creacog

I’ve just been trying to delete a node and all its descendants from an XML object selected on the value of an attribute. Having read the “ECMAScript for XML (E4X) Specification” (PDF) as linked to from the Flex documentation I expected to be able to write the following…

delete theXMLObject..*.(@id=="theIDtoDelete");

however the above code will generate the following Flash Player runtime error…

TypeError: Error #1119: Delete operator is not supported with operand of type XMLList

The solution is simple if not obvious. The above code should be rewritten to ensure a single node is returned rather than a list…

delete theXMLObject..*.(@id=="theIDtoDelete")[0];

Distilled from this actionscript.org thread.

The authors of SWFObject and UFO have been working hard on a new version released yesterday as SWFObject 2.0. The project is now on googlecode. Geoff’s announcement is here.

As stated in my earlier posts I consider use of SWFObject to be best practice for embedding SWFs in web pages.

The dark bit of sky in this blog’s header contains a simple SWF generated from pure AS3 that uses the Twitter API to collect and display my history of twitter messages. Unfortunately there is now a cross-domain policy file preventing any SWF other than those hosted actually from the twitter.com domain from accessing the feed. Apparently due to a security issue. The current suggested work-around is for me to write a proxy php script to sit on my own server to relay the feed request. Which I might do if I can be arsed, but I’m feeling grumpy today so I’m more likely to abandon Twitter all together - not that I ever over used it.

Twitter development talk on google groups has a thread that reveals some of the thinking going into solving the issue.

A busy few weeks starting tonight:

1. [Thurs 21-Feb-2008] LFPUG - Thermo Special presentation from Adobe
2. [Mon 25-Feb-2008] Adobe sponsored Pokercoder Tournament II  - you need to be a professional user of Adobe products to join in
3. [Thurs 28-Feb-2008] LFPUG - presentations on ‘Successful Flash Games’ and ‘Practical Particle Effects with Flint’
4. [Wed 5th March] FLUG - Beer, presentations and chat about Flex

Again it looks like a couple of really interesting subjects on 31 Jan:

• PureMVC
• The 3rd Way: Handling 3D on the Web

More information is on the LFPUG site

I looked at using PureMVC previously for a simple tennis game, but left it aside in favour of building MVCish classes independent of any ‘framework’. I look forward to seeing if this decision saved or cost me time.

I haven’t got around to the obligatory 3D stuff yet. Personally I’ve always found it a bit of a red-herring, and one where the cost:benefit often falls short. So I’ll be particularly interested in seeing examples of good use.

I expect Ted’s “Player 9 installs” counter is going to go nuts.

The final release of Flash  Player 9 update 3 is released (previously code-named MovieStar) enabling H.264 support for Windows, Macintosh and Linux platforms from www.adobe.com/go/getflashplayer.

•  The Adobe press release
• Tinic Uro’s blog including a list of fixes since the previous release candidate

The makers of StarCraft need have no fear, but I finally got around to implementing my first Flash based game. A simple retro tennis style game, built as a brand building exercise and integrated by my client into a Facebook application.

This was a fun project to work on and programme. To initially build a pure AS3 application, and to later integrate that with Flash CS3 when the real graphics were ready.

It was also an exercise in use of MVC. Since we did not use PureMVC nor any other other framework, using this pattern loaded the initial development with some seemingly onerous complexity. However the time invested later paid off in allowing easy adaptation of that game engine to the various graphics and controllers tried through testing.

Some links:

• New ‘work’ case-study added to my corporate site
• Exponetic - my client on the project
• CVL - Exponetic’s client on the project
• Add the CVL-Tennis application to your Facebook profile

After a number of years of content-neglect, and problems of client confidentiality, I’ve finally got around to posting up a case-study covering some simple Flash based work samples. (Note: work samples, not code samples). Flash platform case-studies will be being posted more regularly here on in. But kicking off now with three bespoke user-interface elements : A special accordion, a minimal bouncing menu and a HTMLtext text builder.

The user-interface elements presented may not set the artistic Flash world on fire, but each represent very specific design solutions. They were also interesting and fun to programme.

Bespoke user-interface elements.

I’ve just been driven up the wall trying to find the Gradient Transform tool. Most of my work in the IDE is arranging libraries of assets supplied by others, for coding. So for drawing I am a newbie.

I needed to make my own block with a gradient. I knew there was a tool for modifying one once created, but I couldn’t see it in the tool panel, I couldn’t find an option for it in the Modify menu, and the Help page simply referred to it in the Tools panel.

I eventually found it hidden behind the Free Transform tool : you have to click-hold Free Transform to reveal the Gradient Tool. I still haven’t found it in the menu hierarchy. I have posted comment to livedocs, but thought it worth posting here in the meantime.

I have a small AS3 project where I need to keep the SWF quite small. I really want to use the Flex Builder environment to do the coding, and ultimately produce a target or targets suitable for inclusion both in Flash and/or Flex projects.

Two very helpful posts of the last couple of days with respect to setting up a suitable environment:

• Using Flex Builder for Flash CS3 Code Editing. With some useful comments. (Ted on Flex)
• How to use Flash CS3′S V3 components in Flex Builder (Moock blog)