Hello folks,
My next question is conceptual...
I've made good progress on many of the classes in my application, but
I'm now caught in a dilemma regarding approach.
As mentioned in a previous mail, I'm building a system that can be
divided into two: 1 part does general world 3D animation until the pages
are opened; this was relatively easy to make... the second part of the
system deals with generating pages [its a templating MVC system]; this
is the tough part!
At the center of the application is my class: PageController
Linked to it are 3 other Classes: PageModel [to load new pages],
StatsCollector [to record new pages called] and MouseController [told to
turn off 3D motion when pages are opened].
I was planning on using an object-instance pointer in the PageController
formed during its construction, to tell the associated Classes that a
new event has ocured, but someone pointed out to me that I should be
using an event based system instead [so that's its easier to add new
Classes that listen to the Controller in the future]
Here is what I have:
class com.blabla.PageController {
//Object pointers
private var pageModel:Object;
private var statsCollector:Object;
private var mouseController:Object;
private var urlMapper:Object;
//Page open/close status
private var activeWindow:Boolean;
function PageController (
__pageModel:Object,
__mouseController:Object,
__statsCollector:Object,
__urlMapper:Object)
{
//Pointers:
this.pageModel = __pageModel;
this.statsCollector = __statsCollector;
this.mouseController = __mouseController;
this.urlMapper = __urlMapper;
//Set initial state:
this.activeWindow = false;
}
//this method is called by SWFAddress on url changes:
public function urlChange(__name:String):Void {
// MOUSE CONTROLLER
//set the page active true to turn off
//3D mouse system:
this.activeWindow = true;
//tell 3D mouse system to check status:
this.mouseController.checkWindowStatus();
// PAGE MODEL
//call URL mapper returns an XML file based
//on the url __name
//this XML file is then passed to the pageModel
//which will then notify the PageView of changes
this.pageModel.buildPage (this.urlMapper.convertLink(__name));
// STATS COLLECTOR
//run the method in 'statscol' with url:
this.statsCollector.callURL(__name);
}
}
So, my question is... is this the right way to be sending events? By
making pointers and calling methods in connected classes? Also, should I
store my "activeWindow" parameter in the Controller? I have a feeling
its in the wrong Class; but from a Code-clarity perspective it does make
sense to have it here as the controller is a state-dispatcher...?
Or should I be using an event based system instead of pointers? If so,
could someone lightly outline what the difference would be like in such
a set up? I'm not very familiar with using events to drive app like
this. I'd be very thankful.
Here is the latest diagram of the system:
http://www.chedal.org/temp/uml_design_03.png
[this that are blue/green are things I've built until now]
Note I chose to connect the MouseController and StatsCollector to the
PageController instead of the PageModel because if I did so the
PageModel would get very long in terms of code; I want the PageModel to
focus JUST on storing the Templates' data that the View will build [by
refering to the PageModel's loaded data]. Also, if I linked everything
to the PageModel instead, the functionality of the PageController as a
dispatcher would be made redundant... am I right in this thinking?
If you wish I can copy-paste the code of other Classes [assuming I've
written the code!], but I don't think this is necessary to answer my
question.
With kindness,
Sebastian.
_______________________________________________
Flashcoders@chattyfig.figleaf.com
To change your subscription options or search the archive:
http://chattyfig.figleaf.com/mailman/listinfo/flashcoders
Brought to you by Fig Leaf Software
Premier Authorized Adobe Consulting and Training
http://www.figleaf.com
http://training.figleaf.com
