Morphlnk 99 introduced? How many months were there between the disclosure of Flash Version 3 and the introduction of MorphInk 99? How many other companies was it competing with for semi-open formats? How many versions of Flash had been put out by 1998? How many versions of the SWF file format was the Middlesoft developer's kit made for? How many years after Flash SWF file format specification was released did Adobe launch the Open Screen Project? How many years after Macromedia disclosed the Flash Version 3 Specification was the Flash SWF file format specification released? How many years passed between the disclosure of Flash Version 3 and the release of the Flash SWF file format? How many years since  Flash Version 3 was released did Adobe launch their Open Screen Project? What companies was it competing with for semi-open formats? What happened first, launch of Open Screen Project or  Macromedia disclosed the Flash Version 3? Which came out first, Flash Version 3 or MorphInk? Which was released first, Sharp's Extended Vector Animation formats or Flash Version 3? Which was released first, the Flash SWF file format specification or Open Screen Project? Why was Middlesoft brought onboard?