Flex 3 : a beginner's guide

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Essential Skills--Made Easy!

Learn to program with Flex 3, the powerful tool for building multimedia-rich, interactive Flash applications for the Web. Flex 3: A Beginner's Guide is an easy-to-follow, fast-paced tutorial that allows you to fully grasp the fundamentals, including MXML, Action Script, Flex Builder, states, transitions, and behaviors. You'll learn how to customize your applications with styles, skins, and themes; access remote data using the XML HTTP Service Request; profile and debug your applications; and manage media assets.

Designed for Easy Learning

Key Skills & Concepts--Chapter-opening lists of specific skills covered in the chapter Ask the Experts--Q&A sections filled with bonus information and helpful tips Try This--Short, hands-on exercises to practice your skills Notes--Bonus information related to the topic being covered Tips--Helpful reminders or alternate ways of doing things Cautions--Errors and pitfalls to avoid Annotated Syntax--Example code with commentary that describes the programming techniques being illustrated

Author Notes

Michele E. Davis is a technology writer and author or coauthor of more than 17 computer books. She consults as an instructional designer, trainer, and technical writer for Fortune 500 companies including General Mills, ACS, Whirlpool, Best Buy and many others
Jon A. Phillips designs custom Web solutions and consults as a functional software developer for clients such as the University of Minnesota, Fisher-Rosemount, Lockheed-Martin, and Kinetic Data

Acknowledgments	p. xi
Introduction	p. xiii
1 Flex Fundamentals	p. 1
The Origins of Flex	p. 3
ActionScript	p. 4
MXML	p. 4
Understanding Flex	p. 5
LiveCycle Data Services	p. 5
Using LiveCycle Data Services with the Flex Builder	p. 8
Flex's Forte	p. 10
Audio	p. 10
Video	p. 11
Object Manipulation	p. 11
Consistent API	p. 11
Open Source	p. 11
Flex Limitations	p. 12
Flex vs. HTML/Ajax	p. 13
Dynamic HTML	p. 13
DOMs	p. 13
Ajax	p. 13
Cross-Platform Support with Single Binary	p. 14
Flex Versions	p. 14
Initial Releases	p. 15
Adobe Flex 2.01	p. 15
Adobe Flex 3	p. 16
How Flex Works	p. 16
Design and Configure	p. 17
Build	p. 17
Deploy	p. 18
Securing Your Application	p. 19
2 Installation and Modules	p. 21
Installing Flex	p. 22
Flex Distributions	p. 22
Flex Builder Distribution	p. 23
Flex SDK	p. 23
Apache/IIS Runtime Module	p. 24
Installing Flex Builder	p. 25
Macintosh OS X	p. 28
Flex Builder Projects	p. 30
Workspaces	p. 30
Managing Projects in a Workspace	p. 30
Creating a Test Project	p. 31
General Requirements for the SDK	p. 37
Downloading the SDK Installation	p. 38
Removing the Flash Plug-in	p. 38
Installing the Flex SDK	p. 39
Running Samples	p. 41
Apache/IIS Flex Module	p. 42
Requirements	p. 43
Installer Download	p. 43
Testing the Compiler Module	p. 46
3 Getting Started	p. 47
Principles of MXML	p. 49
XML	p. 50
Principles of ActionScript	p. 50
ActionScript Timeline	p. 51
Proper Syntax	p. 52
Variables	p. 54
Declaring	p. 54
Naming	p. 54
Types	p. 55
Modifying Variable Types	p. 56
Expressions	p. 57
Functions and Methods	p. 57
Defining	p. 58
Testing Output	p. 58
Named Functions	p. 59
Flow Control and Looping	p. 61
If Statement	p. 61
Switch Statement	p. 62
Looping	p. 63
Event Handlers	p. 65
Create an Event Handler That Displays an Alert	p. 65
MXML Conversion	p. 67
OOP	p. 67
Encapsulation	p. 67
Classes	p. 67
Methods	p. 70
Defining	p. 70
Instantiation	p. 72
Static Methods	p. 74
Inheritance	p. 75
Class Specifications	p. 75
Understanding MXML Namespaces	p. 76
The Flex Config File	p. 76
The Manifest File	p. 76
Referencing Namespaces in Your Code	p. 77
4 Working with Flex Builder	p. 79
Flex Builder Modes	p. 81
Development	p. 82
Debugging	p. 84
Building a User Interface	p. 86
Containers	p. 86
The Application Container	p. 87
Constraint-Based Layout	p. 87
Controls	p. 90
Arrays	p. 92
Text-Based Controls	p. 93
Data Provider Controls	p. 94
Menu Controls	p. 94
Modifying Controls	p. 96
Class Hierarchy of Controls	p. 97
Sizing Controls	p. 97
Positioning Controls	p. 99
Changing the Appearance of Controls	p. 99
Text Controls	p. 100
Text Property	p. 100
The htmlText Property	p. 101
Select and Modify Text	p. 101
TextArea	p. 102
TextInput	p. 102
RichTextEditor	p. 104
Label Control	p. 104
Menu Control	p. 105
Menu Attributes	p. 106
Data Provider Types	p. 106
Menu Control Creation	p. 107
MenuBar Control	p. 109
Create a MenuBar Control	p. 109
Running Your Applications	p. 112
5 States, Transitions, and Behaviors	p. 115
States and Transitions	p. 117
Creating States	p. 118
Apply States	p. 118
Properties	p. 123
Styles	p. 123
Event Handlers	p. 123
Effects and Transitions	p. 124
Creating a Transition	p. 125
Triggers	p. 128
Creating Behaviors	p. 129
Invoke Using Flex Events	p. 131
Fading in a RichTextEditor with a Button Click	p. 131
Composite Effects	p. 133
Binding Variables	p. 134
Declaring	p. 134
Referencing	p. 135
6 Modifying Your Application's Appearance	p. 139
Categories of Customization	p. 141
Styles and Skins	p. 141
Enhanced Constraints	p. 142
CSS Property Inspector	p. 144
Themes	p. 145
Setting Styles	p. 149
Skins	p. 154
Graphical Skinning	p. 154
7 Data Access	p. 159
Local Versus Remote Data	p. 161
Security Implications	p. 161
Cross-Domain File	p. 162
XML HTTP Service Requests	p. 164
Creating an Application to Display Amazon Vampire Books	p. 166
Proxy	p. 166
Getting the Data	p. 170
8 Debugging and Profiling	p. 179
Profiling	p. 181
Saving and Loading Profiling Data	p. 187
Live Objects Panel	p. 188
Memory Snapshot Panel	p. 190
Loitering Objects Panel	p. 191
Object References Panel	p. 193
Allocation Trace Panel	p. 194
Performance Snapshot Panel	p. 196
Launch Dialog	p. 198
Debugging with fdb	p. 200
Launching	p. 201
Commands	p. 203
Debugging with Trace	p. 206
9 Working with Media Assets/Deploying	p. 209
Managing Media Assets	p. 211
Embedding vs. Runtime Referencing	p. 211
Supported Media Types	p. 212
Sound	p. 213
Playing Embedded Sounds	p. 213
Playing Referenced Sounds	p. 216
Including a Referenced Image	p. 217
Including an Embedded Image	p. 218
Embedding Movies	p. 219
Deploying	p. 220
Wrappers	p. 220
Publishing Your Application	p. 223
A ActionScript and MXML Reference	p. 229
ActionScript 3.0	p. 230
Global Functions	p. 230
Global Constants	p. 232
Global ActionScript Classes	p. 232
Language Reference	p. 234
MXML-Only Components	p. 243
Keyboard Shortcuts in Flex Builder	p. 244
Online Resources	p. 246
Online Communities	p. 246
Documentation	p. 247
Tools	p. 248
Quick Reference Sheets	p. 249
Interesting Flex-Based Sites	p. 249
Glossary	p. 253
Index	p. 269

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Summary

Summary

Author Notes

Table of Contents