Rob Gonda's Blog - Flash/ActionScript

Multitouch Screen Using Flash +1 Adobe -1 Microsoft

Fri, 09 Jan 2009 15:57:00 -0400

Adobe Flash is getting more and more popular as the platform to develop multi-touch applications on.

Check out a post at http://www.multitouch.nl/?p=216 regarding a Summit that will be organized between Natural User Interface and Adobe in 2009 with the main focus on development of multi-touch solutions on Adobe’s Flash platform.

In case you haven’t seen my post on our NUI Group community website regarding that event, please have a look here: http://nuigroup.com/forums/viewthread/3582/

This video was made as a proof of concept of Flash applications running on the tracker of NUI Suite Snowflake.

Spring Actionscript: IoC Framework based on Spring

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 14:23:00 -0400

The extension is written in ActionScript 3 and is targeted at Flex, AIR and Flash developers. The IoC container and its XML dialect is heavily influenced by that of Spring so it should be easy for developers familiar with Spring to get started with it.

Spring ActionScript contains the following features:

* Inversion of Control container - XML driven, based on Spring
* Reflection API - providing a decent API around describeType()
* Cairngorm extensions - configurable Service Locator, extended Front Controller with command factories, Command chaining, …
* PureMVC extensions - bringing Dependency Injection to PureMVC
* several utilities, assertions, etc

They're also working on the following features, all of which are in an experimental phase:
* MVCS support - providing an architectural framework based on Model-View-Controller-Service
* Domain Driven Design utilities - base classes for entities, value objects, enums, repositories and services
* SqlLite database templates
* Aspect Oriented Programming

http://www.springsource.org/extensions/se-springactionscript-as

Flash Player 10 Release Candidate Now Available

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 09:52:00 -0400

A release candidate of Adobe Flash Player 10, code named "Astro" is now available for download on Adobe Labs. Once you download it make sure to visit this page and try the new 3d engine, it's AMAZING!

SWF Object 2.1 Flex Template

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 00:36:00 -0400

SWF Object is an amazing script for wrapping their swf into a HTML page. For those of you using it (and you should), Oleg built a nice SWF Object template now updated for version 2.1 with supports HistoryManager and DeepLinking.

SWFObject 2.1 now available

Mon, 07 Jul 2008 09:00:00 -0400

`You can download SWFObject 2.1 from the SWFObject 2 home or downloads pages.

SWFObject 2.1 addresses the following issues:

Memory leaks in Internet Explorer. There were 2 categories of memory leaks: small ones caused by the library’s structure (use of closures) and use of events, and big leakage that was related to dynamic publishing and Adobe’s External Interface (note: also available in SWFObject 1.5)
Internet Explorer 5.0/5.5 support issues
Script errors in Internet Explorer in case an object element is removed during a visit
Alternative content display issues for Safari 3+ with plug-ins disabled
Removal of isDomLoaded tests from various methods of the public API to enable that dynamically inserted scripts - including bookmarklets - can use these functions
Dynamic publishing could previously fire multiple instances of Adobe Express Install
Fixed dynamic publishing reference issues when using a shared param or attributes JavaScript Object

It contains the following enhancements:

New explicit SWF removal code - especially needed to completely and safely remove a SWF in Internet Explorer - via the new swfobject.removeSWF(idString)
Shortened Flash version strings can be used, so "9.0.0" can now be written as "9"
For dynamic publishing now 0, null, false or {} can be used when no flashvars, parameters or attributes have to be defined (previously you could only use false or {})
Added a filter to the swfobject.getQueryParamValue method to secure the library from XSS attacks (Geoff will publish a more detailed security advisory soon)

ColdBox Beta 2: Flex/AIR Integration comments

Tue, 30 Oct 2007 23:35:00 -0400

When I first read Luis's entry on ColdBox Beta 2: Flex/AIR Integration this is pretty much that immediately went through my head ...

Gotta be honest: at first I didn't buy into it... You have to be careful on separating your logical layers... if ColdBox is a front-controller, why would a Rich Front End talk to it? It should talk to your Service Layer... and your Service Layer doesn't need ColdBox ...

However, after talking to Luis I discovered, what if, what if you make ColdBox become your enhanced service layer manager? What if your ColdBox Handlers become part of your Service Layer API? What do we have? We have a Service Layer with built-in environmental settings, logging, error handling, event interception and chaining, you name it ... Now it all makes sense...

This is good; real good ... perhaps you'll see a full 60 or 90 minutes presentation on this at CFUnited or CF.Objective() 2008.

Keep it up.

Papervision3D 1.5 (AS3) Official Release

Sun, 22 Jul 2007 08:59:00 -0400

Papervision3D 1.5 (AS3) Official Release. This version of the engine has seen a 40%+ increase in speed! The API didn’t change a bit, and they added some new features like culling and InteractiveScene3D with Interactive materials.

Here are some of the significant changes:

Optimized main render loop.
Implemented ‘plugable’ face culler - 1 extra available at this time.
Moved rendering from Face3D to materials, adjusted all current materials to override drawFace3D().
New Materials : BitmapWire, BitmapColor, and CompositeMaterial (add multiple materials to this one single material).
Moved all instances to their respective classes…fixed stars, vertices and DisplayObject3D to do so.
Face normals are implemented.
BitmapFileMaterial bug fixed - if used more than once, bitmap was displayed flat within the model’s body.
Added progress events to BitmapFileMaterial and Collada objects
Integrated InteractiveScene3D to 1.5
Added Interactive materials for use with InteractiveScene3D - makes displayObjects that use an interactive material dispatch mouse events via InteractiveSceneManager.

Download Papervision3D 1.5 or sync up the the source control repo.

Papervision3d Public Beta

Tue, 10 Jul 2007 20:34:00 -0400

Papervision3D moves from private testing to a full public beta. It's very easy to use and to integrate into your Flash 8, Flash CS3 and Flex projects.

It is released under the MIT Open Source license, which means it is absolutely free for any commercial use.

Source code
The project is now hosted in Google Code, where you will find all the downloads, the very latest source code via Subversion, issue tracking and project workspace. Existing users must use this new svn address.

API
Here is the documentation of the AS3 public classes and methods. It is also included in the source code download, along with examples to get you up and running right away.

Wiki
If you are not sure, this is the place to begin. Includes many examples, tutorials and tips, plus our Getting Started FAQ with detailed download and installation instructions.

Discussion
If you have any questions, you can subscribe to our OSFlash mailing list or access it via our Nabble forum.

This reel is a little review of what we have seen so far. The Papervision3D team can’t wait to see what you’ll do with it next. [source]

RIA traffic debugging

Tue, 10 Jul 2007 00:57:00 -0400

Quick note on debugging a Rich Internet Application. As you probably know, RIAs usually don't refresh and communicate to the server in the background. You can't easily see the traffic, so I usually recommend using Firebug for Firefox, Live HTTP Headers, Fiddler, and my recommendation, Service Capture.... Well, there's a new kid on the block ... not so new perhaps, but I just finally tried it and I'm loving it. Charles is another http/amf monitoring application with many more capabilities than service capture ... actually, forget about the capabilities, the fact that I can open it with Firefox with no problems should be enough ... but if that's not enough, you can see the traffic is a structured view instead of sequential, which allows you to see the requests by domain, then folder, then file, and it even groups all the flash remoting calls together ... it's a beautiful thing. In addition it does have more capabilities such as seeing cookies, request / response sizes, mirror responses to disk, analyze cache, bandwidth throttle, spoof dns, and port forwarding. I'm very impressed.

FileReference onComplete is not fired on Mac OS

Tue, 10 Jul 2007 00:21:00 -0400

We are launching tomorrow a project that requires Flash to upload a file to a server, which is usually done through the FireReference class... Strangely, it works everywhere except on a Mac OS. We tested on OSX with Firefox and Safari, getting identical results: the file would upload, but the onComplete call would never get triggered.

The server environment for this particular project was php4 and amfphp for all remoting calls. After reading a couple of blogs, it seems like there's a Flash-side solution by using uploadCompleteData, which only works with ActionScript 3. Our project was developed with ActionScript 2, so I kept looking. Then I found that if php (or any server-side language) returns a space it should work ... nothing yet .... then I found that someone got it to work returning a "1", and indeed, echo "1"; fixed it for all environments... finally working on Windows, IE, FF, Mac, FF, Safari ...

So now you know, if you use the Flash FileReference class, make sure to always return a string so Mac OS knows the file finished uploading.

Flash openings in Florida

Thu, 17 May 2007 22:55:00 -0400

We’re looking for someone who eats, sleeps, and breaths Flash ActionScript.

iChameleon Group offers an incredible career building full-time position working with notable National + International companies. Some of our client projects include Mini-Cooper, EarthLink, Slim Jim, De Beer’s, Bridgestone, and Coke. Our fast growing company develops various exciting, innovative, and high profile websites and applications fusing media, video, audio and Flash.

We strongly suggest viewing our portfolio at www.ichameleongroup.com to understand the quality of work.

We are a fun, eccentric, hardworking, creative group in a business casual environment.  We are looking for a dynamic, motivated team player who will enjoy working in a fast-paced, deadline driven, ever changing development and solution-based environment.

Requirements, skills + abilities:

     Team Player
     Self Starter
     Interactive site development experience
     3+ years of experience
     Flash MX 2004 / Flash 8 / CS3
     ActionScript 1.0 / 2.0 / 3.0, XML
     Strong Motion Graphics
     Ability to create animation via ActionScript as well as the traditional timeline.
     Knowledge of Flash Components
     Experience with Flash Remoting
     PC fluent (Mac A Plus)
     Solid communications skills (written and verbal)
     Outgoing, Energetic Personality
     Good Organizational Skills
     Detail oriented, strong follow-up skills and ability to work on multiple projects.

Additional bonus skills:

     Flash Communication Server
     Photoshop
     Illustrator
     Dreamweaver MX 2004
     HTML
     CSS
     Experience in producing games and game interfaces.
     ColdFusion, ASP, PHP, PERL, or any other web language.
     After Effects
     Final Cut
     Ability to levitate things with your mind.

Want to come join our team? Submit your resume and cover letter, including salary history, to hr@ichameleongroup.com

Flex Module to Replace Flash Forms

Mon, 16 Apr 2007 23:00:00 -0400

I am curious why no one has posted any articles on the IIS/Apache Flex Modules... Adobe made available on labs a plugin to compile Flex code server-side, just like Flex 1.5 did... with that said, it's probably simpler to write Flex than Flash Forms, and by far more powerful... so why haven't we seen any ColdFusion / Flex Module examples? Performance? I haven't tried it yet (guilty as charged), but I will put together a few examples to prove my theory... yes, they say it's not for production use, or at least they won't support it .. but if it works w/o a bug performance hit, can you imagine the possibilities? Maybe a cf-wrapper, a custom tag that already includes some of the higher level code allowing you to replace your old-slow-pain-in-you-cheeks flash forms? Who's with me?

Test all Flash Players

Sun, 29 Oct 2006 09:41:00 -0400

Don't you hate to only have one version of the Flash Player installed? I've been wanting a tool that allows me to switch to any version I want for the longest time... Alessandro Crugnola wrote a small little extensions for Firefox that allows you to quickly swap the Flash version installed, amazing! The icon resides in your firefox taskbar and allows you to switch back and forth over and over... It is not even restricted to the versions that come with the extension, he explains how to add additional versions too.

Alessandro Crugnola by the way is the same dude that wrote the Flash tracer plugin, he's on a role!

Server Mechanic Flash Game

Sun, 22 Oct 2006 11:11:00 -0400

If you're a sysadmin or have every been one, you've got to play this game! Server Mechanic is a flash game about a man and a stubborn server that just won't start. You can play a 1-Player version against time and competing to win free hosting packages, x-box 360's, and a 42' plasma TV, or a 2-Player version to compete in real time against other visitors.

Behind the scenes, the server mechanic is using a ColdFusion MX7 Server and Flash Communication Server 1.5 for the 2-Player game.

RIAForge is alive: new open source projects home

Wed, 18 Oct 2006 22:18:00 -0400

Ben Forta, Ray Camden, myself, and others have been working on a secret project for the past few months. Well, it is secret no more ... Welcome to RIAForge.

RIAForge is a place to host open source projects built with Adobe technologies - from ColdFusion applications to Photoshop plug-ins to Flex components and more. And of course the site is built using those same technologies.

RIAForge features:

A unique project URL
File hosting
Bug tracking
Forums
Blogging
Basic stats
Subversion access
... and more

This is not an official Adobe project, although the site is Adobe supported. Ray Camden did the primary development work with a lot of help and support from others, including Brian Rinaldi and myself. Most of the project was written in Model-Glue, and Ray added portions of his existing projects like Lighthouse, Galleon, and blogCFC.
I wrote the SVN support and I'll post it tonight as an open source project.

Let us know what you think!