Macromedia Flash MX unleashed

Introduction	p. 1
1 What's New in Flash MX?	p. 3
The New Timeline	p. 4
Quick Start Templates	p. 9
Backward Compatibility	p. 10
Prebuilt Components	p. 11
Product Integration	p. 13
Dynamic Media	p. 15
New ActionScript Editor	p. 17
Dynamic Masks	p. 18
Video Support	p. 19
Accessibility	p. 19
2 Introducing Flash MX	p. 21
Flash Is Vector Based	p. 22
Interface	p. 23
Flash MX Preferences	p. 32
Keyboard Shortcuts	p. 38
Changing the Workspace with the View Menu	p. 40
Summary	p. 45
3 Creating Graphics in Flash	p. 47
The Tools	p. 48
Creating Custom Colors and Gradients	p. 57
Tips for Creating Graphics in Flash	p. 75
Graphic Techniques	p. 79
Importing Bitmap Graphics	p. 80
Working with Bitmaps	p. 81
4 Flash Animation	p. 85
The Timeline	p. 86
Creating Animation in Flash	p. 89
Changing Timeline Views	p. 100
5 Symbols and the Library	p. 103
An Overview of Graphic Symbols	p. 104
An Overview of Button Symbols	p. 108
Motion Tweening	p. 111
Creating Interactivity with Buttons	p. 119
The Movie Clip	p. 122
Nested and Compound Animation	p. 126
The Library	p. 129
6 Working with Sound in Flash	p. 133
Adding Sound to Your Movie	p. 134
7 Development Techniques	p. 151
Masking Techniques	p. 152
Loading a Movie	p. 166
Preloaders	p. 178
8 Publishing	p. 185
Where to Find Publishing	p. 186
Versatile Formats	p. 187
Macromedia Flash Player 6 and the SWF File Format	p. 188
Version Field	p. 190
Sound Settings	p. 190
Other Flash Tab Settings	p. 191
Alternative File (JPEG, GIF, and PNG) Settings	p. 193
HTML	p. 199
Standalone Projectors	p. 203
FS Commands	p. 204
QuickTime Settings	p. 205
9 Animation Techniques and Digital Video	p. 209
Controlling Speed	p. 210
The Bouncing Ball	p. 212
Integrating Digital Video in Flash MX	p. 228
Creating QuickTime Movie Controls and a Custom QuickTime Skin	p. 234
10 Approaching ActionScript	p. 239
Object-Oriented Scripting	p. 240
ActionScript Object Model	p. 244
Flash's Objects--Movie Clips	p. 245
Properties	p. 247
Variables	p. 250
Methods	p. 254
Functions	p. 255
String Literals Versus Expressions	p. 258
Addressing and Dot Syntax	p. 259
Absolute Addressing	p. 260
Relative Addressing	p. 264
Addressing from Within Nested Movie Clips	p. 266
ActionScript Structure	p. 272
The Actions Panel	p. 281
Normal Mode and Expert Mode	p. 287
Importing and Exporting Scripts	p. 288
Actions Panel Pop-up Menu	p. 288
11 Data Types and Variables--In Depth	p. 291
Types of Data Types	p. 292
The String Data Type	p. 293
Manipulating Strings	p. 295
The Number Data Type	p. 305
Boolean Data Type	p. 309
Null Data Type	p. 309
Undefined Data Type	p. 310
Array Data Type	p. 310
Movieclip Data Type	p. 310
Object Data Type	p. 311
Variables	p. 311
12 Statements and Expressions--In Depth	p. 329
Statement Syntax	p. 331
Object Statements	p. 333
Flow Modifiers	p. 336
13 Working with the Movie Clip Object	p. 361
Generating Random Values	p. 364
Using If/Else Logic to Control the Movie Clip's Movement	p. 366
Controlling Movie Clip Properties and Working with ActionClips	p. 367
Duplicating Movie Clips	p. 384
14 Functions	p. 389
Creating a Function	p. 390
Running the Function	p. 390
Using Parameters in Functions	p. 392
Functions That Return Values	p. 393
Nested Functions	p. 394
Function Scope	p. 395
Mapping to a Function	p. 395
The global Object	p. 396
Variables and Functions	p. 398
Arguments	p. 401
Functions Built in to Flash	p. 409
15 Arrays	p. 419
What Is an Array and How Does It Work?	p. 420
Deconstructing an Array	p. 420
Creating an Array	p. 420
Retrieving Information from an Array	p. 423
Adding Elements to Arrays	p. 424
Naming Array Elements	p. 431
Removing Array Elements	p. 432
Changing Elements in Arrays	p. 435
Advanced Nested Arrays	p. 435
Additional Array Methods	p. 437
Sorting Arrays	p. 439
Applied Example	p. 442
Summary	p. 445
16 Components	p. 447
The History of Smart Clips	p. 448
Introduction to Components	p. 448
Setting Parameters	p. 452
Built-in UI Components	p. 454
Passing Information to and from ActionScript with Components	p. 467
The Appearance of Components	p. 471
Creating Components	p. 476
The Downside to Components	p. 478
Flash UI Component Resources	p. 478
17 Event Handlers	p. 481
What Is an Event Handler?	p. 482
ActionScript Handlers	p. 483
Where to Write Handlers	p. 483
Creating a Button	p. 484
Movie Clip Handlers	p. 487
Methods	p. 492
Attach Movie and Methods	p. 494
Event Handlers and the Prototype Object	p. 496
18 ActionScript's Built-in Objects in Action	p. 503
The Mouse Object	p. 505
The Date Object	p. 507
The Color Object	p. 511
The Sound Object	p. 516
The Math Object	p. 520
19 Working with the Key Object and Text	p. 525
The Text Field Basics	p. 526
ActionScripting Text Fields	p. 533
Interfacing Text Fields with Outside Data	p. 543
20 Debugging	p. 555
Writing Proactive ActionScript	p. 556
Naming Conventions	p. 557
Identifying Bugs	p. 559
Debugging from Remote Locations	p. 575
21 Advanced Interactivity	p. 579
Creating Draggable Objects	p. 580
Creating Interactivity with the Mouse	p. 593
Creating Preloaders That Return Accurate Information	p. 598
Creating Custom Scrollable Objects	p. 600
Creating Dynamic and Draggable Masks	p. 602
22 Interfacing with JavaScript	p. 607
Creating a Pop-up Window	p. 608
Triggering an Alert Dialog Box	p. 613
Having Fun with JavaScript	p. 617
23 Creating a Flash Game	p. 621
Create the Basics First	p. 622
Add Elements to the Game	p. 635
Arrays in Games	p. 638
Use External Files for Easily Updating Games	p. 643
Save Games and High Scores	p. 644
Final Words of Wisdom	p. 649
24 Getting and Sending Data	p. 651
Formatting Dynamic Text with HTML Tags	p. 655
Creating Scrolling Text	p. 656
Sending a Form to an E-mail Account	p. 659
25 An Introduction to Flash and ColdFusion Integration	p. 663
Components	p. 665
Previous Integration Methods	p. 667
Salsa	p. 668
A Basic Account Management System	p. 669
Debugging	p. 683
Advancing Your Skills	p. 684
Summary	p. 684
26 Integration with ASP	p. 685
Getting Started	p. 687
The Concept	p. 688
Sending Data from Flash to ASP	p. 691
Sending Data from ASP to Flash	p. 694
Building a Working Model	p. 700
Concept Check	p. 702
Getting Started with Databases	p. 702
Integrating with ASP and Microsoft Access	p. 708
Working with Images and ASP	p. 724
The Final Example	p. 725
Summary of Concepts	p. 725
Troubleshooting	p. 726
27 Integration with PHP	p. 729
Why PHP and Flash?	p. 731
PHP Scripting for Dynamic Content	p. 732
Your First PHP Script: Testing the Server	p. 734
Exploring Optional Modules	p. 737
PHP Fundamentals	p. 738
Receiving Data from PHP to Flash	p. 742
Sending Data from Flash to PHP (to Flash)	p. 745
Echo Valley Becomes a Wishing Well	p. 747
Using MySQL	p. 748
Further Reading	p. 756
28 Integration with Servers: An Overview	p. 759
Embedded Flash Movies	p. 761
Web Content: Format Versus Origin	p. 762
Serving Active Content	p. 763
The Data Format for Flash Movies	p. 764
How Flash Requests Data	p. 766
How Flash Processes the Data It Receives	p. 767
Configuring a Movie to Load Network Data	p. 768
Sending Active Content to an Embedded Movie	p. 770
Active Process Models	p. 772
Implementation Issues	p. 773
29 ActionScript Reference	p. 777
Actions	p. 778
Operators	p. 816
Functions	p. 841
Constants	p. 847
Properties	p. 849
Objects	p. 860
30 Flash Alternatives	p. 899
No-Cost Flash: FLASHtyper	p. 900
Low-Cost Flash: SWiSH	p. 911
A SWF Links	p. 929
B SWF Software Tools	p. 937
Index	p. 953

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