creacog

Quickly creating re-usable components based on others, augmented with additional ActionScript behaviour using MXML is as simple as can be. However, to create a component from scratch using ActionScript requires a lot of detailed knowledge of how the Flex framework works and the component life-cycle in particular.

The Flex documentation attempts to describe the lifecycle, but can leave the developer with lots of unanswered questions. When I got more involved in developing components I found chapter 19 of Programming Flex 3 good for filling in the gaps.

This week a new and free paper has been published by DevelopmentArc that also explores the component life-cycle and the application life-cycle. A very well worth while read….

Understanding the Adobe Flex® 3 Component and Framework Lifecycle

Feel free to post links to other compent lifecycle resrouces in the comments.

My SimpleOscilloscope component described in an earlier post has now been updated to include a few filters controllable through setting styles. Of course like any other Flex component, it can have additional filtering applied in the normal way. I just felt like including these : alphaDecay, redMultiplier, greenMultiplier, blueMultiplier, blurX, blurY, scrollX, scrollY.

As ever, the project is on google code, and the test bed is here.

The documentation is correct, so i have no excuse, but I didn’t initially read much beyond the signature of the constructor…

public function BitmapData(width:int, height:int, transparent:Boolean = true, fillColor:uint = 0xFFFFFFFF)

I needed a transparent bitmap. Reading the default “transparent:Boolean = true”, I assumed by simply supplying width and height, a transparent bitmap is what I would get. Not so! I got a white rectangle. The reason being, that the default fill colour is 100% white. (The first pair of FFs representing the alpha in ARGB).

At first it would seem slightly unintuitive for the second default to conflict with the first, until one realises that the ‘transparent’ flag is there to indicate whether the object will support transparency or not. Not to state that it should be initially created transparent. Supporting transparency increases data size from 24 bits per pixel to 32 bits per pixel.

So what i should have done :

bmd = new BitmapData( width, height, true, 0 );

In the majority of my projects to-date, I am the sole developer on the project team. I was feeling the need to get into writing Flex components to a level that they could be distributed. Essentially making sure I use meta tags correctly and adding appropriate asdoc comments allowing other Flex developers to easily include the component as they would any other from the Flex SDK.

So, ccglib is an MIT license OpenSource project hosted on google code through which i plan to release a number of components. The first component released is SimpleOscilloscope, which plots the currently playing sound-wave. Designed to be easily sized, coloured and positioned through application of styles.

• the ccglib project on google code (get the source, or download the swc library)
• the test-bed demonstrating SimpleOscilloscope (view source enabled)
• Case-study added to my corporate site
• gotoandlearn : great tutorials on how to get started creating your own sound-wave visualisations with ActionScript

Finally got around to adding a case-study to my corporate site including a screen-cast of some of the features of my longest running project, a Flex/AIR application for communicating football moves and plays. Essentially a digital, animated version of a football tactic board.

More details and the screen-cast are on the creative-cognition case-study page.

… at the London Flash Platform User Group… tomorrow (29 Jan 2009).

Really handy! … ActionScript 3, Air and Flex documentaion distributed as an application on iPhone and iPodTouch - by Mike Chambers.

Downloaded it, had a play, simple and effective. A ‘back’ button would be nice though in future versions

New Tour De Flex application looking like a very cool and a very useful resource. More information…

http://flex.org/tour

Basically it’s a Flex Component explorer as an AIR application and Eclipse plugin.

Just thinking I’d have preferred that the System Chrome was used in the AIR app to provide the min/max/close buttons rather than those alien windows style icons on the wrong side of the window. Mac user me!

Really haven’t spent enough time ‘finenessing’ Flex based UIs recently, so especially looking forward to a something of a fast-track on Flex Effects in Tink’s presentation.

Always good to hear how others work with their clients too in the “ActionScript in Commercial Environment”session.

Full details: London Flash Platform User Group 25th Sept 2008

When researching ActionScript libraries to include in a project, it is tempting to simply look to see that it has an open-source license and just use it. However closer reading may often reveal that the license burdens the developer with responsibilities which may make use of the code irreconcilable with the project requirements. Grant Skinner has published a valuable plain English summary and comparison of the common source code licenses. My take from it, is that if the source you are hoping to use is published with any license other than MIT, chances are you are not going to like some of the license conditions and you certainly need to research them.