Flash Voodoo

Add Events to Interfaces

2010-05-10T20:36:00.002-04:00

Using the Event tag allows you to have events in Interfaces. With intellisense it will show a list of valid events when a method expects an event as a parameter, like the EventDispatcher::addEventListener method. They have to map exactly to each other. [Event(name = "concrete string representation of event", type = "namespace to class with concrete instantiation")] Comments in the interface

Reparent AVM1 content in AVM2 (AS3) content.

2010-04-16T16:14:00.001-04:00

For whatever reason you need to reparent loaded AVM1 content to another part of the display list and you don't want to keep the loader as the parent. One would have to save the content first from the LoaderInfo instance then use the LoaderInfo loader member to unload the loaded content. You will then be allowed to reparent the saved content elsewhere. But be warned if you try to reparent it

CS4 Class Paths

2010-04-08T16:21:00.001-04:00

For reference: C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Adobe Flash CS4\Common\Configuration\Component Source\ActionScript 3.0\User Interface C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Adobe Flash CS4\Common\First Run\Classes C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Adobe Flash CS4\Common\Configuration\ActionScript 3.0\projects\Flash\src

Execute Javascript in AS3 without it being on the host page...

2010-03-02T12:09:00.005-05:00

One can have internal javascript functionality from within their SWF. We are passing the JS function to the browser to execute it. For this to work on the most popular browsers the object tag in HTML must have "allowscriptaccess='always'" and the object tag must have an id attribute in HTML for IE to work. And of course Javascript must be enabled for the browser to interpet and execute the

Beware of browser zoom and SWF dimensions...

2009-12-05T17:54:00.008-05:00

The browser feature to zoom web pages in and out, causes the dimensions of the hosted SWF to be modified. For example; the object tag might state 640x480 and at 100% those are the values you will get. If a user zooms at 125% those values will change to 800x600. CODE / HTML StageScaleMode.NO_SCALE / scale: "noscale" this.stage.stageWidth x this.stage.stageHeight IE fires an extra StageResize

Font Weight, Style, and Character Ranges

2008-10-22T13:08:00.025-04:00

Valid attribute values for the Embed tag for fonts..nobrtable br { display: none }Attribute NameAttribute ValuesfontStyleitalic | oblique | normalfontWeightbold | heavy | normalunicodeRangeU+0020-U+007EUnicode Ranges, which are just HEX values, can be split up.RangeValuesJust Numbers [0..9]U+0030-U+0039Punctuation, Numbers and SymbolsU+0020-U+0040Upper-Case A-ZU+0041-U+005APunctuation and

Embedding PFM / PFB fonts

2008-08-14T17:37:00.009-04:00

If you embed a PFM you will get this compiler error:"Error: exception during transcoding: Font for alias 'AdLibICG_Font' with plain weight and style was not found at:"That is because PFM is a supporting font file, it does not contain the real data. PFB does.You don't need the PFM font, just embed the PFB font.[Embed(source="../assets/AdLibICG.PFB", fontName="AdLibICG_Font", mimeType="application

Embedding Fonts Bug

2008-08-14T17:28:00.008-04:00

When embedding fonts do not name fontName or fontFamily the filename or the text will not appear if you set TextField::embedFonts to true. The filename is probably the device font name which can only be used if TextField::embedFonts is false.All variations produce the same results:[Embed(source="C:/WINDOWS/fonts/ARIAL.TTF", fontFamily="Arial")][Embed(source="C:/WINDOWS/fonts/ARIAL.TTF", fontName

Fonts Bug

2008-08-14T15:51:00.017-04:00

TextField::defaultTextFormat does not work with TextField::htmlTextvar tf:TextrField = new TextField();var format:TextFormat = new TextFormat("Arial");addChild(tf);Does not work:tf.embedFonts = true;tf.defaultTextFormat = format;tf.htmlText = "Test";Works:tf.embedFonts = true; tf.defaultTextFormat = format; tf.text = "Test";For TextField::htmlText use :tf.setTextFormat(format);

Command Line Debugger Shortcut

2008-08-07T13:41:00.006-04:00

After you type "run" in the "(fdb)" command prompt and executed the SWF file to debug, the debugger will load the SWF code. Typing "info sources" or "info file" will bring a list of source files loaded. See the "#' on filename.as#1, well that is a shortcut to the file. Another way to find files and their number shortcut is to:(fdb) list aWill bring up all functions that begin with the letter "

The Wheel

2008-08-02T14:59:00.008-04:00

Always try to search for existing code, components, and libraries before venturing out to developer land.ComponentsMinimalCompsGreat for prototyping.Yahoo! AstraThey actually have a lot of useful information.LibrariesAS3CoreLibDocumentationContains a lot of useful functionality.AS3CryptoAll crypto, all the time!Alternative Cryptolabs.boulevart.be (A variety of encryption)gsolofp.blogspot.com (MD5

Using Components in Flash Develop

2008-07-31T23:49:00.010-04:00

To use Flash IDE components in Flash Develop:Create a new 'Flash File'Double click on the components you want to use. (Ctrl + F7 to bring up the 'Components' window)Select a component in the 'Library' window and select 'Export to SWC...'Decide on a file name and save itIt does not matter which component you choose, it will all be added to the created SWC. Now just make sure to add it for

Installing Flex 3 and Ant

2008-07-31T09:32:00.015-04:00

Ant install:Unzip "apache-ant-1.7.1-bin.zip"into "C:\Program Files\"Flex 3 SDK install:Unzip "flex_sdk_3.zip" into "C:\Program Files\flex_sdk_3"Copy the "C:\Program Files\flex_sdk_3\ant\lib\flexTasks.jar" into"C:\Program Files\apache-ant-1.7.1\lib\"Access the environment variables:(Windows Key + Pause)Go to the "Advance" tab then the "Environment Variables" button.Create Environment Variables:

Command Line Compiler and Debugger

2008-07-16T16:09:00.004-04:00

Open a command prompt here:C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Flash CS3\en\Configuration\ActionScript 3.0Compilerjava -jar asc_authoring.jar -helpDebugger:java -jar fdb.jarWhich will get you this:(fdb)Then type "help" or "tutorial".Enjoy!More later.

JSFL Command Path

2008-06-26T18:35:00.005-04:00

I have to add JSFL files to this post. Will try to use skyDrive from MS.C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Flash CS3\en\First Run\CommandsC:\Documents and Settings\YOUR_USERNAME\Local Settings\Application Data\Adobe\Flash CS3\en\Configuration\Commands

Default Class Paths

2008-05-29T15:21:00.007-04:00

Auto-completion is nice. The less typing done, the less chance of bugs.Use these paths to point to Adobe's code, so Flash Develop knows where to look.Ctrl + F9 to open up Global Paths.Choose AS3 in the drop down menu.Copy and paste away.C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Flash CS3\en\Configuration\Component Source\ActionScript 3.0\User Interface\C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Flash CS3\en\Configuration\

Getting Strict with Compilation

2008-02-07T00:44:00.002-05:00

Want better runtime warnings?Check out the file "EnabledWarnings.xml".It lives here on a Windows machine:C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Flash CS3\en\Configuration\ActionScript 3.0\I like to enable the first three under this comment:""I wonder if

Errors 5003 & 5005

2008-02-03T15:17:00.015-05:00

I have to add some proof of concept files to this post. Will try to use skyDrive from MS.Error Code 5005Error Code 5003These numbers mean it time to refactor."5003: Unknown error generating bye code.""5005: Unknown error optimizing byte code"They both stem from the same problem. Flash not knowing how to handlean "Out Of Memory" error exception from Java from the (asc_authoring.jar) file. You

Tools

2008-02-02T16:26:00.009-05:00

The developer, in accordance with his aims, uses various tools and knows their characteristics and uses them well. This is the way of the developer.We all know this. So I share the tools I use for compiling, debugging, finding, testing, etc.Freeware Windows Based Tools:DesignFreeMind to map your ideas out.UMLPad to diagram class, state, etc. models.CompilingFlash Develop code editor.Flex SDK

V0.0

2008-02-02T04:14:00.000-05:00

This blog will consist of the adventures I have had developing in Flash CS3 and AS3.