book

Foundation ActionScript 3.0 for Flash and Flex

Name: Foundation ActionScript 3.0 for Flash and Flex
Author: Darren Richardson
ISBN: 9781430219187

by Darren Richardson

August 2009

Beginner

608 pages

14h 14m

English

Apress

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Copyright
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
ABOUT THE COVER IMAGE DESIGNER
LAYOUT CONVENTIONS
1. GETTING STARTED WITH ACTIONSCRIPT 3.0
1.1. A brief history of ActionScript1.2. The rise of ActionScript 3.01.3. ActionScript and object-oriented programming1.4. The development process1.5. Organizing your files1.6. Adding ActionScript to your projects1.6.1. Placing code on the timeline1.6.2. Importing code from an external file1.6.3. Specifying a document class1.6.4. Linking library assets to external classes1.7. Bouncing balls1.7.1. Creating the Flash file1.7.2. Creating the Ball class1.7.3. Adding more balls1.8. ActionScript in action1.9. Summary
2. ACTIONSCRIPT 3.0 FUNDAMENTALS
2.1. Statements and expressions2.2. Introducing variables2.2.1. Assigning a value to a variable2.2.2. Retrieving the value of a variable2.2.3. Naming your variables2.2.4. Understanding data types2.2.4.1. Boolean data type2.2.4.2. Numeric data types2.3. Using constants2.4. Performing operations2.4.1. Arithmetic operators2.4.2. Specifying precedence2.4.3. String operations2.4.4. Unary operations2.5. Introducing arrays2.5.1. Manipulating arrays2.6. Making decisions2.6.1. Introducing the if statement2.6.2. Forming Boolean expressions2.6.3. Booleans in conditionals2.6.4. Using logical operators2.7. Looping the loop2.7.1. The while loop2.7.2. The do . . . while loop2.7.3. The for loop2.7.4. Looping through an array2.7.5. More for loops2.7.6. Breaking out of a loop2.8. Introducing functions2.8.1. Creating a function2.8.2. Returning a value from a function2.8.3. Using function parameters2.8.4. Providing a default value for function parameters2.8.5. Allowing for variable parameters2.8.6. Passing values and references2.8.7. Function scope2.9. Commenting your code2.9.1. Bad vs. good comments2.9.2. Commenting for documentation2.10. Summary
3. OBJECTS AND CLASSES
3.1. iPod analogy3.2. Working with objects3.2.1. Creating objects using the new operator3.2.2. Accessing properties and calling methods3.2.3. Copying objects3.2.4. Casting objects to a type3.2.5. The Object object3.2.6. Iterating over objects3.2.6.1. For in loop3.2.6.2. For each loop3.3. Creating your first class3.3.1. Choosing suitable names for your classes3.4. Adding properties3.5. Adding methods3.5.1. Initializing your objects with a constructor method3.6. Controlling access to properties and methods3.7. Adding getter/setter methods3.7.1. Creating read-only properties with getter methods3.8. Static properties and methods3.9. Taking advantage of inheritance3.9.1. Overriding methods of the base class3.10. Using packages to group your classes3.10.1. Naming your packages3.10.2. Importing a class from a package3.10.3. Importing all classes in a given package3.10.4. Resolving naming conflicts among imported classes3.11. Removing dependency on timeline code3.12. Summary
4. WORKING WITH THE DISPLAY
4.1. Introducing the display list4.2. Working with display objects4.2.1. Manipulating display objects4.2.2. Managing depth4.2.2.1. Discovering the depth of objects4.2.2.2. Manipulating the depth of objects4.2.2.3. Swapping depths4.2.3. Creating new display objects4.2.4. Removing display objects from the display list4.3. Specifying blend modes4.4. Working with filters4.4.1. Applying a filter to a display object4.4.2. Applying filters in a specific order4.4.3. Making changes to an existing filter4.4.4. Removing an existing filter4.4.5. Introducing the advanced filters4.5. Accessing the stage4.5.1. Using Stage properties4.5.2. Making a movie full screen4.6. Using Library resources4.7. Loading from external files4.7.1. Loading an external asset4.7.2. Manipulating the loaded asset4.8. Making things move4.8.1. Copying animation from the timeline4.8.1.1. Creating the animation4.8.1.2. Copying the animation code4.8.2. Animating other properties4.9. Summary
5. CREATING VECTOR GRAPHICS WITH THE DRAWING API
5.1. Why we need a drawing API5.2. Understanding the drawing API5.3. Setting up Mr. Smiley5.4. Drawing lines5.4.1. Creating straight lines5.4.2. Controlling the line style5.4.3. Drawing curved lines5.5. Drawing and filling shapes5.5.1. Drawing primitive shapes5.5.2. Creating custom shapes5.5.3. Filling shapes with a solid color5.5.4. Filling shapes with color gradients5.6. Simplifying the code5.7. Creating gradient line styles5.8. Flash 3D5.9. Summary
6. USER INTERACTION AND MORE WITH EVENTS
6.1. Understanding events6.1.1. Listening for an event6.1.2. Removing an event listener6.1.3. Naming your event listener methods6.1.4. Creating a simple drawing application6.1.4.1. Setting up the canvas6.1.4.2. Adding event listeners6.1.4.3. Refreshing the screen6.1.5. Using one event listener for multiple objects6.2. Using events with the display list6.2.1. Handling single and double mouse clicks6.2.2. Handling mouse hover states6.2.2.1. Responding to a rollover event6.2.2.2. Making colors constants6.2.3. Handling key presses6.2.3.1. Setting up a keyboard drawing application6.2.3.2. Handling crosshair movement6.2.4. Preventing an event's default action6.3. Capturing and bubbling: the event flow6.3.1. Listening for events in the bubble phase6.3.2. Listening for events in the capture phase6.3.3. Stopping an event from propagating6.3.4. Removing capture phase event listeners6.4. Summary

7. WORKING WITH VIDEO
7.1. Video on the modern Web7.1.1. The video experience7.1.2. Where ActionScript comes in7.2. Encoding your video7.2.1. Capturing your video7.2.2. Using the Flash Video Encoder7.3. Delivering your video7.4. Using ActionScript to play videos7.4.1. Managing connections with the NetConnection class7.4.2. Loading and controlling video with the NetStream class7.4.2.1. Buffering your video7.4.2.2. Playing your video7.4.2.3. Pausing your video7.4.2.4. Stopping your video7.4.2.5. Fast-forwarding and rewinding your video7.4.3. Creating video objects with the Video class7.4.4. Creating camera objects with the Camera class7.4.5. Handling video events7.4.5.1. Mouse events7.4.5.2. Status events7.4.5.3. Metadata events7.4.5.4. Cue point events7.5. Building a video player7.5.1. Setting up the project7.5.1.1. Creating the Main.as file7.5.1.2. Creating the Videos.as file7.5.2. Controlling the video player7.5.2.1. Setting up the status text field7.5.2.2. Implementing the loading progress bar7.5.2.3. Creating the playhead bar7.5.2.4. Handling the metadata7.5.2.5. Handling cue points7.5.3. Controlling the video on the stage7.5.3.1. Adding button functionality7.5.3.2. Finishing the Videos.as class7.5.4. Creating a custom event7.6. Summary
8. USING AUDIO
8.1. Importing and converting sound files8.1.1. Using iTunes8.1.1.1. Converting to MP3 format8.1.1.2. Adding ID3 information8.1.2. Using Soundbooth8.2. Using ActionScript to play sound8.2.1. Accessing sound files with the Sound class8.2.2. Controlling sound channels with the SoundChannel class8.2.3. Doing security checks with the SoundLoaderContext class8.2.4. Controlling volume and panning with the SoundTransform class8.2.5. Controlling sounds globally with the SoundMixer class8.2.6. Getting ID3 data with the ID3Info class8.2.7. Using a microphone with the Microphone class8.2.8. Understanding the basics of a sound player application8.2.8.1. Preloading a buffer8.2.8.2. Pausing sound8.2.8.3. Stopping sound8.2.8.4. Fast-forwarding and rewinding sound8.2.8.5. Controlling volume8.2.8.6. Controlling panning8.2.8.7. Displaying the sound spectrum8.2.8.8. Handling ID3 Tags8.3. Building a sound player8.3.1. Setting up the project8.3.1.1. Creating the Main.as file8.3.1.2. Creating the Sounds.as file8.3.1.3. Loading the sound file8.3.1.4. Buffering sound8.3.2. Adding display items8.3.2.1. Creating the loading progress bar8.3.2.2. Creating the playhead bar8.3.2.3. Adding the sound spectrum8.3.2.4. Displaying ID3 track metadata8.3.3. Controlling the audio as it plays8.3.3.1. Adding button functionality8.3.3.2. Handling button events8.3.4. Controlling the sound volume and panning8.3.5. Creating the custom event class8.4. Summary
9. WORKING WITH COMPONENTS
9.1. Just what are components?9.1.1. Accessing your components9.1.2. Adjusting component parameters9.2. Benefits of working with components9.3. Exploring the Flash component framework9.3.1. UI components9.3.2. Video components9.3.3. Going behind the scenes9.3.4. Finding the files9.3.4.1. Components directory9.3.4.2. Component Source directory9.4. Scripting interaction9.4.1. Adding the components9.4.2. Adding the ActionScript9.5. Styling and skinning9.5.1. Styling components9.5.1.1. Setting up for changing styles9.5.1.2. Setting styles for all components9.5.1.3. Setting a style for all instances of a component9.5.1.4. Setting the style for a single instance of a component9.5.2. Skinning using the timeline9.5.3. Skinning using classes9.5.3.1. Creating a skin for the button's up state9.5.3.2. Creating skins for the button's other states9.5.3.3. Associating the skins with the buttons9.6. Creating components from scratch9.6.1. Creating the widget9.6.2. Writing the component code9.6.2.1. Handling events9.6.2.2. Rotating the dial9.6.2.3. Getting and setting dial values9.6.2.4. Adding metatags9.6.3. Turning the symbol into a component9.6.4. Testing the component9.7. Using third-party components9.8. Summary
10. REGULAR EXPRESSIONS
10.1. Why you need regular expressions10.2. Introducing the RegExp class10.3. Anatomy of a regular expression pattern10.3.1. Introducing metacharacters10.3.1.1. Using anchors to restrict the position of matches10.3.1.2. Using start-of-string anchors10.3.1.3. Using end-of-string anchors10.3.1.4. Combining anchors10.3.2. Providing alternatives with alternation10.3.3. Using character classes and character ranges10.3.4. Matching any character using the dot metacharacter10.3.5. Matching a number of occurrences using quantifiers10.3.5.1. Matching zero or one occurrence10.3.5.2. Matching zero or more occurrences10.3.5.3. Matching one or more occurrences10.3.5.4. How to prevent greedy quantifiers10.3.5.5. Being more specific with bounds10.3.6. Grouping patterns10.3.7. Accessing matched strings with backreferences10.3.7.1. Using backreferences with the String.replace() method10.3.7.2. Using backreferences after the pattern has been matched10.4. Understanding the e-mail regular expression pattern10.5. Changing regular expression behavior with modifiers10.5.1. Using the case-insensitive modifier10.5.2. Using the global modifier10.5.3. Using the multiline modifier10.5.4. Using the dotall modifier10.5.5. Using the extended modifier10.6. Using variables to build a regular expression10.7. Useful regular expressions10.8. Regular expression resources10.9. Summary
11. USING XML
11.1. Understanding XML and E4X11.1.1. XML document components11.1.1.1. Root node11.1.1.2. Elements11.1.1.3. Text nodes11.1.2. E4X11.1.2.1. Attributes11.2. Accessing an XML file11.2.1. Creating an XML object11.2.2. Loading an XML file11.2.3. Getting XML from a remote source11.3. Reading the XML11.3.1. Reading the root node11.3.2. Reading elements in an XML tree11.3.3. Reading an XML element's attributes11.4. Searching XML11.4.1. Searching for an attribute or element at any level11.4.2. Reading text nodes11.5. Modifying XML11.5.1. Adding elements to an XML object11.5.2. Removing elements and attributes from an XML object11.6. Summary
12. CASE STUDY: CREATING A DYNAMIC IMAGE VIEWER
12.1. An overview of the image viewer12.2. Laying out the interface12.3. Creating the document class12.4. Loading image data12.4.1. Loading the XML12.4.2. Parsing the data12.4.3. Accessing the data12.5. Displaying images12.5.1. Handling image selection12.5.2. Scaling an image12.6. Adding graphic enhancements12.6.1. Changing the image label12.6.2. Improving the thumbnail layout12.6.3. Adding drop shadows12.6.4. Creating an animated transition12.7. Summary
13. GETTING STARTED WITH FLEX
13.1. Introducing Flex13.2. Understanding rich Internet applications13.3. Meet the (Flex) family13.3.1. The Flex framework13.3.2. The Flash Player13.3.3. MXML13.3.4. The Flex Software Development Kit13.3.5. Flex Builder13.3.6. Adobe LiveCycle DS13.3.7. Adobe AIR13.4. Getting started with the Flex SDK13.4.1. Installing the Flex SDK13.4.1.1. Windows XP/Vista13.4.1.2. Mac OS X13.4.1.3. Linux13.4.2. Finding a suitable editor13.4.3. Building your first Flex application13.5. Getting started with Flex Builder13.5.1. Understanding the Flex Builder interface13.5.2. Building your first Flex Builder application13.5.2.1. Creating a new Flex project13.5.2.2. Working in Design view13.5.2.3. Working in Source view13.6. Summary
14. FLEX BY EXAMPLE
14.1. Planning the application14.1.1. Gathering the requirements14.1.2. Creating the functional specification14.1.3. Designing the UI14.1.4. Designing the interaction14.1.5. Designing the data and logic14.2. Setting up the project14.3. Creating the basic UI14.3.1. Creating the containers14.4. Creating basic feed integration14.4.1. Installing the XML syndication library14.5. Creating the Subscription class14.5.1. Adding a new class to your project14.5.2. Fleshing out the Subscription class14.5.3. Testing the Subscription class14.5.4. Loading the data14.5.5. Allowing Subscription instances to be used for data binding14.5.6. Creating the subscriptions list14.5.7. Creating the articles data grid14.5.8. Populating the Article panel14.6. Completing the Subscriptions panel14.6.1. Allowing users to subscribe to a feed14.6.1.1. Laying out the SubscribeDialog component14.6.1.2. Wiring up the buttons14.6.1.3. Getting the feed14.6.2. Allowing users to unsubscribe from a feed14.6.3. Saving the subscriptions list between sessions14.6.4. Refreshing the subscriptions list14.6.4.1. Automatically refreshing the subscriptions list14.6.4.2. Manually refreshing the subscriptions list14.7. Completing the Articles and Article panels14.7.1. Finishing the Articles panel14.7.2. Finishing the Article panel14.8. Improving the feed reader14.9. Summary

Content preview from Foundation ActionScript 3.0 for Flash and Flex

Chapter 2. ACTIONSCRIPT 3.0 FUNDAMENTALS

This chapter covers how to do the following:

Store information in your projects using variables
Choose the right data type for the information you need to store
Create constants to store information that never changes
Perform arithmetic and make decisions
Perform a set of actions repeatedly by using loops
Separate common parts of code into functions
Comment your code so that you and others know what it does

In this chapter, you will learn about the basic fundamental building blocks of the ActionScript 3.0 language.

I'll warn you in advance that this chapter is probably the most challenging chapter in the whole book for new programmers because there is a wealth of information covered, but it is also the single most ...

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Foundation ActionScript 3.0 for Flash and Flex

by Darren Richardson

Chapter 2. ACTIONSCRIPT 3.0 FUNDAMENTALS

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