book

Flash Builder and Flash Catalyst: The New Workflowdi

Name: Flash Builder and Flash Catalyst: The New Workflowdi
Author: Steven Peeters
ISBN: 9781430228356

by Steven Peeters

May 2010

Intermediate to advanced

359 pages

11h 2m

English

Apress

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Copyright
About the Author
About the Technical Reviewer
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Layout conventions
1. Flex and AIR: Taking RIAs to the Next Level
1.1. Taking Advantage of Flash Technology1.1.1. Mainframe1.1.2. Client-Server1.1.3. Web Applications1.1.4. Rich Internet Applications1.2. Why Should You Use the Flash Platform?1.3. Where is Flex Used?1.3.1. Flex on the Web1.3.2. Flex in the Enterprise1.3.3. Testing Flex applications1.4. Connecting Applications to a Back End1.4.1. AMFPHP1.4.2. Zend AMF1.4.3. LiveCycle Data Services1.4.3.1. Proxy Service1.4.3.2. Web-Tier Compiler1.4.3.3. Flash Remoting1.4.3.4. Data Management1.4.3.4.1. Reduce Written Code1.4.3.4.2. Tracking Changes1.4.3.4.3. Differences with Remote Procedure Calls (RPC services)1.4.3.4.4. Fiber1.4.4. BlazeDS1.4.5. GraniteDS1.4.5.1. Code Generation1.4.6. ColdFusion Data Services1.5. Adobe AIR: Why Do We Want Desktop RIAs?1.6. Summary
2. Flex 4 SDK: Overview of the New Features
2.1. Component Architecture2.2. View States2.3. FXG2.4. Spark-ling Effects2.4.1. Property Effects2.4.2. Transform Effects2.4.3. 3D Effects2.4.4. Pixel-Shader Effects2.4.5. Filter Effects2.5. Advanced CSS Selectors2.5.1. Use of Namespaces2.5.2. Type Selector2.5.3. Class Selector2.5.4. Universal Selector2.5.5. ID Selector2.5.6. Descendant Selector2.5.7. Pseudo Selector2.6. Two-Way Binding2.7. Summary
3. Flash Builder 4: The programming environment
3.1. What is Flash Builder 4?3.2. What Happened to Flex Builder?3.3. The New Features3.3.1. Backward Compatibility3.3.2. Improved Project Properties3.3.3. Package Explorer3.3.4. Code Generation3.3.5. Refactoring Support3.3.6. View States in Source Mode3.3.7. Improved Design Editor3.3.7.1. Generation of Detail Form3.4. Improved Back-End Connectivity3.4.1. Data/Services Panel3.4.2. ZendAMF Integration3.4.3. Drag-and-Drop Binding3.5. Debugging3.5.1. Conditional Breakpoints3.5.2. Changing Values at Runtime3.5.3. Network Monitor3.6. Call Hierarchy View3.7. Summary
4. Flash Catalyst: bridging the gap
4.1. Introduction to Flash Catalyst4.1.1. Interface overview4.1.2. The artboard4.1.3. The Pages/States panel4.1.4. The Layers panel4.1.5. The Library panel4.1.5.1. Using component libraries4.1.6. The Wireframe Components panel4.1.7. The HUD4.1.8. The Interactions panel4.1.9. The Properties panel4.1.9.1. Common4.1.9.2. Component4.1.9.3. Appearance4.1.10. Text properties4.1.11. Filters4.1.12. The Design-Time Data panel4.1.13. The Timelines panel4.1.13.1. Working with the timeline4.1.13.2. Adding effects manually4.2. Building applications using Flash Catalyst4.2.1. Building applications from scratch4.2.2. Integration with Creative Suite 54.2.2.1. Creating mindblowing graphical components4.2.2.2. Editing your Flash Catalyst graphics in Illustrator4.2.3. Round tripping between Flash Builder and Flash Catalyst4.3. A tool for the "devigner"4.4. Building AIR applications with Flash Catalyst?4.5. Summary

5. Choosing the Best Workflow
5.1. Simple Design, Simple Functionality5.1.1. A Product Manual Application5.1.1.1. The designer/interaction designer perspective5.1.1.1.1. Creating the application layout5.1.1.1.2. Creating the navigation5.1.1.1.3. Creating the content5.1.1.1.4. Adding the Interactions5.1.2. Conclusion5.2. Simple Design, Complex Functionality5.2.1. A Photo Resizer5.2.1.1. The Developer Perspective5.2.1.1.1. Creating the Application Layout5.2.1.1.2. Creating the Content5.2.1.1.3. Adding the Interactions5.2.2. Conclusion5.3. Simple Design, Connected to a Back End5.3.1. A Twitter Search Client5.3.1.1. The Designer Perspective5.3.1.2. The Interaction Designer Perspective5.3.1.2.1. Creating the Application Layout5.3.1.2.2. Creating the Data List with a Custom Scrollbar5.3.1.2.3. Adding the Interactions5.3.1.3. The Developer Perspective5.3.1.3.1. Retrieving the Data at Runtime5.3.1.3.2. Adjusting the Item Renderer to Display the Runtime Data5.3.1.4. Oops, the Design is Missing Something!5.3.1.4.1. The Interaction Designer Changes5.3.1.4.2. The Developer Changes5.3.2. Conclusion5.4. Complex Design, Simple Functionality5.4.1. A Static Website5.4.1.1. The Designer Perspective5.4.1.2. The Interaction Designer Perspective5.4.1.2.1. Creating the Components5.4.1.2.2. Creating the Pages5.4.1.2.3. Adding the Interactions5.4.2. Conclusion5.5. Complex Design, Complex Functionality5.5.1. A Simulator5.5.1.1. The designer perspective5.5.1.2. The Interaction Designer Perspective5.5.1.2.1. Creating the Components5.5.1.2.2. Creating the Pages5.5.1.3. The Developer Perspective5.5.1.3.1. Adding the Calculation5.5.1.3.2. Adding the Graph5.5.2. Conclusion5.6. Complex Design, Connected to a Back End5.6.1. A Solar Panel Monitor5.6.1.1. The Designer Perspective5.6.1.1.1. Adding the Indicators5.6.2. The Interaction Designer Perspective5.6.3. The Developer Perspective5.6.3.1.5.6.3.1.1. Retrieving the Data at Runtime5.6.3.1.2. Solving the Cross Domain Issue5.6.3.1.3. Interpreting the Retrieved Data5.6.3.1.4. Adjusting the Labels and Arrow Rotation5.6.4. Conclusion5.7. Summary
6. Case Study: An E-Commerce Site
6.1. Understanding the Project6.2. Analyzing the Project6.2.1. Functional Analysis6.2.2. Team Composition6.3. Designing the Application6.3.1. Creating the Application's Layout Structure6.3.2. Creating the Tabs to Log In6.3.3. Adding Design Elements6.3.4. Adding the Navigation Bar6.3.4.1. The Shopping Cart6.3.4.2. The Search Box6.3.5. Adding the Content6.3.5.1. The Home Page6.3.5.2. The About Page6.3.5.3. The Photo Gallery Page6.3.5.4. The List of Photographs6.3.5.5. The Detail Pop-up6.3.6. The Contact Page6.3.7. The Login Page6.3.8. The Registration Page6.4. Bringing the Application to Life6.4.1. The Components6.4.1.1. The Navigation Items6.4.1.2. The Shopping Cart Box6.4.1.3. Creating the Combo Box6.4.1.4. The Navigation Tabs6.4.1.5. The Home Page Photo Button6.4.1.6. The Custom Text Input Fields6.4.1.7. Reusing Existing Components6.4.1.8. The Photo Gallery Component6.4.1.8.1. The Repeated Photo Item6.4.1.8.2. Creating the Tiled List Component6.4.1.8.3. Calling the Detail Pop-Up6.4.2. The Pages6.4.2.1. The Home Page6.4.2.2. The About Page6.4.2.3. The Photo Gallery Page6.4.2.4. The Contact Page6.4.2.5. The Login Page6.4.2.6. The Registration Page6.4.2.7. Navigating the Tabs6.5. Hooking Up the Application to the Back End6.5.1. Creating the Database6.5.2. Writing the Back-End API6.5.2.1. Enabling Object Relational Mapping (ORM)6.5.2.2. Creating the Data Transfer Objects (DTOs)6.5.2.3. Creating the Assembler Classes6.5.3. Adding Dynamic Data to the Application6.5.3.1. Adjusting the Flash Catalyst Components6.5.3.1.1. Setting the Custom Focus State on the Text Input Components6.5.3.1.2. Wiring Up the Combo Box Component6.5.3.1.3. Making Properties Publicly Available6.5.3.2. The CAPTCHA Component6.5.3.2.1. Embedding the Font6.5.3.2.2. Making Properties Publicly Available6.5.3.3. Connecting the Application to the Back-End API6.5.3.3.1. The Photo Gallery6.5.3.3.2. Using the Data/Services Panel6.5.3.3.3. Dynamically Fltering the Photos6.5.3.3.4. Configuring the Returned Data Type6.5.3.3.5. Using the Returned Data in the Item Renderer6.5.3.3.6. Using Custom Events to Trigger the Detail Pop-Up6.5.3.3.7. Using the Runtime Data in the Detail Pop-Up6.5.3.3.8. The Contact Page6.5.3.3.9. The Login Procedure6.5.3.3.10. The Registration Procedure6.6. Summary
7. Managing RIA Projects
7.1. Projects and Complexity7.2. Project Team7.2.1. Team Compositions7.2.2. Collaboration has Changed7.3. Agile Development7.3.1. Methodologies7.3.2. Iterative Development7.4. FlexPMD: A Useful Tool7.5. Summary
8. Frameworks
8.1. The Example Application8.2. Mate8.2.1. The Code8.2.2. Conclusion8.3. PureMVC8.3.1. The Code8.3.2. Conclusion8.4. Swiz8.4.1. The Code8.4.2. Conclusion8.5. Summary
9. Best Practices
9.1. Project Setup9.1.1. Use Workspaces9.1.2. Determine the Target Platform9.1.3. Determine the Back End Technology9.1.4. Deploy Release Builds9.1.5. Place External Libraries in the libs Folder9.1.6. Use Runtime Shared Libraries9.1.7. Externalize the Flex framework9.1.8. Organize Code into Packages9.1.9. Synchronize with Back End Packages9.1.10. Plan the Illustrator/Photoshop File Structure9.1.11. Use an Assets Directory9.1.12. Organize Your Assets9.1.13. Use an XML File for the Parameters9.2. Coding and Naming Conventions9.2.1. Don't Link to External Image Files9.2.2. Name All Design Layers9.2.3. Design Only One Item for a Data List Component9.2.4. Create Flash Catalyst Components Before Defining View States9.2.5. Rename Flash Catalyst Components in the Library Panel9.2.6. Reverse Engineer the Application's URL as a Package Structure9.2.7. Use Plural Names for Packages9.2.8. Use Appropriate Package Names9.2.9. Use Singular Names for Classes9.2.10. Use Titlecase or Camelcase for Class Names9.2.11. Append the Class Type to the Class Name9.2.12. Consider Appending "Base" to Base Class Names9.2.13. Consider Appending "Abstract" to Abstract Class Names9.2.14. Maintain Order in Your Classes9.2.15. Use Uppercase for Constants9.2.16. Use Camelcase/Titlecase for Variables9.2.17. Give Variables Proper Names9.2.18. Put an Underscore in Front of Private Variables9.2.19. Use Implicit Getters and Setters9.2.20. Name Implicit Getters and Setters according to the Property9.2.21. Use Implicit Getters and Setters Internally9.2.22. Set Argument Types and Return Types Strictly9.2.23. Always Name the Argument of Event Handlers "Event"9.2.24. Use a Verb in the Method Name9.2.25. Override the Clone() Method for Custom Events9.2.26. Keep Order in Your MXML Files9.2.27. Use Whitespace9.2.28. Format Your Code9.2.29. Every Visual Component Should Have an id Attribute9.2.30. Set the id Attribute as the First One in an MXML Tag9.2.31. Group MXML Tag Attributes on One Line9.2.32. Use an External CSS File9.2.33. Maintain Order in Your CSS File9.2.34. Be Consistent in Naming Styles9.2.35. Limit the Number of CSS Files9.2.36. Define the CSS Files in the Main Application File9.3. Collaboration9.3.1. Talk to Each Other9.3.2. Formalize Decisions9.3.3. Use a Source Versioning Tool9.3.4. Only Commit Code that Actually Works9.3.5. Mark Duplicate Assets in Your Design9.3.6. Design on a Single Artboard9.3.7. Give Design Layers Proper Names9.3.8. Don't Define All Components in Your Design9.3.9. Don't Define All Component States in Your Design9.3.10. Create Reusable "Black Box" Components9.3.11. Consider Using Code Generation9.3.12. Create Library Projects9.3.13. Create a Manifest File for Your Library9.3.14. Test, Test, Test9.3.15. Use Different Deployment Levels9.3.16. Set Up a Bug Reporting/Change Request Environment9.3.17. Use a Unit Testing Framework9.3.18. Use an Application Framework9.3.19. Know When Not to Use an Application Framework9.3.20. Perform Code Reviews9.3.21. Comment Your Code9.3.22. Validate Input Before Sending It to the Back End9.3.23. Use the Same Local Server Settings For Everyone9.3.24. Configure Your Application Externally9.4. Summary

Overview

The Flash Platform is changing. Flash Builder and Flash Catalyst have brought a new separation of design and coding to web development that enables a much more efficient and streamlined workflow. For designers and developers used to the close confines of Flash, this is a hugely liberating but at first alien concept. This book teaches you the new workflow for the Flash platform. It gives an overview of the technologies involved and provides you with real-world project examples and best-practice guidelines to get from design to implementation with the tools at hand.

Includes many examples
Focuses on real-world situations
Covers designer and developer workflow

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