[SPAM] Re: [flexcoders] Passing an object to a rendererProvider

[droponrcll]

--- In flexcoders@yahoogroups.com, Jeffry Houser  wrote:
>
> Tracy,
> 
>  I understood from the original e-mail that he was using a component as 
> an itemRenderer.  If his 'item object' is being used an itemRenderer he 
> would have to create numerous mods to the list based classes to pass in 
> properties other than "data" or "listData". 

That's what styleFunction on ADG is for.  And why the Data Visualization 
Components take things that would be properties on other components (like 
dataProvider) as styles.

[flexcoders] Re: Subclassed DataGridColumn does not render in FB3 design view mode

[droponrcll]

--- In flexcoders@yahoogroups.com, "fourctv"  wrote:
>
> [Flex 3.4]
> I am subclassing DGC in a library of mine. Everything works perfectly, no 
> problems in runtime.
>  
> But FB3 does not render my columns... If I have a mix of DGC and MyDGC on a 
> DG, the framework's standard DGC render well, mine don't. If I have only 
> MyDGC in a datagrid, it shows as an empty grid, as if no columns were 
> declared. But again, it works fine in runtime.
>  
> Is there any trick, setting or property I need to set in my manifest.xml or 
> design.xml?
>  
> I know that DGC rendering in FB3 is done differently than other components.
>  
> Is there a way to do what I want?

You need to package it in a swc and program for the design time view.

HTH;

Amy

[flexcoders] Wonky alignment in mx:htmlText property (Flex 3)

[droponrcll]

I think the MXML is more readable for a TextArea if you use the mx:htmlText 
property, but I found that I got a giant left indent on the first line and 
unexpected line breaks in the TextArea (with a giant indent again) when I used 
it, whether I included any markup in the property or not.  If I use the inline 
htmlText attribute, everything works fine.

Why is there a difference, and has anyone found a workaround?  I tried setting 
XML.ignoreWhitespace, XML.prettyIndent, etc., but nothing helped.

Thanks;

Amy

[flexcoders] Re: Problem sorting advancedDataGrid after dataprovider updated

[droponrcll]

--- In flexcoders@yahoogroups.com, InvertedSpear  wrote:
>
> 
> Problem Solved... I guess.
> 
> 
> I was turning my HTTPService result into an XMLList. I just switched it to
> an arrayCollection and I no longer loose the ability to sort when I refresh
> the data. 
> 
> Maybe there is some limitation when using an XMLList, I wish I could have
> found out for sure, but at least I have a working product now.
> 
> Lesson Learned: use arrayCollection, it's apparently a superior veriable
> type.

XMLList, unlike, say, XMLListCollection, is not a ListCollectionView, so it 
doesn't generate the proper events to allow anything bound to it to know that 
something has changed.

HTH;

Amy

[flexcoders] Re: TileList custom ItemRenderer - commitProperties not called when selection changes

[droponrcll]

--- In flexcoders@yahoogroups.com, Greg Hess  wrote:
>
> Hi All,
> 
> I have a custom item renderer in one of my TileList's. I need to set a
> style of one of the children to indicate selection, I am doing this by
> overriding commitProperties. However, when debugging the IR's
> commitProperties does not get called after the selection changes.
> 

I'm pretty sure that the styleFunction on the TileList_withStyle at 
flexdiary.blogspot.com gets called when the selectedItem changes.  IMO, it's 
much cleaner not to have the itemRenderer making decisions about style.

HTH;

Amy

[flexcoders] Re: Flex Data Grid Question

[droponrcll]

--- In flexcoders@yahoogroups.com, InvertedSpear  wrote:
>
> 
> Apologies for resurrecting a somewhat old thread, but since my searches
> turned me up here and I spent several hours today working on this issue I
> thought it would be appropriate.
> 
> Here's is the code I came up with that mostly solves this.
> My source data is just a basic XMLListCollection. 
> The renderer "colSpanningHeader" is a basic label component. I did nothing
> but make it align center
...
> I find one problem with this, I can't completely get rid of the first
> column. It makes my grid look a little tacky. 
> 
> Anyone out there know how I can get this same method of grouping without
> showing the first column? I don't want a folder tree, I just want a header
> row for each group.

Set the treeColumn to an AdvancedDataGridColumn with 0 width?

[flexcoders] Re: AMFPHP problem

[droponrcll]

--- In flexcoders@yahoogroups.com, Pete  wrote:
>
> As you probably know, NetConnection.Call.BadVersion means that an error 
> was thrown in the php script, usually a syntax error, but your script 
> runs fine on other servers.
> 
> I would suspect something in the php config on the server is causing you 
> trouble.
> 
> I have the same problem every time I move to a new server because I try 
> and transfer too much info and not enough memory is allocated ro running 
> php scripts on the server.

Also, check to make sure your PHP version is not too old or too new.

http://flexdiary.blogspot.com/search/label/Remoting
http://gfxcomplex.com/amf/amfphp-is-dead/ (read the comments for a possible fix)

HTH;

Amy

[flexcoders] Re: How can I use Grouping collection to group data on the parent ?

[droponrcll]

--- In flexcoders@yahoogroups.com, Thomas Silvester  wrote:
>
> Please Can anyone help me out?

There's a GroupingCollection example at flexdiary.blogspot.com.  It's not an 
exact match for what you're asking, but you might find that it helps point you 
in the right direction.

HTH;

Amy

[flexcoders] Re: Odd DragOver Problem

[droponrcll]

--- In flexcoders@yahoogroups.com, Alex Harui  wrote:
>
> Double check your logic about when you call acceptDragDrop

Also, are you overriding createChildren?  If so, please post your code.

[flexcoders] Re: Get strong propertyName from object so it would break at compile time if changed

[droponrcll]

--- In flexcoders@yahoogroups.com, "tntomek"  wrote:
>
> Is there a way to get a strong property name from an object?
> 
> scenario ... Person class having "weight" property
> 
> var column:DataGridColumn
> column.dataField = "weight"; 
> 
> can i do something like:
> 
> column.dataField = Person.weight.getPropertyName();
> 
> ... so that if this "weight" property is renamed one day I would get compile 
> time warning?
>

You can look for Person.hasOwnProperty('weight') to see if the property exists 
at runtime.  If you want a compile-time warning, just put in a hard reference 
somewhere to aPerson.weight.

HTH;

Amy

[flexcoders] Re: Building components at runtime

[droponrcll]

--- In flexcoders@yahoogroups.com, "prodanzr"  wrote:
>
> Hi all
> 
> Thanks to the success of my first Flex application I've been asked to write a 
> new one that is required to build the user interface from XML data it 
> receives from a server. So the app sends a request to an HTTP Server and gets 
> XML back that signifies such things as "username, string, maxlength=40; 
> startdate, date and so on" from which the app would build a component and 
> display it, capture values and send them back to the server.
> 
> So far all my (limited) Flex work has been MXML-specified user interfaces so 
> I'd like to ask if people think this idea is hard to implement in 
> ActionScript (I assume it's doable) and if there are any examples anywhere I 
> could look at?

Check out
http://www.insideria.com/2009/10/dynamically-creating-classes-f.html
http://www.insideria.com/2009/10/interfaces-and-dynamic-class-i.html

[flexcoders] Re: Casting down an object

[droponrcll]

--- In flexcoders@yahoogroups.com, "bnsmeets"  wrote:
>
> Hi all,
> 
> I'm wondering if it is possible to 'hack' some sort of downcasting into AS3. 
> The context is, that I am using a generated webservice proxy from Flex 3, and 
> want to be able to add custom (extra) properties to the generated 
> valueobjects without having to adjust the code that parses the wsdl result 
> into objects.
> 
> So e.g. the webservice generates the class:
> 
> class A
> {
>   property A;
>   property B;
> }
> 
> I have my own class that is:
> 
> class B extends A
> {
>   property C;
> }
> 
> When i call the generated webservice "get all A's", it will return an array 
> of "A" objects, what I am looking for is to convert that list into "B" 
> objects. So the values of the properties that exist in the "A" counterpart, 
> filled for a new "B" instance, with an empty "C" property.

Instead of having B extend A, instead have both A and B implement Interface I.  
Then use the Decorator pattern (there's a current feature on this on InsideRIA 
http://www.insideria.com/2009/10/decorator-design-pattern.html if you don't 
have the book AS3 Design Patterns) to have B "wrap" an A and "reflect" the 
properties that I requires it to have.

So 

package {
  public interface I {
function get prop1():String;
function set prop1(s:String):void;

function get prop2():String;
function set prop2(s:String):void;
  }
}

package {
  public class A implements I {
private var _prop1:String;
private var _prop2:String;
public function get prop1():String {
   return _prop1;
}
public function set prop1(s:String):void {
   _prop1=s;
}
public function get prop2():String {
   return _prop2;
}
public function set prop2(s:String):void {
   _prop2=s;
}
  }
}

package {
  public class B implements I {
private var _a:A;
private var _c:String;
public function B(a:A) {
_a=a;
}
public function get prop1():String {
   return _a.prop1;
}
public function set prop1(s:String):void {
   a.prop1=s;
}
public function get prop2():String {
   return a.prop2;
}
public function set prop2(s:String):void {
   a.prop2=s;
}
public function get c():String {
   return _c;
}
public function set c(s:String):void {
   _c=s;
}
  }
}

Now, any code that needs type information, you'll be looking for I, not A, 
because a B is not an A, it "contains" an A.  For more on Interfaces, check out 
http://www.insideria.com/2009/10/interfaces-and-dynamic-class-i.html or 
http://flexdiary.blogspot.com/2009/01/example-of-casting-contets-of-swfloader.html
 .


HTH;

Amy

[flexcoders] Re: RemoteObject question/mystery

[droponrcll]

--- In flexcoders@yahoogroups.com, "Wally Kolcz"  wrote:
>
> Looking for a little education from all the people smarter than me of 
> remoteObjects. I have always used the MXML version which includes the 
> resultHandler attribute which made managing the returned data easy. However I 
> never learned the AS version very well. I can create the remoteObject in AS 
> and call its method, add the EventListener, but how do I actually get the 
> data back to a caller function?
> 
> index.mxml
> import org.mywindow.data.Users;
> 
> [Bindable] public var users:ArrayCollection;
> 
> public function getMyData():void {
>  users = Users.getAll();
> }
> 
> for the User's getAll function I have something like:
> 
> UserDAO.as
> ...
> public var _users:ArrayCollection;
> 
> public function getAll():void {
> var UserDAO:RemoteObject = new RemoteObject();
> UserDAO.destination = "ColdFusion";
> UserDAO.source = "org.mywindow.data.userDAO";
> UserDAO.getAll.addEventListener(ResultEvent.RESULT, 
> resultHandler);
> UserDAO.getAll.addEventListener(FaultEvent.FAULT, faultHandler);
> }
> 
> public function resultHandler(e:ResultEvent):ArrayCollection{
>   _users = e as ArrayCollection;
> return users;
> }
> 
> I know some of the code may be off, but I am trying to understand how a non 
> called function (resultHandler) can return data to the called function in a 
> different class. So my question is, if the index.mxml calls the getAll 
> function in the UserDAO class, will the getMyData function still receive the 
> ArrayCollection from the resultHandler? If I were to fire this off, till the 
> result be that my users ArrayCollection in the index.mxml be populated in the 
> end? Thanks!

You should never ignore the kind of compiler warning that you ought to be 
seeing here (implicit coercsion of ResultEvent to possibly unrelated type 
ArrayCollection).  The first thing you should do is put a break point inside 
resultHandler and look at the e object in the variables window, to see what 
property of it might contain the ArrayCollection you're looking for.  Then cast 
e[thatProperty] to ArrayCollection explicitly.

The next thing you need to realize is that the code that is calling your event 
handler is deep in EventDispatcher, and it does not give a flying, er, hoot, 
what your function returns.  In fact, I'd be really suprised if you are not 
getting a compiler or at least a run time error with your code as it is.

Event handler functions should _always_ have a return type of void, which means 
that in your result handler you either need to work with the AsyncToken on the 
result (which you'd set up when you call the RemoteObject) or you need set a 
variable or call a function which both your result handler and whatever needs 
to use it have access to (in their scope).

For more on using AsyncToken, see 
http://flexdiary.blogspot.com/2008/11/more-thoughts-on-remoting.html .

HTH;

Amy

[flexcoders] Re: Help with Arrays, ArrayCollections & Repeaters

[droponrcll]

--- In flexcoders@yahoogroups.com, "criptopus"  wrote:
>
> I'm trying to get these X's to appear in a circle and not having much lock 
> with it. The array seems to work when I trace it but nothing appears on the 
> screen. I tried just defining an MXML ArrayCollection and it worked but I 
> want them Bindable so I can move them about.
> 
> Code so far...
> 
> 
> http://www.adobe.com/2006/mxml";
> xmlns = "*"
> layout = "absolute"
> creationComplete = "makeChange();">
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
>x = "{myLabelsRep.currentItem.x}"
>   y = "{myLabelsRep.currentItem.y}"
>   text = "{myLabelsRep.currentItem.label}"
>   fontSize = "20"/>
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Any help appreciated as I am just a learner.
>

Arrays aren't bindable, so 
 

Doesn't update when you change the array.  Manually set the source property on 
myLabelsAC at the end of your function.

HTH;

Amy

[flexcoders] Re: how may I store values to function's arguments? REFdn7045338143

[droponrcll]

--- In flexcoders@yahoogroups.com, "dennis"  wrote:
>
> Some times, the one result of a function is not enough, cay we use the
> arguments to get back values from them?
> 
>  
> 
> internal function getXY(x:int,y:int):void{
> 
>   x=10;y=20;
> 
> }
> 
>  
> 
> internal function test():void{
> 
>   var x:int; var y:int;
> 
>   getXY(x,y);
> 
>   trace("x: "+x.toString()+" y: "+y.toString());  // here I get "x: 0 y: 0",
> I want to get "x: 10 y: 20"
> 
> }
> 
>  
> 
> For instance, in c the getXY should be like this:
> 
>  
> 
> internal function getXY(int* x, int* y):void{
> 
>   x=10;y=20;
> 
> }
> 

Try:

private function getXY(x:int, y:int):Object {
return {x:10, y:20);
}

private function test():void {
var obj:Object = getXY(0, 0);
trace('x: ' + obj.x + ' y: ' + obj.y);
]

HTH;

Amy

[flexcoders] Re: Flexbuilder doesn't give compile error when using a undeclared variable, methods

[droponrcll]

--- In flexcoders@yahoogroups.com, "benjamine_df"  wrote:
>
> Hello,
> 
>   I am new to flex and I make lot of mistakes by calling a method or
>  field in an object which does not exist. But flex builder 3 doesn't 
> seem to throw a compile error when I do this. In java it would be a 
> quick compile error. Is there any flex builder setting I can set to 
> give compile errors.
> 
> Example
> var data:Dictionary = new Dictionary();
> data.length   //no compile error for this
> data[indexint]  //no compile error

Create your own typed objects if you want type checking:

public clas YourClass {
   public var indexInt:int;
   public var length:int;
}

var yourClass:YourClass = newYourClass();

var foo:String = YourClass.foo; //compiler error


I'm pretty sure Java wouldn't throw a compiler error if you add or access a 
previously nonexistent key to a Dictionary, either, since that's pretty much 
the point of a Dictionary in most languages, isn't it?

-Amy

[flexcoders] Re: addChild doesn't effect for some reason REFdn2065133102

[droponrcll]

--- In flexcoders@yahoogroups.com, "dennis"  wrote:
>
> In small test application I have the follow object. stack
> 
>  
> 
> The "Main.mxml" loads the  EntryClass.as ->  "class EntryClass" (that
> doesn't extends anything)  -> "public static function Main()".
> 
>  
> 
> This EntryClass.Main() function is doing the follow:
> 
>  
> 
>   var mxmlApp:Application = Application(Application.application);
> 
>   var mainAppClass:MainAppClass=new MainAppClass();
> 
>   mxmlApp.addChild(mainAppClass);
> 
>   
> 
> So the mainAppClass is loaded.
> 
> Now the MainAppClass extends the UIComponent and in its constructor does
> this:
> 
>  
> 
>   var buttonFromMainClass:Button=new Button();
> 
>  
> buttonFromMainClass.x=20;buttonFromMainClass.y=20;buttonFromMainClass.label=
> "hello world";
> 
>  
> 
> to add it to stage I call
> 
>  
> 
>   addChild(buttonFromMainClass);
> 
>  
> 
> and here is the problem! The button is not appeared on the stage, but using
> this code:
> 
>  
> 
>   Application(Application.application).addChild(buttonFromMainClass);
> 
>  
> 
> the button is added to the stage and it is visible.
> 
>  
> 
> Why the button is not added to the stage with the simple addChild? Where am
> I wrong?

This seems like a roundabout and probably inadvisable way to do this, but you 
might want to try calling setActualSize() on buttonFromMainClass.

If that doesn't work, post back with more info on when and how you're 
instantiating the class.

HTH;

Amy

[flexcoders] Re: Highlighting a Chart Collumn?

[droponrcll]

--- In flexcoders@yahoogroups.com, "jmerrill_2001"  wrote:
>
> > The files are generally named based on the example that you click on, ie
> > styles would be in the styles package, etc.
> 
> Yeah, I figured that much out, thanks. What I mean is, it still does not show 
> how to target a particular collumn based on data and draw in just that 
> collumn.  Finding what I specifically need for this isn't that simple given 
> these examples.
>
Don't charts have a fillFunction?

HTH;

Amy

[flexcoders] Re: Copy or enumerate a CSSStyleDeclaration? (Flex 3.4)

[droponrcll]

--- In flexcoders@yahoogroups.com, "droponrcll"  wrote:
>
> I have a custom class that extends Canvas.  I'd like this class to have the 
> default styles used by Canvas, plus my own default styles.  So I want to get 
> the Canvas CSSStyleDeclaration and copy its properties to a new 
> CSSStyleDeclaration used by my own component (then add my own stuff).
> 
> I can't see a way to walk through the CSSStyleDeclaration and copy its 
> properties or to "separate" out the instance so I don't affect all Canvases 
> in the project.

Never mind.  Found it in the code to CSSStyleDeclaration.

[flexcoders] Copy or enumerate a CSSStyleDeclaration? (Flex 3.4)

[droponrcll]

I have a custom class that extends Canvas.  I'd like this class to have the 
default styles used by Canvas, plus my own default styles.  So I want to get 
the Canvas CSSStyleDeclaration and copy its properties to a new 
CSSStyleDeclaration used by my own component (then add my own stuff).

I can't see a way to walk through the CSSStyleDeclaration and copy its 
properties or to "separate" out the instance so I don't affect all Canvases in 
the project.

Any ideas?

Thanks;

Amy

[flexcoders] Re: Apparent data value change in Advanced DataGrid

[droponrcll]

--- In flexcoders@yahoogroups.com, Tom McNeer  wrote:
>
> Amy,
> 
> Thanks for the advice. I'm very new to the ADG, and as you well know, it has
> quirks.
> 
> Put a break point into a handler for the event when the row is opened, then
> > look in the variables window to see if the data has actually changed. If it
> > has, then you'll need to work backward from there to see how and why.
> 
> 
> I've attempted to do this, creating a function first assigned to the
> "itemOpening" attribute of the ADG, then later to the "itemOpen" attribute.
> 
> In neither case does the function appear to be called. There's a breakpoint,
> but it's never reached.
> 
> Am I missing something?
> 
> Nevertheless, I put a bogus button in place so I could fire an event that
> would let me look at things before and after the tree was opened.
> 
> And things have gotten even weirder. Yes, the underlying data is changing.
> The Status is actually being changed within the array collection.
> 
> Worse yet, it's being changed to a value that does not exist anywhere within
> the array collection. My test has two groups: in one set of grouped data,
> the Status is "Approved"; in the second, the Status is "Denied," When I open
> the tree, the Status displays "Pending."
> 
> When I examine all the variables within the component before the tree is
> expanded, that string appears nowhere. Nowhere. So clearly, it's being
> injected from somewhere else. Not from the server, because Charles shows no
> activity. Something inside the app - but outside the component - is changing
> the array collection.

In your example data, you _did_ have "Pending" in the second grouping.  If your 
ADG is editable, the possibility is that your retained value is somehow 
triggering an edit on the wrong item.

> Until I can find that, I don't think anyone can help. But I appreciate the
> attempt.

Did you try changing to getItemAt?  If so, what was the result?

-Amy

[flexcoders] Re: What the heck am I doing wrong with my GroupingCollection?

[droponrcll]

--- In flexcoders@yahoogroups.com, "vam6981"  wrote:
>
> See if this example resolved your problem http://vam1021.webs.com/ADGPanel/
> 
> 
> --- In flexcoders@yahoogroups.com, "golnooshp"  wrote:
> >
> > Hi Mark,
> > Can you sort on groups at all? Because I know this is a bug in flex that 
> > you actually cannot sort on grouped data! the groups can only be sorted if 
> > the original data is a hierarchicalData and not a flatData! 
> > I'm having the same problem! my data is flat! and in my UI, user can add 
> > grouping to ADG, I want to make a custom sort function to be able to sort 
> > my groups! 
> > let me know if I underestood your question correctly and we are looking for 
> > the same thing! I posted this question on more than 10 websites! hopefully 
> > I'll get an answer soon and will share it with you! 

There's a Grouping demo at flexdiary.blogspot.com that shows sorting on dates.  
Maybe it will point you in the right direction.

HTH;

Amy

[flexcoders] Re: Apparent data value change in Advanced DataGrid

[droponrcll]

--- In flexcoders@yahoogroups.com, Tom McNeer  wrote:
>
> I have an Advanced DataGrid that uses a Grouping Collection created from
> flattened data in an array collection. The hierarchy is only two levels
> deep: the grouping level and a detail level.
> 
> At the grouping level, I want to display a grouping label, plus information
> in four of the other eight columns. Two of the columns are summary items.
> 
> The grouping label function returns correct values, as do the summary
> columns.
> 
> The final two columns are populated by RendererProviders set to display at a
> depth of 1. One displays the Provider of a service. The other displays a
> Status. Both renderers are very simple and virtually identical:
> 
> 
> http://www.adobe.com/2006/mxml";>
> 
> 
> 
> 
> http://www.adobe.com/2006/mxml";>
> 
> 
> 
> Each pulls a value from the first child in the data object's array. Since
> the values for each child are identical for these pieces of data, grabbing
> them from the first child works.
> 
> Here's the odd part: let's say the first grouping has the following values:
> GroupingLabel: "Some string here."
> Children:
>Provider: MyProvider1
>Status: Approved
>Description: Some different value
> 
>Provider: MyProvider1
>Status: Approved
>Description: Some other value
> 
> And the second grouping has the following values:
> GroupingLabel: "Another string"
> Children:
> Provider: MyProvider 2
> Status: Pending
> Description: Something else altogether
> 
> The grouping label displays correctly when the underlying array collection
> is populated, as do the Provider and Status, all in the grouping row.
> 
> However, when the first row is opened to show its children, the Status
> display changed to "Pending" -- but the Provider display remains correct.
> 
> And other elements bound to the value of Provider detect the change (for
> example, to display an "Edit" button). Yet -- if I add the value of Status
> into the function that builds the GroupingLabel, the original, correct value
> is displayed there.
> 
> Does anyone have any clue as to what's causing a change in the collection's
> data?

Put a break point into a handler for the event when the row is opened, then 
look in the variables window to see if the data has actually changed.  If it 
has, then you'll need to work backward from there to see how and why.

My suspicion is that the data hasn't changed, but instead that for some reason 
the renderer you see when you open the row is one that has previously been used 
for another item.  Since the data binding can't refresh on 
{data.children[0].ProcedureStatus} (if you're using Flex Builder, you should 
have seen a warning on this), you're seeing the value that was populated when 
the renderer was used before.

Try using children.getItemAt(0) instead.

HTH;

Amy

[flexcoders] Re: Editable Axis Titles - possible sizing and/or

[droponrcll]

--- In flexcoders@yahoogroups.com, "mole5000.geo"  wrote:
>
> I have a strange bug with dropping in a new titleRenderer on a 
> .  It's so strange I feel I must be making a conceptual 
> mistake.
> 
> Basically I've defined a new Component that contains a Label and TextInput, 
> the idea being you click on the label and it turns into a TextInput to allow 
> you to edit an axis's title.
> 
> However, if I type in a 'long' string into the input (where long means you 
> have to scroll the text to see all of it) when I try and switch back to the 
> Label the axis renderer decides to regenerate the titleRenderer meaning I 
> lose the changes made to the title.
> 
> Simply making the text box bigger hasn't helped (and that's hackish 
> workaround anyways), a similar amount of text (even though it does require 
> scrolling to see) still triggers this regeneration.
> 
> I can't help but feel I'm missing how titleRenderer's should work.  Is this 
> expected behaviour or have I got bugs in my code. Obviously, I could post 
> code if this would help answer my question.
> 
> I notice in the example here: 
> http://www.virtualnomad.net/wp-content/uploads/editablecharts/editablecharts.html
>  that he has the same problem I do, click on on an axis title, type in short 
> text and it works, type in long text and it gets replaced with a new 
> component (and it throws a NPE just to round things off, my code doesn't do 
> that).

Check out how the check box header renderer class works here 
http://www.benclinkinbeard.com/2007/11/efficient-reusable-and-centered-checkbox-renderers-for-datagrids/
 .

This may get you headed in the right direction.

HTH;

Amy

[flexcoders] Re: TileList and CustomItemRenderer: How to dynamically change styles

[droponrcll]

--- In flexcoders@yahoogroups.com, anuppc  wrote:
>
> 
> Hi,
> I'm new to flex, would need some help from the experts.
> 
> I have a TileList in my application.. Here is the snippet:
> 
>   
>   var favList:TileList = new TileList();
>   favList.columnCount = 2;
>   favList.dataProvider = favArr;
>   favList.itemRenderer = createItemRenderer();
>   favList.percentHeight = 100;
>   favList.percentWidth = 100;
>   favList.dropEnabled = true;
>   favList.dragEnabled = true;
>   favList.dragMoveEnabled = true;
> 
> The ItemRenderer tied to the TileList  is :
> 
> http://www.adobe.com/2006/mxml"; width="100%"
> height="100%" borderStyle="solid" borderThickness="0"  cornerRadius="5">
> 
> 
> .filled
> {
> border-style: solid;
> border-thickness: 0;
> border-skin: ClassReference("border.SimpleGradientBorder");
> fill-colors: #F0F0F0, #C9C9C9;
> corner-radius: 10;
> drop-shadow-enabled: true;
> }
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
>  verticalAlign="middle" width="100%" height="100%"   borderColor="#B7BABC"
> borderStyle="solid" borderThickness="0"  cornerRadius="5"
> themeColor="#009DFF" >
> borderStyle="solid" borderThickness="0"  cornerRadius="5">
>  source="assets/{data.Image}"   visible="true"/>
> 
>  visible="true" />
>
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Now what i want to achieve is else where in the application there are couple
> of buttons and on clicking these buttons i want to change the fill-colors or
> style of each Tile based on some Data attributes.

http://flexdiary.blogspot.com/2008/08/tilelist-with-stylefunction.html

There's a more complete example of how to use it in the Grouping Function 
example.

HTH;

Amy

[flexcoders] Re: any good effects for initial loading of a datagrid with text?

[droponrcll]

--- In flexcoders@yahoogroups.com, "luvfotography"  wrote:
>
> Hi are there any good effects for loading a datagrid with text?
> 
> Like having the text float in from all directions?
> thanks,
>

You could probably look at List and TileList and extend Datagrid to do 
something like this:
http://www.adobe.com/livedocs/flex/3/html/createeffects_5.html

HTH;

Amy

[flexcoders] Re: FileReference.save optional

[droponrcll]

--- In flexcoders@yahoogroups.com, "markdemich"  wrote:
>
> 
> 
> --- In flexcoders@yahoogroups.com, "droponrcll"  wrote:
> >
> > --- In flexcoders@yahoogroups.com, "markdemich"  wrote:
> > >
> > > A lot of my customer base still uses Flash 9. Was trying to determine 
> > > that if Flash 10 was loaded I would conditionally provide a feature in my 
> > > app to save something to a file. I tried faking out the compiler by doing 
> > > something like this.
> > > 
> > > if (isFlash10) {
> > > var f:Object = new FileReference();
> > > f.save("xyz",null);
> > > }
> > > 
> > > but I get an error when I run it in Flash 10. Everything I found leads me 
> > > to believe that I need to compile for Flash 10. However, I fear that will 
> > > mess up my Flash 9 users.
> > > 
> > > Does anyone have any advice on making a SWF that will work in 9, but 
> > > optionally use Flash 10 features.
> > >
> > 
> > Try/catch.
> >
> 
> Try/catch won't help since it doesn't work, period. 

Do you mean to tell me that if you attempt to instantiate a new FileReference, 
that try/catch won't allow you to determine that the attempt failed and do 
something based on that failure?

Can you post your code that didn't work?

-Amy

[flexcoders] Re: selecting a column in a datagrid

[droponrcll]

--- In flexcoders@yahoogroups.com, "Felino"  wrote:
>
> 
> 
> Thanks.  I was able to do as you suggest the function is like
> 
> private function selectColumnAt(columnIndex:int):void
> {
> if (columnIndex > 0)
> {
> if (_selectedColumnIndex != columnIndex)
>   {
>  deselectColumns();
>   var selectedColumn:DataGridColumn =this.columns[columnIndex];
>   selectedColumn.setStyle("backgroundColor", "0x7FCEFF");
>   selectedColumn.setStyle("headerStyleName", 
> "selectedDataGridHeaderStyle");
>   _selectedColumnIndex = columnIndex;
>   }
> }
> }
> 
> The only problem is that I can't change the background color of the column 
> header.
> 
> I have a style defined as 
> 
> .selectedDataGridHeaderStyle {
>fontWeight: "bold";
>backgroundColor: "red";
>background-color: "blue";
> }
> 
> The header text changes to bold but the background color doesn't change. Any 
> ideas?

Probably the column header class doesn't extend something that uses Halo 
Border.  You'll need to add a halo border to the existing base class, extend 
something that uses it, or roll your own class that has its own backgroundColor 
style that you create.

HTH;

Amy

[flexcoders] Re: FileReference.save optional

[droponrcll]

--- In flexcoders@yahoogroups.com, "markdemich"  wrote:
>
> A lot of my customer base still uses Flash 9. Was trying to determine that if 
> Flash 10 was loaded I would conditionally provide a feature in my app to save 
> something to a file. I tried faking out the compiler by doing something like 
> this.
> 
> if (isFlash10) {
> var f:Object = new FileReference();
> f.save("xyz",null);
> }
> 
> but I get an error when I run it in Flash 10. Everything I found leads me to 
> believe that I need to compile for Flash 10. However, I fear that will mess 
> up my Flash 9 users.
> 
> Does anyone have any advice on making a SWF that will work in 9, but 
> optionally use Flash 10 features.
>

Try/catch.

[flexcoders] Re: How to resize image to fill area and clip

[droponrcll]

--- In flexcoders@yahoogroups.com, Greg Hess  wrote:
>
> Hi All,
> 
> I have a content area that I need to fill with a user supplied
> graphic. The graphic may be any aspect ratio and I want to scale the
> image to the content area and maintain aspect ratio however, instead
> of producing "white" space where the aspect ratio could not be
> achieved(Standard behavior of the Image class) I would like to clip
> the image. The area will always be filled entirely, the aspect ratio
> will be maintained but the image may be clipped.
> 
> Does anyone know how I can do this?
> 
> Any help much appreciated.

This is a snippet from Flash, not Flex, but it might point you in the right 
direction:

var loader:Loader = Loader(e.target.loader);
//measure the content
var lw:int = loader.width;
var lh:int = loader.height;
var finishedWidth:int;
var finishedHeight:int;

/*  Check to see which dimension of the image is 
closer to the same thumbnail dimension.  We'll
scale that one and crop the other.  */
if ( Math.abs(thumbwidth - lw) < Math.abs(thumbheight - lh) ) {
//scale horizontally
scaledX = true;
trace ('scaled x');
} else {
//scale vertically
scaledX = false;
trace('scaled y');
}
scaleFactor = calculateScale(lw, lh, scaledX);
trace('scalefactor', scaleFactor);
//calculate what the dimensions will be after scale applied
finishedWidth = Math.ceil(scaleFactor * lw);
finishedHeight = Math.ceil(scaleFactor * lh);
/*  In most cases, that will work, but in some cases that
gets it wrong.  Check for this and fix it   */
if (finishedWidth < thumbwidth || finishedHeight < thumbheight) 
{
trace(scaleFactor * lw, scaleFactor * lh);
scaleFactor = calculateScale(lw, lh, !scaledX);
//recalculate finished dimensions
finishedWidth = Math.ceil(scaleFactor * lw);
finishedHeight = Math.ceil(scaleFactor * lh);
}
trace(loader.height*scaleFactor, loader.width*scaleFactor);
var matrix:Matrix = new Matrix();
matrix.createBox(scaleFactor, scaleFactor);
//make a scaled copy of the content
var scaledBitmap:BitmapData = new BitmapData(finishedWidth, 
finishedHeight, false);

scaledBitmap.draw(loader.content, matrix, null, null, null, 
true);
//crop the bitmap
//this is a slice out of the middle of the image
var rect:Rectangle = new 
Rectangle(Math.floor((finishedWidth-thumbwidth)/2),
 
Math.floor((finishedHeight-thumbheight)/2),
 
Math.ceil((finishedWidth +thumbwidth)/2),
 
Math.ceil((finishedHeight+thumbheight)/2));
trace(Math.floor((finishedWidth-thumbwidth)/2),
 Math.floor((finishedHeight-thumbheight)/2),
 Math.ceil((finishedWidth +thumbwidth)/2),
 Math.ceil((finishedHeight+thumbheight)/2));
trace('width', finishedWidth, 'height', finishedHeight);
//move it into the corner
var point:Point = new 
Point(Math.floor((finishedWidth-thumbwidth)/2)*-1, 
Math.floor((finishedHeight-thumbheight)/2) * -1);
var croppedBitmap:BitmapData = new BitmapData(finishedWidth, 
finishedHeight, false);
croppedBitmap.copyPixels(scaledBitmap, rect, point);

var image:Bitmap = new Bitmap(croppedBitmap);
addChild(image);
imageLoadCount++;
actualLoadCount++;
image.x = (thumbwidth+10) * (actualLoadCount);
image.y = 200;

HTH;

Amy

[flexcoders] Re: Lagging Panel title

[droponrcll]

--- In flexcoders@yahoogroups.com, "valdhor"  wrote:
>
> Possibly...
> 
>   override public function invalidateDisplayList():void
> {
>  super.invalidateDisplayList();
>  _title = propertyObject.title + ' Properties';
>   }
> 

I think what's going on is that they put the logic for changing the display of 
the title text in commitProperties instead of updateDisplayList.  Since my code 
was where it belonged in the commitProperties override--after their code, it 
didn't work.  I just moved the logic into the setter, but I think I could have 
put it above their logic in commitProperties as well...

[flexcoders] Lagging Panel title

[droponrcll]

Hi, all;

I have a component that extends Panel.  The panel title is bound to a private 
bindable variable that I set in commitProperties.  The title variable updates, 
but the titleTextField.text doesn't update, so the title always lags behind.

I haven't done Flex on a regular basis in a few months, so if someone can see 
what I'm doing wrong here, I'd appreciate it:


http://www.adobe.com/2006/mxml"; layout="vertical" 
xmlns:view="com.magnoliamultimedia.view.*" title="{_title}">












Thanks!

Amy

[flexcoders] Re: ResultEvents

[droponrcll]

--- In flexcoders@yahoogroups.com, umberto pelliccia  
wrote:
>
> I have a class that extends a remoteobject and contains a function 
> getClassinfo and a listener onResultGetClassInfo (event: ResultEvent), I'd 
> like to check if the function was completed from another class ... how?
>
Why not just set the AsyncToken object that the RemoteObject Operation returns 
to use an event handler in the class that needs the information?

http://flexdiary.blogspot.com/2008/11/more-thoughts-on-remoting.html

HTH;

Amy

[flexcoders] Re: Cannot select identical item in my tree component...

[droponrcll]

--- In flexcoders@yahoogroups.com, - -  wrote:
>
> Hi Alex, if I need both objects to be identical, how can I assign different 
> UID?
> 
> If I double click the object on the parent node, I enable a view to edit the 
> object.
> The same object is found nested deeper in the tree, if I double click it, it 
> must edit the same object on the parent branch.

Create a "wrapper" object with a different UID that the tree sees that contains 
the same object.

HTH;

Amy

[flexcoders] Re: How to use XML file as dataProvider for

[droponrcll]

--- In flexcoders@yahoogroups.com, "Tracy Spratt"  wrote:
>
> You can use mx:XML source="myFile.xml" . for compile time embedding or you
> can use HTTPService for run-time retrieval.
> 

You can also use URLLoader, which works the same locally or from a network.

[flexcoders] Re: htmlText in text that originates in XML

[droponrcll]

--- In flexcoders@yahoogroups.com, "droponrcll" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> 
wrote:
>
> --- In flexcoders@yahoogroups.com, "Alex Harui"  wrote:
> >
> > How much of that are you assigning to the htmlText property?
> > 
> 
> That's what I am trying to figure out.  I can't find anything in 
the 
> XML properties or methods that gives me exactly the stuff between 
the 
> beginning and ending tags and nothing else.  valueOf() does it if 
there 
> are no html tags in there, but so far I haven't found anything 
useful 
> for this.

I forgot to mention.  

If the string contains this:
[!CDATA[[The quick brown fox 
jumped over the lazy kitten.]]

The XML node contains:


  [!CDATA[
  The quick brown fox jumped over the
  lazy
  kitten.
]]


What you see on the screen is
[!CDATA[
  The quick brown fox jumped over the
  lazy
  kitten.
]]

So it looks like when I use the XML() function on the string, it adds 
line breaks around the  tags, CDATA or not.  And of course, I'd 
rather not see the CDATA tags either.

Thanks!

-Amy

[flexcoders] Re: htmlText in text that originates in XML

[droponrcll]

--- In flexcoders@yahoogroups.com, "Alex Harui" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> How much of that are you assigning to the htmlText property?
> 

That's what I am trying to figure out.  I can't find anything in the 
XML properties or methods that gives me exactly the stuff between the 
beginning and ending tags and nothing else.  valueOf() does it if there 
are no html tags in there, but so far I haven't found anything useful 
for this.

Thanks!

Amy

[flexcoders] htmlText in text that originates in XML

[droponrcll]

I have an XML file that looks like this:
[!CDATA[


The quick brown fox jumped over the 
lazy kitten. 

The quick brown 
fox jumped over the 

stripey kitten.
The quick brown 
fox jumped over the 

rotten tomato.
img.jpg
swf.swf

]]

This XML is passed in through ExternalInterface, hence the CDATA 
tags.  I have a repeater that displays all the objects described in 
the XML.  However, I can't seem to get it to respect the  tag.  
I've tried wrapping the contents of that tag in CDATA, but all that 
gets me is CDATA on the screen.  When I don't wrap it in CDATA, the 
entire XML tag appears as a result of this expression: 
contentItem.valueOf().toString(), rather than just the bit in the 
middle.

Can anyone point me to something that tells me how you wrap html text 
in the XML file to make it actually work properly inside a textArea?

TIA;

Amy

[flexcoders] Re: How to set "Script time limit" in Flex 2 (or 3)?

[droponrcll]

--- In flexcoders@yahoogroups.com, "icykorpio" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> give ppl a real case,
> 
> before i wrote a software which contain the swf by c++.
> 
> and people can click button in flex to command c++ wrapper pop up a 
> windows system file dialog. but if user doesn't choose a file in 15 
> seconds. flex consider the script time out!
> 
> any thing through ExternalInterface all the same fate!
> 
> 
> Adobe really needs to change this bad idea.
>

I use a different program to contain my swfs.  What I do in 
situations like this is to send a call out to the main application 
that starts whatever process, but it isn't expecting any return.  
When the main application _has_ a return, it calls a callback in the 
file that then takes the return and does whatever with it.

It may not be the most wonderful system in the world, but it works.

-Amy

[flexcoders] Re: OT: Netiquette Question

[droponrcll]

--- In flexcoders@yahoogroups.com, Tom Chiverton <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> 
wrote:
>
> On Wednesday 24 Oct 2007, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
> > ), is there anything you can do about that mammoth disclaimer of
> > yours. 
> 
> Maybe you could look in the archives.

Maybe I good.  But Tom Chiverton long disclaimer doesn't return any 
results ;-).  Perhaps it would help if at the bottom of it you at least 
added "Please trim this disclaimer when replying to FlexCoders posts."

[flexcoders] Re: OT: Netiquette Question

[droponrcll]

--- In flexcoders@yahoogroups.com, Tom Chiverton <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> 
wrote:
>
> On Wednesday 24 Oct 2007, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
> > So I ask: is there any kind of netiquette regulation about 
trimming
> > this stuff off, or should I just accept it as a FlexCoders FOL?
> 
> The general rule is to only quote what you need to make the context 
clear.
> This should be down 'bottom quote' style and/or inline if needed.
> 
> OOI why do you use the digest ? If you don't want to read 
everything (who 
> does !) why not filter messages into their own folder and have your 
mail 
> client thread them so you can read back up/down the thread as you 
need ?

I subscribe to multiple yahoo forums and find the Digest the easiest 
way to deal with all of the traffic.

As long as we're making suggestions about how others use the forume ;-
), is there anything you can do about that mammoth disclaimer of 
yours.  It usually dwarfs your actual posts.

-Amy

[flexcoders] OT: Netiquette Question

[droponrcll]

Hi all;

There didn't seem to be anything in the FAQ about trimming, so I was 
wondering what the policy of this group is.  I read this group by 
digest, and I actually appreciate being able to go back in the 
history of the conversation in-line and see what has already been 
said.

However, many long conversations seem to wind up with a huge stack 
like this:
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/flexcoders/files/flexcodersFAQ.txt 
> 
> >  >
> > >> 

Re: SPAM-LOW: [flexcoders] Custom Component not visible on stage

[droponrcll]

--- In flexcoders@yahoogroups.com, Jeffry Houser <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> 
>   I've had similar problems when creating AS3 components.  Look into 
> updateDisplayList.  I believe you also have to make sure that your 
> custom component has a width and height specified.
> 
>   You can always dig through the canvas code to figure out why that 
> works, and use that info to figure out why yours doesn't.

The component really needs to size itself around its children, so I 
need to find a way to do it without specifying a width and height.  My 
class is extending Canvas, so it should be using all Canvas's methods 
already, right?

[flexcoders] Custom Component not visible on stage

[droponrcll]

I have created a custom AS component "DragObject" based on Canvas.  
The idea is that ultimately users will be able to put whatever they 
want inside this ontainer and it will handle most of the code of drag 
and drop for them.


However, when I put another (100 x 100) Canvas inside this component 
just to test it out, the width and height of my component are 0, so 
it doesn't show up on stage.  I used the super() method in my 
constructor, so I expected my component to behave like a Canvas in 
that it should automatically be sized around its children.

Here is the AS for my class:

package elearning
{
import mx.containers.Canvas;

public class DragObject extends Canvas
{
public function DragObject()
{
super();
}
private var _desc:String = "Untitled Draggable 
Object";
public function get desc():String{
return _desc;
}
public function set desc(descTxt:String):void{
_desc=descTxt;
}
override public function toString():String{
return("DragObject " + _desc);
}
}
}

Thanks!

[flexcoders] Re: History Management (Flex Builder 2 TFS + FB3 Beta)

[droponrcll]

--- In flexcoders@yahoogroups.com, "Alex Harui" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> HistoryManagement was re-implemented in FB3.  No IFrames or 
History.swf.
> Instead there are different templates for the HTML wrapper.  That 
lesson
> may need upgrading for Flex 3

I guess the real question is, should I be able to expect that the 
previous button in FireFox would become enabled after I clicked a tab 
on a TabNavigator control to navigate to a different tab?

Thanks;

Amy

[flexcoders] History Management (Flex Builder 2 TFS + FB3 Beta)

[droponrcll]

I am trying to work my way through Flex Builder 2 TFS, and I'm on the 
History Management lesson.  I installed FireFox and set it as the 
default browser so that history management would preview properly.

The first thing Lesson 15 tells you to do (p. 356) is to run the Data 
Entry Application.  Because the Data Entry application uses a 
TabNavigator, you are supposed to be able to use the browser's back 
button after switching to the other tab.  When I do this, the back 
button is not enabled.

I noticed there is no iframe in the page Flex Builder 3 Beta 2 
Milestone 3 makes, and there is no history.swf in the bin directory.  
Is History Management just broken in this build?

TIA;

Amy

[flexcoders] Re: String concat in MXML (with using @Resource)

[droponrcll]

--- In flexcoders@yahoogroups.com, "kramus0" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> Hi all,
> 
> I have a simple question regarding text values in mxml files. Is it
> possible to concat string values in a mxml text or label property?
> 
> So something like this:
> 
> 
> 
> I know that it doesn't work because it uses it as a hole string and
> the single strings are not concatenated at all.
> 
> But it works if I use data binding instead
> 
> 
> 
> Are there any other possibilities for string concatenation?
> 
> I even would like to know if there is any possibility to use string
> concatenation using the @Resource directive. Because here even data
> binding doesn't work and I don't want to use ResourceManager etc. 
just
> to add a simple colon to the resource string for instance. 

I suspect



would actually give you 

BoundValueVarContents + AnotherBoundValueVarContents

on the screen (i.e. you'll see the plus on the screen).

But for what you want, you may want to try:



HTH;

Amy

[flexcoders] Re: not kosher to call function from inline renderer?

[droponrcll]

--- In flexcoders@yahoogroups.com, Paul Hastings <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> 
wrote:
>
> droponrcll wrote:
> > Is it possible to use the blobToImage when creating the 
datasource for
> > the ItemRenderers so that you just pull that as a property from 
the
> > objects in your ArrayCollection?
> 
> not sure i'm following.

I'm not sure where your sampleData.sampleImagery is coming from, but 
let's assume it is an ArrayCollection containing Value Objects that 
is generated when parsing XML.  Let's call the value objects 
BlobImages.  Your blobToImage function returns something that can be 
used directly as an image source, obviously.  What I'm not clear on 
is if it is a format that can be stored.  I would suspect it can, 
since it gets passed back out of your blobToImage function.

So, if it can be stored, you could do something like this as you make 
each ImageBlob (assume i is your raw imageblob in a for each loop):

   var ib = new ImageBlob(
i.imageWidth,
i.imageHeight,
blobToImage(i.thumbnial, i.imageHeight, i.imageWidth)
);
   tempArray.push(ib);

then in your mxml code:





Just a thought from a relative newbie...

-Amy

[flexcoders] Re: not kosher to call function from inline renderer?

[droponrcll]

--- In flexcoders@yahoogroups.com, Paul Hastings <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> 
wrote:
>
> Paul deCoursey wrote:
> > The inline component doesn't have that method in scope. Try
> > {this.parentDocumen t.blobToImage. ...
> 
> spoke too soon. while this got rid of the complier error, that 
method's still 
> not getting called ie breakpoints on it never get fired.
> 
> any ideas?

Is it possible to use the blobToImage when creating the datasource for 
the ItemRenderers so that you just pull that as a property from the 
objects in your ArrayCollection?

[flexcoders] Re: Snippets in Flex?

[droponrcll]

--- In flexcoders@yahoogroups.com, "realeyes_jun" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> Amy,
> 
> I've done a bunch of research and demoing and currently I think 
that WST
> is best for snippets in MXML and AS.
> If you want a description and some screenshots:
> 
> http://office.realeyesmedia.com/blogs/jun/?p=31

When I clicked on the link to WST in your post, I could not find any 
link that obviously led to "download this thing."

> 
> and the installation update
> 
> http://office.realeyesmedia.com/blogs/jun/?p=59

This post seemed to assume that you know some sort of starting point 
or context, which I don't.  Maybe it would be clearer with the 
download in hand.

An interesting question...why can't they borrow the snippets code 
from Dreamweaver?

-Amy

[flexcoders] Snippets in Flex?

[droponrcll]

Is there a way to create snippets in Flex for reuse?  If I had a nickel 
for every time I typed width="100%" height="100%" I'd be nearly able to 
buy a cup of latte at Starbucks.  The code completion does help a lot, 
but being able to store frequently used code bits for later use would 
help more!

Thanks;

Amy

[flexcoders] Re: Site Launch

[droponrcll]

--- In flexcoders@yahoogroups.com, "Giles Roadnight" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> 
wrote:
>
> Yeah, it loooks pretty nice (but why open in a popup which I HATE!)
> 
> I helped work on this site which is a slightly different looking 
flex site
> as well:
> 
> http://fashion.canon-europe.com/searchandcreate.html
> 
> On 10/15/07, candysmate <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> >
> >   --- In flexcoders@yahoogroups.com , "Mike
> > Krotscheck" 
> > wrote:
> > >
> > > Hey everyone-
> > >
> > > We here at Resource just launched a new site last Friday, built 
entirely
> > > in Flex. I figured some of you might get a kick out of it, 
since the
> > > designers really went out of their way to do something that's 
not just a
> > > datagrid and a few bindings.

Hate to say it, guys, but neither of these sites launched during my 
attention span (with DSL).  Hope you have really motivated visitors!

[flexcoders] Re: Placement of Image within Image Control

[droponrcll]

--- In flexcoders@yahoogroups.com, "Alex Harui" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> Plenty of other folks have had the same frustration in Flex so you're
> not alone.  We'll close out the bug when it gets over here.  It 
probably
> should have been filed against Flex SDK instead of Apollo.

I have FB 3 because my company is on the Apollo Beta.  I don't think 
we're part of anything that would give us access to the FB3 SDK 
bugbase.  It seems it is just a doc bug, so it should be easy enough to 
fix :-)

Thanks!

-Amy

[flexcoders] Re: MultiPurpose ItemRenderer

[droponrcll]

--- In flexcoders@yahoogroups.com, "Alex Harui" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> Don't forget, this is a free volunteer service, and not my real 
job.  If
> it takes more than a few minutes, I usually have to work on it at 
night
> unless my day suddenly clears up.
> 
>  
> 
> Anyway, I think I have it working and will try to respond in more 
detail
> soon.

I suppose it is comforting that it was more than a few minute fix for 
you, too.  :-)

But I found that the Image tag does, in fact, have a verticalAlign 
and horizontalAlign property, which fixes the problem quite 
handily! :-)

Thanks!

Amy

[flexcoders] Re: Placement of Image within Image Control

[droponrcll]

--- In flexcoders@yahoogroups.com, "droponrcll" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> 
wrote:
>
> Sorry it took me so long to respond to this.  I thought everything 
> had moved over to the other thread.
> 
> > You are welcome to file an ECR for alignment properties or 
styles, 
> but
> > keep in mind that in most people's use cases, you don't want to 
> stretch
> > the Image beyond the size of the bitmap so there might be some 
play 
> in
> > one dimension, but not the other.  This is because most of the 
> time, you
> > want to use the layout rules instead of having things overlap.  I 
> would
> > also recomment not filling available space with Image in your 
> renderer
> > either.
> 
> I have submitted an ECR FR-APOLLO-00096.

ROFLMAO.  My husband has been sitting over there laughing at me 
cussing a blue streak.  I went back to Matt Chotin's example and saw 
that it worked regardless of the different image sizes, so I looked 
again at his code.  In the Image tag I found this text:

verticalAlign="bottom" horizontalAlign="center" 

So it appears these properties have existed since at least FB 2 but 
they are not documented and do not appear in code hinting.  If this 
post helps one other person struggling with this issue, I feel this 
entire week or so I have spent wrestling with this problem will have 
been worth it.

Thanks for your patience, Alex, and for being a good sport through 
all my frustration!

-Amy

[flexcoders] Re: Placement of Image within Image Control

[droponrcll]

Sorry it took me so long to respond to this.  I thought everything 
had moved over to the other thread.

> You are welcome to file an ECR for alignment properties or styles, 
but
> keep in mind that in most people's use cases, you don't want to 
stretch
> the Image beyond the size of the bitmap so there might be some play 
in
> one dimension, but not the other.  This is because most of the 
time, you
> want to use the layout rules instead of having things overlap.  I 
would
> also recomment not filling available space with Image in your 
renderer
> either.

I have submitted an ECR FR-APOLLO-00096.

I thought that maintainAspectRation was designed to allow images to 
scale gracefully.  I think that the root issue here is that there is 
a bug in the way Flex is deciding when to scale content.  If I have 
scaleContent and maintainAspectRatio both set to true, I'd expect 
that the content would size itself within the available space 
regardless of whether the control is set to a percentage of the 
container size or not.  However, that is not what happens, so you get 
giant content in small containers with scrollbars.

I think if the feature worked as expected you would indeed be correct.

> I asked in the other thread that you post a couple of the swfs so I 
can
> look at them.  I'm now thinking that the content in the swf is not
> aligned to topleft.
>  
> I wish AVM1Movie had timeline APIs too, but like I said, the Player 
team
> chose not to implement interoperability between the two worlds.

You would think they would then step up to the plate and provide 
examples that show a workaround to restore functionality that has 
been eliminated.

-Amy

[flexcoders] Re: MultiPurpose ItemRenderer

[droponrcll]

--- In flexcoders@yahoogroups.com, "Alex Harui" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> I can sense your frustration, and the tone of your answers are 
trying my
> patience.  There are a lot of variables here, and it is not my full 
time
> job to support you through this.  I know you've spent lots of time 
on it
> and it can be a real pain in the butt to figure out some things in 
Flex,
> but please don't take it out on those of us who are trying to 
help.  I'm
> trying to help as many people on this forum as I can so I generally
> don't have the capacity to remember all the details of your issues, 
and
> that will occasionally cause me to steer you in the wrong direction,
> since I can't see all of the hazards on the road ahead of you.
>  
> Since my recommendation of not sizing the image to 100% didn't 
work, it
> is probably that there is some factor I didn't consider, but I am
> recommending best practices here, so what you take away will 
hopefully
> serve you on your next Flex task.  I think I recall that you had 
swfs
> with sizes like 300x175.  How big do you want them to show up in 
your
> component.  At their true size or scaled down in some way?
>  
> I think I also recall asking you to post a couple of the swfs so I 
can
> see what they look like.  Please do so in your next response so I 
can
> try to get a better understanding of why sizing these swfs is not
> working as expected.  There is always going to be a chance that 
you'll
> have to do something one-off, but I haven't seen enough evidence 
that we
> really have to do so.  Also, if you have a sketch, screenshot or any
> other visual that can give me an idea of what your goal is that will
> help too.

Did I post too large a download here?  I can post something smaller 
if that is the issue.

Thanks;

Amy

[flexcoders] Re: Getting Index of item clicked in repeater

[droponrcll]

--- In flexcoders@yahoogroups.com, "Tracy Spratt" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> Here is an example using getRepeaterItem() and getItemIndex()
> Tracy
> 
> 
> http://www.adobe.com/2006/mxml"; 
> layout="absolute" 
> creationComplete="initApp()">
> 
>  fontSize="14"  fontWeight="bold" />
>  fontSize="14" fontWeight="bold" color="red" />
>   
>  x="{rp.currentItem.x}" y="{rp.currentItem.y}"
>  />
>   
> 

Thanks.  I'll see if I can get this to translate to my code. 

[flexcoders] Re: Getting Index of item clicked in repeater

[droponrcll]

--- In flexcoders@yahoogroups.com, "Tracy Spratt" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> I have not done this recently that I can recall, but here are some
> suggestions.
> 
> * If your data Provider is a collection, you can use
> getRepeaterItem() with collection.getItemIndex()
> * Look at the repeaterIndex and instanceIndex properties of
> UIComponent.  Remember the click handler event object provides the
> target and currentTarget properties to reference the repeated UIObject
> * Use a custom component to repeat and set an index property on it
> using repeater.currentIndex

I've already tried suggestion 3, and the index does not seem to bear 
any relation to what was clicked.  For instance, I can click 3 
different things and get back 2, and several other things and get back 
4, but never do I get anything other than 2 or 4.  I have not even been 
able to get the click event to fire on the repeater itself, so it seems 
that option 3 is most promising.  However, the index valued that is 
stored isn't correct.

using





Thanks;

Amy

[flexcoders] Getting Index of item clicked in repeater

[droponrcll]

Say I have a repeater that essentially scatters instances of a custom
component all over the screen. When a user clicks one of the
instances, I don't really care what data is displayed in the
component. What I need to know is what was the index of the one that
was clicked within the component. I have found lots of examples that
refer to event.target.getRepeaterItem(), but none that allow me to find
out where in the repeater collection that item was found.

I'm sure this is fairly simple, but I haven't been able to tease the
answer out of the docs.

Thanks in advance.

[flexcoders] Re: MultiPurpose ItemRenderer

[droponrcll]

--- In flexcoders@yahoogroups.com, "Alex Harui" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> I can sense your frustration, and the tone of your answers are 
trying my
> patience.  There are a lot of variables here, and it is not my full 
time
> job to support you through this.  I know you've spent lots of time 
on it
> and it can be a real pain in the butt to figure out some things in 
Flex,
> but please don't take it out on those of us who are trying to 
help.  I'm
> trying to help as many people on this forum as I can so I generally
> don't have the capacity to remember all the details of your issues, 
and
> that will occasionally cause me to steer you in the wrong direction,
> since I can't see all of the hazards on the road ahead of you.

Fair enough.  I apologize that my frustration came through as an 
attack on you.  I am going completely nuts that something that ought 
to be so simple is turning out to be a total nightmare.

> Since my recommendation of not sizing the image to 100% didn't 
work, it
> is probably that there is some factor I didn't consider, but I am
> recommending best practices here, so what you take away will 
hopefully
> serve you on your next Flex task.  I think I recall that you had 
swfs
> with sizes like 300x175.  How big do you want them to show up in 
your
> component.  At their true size or scaled down in some way?

Actually, the problem is not with the swfs.  They're all roughly the 
same size, so they don't jump all over the place like the images do.  
However, I applied the function to them as well, with the assumption 
that if they were going to be placed on a canvas they'd need to be 
repositioned manually, too.

The images and swfs may be displayed at their true size or may be 
scaled down, all depending on their size relative to the container.  
I'd thought that Flex would handle this elegantly, but it seems that 
the way that the image control positions the content within it has 
defeated this elegance.

> I think I also recall asking you to post a couple of the swfs so I 
can
> see what they look like.  Please do so in your next response so I 
can
> try to get a better understanding of why sizing these swfs is not
> working as expected.  There is always going to be a chance that 
you'll
> have to do something one-off, but I haven't seen enough evidence 
that we
> really have to do so.  Also, if you have a sketch, screenshot or any
> other visual that can give me an idea of what your goal is that will
> help too.

I've posted the whole kit and caboodle to 
ftp://ftp.magnoliamultimedia.com/Thumbviewer.  I've removed the 
suggested improvements that gave the scrollbars, so you can see it 
pretty much as it ought to work, except that the image jumps all over 
the place.  If you imagine it with the image staying in one spot (and 
at this point I don't care if it is the top of the container or the 
bottom or the center), then you'll be able to picture the desired 
functionality.  You'll need to use the enclosed exe to run it, as it 
is being passed the xml from an ExternalInterface call.  I didn't 
include the compiled files for size reasons.

Thanks!

Amy

[flexcoders] Re: MultiPurpose ItemRenderer

[droponrcll]

--- In flexcoders@yahoogroups.com, "Alex Harui" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> That is correct, medaiObject is the API for component time, and 
data is
> mapped to it when it is a renderer.
>  
> You have to dispatch an event for binding {} to work.  Use of 
[Bindable]
> without an event causes us to wrap the property in a getter/setter 
pair
> which would be redundant in your case.
>  
> In the code I proposed, the image is not 100%.  

When you do that, the image is far bigger than the container, causing 
all sorts of nasty side effects, including scrollbars.

> I'm not a fan of making
> things really big when only a portion of it is 'filled'.   

I'm just a fan of things that work, regardless of whether 
they're 'correct' or not.  Taking the 100% off of it means that the 
image doesn't shrink into the container properly.

>I think you
> should set scaleContent="false" as well.

How will that make things better? Even with scaleContent set to true, 
the content doesn't actually shrink the way it should.  I suspect 
that there are some esoteric undocumented rules somewhere about when 
and how content actually scales, but so far the only thing trial and 
error has shown is that the image _has_ to be 100% or some percentage 
of the container in order for it to work.

Thanks for staying with me on this.  I am getting very frustrated.

[flexcoders] Re: MultiPurpose ItemRenderer

[droponrcll]

--- In flexcoders@yahoogroups.com, "droponrcll" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> 
wrote:
>
> --- In flexcoders@yahoogroups.com, "Alex Harui"  wrote:
> >
> > I suggest your renderer look something like this.  You'll see use 
of
> > dataChange and how to center the image.  I don't have a proxy 
> example,
> > but that's a good topic for a blog article someday...
> >  
> > Can you post two image swfs that don't center correctly?  I want 
to 
> make
> > sure those swfs are aligned to topleft otherwise this centering 
code
> > won't work for you.
> >  
> > 
> > 
> > private var _mediaObject:MediaElement;
> >  
> > [Bindable("mediaObjectChanged")]
> > public function get mediaObject():MediaElement
> > {
> > return _mediaObject;
> > }
> >  
> > public function set mediaObject(value:MediaElement):void
> > {
> > _mediaObject = value;
> > dispatchEvent(new Event("mediaObjectChanged");
> > }
> >  
> > private function centerImage():void
> > {
> > img.x = (width - img.measuredWidth) / 2;
> > img.y = ???
> > }
> > 
> >  > complete="centerImage()" />
> > ...
> 
> I tried this, and it put the image pretty far away from the upper 
> left corner.  I'm guessing that this is because x and y are 
actually 
> the top left corner and not the center, though the docs are unclear 
> on this.  However, even when I corrected it to this:
> 
> private function centerMe(thing:SWFLoader):void{
> thing.x = (width - thing.measuredWidth) / 2 - 
> (thing.measuredWidth/2);
> thing.y = (height - thing.measuredHeight) / 2 - 
> (thing.measuredHeight/2);
> }
> 
> it still puts the image far enough away from the corner to require 
> scroll bars.  Any ideas?

OK, it looks like at least part of the problem is that the image is 
no longer scaling down properly now it is in a canvas instead of a 
vbox and it is no longer asking to be 100%.  Not sure which is the 
issue.  So, my speculation is that neither math could possibly 
position the image/swfloader properly, since both the image and the 
swf are now larger than the canvas.  Grrr.

[flexcoders] Re: MultiPurpose ItemRenderer

[droponrcll]

--- In flexcoders@yahoogroups.com, "Alex Harui" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> I suggest your renderer look something like this.  You'll see use of
> dataChange and how to center the image.  I don't have a proxy 
example,
> but that's a good topic for a blog article someday...
>  
> Can you post two image swfs that don't center correctly?  I want to 
make
> sure those swfs are aligned to topleft otherwise this centering code
> won't work for you.
>  
> 
> 
> private var _mediaObject:MediaElement;
>  
> [Bindable("mediaObjectChanged")]
> public function get mediaObject():MediaElement
> {
> return _mediaObject;
> }
>  
> public function set mediaObject(value:MediaElement):void
> {
> _mediaObject = value;
> dispatchEvent(new Event("mediaObjectChanged");
> }
>  
> private function centerImage():void
> {
> img.x = (width - img.measuredWidth) / 2;
> img.y = ???
> }
> 
>  complete="centerImage()" />
> ...

I tried this, and it put the image pretty far away from the upper 
left corner.  I'm guessing that this is because x and y are actually 
the top left corner and not the center, though the docs are unclear 
on this.  However, even when I corrected it to this:

private function centerMe(thing:SWFLoader):void{
thing.x = (width - thing.measuredWidth) / 2 - 
(thing.measuredWidth/2);
thing.y = (height - thing.measuredHeight) / 2 - 
(thing.measuredHeight/2);
}

it still puts the image far enough away from the corner to require 
scroll bars.  Any ideas?

Thanks;

Amy

[flexcoders] Getting Index of item clicked in repeater

[droponrcll]

Say I have a repeater that essentially scatters instances of a custom 
component all over the screen.  When a user clicks one of the 
instances, I don't really care what data is displayed in the 
component.  What I need to know is what was the index of the one that 
was clicked within the component.  I have found lots of examples that 
refer to event.target.getRepeaterItem(), but none that allow me to find 
out where in the repeater collection that item was found.

I'm sure this is fairly simple, but I haven't been able to tease the 
answer out of the docks.

Thanks.

[flexcoders] Re: MultiPurpose ItemRenderer

[droponrcll]

--- In flexcoders@yahoogroups.com, "Alex Harui" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> I suggest your renderer look something like this.  You'll see use of
> dataChange and how to center the image.  I don't have a proxy 
example,
> but that's a good topic for a blog article someday...
>  
> Can you post two image swfs that don't center correctly?  I want to 
make
> sure those swfs are aligned to topleft otherwise this centering code
> won't work for you.
>  
> 
> 
> private var _mediaObject:MediaElement;
>  
> [Bindable("mediaObjectChanged")]
> public function get mediaObject():MediaElement
> {
> return _mediaObject;
> }
>  
> public function set mediaObject(value:MediaElement):void
> {
> _mediaObject = value;
> dispatchEvent(new Event("mediaObjectChanged");
> }
>  
> private function centerImage():void
> {
> img.x = (width - img.measuredWidth) / 2;
> img.y = ???
> }
> 
>  complete="centerImage()" />
> ...
>  

Let me see if I understand what is going on here...

The dataChange event will only fire if the component is being used as 
an itemrenderer, otherwise, the mediaObject will be set in the usual 
way...?

We're dispatching a mediaObjectChanged event here, and I'm not sure 
why.  What is listening for it?  Or is it just good practice in case 
something wants to listen for it?

The last question I have is about repositioning the image.  My 
understanding is that the problem is actually the position of the 
image within the 100% image control.  So since the control is 100%, 
I'm not sure how it _could_ be repositioned.  Or, are you saying not 
to set the image control to 100%?

Thanks!

Amy

[flexcoders] Re: MultiPurpose ItemRenderer

[droponrcll]

--- In flexcoders@yahoogroups.com, "Alex Harui" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> I see, if mediaObject you want to be your public interface to when 
you
> use it as a component instead of a renderer, then I would set up my
> bindings based on mediaObject instead of data.  I'd probably just 
use a
> dataChange="mediaObject = data as MediaElement" in the top level 
instead
> of overriding the getter/setter.

I don't know what this means.  I haven't found any documentation that 
refers to this (and believe me I have spent literally hundreds of 
hours combing the Flex documentation).  Could you point me to a 
reference so I can get more information?
 
> In a Canvas there are no layout rules so you can place things on 
top of
> each other and turn one or the other off and on with visibility.  
That's
> what I would do and I would also calculate the centering solution 
then
> as well.

OK, bear with me as I go through this in pseudocode:

on mediaObjectChange
   set img control to 100%
   measure content
   set img control from 100% to size of content
   determine where top left of img control needs to be for img to 
appear centered
   set x and y of img

Yes?

> With the advent of Actionscript 3 and the goal of maximized 
performance,
> the Flash Player did not allow interoperability between 
FlashPlayer9/AS3
> SWFs and the ActionScript in older SWFs.  You can use 
localConnection,
> but that's about it.  For those of you trying to integrate older swf
> content, it has become much harder to do.  You can use a proxy AS2 
swf
> to communicate to your older content.  That way you only have to 
tweak
> the one proxy swf instead of rebuild all of your older content.

Is there an example proxy swf available for download?  You know, I 
just realized I probably can't stop these movies anyway, since they 
are nested and the designer forgot to put the stopAllClips() function 
in most of them.  Oh, well.

Thanks;

Amy

[flexcoders] Re: Placement of Image within Image Control

[droponrcll]

--- In flexcoders@yahoogroups.com, "Alex Harui" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> The image content is always at the top-left of the Image.  Based on
> scaleContent, the Image will scale the content or try to shrink 
itself
> down.  There are no 9 choices, the image content fully fills the 
Image
> plus/or/minus extra space in order to maintain aspect ratio if
> requested.

I've asked the image control to fill 100% of the available space.  So 
if the image is not the same shape as the space, the image winds up 
in an odd spot.  I know there are no 9 choices now, and I suspect you 
know a bit more about the Flex team's abilities than I do, but I 
would not consider it outside the range of what they are capable of 
to allow you to choose where the content will reside in the image 
control.  Considering how much time and effort they've spent making 
other features user friendly, I'd think that this would be a good use 
of engineering time.  After all, they've managed plenty of other 
controls that allow you to select top, middle, bottom, left, center, 
right alignment.  It shouldn't be that big a deal to add it to the 
image control.

> You use the parent container's layout to further position
> the Image.  The VBox wrapper is trying to react to the new measured
> sizes by adjusting the size and position of the Image and while it
> should just work, sounds like something is off there.  

I wouldn't think the VBox would be able to move the content inside 
the 100% image control, but clearly SOMETHING is moving it.  Oddly, 
all the miniature images appear in the same spot in the thumbnail 
renderers.  Possibly because there is only one main control that is 
being switched out, whereas each renderer has to present only one 
image.

> If the image
> content is a SWF you further complicate the problem because the SWF 
can
> resize itself, but the Image is only checking the size of the first
> frame.  Are your SWFs "well-behaved" in that they appear centered in
> their stages and are aligned relative to the top-left and don't go 
into
> negative coordinates?  It might require more code to deal with 
different
> stage alignments.

I think all the swfs I've used for my prototype are the same or 
nearly the same size, so they don't have the same problems as the 
image control.  BTW, why doesn't the AVM1 movie object have stop() 
and play() methods at a minimum?

-Amy

[flexcoders] Re: Placement of Image within Image Control

[droponrcll]

--- In flexcoders@yahoogroups.com, "Daniel Freiman" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> 
wrote:
>
> On inspection it looks like I did what Alex is talking about.
> I'm a little confused at the sliding image issue.  In my experience 
the
> loaded images are placed in the top left corner of the Image 
control unless
> you explicitly do something else.

Well, that is what it looked like at first, but what actually seems 
to happen is that the placement is quite arbitrary.  The same image 
will always have the same placement, but two images of a similar size 
might have different placements.  For instance if I have an image 
that is 300x100 and one that is 275x100, one of them will be at the 
top, the other at the bottom.

I find myself mystified as to why the image control doesn't just have 
properties that let you specify where the content is.  In Authorware, 
when you import an image there's a little grid that lets you choose 
one of 9 placements for the image relative to where you imported it.  
This is great when you're replacing imported content dynamically, 
because you can align it how you want.


> You should be able to fit the Image control to the loaded image 
perfectly by
> doing something like this:
> 
> image.width = image.content.width;
> image.height = image.content.height;
> image.content.x = 0;
> image.content.y = 0;

Could that potentially make the content rescale again, resulting in 
an endless loop?

Thanks!

[flexcoders] Re: Placement of Image within Image Control

[droponrcll]

--- In flexcoders@yahoogroups.com, "Mike Krotscheck" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> 
wrote:
>
> Have you tried scaleContent = true ?

Yes.

[flexcoders] Re: Placement of Image within Image Control

[droponrcll]

--- In flexcoders@yahoogroups.com, "Alex Harui" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> All children are sized and positioned by their parent based on 
explicit
> or measured width/height.  Images are extra tough because their size
> isn't known at first measure since the bits aren't fully loaded yet.
> Personally, I would just adjust its position when the "complete' event
> fires, but I also would expect the Container to handle this
> automatically.  However, I've recommended you use Canvas so then you
> will have to position manually.  If you decide to stick with boxes, we
> can look into this in more detail.

All I'd be positioning manually inside the canvas would be the image 
control itself, which doesn't help.  The image is sliding all over the 
place within the image control as different images are loaded.  Some at 
the top, some at the bottom, some at the left, some in the center, etc.

Thanks.

[flexcoders] Re: MultiPurpose ItemRenderer

[droponrcll]

--- In flexcoders@yahoogroups.com, "Alex Harui" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> This renderer is based on VBox which is a container and is a bit
> "heavy".  I'm guessing that since you are showing movies that there
> aren't too many of them, but if there were, you might eventually run
> into performance issues.  Lean-and-mean renderers are almost always
> written in Actionscript.  On my blog (blogs.adobe.com/aharui) I have
> some examples.
> 
>  
> 
> This renderer also uses states w/o transitions just to switch 
between
> two views.  Renderers get recycled as you scroll and the state 
switching
> could be expensive since add/remove is slower than changing the 
visible
> flag.
> 
>  
> 
> Because you used a container and are using databinding to fill out 
the
> fields, you probably don't need to override the data setter at all
> because commitProperties is probably not needed (in fact, you didn't
> implement and override).  You also probably do not have to 
implement a
> mapping to your value object.  You'll save a few microseconds here 
and
> there by doing so, but may not be worth the effort.
> 
>  
> 
> Thus, in its most reduced form, this renderer could look more like 
this
> (you might need some code for positioning and sizing):
> 
>  
> 
> http://www.adobe.com/2006/mxml
>  " width="100" 
> height="120" 
> horizontalScrollPolicy="off" verticalScrollPolicy="off" 
> borderStyle="solid" >
> 
> 
> 
>  source="{'images/'+ data.img}" scaleContent="true" height="95%" 
> width="95%" visible="{data.img.length > 0}" x="?" y="?" />
> 
>  textAlign="center"/>
>  source="{'movies/'+data.swf}" maintainAspectRatio="true" 
width="95%" 
> height="95%" scaleContent="true" visible="{data.swf.length > 0}" />
> 

I'm using a mapping to my MediaElement object because that object is 
contained in the source ArrayCollection and is also used to drive 
the "large" image viewer.  The stop action doesn't actually work on 
Flash 6 files, which these have to be because they also need to run 
in Authorware, which hasn't had an upgrade to its Flash Xtra in about 
5 years and never will now.  It doesn't seem that you can actually 
get older Flash movies to stop from Flex without adding functionality 
and recompiling.  I have to say that it seems that silly things like 
effects have been made easy in Flex, yet serious things, like 
controlling older swfs easily, have been made seriously difficult.

You also forget that part of the goal is to be able to use the 
component _not_ as an ItemRenderer, or as an ItemRenderer where it is 
being called from a Repeater component.  So while you can just look 
at data directly, what then happens when you go to use it not as an 
itemrenderer?

My understanding is if you set a component's visible property to 
false, it will still take up space on the screen as if it were 
visible, so I'm a bit unsure of what you're doing here.

-Amy

[flexcoders] Re: Placement of Image within Image Control

[droponrcll]

--- In flexcoders@yahoogroups.com, "Daniel Freiman" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> 
wrote:
>
> I think you're looking for the Image.content property (inherited 
from
> SWFLoader).  See the livedocs:
> http://livedocs.adobe.com/flex/201/langref/mx/controls/Image.html.  
The
> content is a child of the Image component (a light 
oversimplification here),
> and you should be able to set the x and y coordinates of the 
content to
> accomplish what you want.  If this doesn't work I'll look closer at 
my code
> to see how I did it.

OK, let me see if I understand what you are saying:

When the content of my image control changes, I capture that event 
and (somehow) reset the x and y of the content based on where it has 
wound up inside its bounding box to center it?  I would be _very_ 
grateful if you would look this up for me, since I've spent _way_ too 
much time on what was supposed to be a quick prototype.

Thanks.

[flexcoders] Re: MultiPurpose ItemRenderer

[droponrcll]

--- In flexcoders@yahoogroups.com, "Alex Harui" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> Like I said, I'm trying to minimize my time per message and 
generally
> give short answers and leave out detail.  Sounds like you're on 
your way
> and that's great.
> 
>  
> 
> Normally, though I don't override data getter/setters in my 
renderers.
> I map the data to a type in commitProperties.  But there are 
exceptions
> to every rule...  Nevertheless, I am concerned you haven't fully
> absorbed the "recipe" and maybe looking at your code will shed some
> light on it for you and others as there are things you can't do in 
the
> setter override that you should only do in commitProperties or 
later and
> thus your current recipe may not be cloneable on your next renderer.

http://www.adobe.com/2006/mxml"; width="100" 
height="120" 
horizontalAlign="center" verticalAlign="middle" 
horizontalScrollPolicy="off" verticalScrollPolicy="off" 
borderStyle="solid" >

[flexcoders] Placement of Image within Image Control

[droponrcll]

I have an Image control that is supposed to be centered in a VBox.  The 
problem is that the image file itself may be of varying dimensions and 
aspect ratios.  When the image is smaller than the image control it is 
in, it is always at the top left of the image control container, 
causing it to look off center.  Are there any properties on the image 
control itself that say where to position the image within its 
container?

Thanks.

[flexcoders] Re: MultiPurpose ItemRenderer

[droponrcll]

--- In flexcoders@yahoogroups.com, "Alex Harui" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> I'm going to try to combine your other response as well.
> 
>  
> 
> Yes, the repeater lets you dictate what the data items are and the 
same
> is true for item renderers.  Normally, you plug a collection or 
array or
> xmllist into a List/Tree/DataGrid, etc and the items in that 
collection
> become the data properties in the renderers.
> 
>  
> 
> The renderers job is to pull fields from the data object and stuff 
it
> into UI widgets in a renderer.
> 
>  
> 
> I'm a codehead, and while I've given many talks about itemrenderers 
at
> MAX and other venues, it is an entire hour presentation and assumes
> you're up to speed on object oriented programming and actionscript, 
and
> trying to distill this topic into an email on FlexCoders is outside 
my
> time constraints right now.  I generally respond to these emails 
while
> waiting for builds and regression tests to run, and give short 
answers
> when I know others on the forum can fill in the details.
> 
>  
> 
> Sounds like you're hitting a pretty straightforward issue dealing 
with
> actionscript.  If you post your code, I'll try to take a look at it 
on
> my next pass through this forum (as a true codehead, it is often 
easier
> for me to read code than your description).  Also see some code I 
helped
> with in this forum yesterday with the subject "DataGrid cell access
> question"

OK, thanks.  I actually tracked it down that the issue was I changed 
the data type of the data override function to my own custom object 
type.

The problem is not that I don't understand ActionScript, but that 
there are so many things to it that I can't keep them all in my head 
at once as I move forward.  And the points at which AS interfaces 
with MXML make it difficult to understand (as someone new to Flex) 
where the issue is.

To _you_ it might be obvious that your statement to 
invalidateproperties was self-explanatory, but to me the important 
part that you didn't mention was "you need to override the data 
getters and setters to incorporate the desired behaviors."  Since the 
getters and setters actually originated in the files you pointed me 
at, looking at them was only helpful to the extent that it let me 
know there _were_ getters and setters for data.  The compiler is 
actually what told me I needed to add the override keyword ;-).

So, while clearly this is somewhat an AS issue, it is also somewhat a 
communications issue, since I am guessing that even someone 
intimately familiar with AS who was not familiar with how renderers 
work in MXML and not familiar with the inheritance involved might not 
have followed you either.  Not to be critical, just pointing out how 
this looks from the perspective of someone just picking up this tool.

BTW, the stack overflow was caused by a circular reference I hadn't 
realized was in there.  It's somewhat possible my amateurish earlier 
efforts might have succeeded without that, and I'd never have learned 
the proper way to override the data methods.

Thanks!

Amy

[flexcoders] Re: MultiPurpose ItemRenderer

[droponrcll]

--- In flexcoders@yahoogroups.com, "Alex Harui" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> There is a recommended pattern involving calling 
invalidateProperties()
> in the .data setter, overriding commitProperties() to handle
> distributing the data, and other "component lifecycle" methods.
>  
> There is documentation on making custom item renderers, and you can 
look
> at the source code for mx.controls.listClasses.ListItemRenderer and
> mx.controls.TextInput and other mx.controls that are 
IListItemRenderers.

I looked at the source for ListItemRenderer, and when I tried to do 
the same thing, I got 

1024: Overriding a function that is not marked for override.

When I added override, I got incompatible override.  Clearly there is 
something here that I am missing.  Please keep in mind that I am a 
Community Expert for Authorware, which means that for the past 
several years the people who have answered what questions I've had 
have been instructional designers first, codeheads second.  So please 
try to imagine you are in front of a classroom of people who are 
relatively new to Flex and couch your answer in those terms.

Thanks;

Amy

[flexcoders] Re: MultiPurpose ItemRenderer

[droponrcll]

--- In flexcoders@yahoogroups.com, "Alex Harui" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> There is a recommended pattern involving calling 
invalidateProperties()
> in the .data setter, overriding commitProperties() to handle
> distributing the data, and other "component lifecycle" methods.
>  
> There is documentation on making custom item renderers, and you can 
look
> at the source code for mx.controls.listClasses.ListItemRenderer and
> mx.controls.TextInput and other mx.controls that are 
IListItemRenderers.

The repeater object lets you specify what to use as the data for each 
itemrenderer.  It seems to me that it would be much simpler if all 
controls that use itemrenderers would allow this rather than forcing 
people to write special code.  I don't think the help on 
itemrenderers says much on this subject, other than that objects to 
be used as itemrenderers should support the Data property.

-Amy

[flexcoders] Re: Element type "mx:Lab" must be followed by either attribute specifications, ">"

[droponrcll]

--- In flexcoders@yahoogroups.com, "droponrcll" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> 
wrote:
>
> I've tried to add my own namespace to allow me to insert my own 
> components, a process I've done several times before, and I get the 
> error: Element type "mx:Lab" must be followed by either attribute 
> specifications, ">" or "/>".

Nevermind.  I found it.  I had copied and pasted from a file with a 
persistent error that Flex kept throwing even when the line was blank, 
and I didn't get all the tags.

-Amy

[flexcoders] MultiPurpose ItemRenderer

[droponrcll]

I'd like to be able to create a component I can use as an ItemRenderer 
or not.  It already works _not_ as an ItemRenderer, but all my attempts 
to add support for the data property haven't worked.  Things I've tried:

1)  A creationComplete event that checks to see if data is an object of 
the right type, then sets the appropriate object to data.  This throws 
a stack overflow error.

2)  On the property getters, if the properties are null I set them to  
the correct properties of the data object.  Since the information is 
being gotten from a bound control, this throws it into an endless loop.

I'm suspecting this is a design pattern that has been solved before, 
but I am not seeing an answer for it.  Can anyone point me in the right 
direction?

Thanks.

[flexcoders] Element type "mx:Lab" must be followed by either attribute specifications, ">"

[droponrcll]

I've tried to add my own namespace to allow me to insert my own 
components, a process I've done several times before, and I get the 
error: Element type "mx:Lab" must be followed by either attribute 
specifications, ">" or "/>".

I am using FB 3 Milestone 3.  The full MXML for the file is this:


http://www.adobe.com/2006/mxml"; 
xmlns:v="views.*" layout="absolute">

[flexcoders] Flash Components in Flex

[droponrcll]

Is there any way to use a Flash component in Flex?  If so, how do you 
make the installed components available to Flex?

Thanks;

Amy

[flexcoders] Using installed Flash component in Flex

[droponrcll]

If you have a Flash component installed, how do you go about using it 
in Flex and what is the syntax for using it?

Thanks;

Amy

[flexcoders] XSLT in Flex

[droponrcll]

I have two components I'd like to use in my Flex piece that were 
developed by two different companies.  They both use essentially the 
same information, but they want it formatted in two different XML 
formats.  My life would be a lot simpler if I could apply XSLT to the 
XML after it is loaded into Flex and simply transform it from one kind 
of XML to another.  This Flex will be embedded into an ActiveX control 
in a different program, so there will be no server or browser 
involved.  The XML will be fed in from that program, which will read it 
from the local hard drive.

Thanks;

Amy

[flexcoders] Re: A file found in a source-path must have the same package structure

[droponrcll]

--- In flexcoders@yahoogroups.com, "flashcrow2000" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> 
wrote:
>
> When i usually get this error, I delete the package name and I hit
> Ctrl+Space, and let Flex autocomplete with its correct value. It might
> be a problem with the Folder name. I presume you have a folder list of
> something like com/classes/Events (if no, you might consider using 
one)

I tried that after reading your suggestion and FB replaced the old name 
with..itself.  The error still exists on compile.  I'm following the 
folder structure suggested in the book, which is more natural than 
cramming everything into a com folder (and saves on the typing).  
Presumably any third party components would be designed to go into a 
com folder and so would not conflict with somethimg more utilitarian 
created outside of it.

Thanks;

Amy

[flexcoders] A file found in a source-path must have the same package structure

[droponrcll]

Hi, all;

I'm working through the tutorial in the Flex Builder 2 Training from 
the Source book, using Flex Builder 3 beta.  I accidentally called my 
events folder "Events", and now when I renamed it I get "A file found 
in a source-path must have the same package structure 'Events', as the 
definition's package, 'events'."  I have changed the package name to 
events from Events, and I've even tried deleting the file and 
recreating it from scratch, but I still get the error.  I had similar 
problems when I accidentally set the transparency of an AIR app without 
turning off its SystemChrome.  No matter WHAT I did to that file, I 
still got errors.  Unfortunately, I don't remember the fix to that.  If 
anyone could give me a suggestion or two, I'd appreciate it.

Thanks

[flexcoders] Re: Flex 2 Training From the Source

[droponrcll]

--- In flexcoders@yahoogroups.com, "Tony" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> Amy,
> 
> This may be your place.
> 
> Go for it!

OK, first question:

In Lesson 7 (p 162), we instantiate the PopupManager class from 
inside a component.  Wouldn't that cause problems accessing it from 
other parts of the program, if you needed to?  Or am I 
misunderstanding the singleton class issue?

Second question:

Later in Lesson 7 (p 172), we create an ArrayCollection just of 
categories and then another ArrayCollection of Products arranced 
under the key of the ID of the Category.  Why are we not just adding 
a Products property to each Category and storing the Products in 
that?  Maybe that's explained or corrected later, but that's as far 
as I've read.  :-)

Third question:

It seems to me that all the looping in the logic described in my 
second question is necessary because of a glaring hole in E4X.  
Because all of the hype around E4X says it assumes that the order of 
the XML nodes is important, yet when you use the .. operator, you 
don't get back any information on where that node was found.  Does 
that hole actually exist, or is it just a hole in the docs for Flex?  
If it does exist, has anyone extended E4X to fix this, and if so 
could I get a link?  If not, is it even possible (is the E4X logic in 
a class that is extensible?

OK, that last question was actually several questions, but maybe 
someone can answer them, or at least take a stab.

Thanks;

Amy

[flexcoders] Flex 2 Training From the Source

[droponrcll]

Is there a forum for discussing the examples in Flex 2 Training From 
the Source?  I have some specific questions, but I don't want to 
clutter up this forum with stupid newbie questions.

Thanks;

Amy

[flexcoders] Re: AIR vs DLL vs. External code?

[droponrcll]

--- In flexcoders@yahoogroups.com, "hank williams" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> 
wrote:
>
> On 8/25/07, Jeffry Houser <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >  hank williams wrote:
> >  >
> >  >
> >  >  > > So in your mind, Adobe's goal of being cross platform 
should be
> >  >  > > abandoned since there is no way to do cross-platform COM? 
Would you
> >  >  > > find it acceptable if it allowed you to do Mac only 
desktop stuff or
> >  >  > > does windows only compatible == desktop software?
> >  >  >
> >  >  > I think Adobe should provide hooks that allow extension, 
for instance
> >  >  > by Java. If it so happens that a third-party or homegrown 
extension
> >  >  > *happens* not to be cross-platform, AIR itself will still 
be cross-
> >  >  > platform. It shouldn't be Adobe's business to enforce that
> >  >  > everything that could ever be used by AIR would have to be 
cross-
> >  >  > platform.
> >  >  >
> >  >  > For example, both Authorware and Director (Adobe's desktop
> >  >  > application building programs) are both cross-platform but 
allow
> >  >  > extension via Xtras and other means. Not all of those Xtras 
are
> >  >  > cross-platform, but developers still find them incredibly 
useful,
> >  >  > either because they are only working on one platform or 
because they
> >  >  > can work around the gap in some other way on the other 
platform.
> >  >
> >  > You cant really compare AIR to authorware and director. These 
were
> >  > both very thinly deployed tools (compared to flash)
> >
> >  Shouldn't we be comparing them to AIR in this case?  I'd be 
willing to
> >  bet that AIR's deployment (at this stage) is very thinly 
deployed.  Yes,
> >  AIR has Flash Player embedded, but AIR != Flash
> >
> 
> Actually, AIR uses special non publicly available pieces of the 
flash
> platform to make installing totally seamless. When you click on an 
AIR
> app to download, it it leverages this not publicly available stuff 
to
> download the AIR runtime in the background. So they are leveraging 
the
> presence of flash to facilitate the installation of the runtime. 
This
> is a *big* deal and feels very different from downloading an exe in
> explorer.  If it's not a big deal for your apps you can, as I said,
> just use one of the many flash to exe projectors out there. Also,
> Director and Authorware cant really be compared to AIR because 
neither
> of them was based on a runtime separate from the application being
> installed on the users computer. Being a completely self contained
> download made it more appropriate to allow these tools to bring DLLs
> or Xtras with them. Anything can be bundled in a stand-alone 
download,
> but AIR apps are not exe's and are dependent on the AIR runtime. 
This
> is a critical architectural difference.

I disagree.  I am not certain how Director works, since I've never 
used it except to make movies that were then integrated into 
Authorware, but Authorware has the ability to either incorporate the 
runtime into the content file as a new exe or to provide it 
separately.  The fact that the AIR team chose only one of these 
strategies is not compelling to me.  

> >  > I think they may eventually add additional layers of access to 
the
> >  > system, but I doubt that they will ever go as far as you would 
like
> >  > because the responsibility is too great for a browser 
connected tool.
> >
> >  I wouldn't consider AIR a browser connected tool.  It does have 
an
> >  embedded browser, but...
> >
> >  The ability to integrate with the local system (Via an execute 
type
> >  command) is almost mandatory for non-connected applications.
> 
> It sounds like you are saying that there is no market for AIR. Based
> on the general reaction from the developer community, I would have 
to
> disagree. Of course perhaps you are just trying to say that given 
that
> AIR's focus on occasionally connected applications, that there isnt
> such a need for access to DLLs and such. If so I would whole 
heartedly
> agree.
> 
> At this
> >  time, it does not appear that AIR fits that market very well 
(nor are
> >  they targeting the market.. )
> >
> >  If you need to run DLLs / COM / etc... then AIR probably isn't a 
good
> >  choice.
> >
> 
> This is clearly true.

IMO, it does not make sense for Adobe to continue to develop Director 
when AIR and Flash have the potential ability to replace it.  Adobe 
has already stopped development on Director, and I can tell you they 
will never manage to convince Authorware users to pick up Director, 
regardless of its innate capabilities, because we believe its days 
are also numbered. However, for the replacement to happen, Adobe will 
have to add more capability to AIR.

-Amy

[flexcoders] Re: AIR vs DLL vs. External code?

[droponrcll]

--- In flexcoders@yahoogroups.com, "hank williams" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> 
wrote:
>
> 
> So in your mind, Adobe's goal of being cross platform should be
> abandoned since there is no way to do cross-platform COM? Would you
> find it acceptable if it allowed you to do Mac only desktop stuff or
> does windows only compatible == desktop software?

I think Adobe should provide hooks that allow extension, for instance 
by Java.  If it so happens that a third-party or homegrown extension 
*happens* not to be cross-platform, AIR itself will still be cross-
platform.  It shouldn't be Adobe's business to enforce that 
everything that could ever be used by AIR would have to be cross-
platform.

For example, both Authorware and Director (Adobe's desktop 
application building programs) are both cross-platform but allow 
extension via Xtras and other means.  Not all of those Xtras are 
cross-platform, but developers still find them incredibly useful, 
either because they are only working on one platform or because they 
can work around the gap in some other way on the other platform.

-Amy