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Macromedia Flash Professional 8 Unleashed
- By David Vogeleer
- Published Oct 10, 2005 by Sams. Part of the Unleashed series.
Book
- Sorry, this book is no longer in print.
Description
- Copyright 2006
- Edition: 1st
- Book
- ISBN-10: 0-672-32761-9
- ISBN-13: 978-0-672-32761-2
Macromedia Flash is a key technology for designing and delivering low-bandwidth animations, presentations, and web sites. More recently it has become development environment, complete with scripting capabilities and server-side connectivity. Flash has the ability to easily integrate with, and add interactivity to, complex media types with powerful and intuitive tools. Developers can rapidly develop high performance, accessible content using pre-assembled building blocks and expand their authoring capabilities with custom extensions from independent developers.
Macromedia Flash MX Unleashed covers these high-end topics, providing you with a solid and complete reference for building Flash websites and applications. Fundamentals are covered quickly in the first part of the book, with the majority of the content devoted to coverage of ActionScript and how Flash works with varied middleware. You'll also learn how to integrate Flash with several other technologies, including XML and PHP.
Sample Content
Online Sample Chapters
Table of Contents
Introduction.
I. GETTING STARTED.
1. What's New?
The Interface
Tabs on the Mac
Tabs in Panels Are Back
One Library to Rule Them All
Bigger Pasteboard
Two Levels of Undo
Object Drawing-The New Grouping
Content on the Go
Hide and Seek Is Over
Welcome Back, Normal Mode
The Fastest Flash Player Ever
FlashType
Cache as Bitmap
Blending
Filters
Stroke Improvements
Video in Flash
New Dynamic Content
BitmapData
File Upload
Summary
2. Getting Started with Flash Professional 8.
Humble Beginnings-Where Flash Came From
The Interface
The Stage
The Properties Inspector Panel
Flash Panels
Check Your Spelling
Preferences
The General Category
The ActionScript and Auto Format Categories
The Clipboard Category
The Drawing Category
The Text Category
The Warnings Category
Shortcuts
Making a Better Workspace
Summary
3. Creating Graphics in Flash.
The Toolbar
The Colors Section
The View Section
The Tools Section
Colors and Gradients
The Color Swatches Panel
The Color Mixer Panel
Grouping and Drawing Objects
Groupies
Drawing Objects
Stacking Groups
Importing and Working with Bitmaps
Creating a Bitmap Fill
Tracing Bitmaps
Swap Bitmap
Summary
4. Flash Animation.
Welcome to the Timeline
The Layers Section
The Frames Section
Frame by Frame
Your First Animation
Tweening
Your First Tween
Shape Hints
Summary
5. Symbols, Instances, and the Library.
What Is a Symbol?
What Is an Instance?
The Graphic Symbol
When Should You Use a Graphic?
Converting to a Symbol
The Button Symbol
An Interactive Button
Memoirs of an Invisible Button
The Movie Clip Symbol
The Library
Back to the Timeline
Your First Motion Tween
The Tween Editor
Nested Animation
Motion Guides
The Mask Layer
Summary
6. Working with Sound and Video.
Why Sound?
Adding Sound
Sound in the Properties Inspector
Sound Effects
Creating a Custom Effect
Syncing and Looping
Compressing Sound
Sound with ActionScript
Video in Flash
Importing Video into Flash
Summary
7. Publishing.
The Publish Settings
Publishing Profiles
The Formats Tab
For the Web
Graphics
Projectors and QuickTime
Flash Player 8 and SWFs
The Flash Tab
The Version Field
The Sound Settings
The HTML Tab
Detect Flash Version
The GIF Tab
The PNG Tab
The JPEG Tab
The QuickTime Tab
Summary
II. ACTIONSCRIPT.
8. Welcome to ActionScript 2.0.
What Is ActionScript?
Object-Oriented Programming
What Is an Object?
Properties of an Object
Methods of an Object
Events of an Object
Where Do Objects Come From?
Prototyping an Object
Introduction to ActionScript 2.0
Declaring Variables and Instance Names
Strict Data Typing Variables
Strict Data Typing with Functions
The Actions Panel
Actions Panel Preferences
Reference/Help Panel
Behaviors and the Behaviors Panel
ActionScript Fundamentals
Comments
Code Hints and Naming Conventions
ActionsPanel.xml
Triggering Code Hints with Comments
Strict Data Typing to Trigger Code Hints
Dot Syntax
The Movie Clip Object
Functions
Conditionals
Loop Statements
Summary
9. Strings, Numbers and Variables-In Depth.
Types of Data Types
The String Data Type
Creating a String
Empty Strings
Quotes
Escape Sequences
Manipulating Strings
Joining Strings
Indexing Characters in Strings
Unicode-Style Strings
The Number Data Type
Creating a Number
Solving the Problem of Repeating Decimal Points
Predefined Values for Numbers
Bonus Numbers
Boolean Data Type
Null Data Type
Undefined Data Type
Array Data Type
Variables
Making a Variable
Changing Data in Variables
Incrementing and Decrementing Variables
Empty Variables
Comparing Variables
Combining Types of Values in Variables
Converting Variables Using Functions and Methods
The Scope of a Variable
An Applied Example
Summary
10. Arrays.
What Is an Array and How Does It Work?
Deconstructing an Array
Creating an Array
Retrieving Information from an Array
Adding Elements to Arrays
The push Method
The unshift Method
The splice Method
The concat Method
Naming Array Elements
Removing Array Elements
The delete Operator
Removing Elements Using the length Property
The splice Method Revisited
The pop Method
The shift Method
Changing Elements in Arrays
Advanced Nested Arrays
Additional Array Methods
The toString Method
The join Method
The slice Method
The reverse Method
Sorting Arrays
The sortOn Method
Applied Example
Summary
11. Statements and Expressions.
Statement Syntax
Statement Block
Object Statements
The with Statement
The for in Statement
Flow Modifiers
Conditional Statements
Comparison Operators
The if Statement
The else Statement
The else if Statement
switch, case, default, and break
Loop Statements
Summary
12. Functions.
Creating a Function
Running the Function
Using Parameters in Functions
Functions That Return Values
Nested Functions
Function Scope
Mapping to a Function
The global Identifier
Variables and Functions
The Arguments Class
The length Property
Functions as Objects
Functions as Methods
Functions Built In to Flash
The call Function
Conversion Functions
Mathematical Functions
Deprecated Functions
Summary
13. The Movie Clip Object.
Creating Movie Clips
Creating Movie Clips Manually
Creating Movie Clips with ActionScript
Manipulating Movie Clips
Animating Movie Clips with ActionScript
The cacheAsBitmap Property
Using Math to Help Animate Movie Clips
Using the Color Object
The blendMode Property
Filters
Depth and the Stacking Order
Duplicating Movie Clips
Removing Movie Clips
The removeMovieClip() Method
The Drawing API
The lineStyle() Method
The moveTo() Method
The lineTo() Method
The lineGradientStyle() Method
The beginFill() Method
The beginGradientFill() Method
The curveTo() Method
Summary
14. Events.
Handling Events
The Callback
Listeners
Duplicating Effort
Callbacks Versus Listeners-The Showdown
Button Events
Movie Clip Events
Movie Clips Handling Button Events
Events of the Mouse Object
Events of the Key Object
Events of the TextField Object
Cross-Object Events
Summary
15. Working with Text.
The Text Field Interface
Spell Checking Text Fields
Creating Text Fields
Static Text
Dynamic Text
Input Text
Creating Text Fields in ActionScript
Formatting the Text in Text Fields
The TextFormat Object
Cascading Style Sheets
Scrolling Text Fields
The Mouse Wheel Event
HTML Text in Text Fields
The Image Tag
HTML Text Fields and JavaScript
Multilanguage Text
Unicode-encoded Strings
The Strings Panel
Summary
16. Components.
What Is a Component?
Getting Started with Components
The Components Panel
Adding Components to the Stage
The attachMovie() Method
Setting Parameters
The Properties Inspector
Changing the Parameters of a Component
The Component Inspector Panel
ActionScript
Capturing Component Events
Getting Data from Components
Skinning Components
Manually Skinning a Component
Using the style Property
The dataProvider Property
Data Binding
Creating a Version 2.0 Component
Summary
17. Debugging.
What Is Debugging?
Planning Ahead
Names That Make Sense
Documentation
Strict Data Typing
Prototyping and Testing
Tools of the Trade
The trace Function
List Options
The Error Object
Sizing Up Your Project
The Debugger
Remote Debugging
Summary
II. OUTSIDE OF FLASH.
18. External ActionScript.
Why Use External ActionScript?
#include Versus Classpath
Getting Started with External Class Files
Defining a Class
Public, Private, and Static
Declaring Properties with a Constructor Function
Creating Methods
Creating Getter/Setter Methods
Creating Events
Creating Callback Events
Creating Listener Events
Bringing It All Together
Summary
19. Loading Visual Content.
Why Load External Content?
What Content Can Be Loaded and Where?
Loading Images Dynamically
The loadMovie() Method
Inheritance
The loadMovieNum() Method
The unloadMovie() Method
The removeMovieClip() Method
The unloadMovieNum() Function
The Loader Component
Loading SWF Files into Flash
Manipulating Loaded SWF Files
Loading External Content into Text Fields
Manipulating Embedded Content in Text Fields
Preloaders
The getBytesTotal() and getBytesLoaded() Methods
The ProgressBar Component
Summary
20. Introduction to Data Integration.
Why Dynamic Content?
The getURL() Method
The MIME Format
The escape() and unescape() functions
The loadVariables Method
The onData Event
The loadVariablesNum() Method
The LoadVars Object
The load() Method
The onLoad Event
The Undocumented onData Event
The ExternalInterface API
The Call Method
The addCallback Method
Summary
21. ASP and Flash.
What Is ASP?
How Does ASP Work?
Getting the Server
Intro to ASP Scripting
Your First ASP Page
Sending and Receiving Data
Receiving Data in ASP
Sending and Receiving in Flash
Accessing Access
Summary
22. PHP and Flash.
Setting Up Your Server
Installing Apache Server
Installing PHP
Installing MySQL
Now That It's All Installed
Learning More About PHP
PHP and Flash-Receiving Data
Example 1-Hello World
Example 2-Hello, Goodbye World
Example 3-Multiple Values and Multiple Variables
Example 4-Sending Mail with Flash and PHP
PHP and Flash-Sending and Receiving Data
Example 5-Confirming sentMail
Incorporating a MySQL Database
Example 6-Address Book
File Uploads-Flash 8 Specific
Example 7-File Upload
Summary
23. Flash Remoting with ColdFusion.
What Is Flash Remoting?
The Application Server
Technical Requirements
ColdFusion and Flash Flowchart
Flash Remoting Setup Process
Setting Up the Server
Installing IIS
Installing ColdFusion MX7
Setting Up Your Database
Creating a ColdFusion Data Source
Reviewing the Application
Let's Begin: ColdFusion Components (CFCs)
Flash Remoting and ActionScript 2.0
Import Flash Remoting ActionScript Classes
Establish a Gateway Connection and Service
Communicate with the CFC and Handle the Results
Building Your Application
Summary
24. XML and Flash.
What Is XML?
Formatting XML
Rules of XML
Attributes
Elements Versus Attributes
XML and Flash
The XML Object
The XMLConnector Component
The trigger() Method
The result Event
The Tree Component
Summary
25. Web Services and Flash.
What Is a Web Service?
Why Use Web Services?
Creating a Web Service
Consuming Web Services with Flash
Using the XML Object
Flash Remoting
The Web Services Panel
The WebServiceConnector Component
Data Binding
Consuming Outside Web Services
Absorbing the Amazon Web Service
Summary
26. Streaming Media.
Why Stream Media?
Creating a Flash Video
The NetConnection Object
The NetStream Object
The play() Method
The pause() Method
The close() Method
The seek() Method
The setBufferTime() Method
The onStatus Event
Properties of the NetStream Object
The Video Object
The attachVideo() Method
Streaming Video
The FLVPlayback Component
The Camera Object
The get() Method
The activityLevel Property
Summary
27. Extending Flash.
Why Extend Flash?
Commands
The History Panel
Saving Commands from the History Panel
Creating Commands Manually with JSFL
Managing Commands
XML-to-UI Controls
Creating Behaviors
Creating Your Own Panels
Creating Custom Tools
Creating Custom Effects
File I/O in JSFL
Summary
28. Beyond Flash.
Flash Alternatives
SwiSHmax
SwiSHpix
PowerCONVERTER
Wildform FlixPro
Sorenson Squeeze
Swift 3D
Captivate
Enhancing Flash Files
Optimaze
Action Script Viewer 4.0
SWF Encrypt(tm)
Beyond the Web
ScreenTime
SWF2Video
SWF Studio 3.0
MakingThings
Summary
IV. Appendix.
A. ActionScript Reference.
The BitmapData Class
Properties
Methods
The ExternalInterface Class
Properties
Methods
The BevelFilter Class
Methods
The BlurFilter Class
Methods
The ColorMatrixFilter Class
Methods
The ConvolutionFilter Class
Methods
The DisplacementMapFilter Class
Methods
The DropShadowFilter Class
Methods
The GlowFilter Class
Methods
The GradientBevelFilter Class
Methods
The GradientGlowFilter Class
Methods
The ColorTransform Class
Properties
Methods
The Matrix Class
Methods
The Point Class
Properties
Methods
The Rectangle Class
Properties
Methods
The Transform Class
Properties
The FileReference Class
Properties
Methods
Events
The FileReferenceList Class
Properties
Methods
Events
The TextRenderer Class
Properties
Methods
Index.