Flex™ 3: A Beginner's Guide
by Davis, Michele; Phillips, JonEdition: 1st
Format: Paperback
Pub. Date: 2008-04-11
Publisher(s): McGraw-Hill Education
Other versions by this Author
List Price: $42.00
Buy New
Usually Ships in 2-3 Business Days.
$39.90
Rent Book
Select for Price
Rent Digital
$47.25*
Used Book
We're Sorry
Sold Out
Summary
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, ActionScript, 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 Biography
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. He has worked with numerous databases, including Oracle, SQL Server, and MySQL for more than 14 years. Phillips has coauthored five technology books with Michele Davis.
Table of Contents
| Acknowledgments | p. xi |
| Introduction | p. xiii |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved. |
An electronic version of this book is available through VitalSource.
This book is viewable on PC, Mac, iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, and most smartphones.
By purchasing, you will be able to view this book online, as well as download it, for the chosen number of days.
Digital License
You are licensing a digital product for a set duration. Durations are set forth in the product description, with "Lifetime" typically meaning five (5) years of online access and permanent download to a supported device. All licenses are non-transferable.
More details can be found here.
A downloadable version of this book is available through the eCampus Reader or compatible Adobe readers.
Applications are available on iOS, Android, PC, Mac, and Windows Mobile platforms.
Please view the compatibility matrix prior to purchase.