Almer/Blank Labs » Flex

Illustrator CS5 to Flex4, so simple.

Omar Gonzalez — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 18:05:11 +0000

While I was doing some work this morning on a Flex4 application I found a pretty neat way of integrating Illustrator CS5 assets into Flex 4 with relative ease using FXG 2.0. I haven't tested this method using other versions of FXG, but using 2.0 works great.

For my example, I used the tiger SVG file that I always see in SVG posts to create some vector art in Illustrator. After opening the SVG I simply saved it as an FXG 2.0 file using the Save As menu. In the FXG options I just used the default options.

After saving the FXG file, I placed the file in my src folders in a Flex 4 project in Flash Builder 4. I made a skins package to drop the file in.

Once you drop your FXG file into your project, using the file is a breeze. Just write the tag in!

It really is as simple as that. Using this method you can use these FXG files very easily in any of your Spark skins. Here's the rendered FXG:

Once you have your fxg graphics rendering, you can manipulate the object using width, height, alpha, etc and the graphics will scale as you'd expect from vector graphics.

Download Flash Builder 4 project file here: Example Source

Flash 10.1 API Updates

Nolan Butcher — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 18:47:47 +0000

I've compiled a quick reference list of all the new classes in the Flash 10.1 API. Some look to be very useful, while others seem to be internal classes that aren't going to be any use for developers.

— NEW CLASSES —

AAAARecord
Accelerometer
AccelerometerEvent
AnimatorFactoryUniversal
AnimatorUniversal
ApplyElementIDOperation
ApplyElementStyleNameOperation
ApplyElementUserStyleOperation
ApplyFormatOperation
ApplyFormatToElementOperation
ApplyLinkOperation
ApplyTCYOperation
ARecord
BackgroundColor
BaselineOffset
BaselineShift
BlockProgression
BreakElement
CameraRoll
CertificateStatus
CharacterUtil
ClearFormatOnElementOperation
ClearFormatOperation
Collator
CollatorMode
ColumnState
CompositeOperation
CompositionAttributeRange
CompositionCompleteEvent
Configuration
ContainerController
ContainerFormattedElement
ConversionType
CopyOperation
CurrencyFormatter
CurrencyParseResult
CutOperation
DamageEvent
DatagramSocket
DatagramSocketDataEvent
DateTimeFormatter
DateTimeNameContext
DateTimeNameStyle
DateTimeStyle
DeleteTextOperation
Direction
DivElement
DNSResolver
DNSResolverEvent
EditingMode
EditManager
ElementRange
FlowComposerBase
FlowDamageType
FlowElement
FlowElementMouseEvent
FlowElementOperation
FlowGroupElement
FlowLeafElement
FlowOperation
FlowOperationEvent
FlowTextOperation
FormatValue
Geolocation
GeolocationEvent
GestureEvent
GesturePhase
GlobalSettings
GroupSpecifier
HTMLSWFCapability
InlineGraphicElement
InlineGraphicElementStatus
InsertInlineGraphicOperation
InsertTextOperation
InterfaceAddress
IPVersion
JustificationRule
KeyboardType
LastOperationStatus
LeadingModel
LineBreak
LinkElement
LinkState
LoadVoucherSetting
LocaleID
ModifyInlineGraphicOperation
Multitouch
MultitouchInputMode
MXRecord
NationalDigitsType
NativeProcess
NativeProcessExitEvent
NativeProcessStartupInfo
NavigationUtil
NetGroup
NetGroupInfo
NetGroupReceiveMode
NetGroupReplicationStrategy
NetGroupSendMode
NetGroupSendResult
NetStreamAppendBytesAction
NetStreamMulticastInfo
NetworkInfo
NetworkInterface
NumberFormatter
NumberParseResult
OverflowPolicy
PaperSize
ParagraphElement
ParagraphFormattedElement
PasteOperation
PlainTextExporter
PressAndTapGestureEvent
PrintMethod
PrintUIOptions
PTRRecord
RedoOperation
ResourceRecord
RSLErrorEvent
RSLEvent
RSLInfo
RSLPreloader
SecureSocket
SecureSocketMonitor
SelectionEvent
SelectionFormat
SelectionManager
SelectionState
ServerSocket
ServerSocketConnectEvent
SpanElement
SpecialCharacterElement
SplitParagraphOperation
SRVRecord
StageAspectRatio
StageOrientation
StageOrientationEvent
StandardFlowComposer
StatusChangeEvent
StorageVolume
StorageVolumeChangeEvent
StorageVolumeInfo
StringTextLineFactory
StringTools
SubParagraphGroupElement
SWZInfo
SystemIdleMode
SystemUpdater
SystemUpdaterType
TabElement
TabStopFormat
TCYElement
TextAlign
TextClipboard
TextContainerManager
TextConverter
TextDecoration
TextFlow
TextFlowLine
TextFlowLineLocation
TextFlowTextLineFactory
TextJustify
TextLayoutEvent
TextLayoutFormat
TextLineFactoryBase
TextLineRecycler
TextRange
TextScrap
TLFTextField
TLFTypographicCase
TouchEvent
TouchscreenType
TransformGestureEvent
TruncationOptions
UncaughtErrorEvent
UncaughtErrorEvents
UndoManager
UndoOperation
UpdateCompleteEvent
URLFilePromise
VerticalAlign
VoucherAccessInfo
WhiteSpaceCollapse

— NEW INTERFACES —

IConfiguration
IEditManager
IFilePromise
IFlowComposer
IFormatResolver
IIMEClient
IInteractionEventHandler
IOperation
ISandboxSupport
ISearchableText
ISelectionManager
ISimpleTextSelection
ISWFContext
ITabStopFormat
ITextExporter
ITextImporter
ITextLayoutFormat
ITextLineCreator
IUndoManager
IVerticalJustificationLine

I'm planning on putting together some code examples over the next few weeks that cover some of the more interesting packages. Let me know if you have a request, and I'll gladly make an effort to include them…

ZamfBrowser 1.2 and ZendAmfServiceBrowser Update

Omar Gonzalez — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 21:58:42 +0000

Over the weekend I updated both the ZamfBrowser application and the ZendAmfServiceBrowser class that gives the ZamfBrowser information about your ZendAMF services set up. The ZendAmfServiceBrowser class now supports using the Zend_Amf_Server->addDirectory() method. I also integrated some optimization suggestions submitted by Marijn Huizendveld. Thanks for your contributions Marijn! ZamfBrowser got updates to fix all the currently reported bugs. You can get more info about what exactly was updated, as well as download the source, at http://zamfbrowser.riaforge.com. Info on the ZendAmfServiceBrowser class update can be found at http://www.zamfbrowser.org

If you have suggestions for enhancements or more bug fixes please do report them at http://zamfbrowser.riaforge.com If you don't want to sign up for RIAForge just send me an email to omar@almerblank.com, I'd really like to hear your suggestions and bug reports!

ZamfBrowser 1.1

Omar Gonzalez — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 22:50:21 +0000

Just posted an update to ZamfBrowser. ZamfBrowser can now generate code for use in either Flash or Flex based projects. Simply point ZamfBrowser to the source path folder where your code is, the "com" folder. Then enter the package you would like the services in, for example "com.project.services". ZamfBrowser will create a methods package and a classes package within the services package you specify. The classes in the "classes" package reflect the AMF services on the backend. Service calls can also be made by starting a method object by itself from the classes in the "methods" package. The Flex package uses the same class that ZamfBrowser uses to unit test methods. The Flash package has been lightly tested. As bugs come up please post them to the site http://zamfbrowser.riaforge.org Usage examples will follow soon at http://labs.almerblank.com