I have been a developer for nearly 20 years and a web developer for about 10 years. Over the years, I have considered creating a blog to share the things I have learned (and am learning) about web design and development, but I never seemed to have the time. When I began learning about web development using Ajax and Ajax Frameworks, I decided to take the time to create this blog.
My intention for this blog is to focus primarily on Ajax Frameworks, but since web development requires knowledge of many technologies, I will occasionally write about things such as CSS, Javascript, PHP, MySQL, Flash, etc.
Lately, I have been using JQuery as my primary Ajax tool. Although I have used other Ajax Frameworks in the past (Dojo Toolkit, Yahoo! User Interface Library, Scriptaculous/Prototype), JQuery has thus far been the easiest to learn. In my first few posts I will discuss some of the JQuery Plugins that I have created. Some of these include: a plugin for Google Maps (jquery.imGoogleMaps), Form validation and submission (jquery.imValidateForm), Page Populater (jquery.imPagePopulate), and a plugin to create lists (jquery.imList).
While I am still learning about some of the other Ajax Frameworks, I hope that what I have learned will be helpful to others. Just remember, “When you can pull the pebbles from my hand…”
I discussed the use of the gpUrlLoader Class in a previous post (see: AS3: A URLLoader Class). This class, part of my gpAS3Library, will load image, swf, text, xml, html, stylesheet, json, and sound files.
In this post, I will discuss how to use the gpUrlLoader class to load multiple images into a Flash movie. I used this technique when I created the gpFlashGallery (A free Flash/XML photo gallery).
I finally completed the redesign/development of my portfolio site (GreenScorpion.com).
This site was my first attempt at grunge design. I used Photoshop brushes that I downloaded from GetBrushes.com to design the site (and followed some tutorials that I found on SixRevisions.com and DesignHard.com).
I developed GreenScorpion.com using Flash/ActionScript 3 and Joomla (and a bit of JQuery).
For the portfolio display, I created a Flash Movie relied heavily upon the gpAS3Library and XML. I then used Joomla to create a component that incorporated the Flash movie. After the Joomla component was completed, I created a Joomla module based upon the component so that the Flash movie could be displayed in a specific area on a page (on the home page).
I need to add more to the site, but the portfolio part is done. I also need do something to create a more consistent color feel between operating systems. I created the design on my Mac, but I did most of the development on Ubuntu. The website is much darker on Ubuntu than on my Mac (I haven’t looked at it on Windows, but I’m sure that there will be a difference as well). But for now, I’m done.
When I converted the gpShapes class from AS2 to AS3, I wanted to be able to create shapes with web 2.0 type color schemes, but I did not want to hand code each color scheme in an XML file every time that I wanted to use one. So I created the gpColorSchemes class by duplicating a set of web 2.0 styles that I have in Photoshop. The gpColorSchemes contains 34 preset color schemes that can be used with any Flash/ActionScript application. I named this post Part 2a because I created this class to be used with the gpShapes class (Part 2), but the gpColorSchemes class can be used separately from the gpShapes class.
The gpAS3Library is a set of Flash AS3 utilities that I use when creating my Flash applications.
In Part 0, I discussed the gpUrlLoader class – This class will load image, swf, text, xml, html, stylesheet, json, and sound files.
In Part 2 of the gpAS3Libary, I will discuss the gpShapes class. This class is the basis for much of the UI that I create in my Flash applications.
When I created Flash applications with AS2 in the past, I loaded application information such as page color, button colors and sizes via an XML file. I used this XML configuration file throughout the application, but, because I hated manipulating XML with AS2, I always converted the XML into arrays as soon as it was loaded.
Now with AS3 and E4X, using ActionScript to manipulate XML has made flash application development much easier.
The gpAS3Library is, to some degree, an ActionScript framework (albeit, in the very early stages). I use most of these classes in every Flash application that I develop. When I decided to convert these classes from AS2 to AS3, I realized that I needed a global configuration class to store the XML data that I loaded from the server. And with E4X, I can now easily retrieve the information I need from the XML lists.
Although I named this post Part 1, I have already discussed one of the classes of the gpAS3Libary in a previous post (see: A UrlLoader Class). In this post, I will discuss the gpConfig class.
I created a global utilities class as part of my gpAS3Library. This ActionScript class is essentially a Singleton class that can be used throughout my Flash application without being instantiated.
Extending a custom class with ActionScript is fairly straightforward. As part of my gpAS3Library, I have a button class (gpButton) that extends a shape class (gpShapes). Originally (in my AS2 version), I instantiated the shape class from within the button class and the shape class was always a separate entity. Now that I have created the button class by extending my shape class, interacting with and manipulating the button is much more tidy and easier to maintain.
I’m creating a new portfolio site using Joomla and Flash. I’ve spent this past weekend creating AS3 class packages (and converting some of my AS2 classes to AS3).
I began loading thumbnails using AS3′s URLRequest and URLLoader in my main application file. I decided to create a package that would request/load the thumbnails, but I needed to return the data from the URLRequest to my main application. I was able to accomplish it using the dispatchEvent method.
Note: This functionality is the basis for my gpUrlLoader class (part of my gpAS3Library).
I’m working on a Flash/AS3 application where I am loading various types of files (images, xml, etc). After writing the same code over and over again, I decided to create an AS3 class to use with my application. This class will load image, swf, text, xml, html, stylesheet, json, and sound files.
To create...