Reflex at 360|Flex

Reflex was finally demoed for the first time at the recent 360|Flex Conference. This new component framework is familiar to the Flex Framework in features and use though it is completely independent. Reflex extends the Flash Player through composition adding a robust layout, skinning, a component suite and an MXML workflow.

Probably the most unique aspect to the design of the Reflex system is a concept called Behaviors. A Behavior defines specific logic or interaction for a component, which is usually made up of several behaviors. As with component skins behaviors may be added and replaced at runtime and will utilize the styling features of the Flash Builder.

Through skinning and changing behavior a component can be completely redressed without extension. Below is an example of a list of data, moon phases and their cycle percentage:
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A Flash Tribute

I tried out the editing features in Camtasia Studio for Mac (top screencasting software) and really liked the process. It was easy to throw together a mix of audio and media and spend a few too many hours tweaking and enjoying the creative flow.

Well, creative is a relative term, see the results:

Viva la Flash!

Flash Layout Engine in Reflex

As a component platform Reflex is built on a foundation of core libraries and utilities. Because of the unique culture of the project most of these solutions are independently useful to the Flash developer. Its layout engine is one of Reflex’s profitable solutions and can structure the visual flow of any member of ActionScript’s display list.

The following demo illustrates one of the default layout algorithms in Reflex, named Dock (notice the minimal use of containers used to achieve the structure). Click and drag to resize:
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Reflex: Rethinking Component Design

So is the title of the upcoming 360|Flex presentation on Reflex, a toolkit for Flash developers that has been in the works. The conference in March will finally mark its début:

With the emergence of so many new technologies it is an exciting time to be a developer. Embracing the spirit of advancement, Reflex was created to extend the Flash Platform with a component toolset worthy of its industry. Reinventing the features of Flex for the creative workflow, Reflex enhances the Flash Player (rather than abstracting it) to meet the demands of next generation applications and devices. Come be among the first to see what Reflex can do and learn about its unique architecture, the details of the project, its goals and its future. (session description)

The presentation will begin at 1:00pm on Tuesday, the 9th of March. Right after lunch. Be sure to come early for a good seat.

Custom Binding Released!

Delivered as promised. It has a smaller memory footprint, a faster clock-speed and, best of all, it’s 100% weak-referenced. Data binding is supposed to be light and unobtrusive. Now you can have the smallest ActionScript 3 binding available, released as a component of the open source Flight Framework.

Flight’s data binding is powerful and simple, consisting of two classes. A Binding object represents a single data source: a source object and a source-path, such as model and "user.userName". Any number of event listeners and object/property pairs can be registered with this single Binding instance, allowing each to update when the data source changes. This class may be useful for special needs, but you usually don’t deal with Binding directly.

The Bind class is the primary interface to Flight binding and is used much like you would use Flex BindingUtils. This class exposes a static API for adding and removing bindings and listeners. It can also be instantiated via MXML for special cases where you need weak-reference binding that curly-brace bindings just don’t support. Here’s an example of usage:

Binding via Static ActionScript API:

// Bind.addBinding(target:Object, targetPath:String, source:Object, sourcePath:String, twoWay:Boolean = false):Boolean
 
Bind.addBinding(this, "userTxt.text", this, "model.user.userName");

Instance binds via MXML:

<!-- constructor: Bind(target:Object = null, targetPath:String = null, source:Object = null, sourcePath:String = null, twoWay:Boolean = false):void -->
 
<flight:bind targetPath="userTxt.text" sourcePath="model.user.userName"/>

Visit the Google Project to download release 0.8.1 or higher.

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Finally! Undo in Flash/Flex TextFields

One of those things that the browser has built in that you wish would just work in Flash – a simple TextField undo & redo. My brother recently released a really slick solution to the problem. It isn’t a UI component – it sits above the display list and works with all types of Flash TextFields: Flex components, Flash components, bare naked TextFields. It’s really small (1 manager and 3 command classes) and you attach it to the highest level display object necessary for a custom level of influence – so if you want the whole app to be effected then you attach it to the root.

Here’s what the API looks like:

var undoTextFields:UndoTextFields = new UndoTextFields();
undoTextFields.target = this;


Boom! done. (sound effect not included) And it works just like the browser – each TextField has its own undo/redo independent of the others.

NOTE:
The component uses the Flight Framework history without adopting the rest of the framework methodology. A great use of Flight, as it prescribes utility and a minimalistic approach to development. I’ll probably demo this utility at my upcoming presentation.

Flight Framework: Early Beta.

It isn’t easy for me to release code that isn’t finished, so I’ve had many projects come and go without ever seeing the light of day. But not Flight, not this time.

I’ve posted about Flight before: it’s a simple and powerful application framework in ranks with Cairngorm and some of the newer frameworks. Here’s an excerpt from Flight’s initial post:

The Flight Framework is the evolution of an ActionScript framework that has been around for a few years. It was a replacement to Cairngorm and was originally designed for web-based, design-centric applications such as logo makers and book builders. Even now the framework ships with the CommandHistory – an entire solution for undo and redo – and other practical utilities that strengthen its offering.

Flight Framework maintains an emphasis on supporting capable clients: Flex and Flash applications that are much more than just a pretty face to a server implementation. Through features like domains (modular MVC systems) and a prescribed structure, the framework transforms component scripting into real application development.

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360|Flex: Speaking on Undo & Redo

And such a nice conference! I’m pleased to say that I will be speaking at the best conference around for Flex and Flash developers. The presentations at this conference have real depth for developers, and this year looks like a great lineup: the schedule.

My topic is on a subject I’ve dealt with frequently. Over the last few years I’ve been heavily involved in building up design-centric tools and applications, all Flash/Flex based. Of course, one of the first requirements of these type of applications is undo and redo:

Undo History with Flight – level 200, Intermediate
Undo & redo is a core feature to many applications, yet it’s missing from your Flash and Flex projects. Learn how to easily add history to your applications with little effort. This session covers the concepts, benefits and the techniques of history management. It breaks down the complexity of undo & redo implementation into simple code, illustrating the use of the Command Pattern and providing the tools necessary to get up and running within minutes. This session is targeted toward intermediate developers, but will be a great overview of application history for beginners and non-programmers.

Also, there’s a pre-showing of the presentation at our next uFlash meeting. For everyone else, don’t forget to register for 360|Flex! The discount pricing for early registration is first come first serve.

AS3 Button Behavior Made Easy

I posted a rant on “releaseOutside” earlier this month – finally, here is the example and the code for making anything a Button in ActionScript 3. I’ve also added some really nice features since then. I realized after venting about dragOver, dragOut, and releaseOutside that, unless you built custom components in ActionScript 2, you probably have no idea what these events actually mean for a Button. So now, instead of imparting the boring details of exactly how a Button should work, I’ve implemented 3 new events: stateUp, stateOver and stateDown.
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My First Curve-To-Curve Intersection Tests.

Finding the intersection of two lines is a fairly straightforward algorithm. You find their slopes, factor the equation, simple. But finding the intersection between two quadratic bezier curves doesn’t seem to have a simple equation. From the sources I’ve read (I’ll try and find them again so I can cite and quote them) curve-to-curve intersection can only be solved as an approximation.

There are a lot of cool things you can do once you have both line and curve intersections figured out. For example you can combine two shapes wherever they overlap. You can also do some less obvious things such as path offsets (equivalent to Flash authoring’s Modify > Shapes > Expand Fill)
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