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/

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.

Read the rest of this entry »

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.

I knew I ran the risk of releasing something that would be replaced soon enough. I think less than 24 hours might be a record though.

The Yahoo! team released a set of AS3 API Libraries and they addressed the need for a map solution with the Yahoo! Maps AS3 Communication Kit. One of my blog commentors pointed out that these AS3 libraries would be released today and I responded by my willingness to bet that they wouldn’t release an updated map component for Flex 2. Technically I think we both were right. The communication kit that was released follows the same basic approach of loading a Flash 8 SWF which contains the Yahoo! Flash map component, only it uses a nice ExternalInterface service, not to mention the API is much more complete than what I had whipped up so far.

The great thing about the libraries is that, at least for the moment, they’re distributed as source code. Personally I always like to get the source and its nice to see the trend of releasing source code continue with big companies like Yahoo!

FlexMap, it was fun while it lasted. Am I bummed? No! I’m happy that Yahoo! has released a sweet AS3 library and addressed the need for a Flex 2 map API. Yahoo! continues to provide the Flash community with tools to make interesting web applications.

I’m still happy I followed through with it for a few reasons:

1. You never know when the official solution for something will actually come out. You can either suck it up and just write it or just keep delaying until it finally comes out.

2. It was an interesting problem to address. I like hacking, so coming up with a solution that worked was rewarding.

3. I followed through with something, which isn’t something I’m always good at when it comes to personal projects (ie. projects that don’t pay the rent).

4. I setup a project site on code.google.com (which is a really great service) and actually “released” something which in my mind means packaging something up with some basic documentation and release notes. Usually I just slap my code up as is and say have fun.

I have some other ideas for things that I’d like to work on but maybe this time I’ll try to stick to something that’s a little more unique and has less risk of being defunct after a few hours.