Tim Walling

Following up on my post on how to use the Loki API from within a Flash app, I’m posting an example with source for doing the same thing within a Flex app.

What’s noteworthy about this example? For starters I tried to avoid the need for any Javascript (other than embedding) in the HTML page. The LokiAdapter class I’ve written injects all needed Javascript dynamically. I’m working towards a 1.0 release of this adapter and have put the initial source code up on a Google code project. The other big change is the move to AS3. My initial example was an FLA which used AS2. I usually avoid using AS2 but thought it might be helpful to have an example which used it. So it’s there if you need it but I probably won’t be building on that example any longer. I should also point out that I’ve only gotten this working with Firefox. I still have to work out all of the browser issues.

I’ll post something when I get the 1.0 SWC files uploaded on the Google code site. I’ll be including one for Flash and one for Flex. To run the example application you’ll need your own Loki key and developer key from Google to use the Google maps API for Flash.

Demo:
http://www.timwalling.com/loki_flex/loki.html

Source:
http://code.google.com/p/lokiadapter/

Recently a friend of mine asked if it was possible to use the Loki Javascript API from within Flash. Loki is a location aware plugin which once installed allows a user to find their location using available WiFi signals. I created an example which uses the javascript API to show you you’re location on a flash based Yahoo! map. The source code is available in a zip and you can view the working example here. I’ll probably play around with this a bit more so that the javascript gets inserted dynamically from Flash and I’d also like to have some Flex examples.

Demo:
http://www.timwalling.com/loki/loki.html

Source:
http://www.timwalling.com/loki/loki_flash_example.zip

A new version of FlashDevelop has been released and among the updates are some tweaks to the autocomplete feature. It’s worth pointing out that this 3.0.0 version of FlashDevelop is starting to include some integration with the Flex debugger (currently only trace statements are supported), something which I feel will really make the tool a viable alternative to Flex Builder. Java 1.6 is required for Actionscript 3 development so grab that as well if you want to test out all the features of the latest build.

FlashDevelop 3.0.0 Beta 4

Java 1.6 (Java 6)

If you try out FlashDevelop and like using it, don’t forget to support the project by donating!

Recently I wanted to find out how to compile SWC libraries which could be used in Flash CS3 since I knew it was possible to go the other way using the Flex Component Kit for Flash CS3. As of Flex 2.01, support was added so that Flash and Flex authored SWC’s were compatible (previously I believe the SWC format differed between them). The focus of the update however was on getting Flash authored components into Flex and only in passing was the reversed case mentioned as being supported.

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I rarely jump on the blogging bandwagon when it comes to news that I know will spread like wild fire anyway, but I wanted to mark the occasion on my own site since this is so big. Ted Patrick has pointed out that the next version of Flex will be going open source. This is great news for a framework which I already felt was moving in the right direction with the release of a free SDK in version 2. Overall, I’ve been really happy with how things have been going for Flash since Adobe acquired Macromedia and I think Adobe has shown their commitment to the technology that they acquired as well as the commitment to the developers Macromedia has always had a great relationship with.