Axiis : Data Visualization framework

Axiis is an open source data visualization framework based on Degrafa and Flex 3.

Axiis google code : http://code.google.com/p/axiis/
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Flexcover - Flex code coverage tool

Flexcover http://code.google.com/p/flexcover/ is a code coverage tool for Flex, Air and AS3.

Download Flexcover : http://code.google.com/p/flexcover/downloads/list

Learn how the modified sdk works : http://code.google.com/p/flexcover-sdk/wiki/HowFlexcoverWorks

Blackberry DevCon Asia in Singapore

Blackberry Devcon Asia , originally scheduled to happen in Bangkok, Thailand has been relocated to Singapore .

Special offers include a 16GB BlackBerry® PlayBook™ tablet as well as a free copy of Adobe® Flash® Builder® 4.5 Premium for all attendees http://www.blackberrydevcon.com/asia/registration/special-offers.

Sessions catalogue : https://devcon.blackberryconferences.net/asia2011/scheduler/newCatalog.do

fxSpy : inspect properties and styles of visual flex 3 components

fxSpy allows you to inspect and dynamically change properties and style of flex 3 display components.

Download fxSpy from http://code.google.com/p/fxspy/downloads/list

Installation instructions can be found at http://code.google.com/p/fxspy/wiki/InstallationInstructions

Kalileo: Flex data visualization component from Kap IT

Kap Lab has released version 2.0 of its data visualization component. Kalileo is compatible with Flex sdk 3.5 onwards and is available as a community edition in addition to the licensed versions. Learn more about Kalileo at http://lab.kapit.fr/display/kalileo/Kalileo

Kap IT has also packaged all its reporting components under the Kolbert reporting package. Of particular interest to me was the Elastic Search inspired by Moritz Stefaner's work on elastic lists .

ReflexUtil : Flex debug Utility

ReflexUtil is an open source utility that allows a developer to debug and alter properties of components in a flex application during runtime.

Adobe Labs - ActionScript Code Coverage Plug-in for Flash Builder

ActionScript Code Coverage Plug-in for Flash Builder , now in its prerelease version, is a tool that enables Flex developers identify which portions of code are executed (and which parts are not) while an application is executing.

Download ActionScript Code Coverage Plug-in for Flash Builder from http://labs.adobe.com/downloads/ascode_coverage.html

Documentation for this tool can be found at http://labs.adobe.com/wiki/index.php/ActionScript_Code_Coverage:Using

Flash and Flex Developer's Magazine - Download online edition

Flash and Flex Developer's Magazine November 2009 Online issue is available for free download.

Download : http://ffdmag.com/download-6-2009

Applying TextFormat in AS3

Let’s say you wanted to apply a TextFormat to a TextField with the setTextFormat method and you script the following code in AS3

var t:TextField=new TextField();
var tf:TextFormat=new TextFormat();
tf.font="Verdana";
tf.size=24;
tf.bold=true;
tf.color=0xff0000;
t.width=160;
t.setTextFormat(tf);
t.text="test text";

To your surprise, the resultant text does not get the textFormat you applied. The result is




Do not panic. Just swap the last two lines of code like below.

var t:TextField=new TextField();
var tf:TextFormat=new TextFormat();
tf.font="Verdana";
tf.size=24;
tf.bold=true;
tf.color=0xff0000;
t.width=160;
t.text="test text";
t.setTextFormat(tf);

And everything’s fine.




If you were to set the text once again with, say, t.text=”Another text”, you should apply the desired TextFormat once again with the SetTextFormat method. This is because every time you set the ‘text’ property of a TextField, it is the DefaultTextFormat which will be applied.

In fact if you were doing quite a bit of text handling, you are better off setting the DefaultTextFormat of the TextField with the following code

t.defaultTextFormat=tf;

Social : service on Adobe Labs

Social is a service that lets you integrate social networks in your Flash and Flex applications. It provides a single unified abstraction layer for multiple social network APIs. The service is powered by Gigya , makers of the Gigya Socialize Technology. There are settings to configure and integrate Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and Yahoo apps and support for OpenID with a promise to add more in future.

Download: http://labs.adobe.com/downloads/social.html

Developer’s guide: http://help.adobe.com/en_US/FPS/Social/1.0/WS58a04a822e3e5010514cd17d123be4341a6-8000.html

API reference : http://help.adobe.com/en_US/FPS/Social/1.0/WS58a04a822e3e5010-1012c7a1123be457886-8000.html

Examples :
Flash AS3 : http://help.adobe.com/en_US/FPS/Social/1.0/WSc4727564e6331f43-290356a4123e910c0ce-8000.html
Flex AS3 : http://help.adobe.com/en_US/FPS/Social/1.0/WSc4727564e6331f431836d7512408233f6d-7fff.html

Degrafa : open source declarative graphics framework

Degrafa www.degrafa.org is an open source declarative framework for flex 2 and 3.

The need to write actionscript code (using the Drawing API) in order to draw visual elements on screen is highly minimised as you can do similar things with mxml declarations when using Degarafa framework.

Degrafa also facilitates data binding in these visual elements making it easy to produce visuals that change based on dynamic data.

Download: http://www.degrafa.org/code/
Samples : http://www.degrafa.org/samples/
Blog : http://www.degrafa.org/blog/

Flex 4 will have similar features with the use of MXML 2009 / FXG but if you are stuck with Flex 3, Degrafa makes your life a lot easier.

Show Hand Cursor on Flash AS3 Sprite , MovieClip

To show Hand Cursor on a Flash MovieClip or Sprite that listens for MouseOver events, add the following code:

mClip.buttonMode=true;

where mClip is the Sprite or MovieClip that listens for MouseOver events.
If mClip contains a TextField within it, add this line :

mClip.mouseChildren=false;

To try out the example code below, copy and paste the code in your Flash IDE.

var mc:Sprite=new Sprite();
mc.graphics.beginFill(0xffff00,1);
mc.graphics.drawRect(0,0,100,30);
mc.graphics.endFill();
var t:TextField=new TextField();
t.text="Text inside Sprite";
mc.addChild(t);
mc.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_OVER,Over);
mc.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_OUT,Out);
addChild(mc);
mc.x=100;
mc.y=100;
mc.buttonMode=true;
// mc.mouseChildren=false; // Uncomment this line to display HandCursor
function Over(e:MouseEvent):void
{
//handle event
}
function Out(e:MouseEvent):void
{
//handle event
}

Squiggly - spell checking engine for Adobe Flash player and Adobe AIR

Squiggly (preview release) is a spell checking engine for Adobe Flash player and Adobe AIR.

Currently, this technology preview release of Squiggly can only be used with an English dictionary.

The package, which can be downloaded at labs.adobe.com/downloads/squiggly.html, has a few Flex samples and a dictionary based on an open source word-list from wordlist.sourceforge.net to get you started.

Deep linking in Flex

A Deep link can be loosely defined as a link to a web page other than the main or home page of a web site. Jakob Nielsen, one of the foremost gurus on web usability has said 'Deep Linking is Good Linking'. He also points out when it is good to avoid deep linking.

Flex applications do not work like traditional web applications. Navigating to different states/views of a Flex application happens internally and does not open a new URL. In fact, opening a new URL (a new page load) would mean losing the state of the application. Working within a single URL poses problems in enabling common web page features like bookmarking and back-forward navigation.

To implement these features, the different states / views of a Flex application are represented using real or pseudo named anchors. For instance, if the main page is www.mywebsite.com, a view that represents the customers information would be www.mywebsite.com/#customers or www.mywebsite.com/#/customers . Anything after the # is called a URL fragment. These fragments are used in the two way communication between the browser and the flex application - the Flex application informs the browser of a change or user interaction so the browser can update the URL to reflect this action and the browser informs the Flex application of a change in the URL so that the application updates its state to reflect the change. All this happens without a page reload.

This kind of deep linking in Flex is implemented in various ways.

Flex 3.0 itself implements deep linking using the BrowserManager and URLUtil classes. The BrowserManager class provides methods for setting the browser page title, setting and getting URL fragments and listens for change events in the web page URL. The URLUtil class provides methods for processing fragments – to convert the name-value anchor information into objects or strings as necessary. Read more about these features in this article titled Flex 3: Feature Introductions: Deep Linking. Some limitations in this implementation are that the application has be initialised before you can pass any URL fragment references to it and BrowserManager is not yet supported and tested for all browsers.

A more popular implementation of deep linking for Flash and Flex is with SWFAddress. It is a lightweight javascript library that provides deep linking features when used with SWFObject. Visit www.asual.com/swfaddress/ to know more about SWFAddress . The resources section at www.asual.com/swfaddress/resources/ together with samples and documentation provide a wealth of information on how to implement deep linking with SWFAddress.

URLKit is another implementation of deep linking for Flex. It was written by Joe Berkovitz and Todd Rein of Adobe. David Tucker explains the functioning of URLKit in detail with this excellent article: Advanced Flex Deep Linking with URLKit. You can also find documentation for URLKit at www.davidtucker.net/docs/urlkit/ .

Google AS3 API

This AS3 Library for Google API from Labs.boulevart provides an interface for Google's AJAX API.

Here's a simple application that visualizes a Google web search. Only the top 8 results have been used but this can be customized to provide more options.

Ribbit Platform

The Ribbit Platform is multi-protocol, open platform that supports rich voice innovation and integration.

It has flexible API support for Flex, Flash, REST, PHP, and other programming environments.

Ribbit platform has a Flash Toolkit as well as a Flex SDK

VizualPV3D

VizualPV3D is a GUI interface to create and manipulate objects in 3D scenes using Papervision3D.

The current version is a public release alpha.

VizualPV3D web site : www.juxtinteractive.com/work/vizualpv3d/

Free Online edition of Flash & Flex Developer's Magazine

Sign up for the free newsletter of FFDMag (www.ffdmag.com) and get the first online edition of the magazine free. You can also download the back issues for free.

3D Tic Tac Toe

A very simple Tic Tac Toe engine ... you need to try very hard to lose.

Used papervision3d for the cubes.

Flickr, Flex and PV3D!

Flickr photos displayed using Flex SDK , FlashDevelop 3 and Papervision3D.

Uses the following libraries
AS3 Flickr API from Adobe Labs - http://code.google.com/p/as3flickrlib/

as3corelib - http://code.google.com/p/as3corelib/

and Caurina Tweener - http://code.google.com/p/tweener/

Takes a while to load ...

Mouseover the cubes to interact ... click to enlarge the cube ...

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