Modern addiction: ActionScript 3.0 Chit chat about AS 3.0, OO concepts, and Flash in general…

30Aug/090

Mouse over faces of PV3D cube

Problem

When you try to interact with cube material to determine which face has mouse over it, it is impossible to do it with adding OBJECT_OVER listener to cube.

Solution

Basic thing is that instead of putting listener for mouse over, we listen to mouse move. Or if we put it in perspective of listeners in cube with which we are working, OBJECT_OVER listener is replaced with OBJECT_MOVE listener.

You will need one variable for holding current cube face on which mouse is over:

private var currentCubeFace:String = "";

Next, you'll need to add listener to your cube:

this.cube.addEventListener( InteractiveScene3DEvent.OBJECT_MOVE, cubeMoveHandler );

Finally in cubeMoveHandler you will need to check if face on which mouse is over has changed. That is neccessary so that event only occur once. That way we simulate OBJECT_OVER method but which works will cube faces. Here is cubeMoveHandler method:

private function cubeMoveHandler( event:InteractiveScene3DEvent ):void {
	//Check if mouse is over another cube face
	if ( this.currentCubeFace != ( event.target.name + "" + event.face3d.material.name ) ) {
		this.currentCubeFace = event.target.name + "" + event.face3d.material.name;
		this.textField.text = "Target: " + event.target.name + ", face: " + event.face3d.material.name;
	}
}

Get source files

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27Aug/091

New skills

Over this summer vacation I added new skills to my portfolio. Check it out! If any of it interests you, check my About page.

Papervision3D

papervision3d

Papervision3D is an open source 3D engine for the Flash platform. It is written and maintained by a small core team, and contributed to by its ever-growing community.

Core team
* Carlos Ulloa
* John Grden
* Ralph Hauwert
* Tim Knip

Contributors
* Patrick Pietens
* Ron Valstar

http://blog.papervision3d.org/

Adobe AIR

adobe_air

The new Adobe® AIR™ runtime lets developers build rich applications that deploy to the desktop. AIR applications run across operating systems and are easily delivered using a single installer file. With Adobe AIR, developers can use their existing skills in Flash to build highly engaging, visually rich applications that combine the power of local resources and data with the reach of the web.

Adobe AIR offers an exciting new way to engage customers with innovative, branded applications, without requiring changes to existing technology, people, or processes.

From shopping on eBay to managing music, Adobe AIR means applications that are easier, more powerful, and more fun to use.

http://www.adobe.com/products/air/

Flash components

Flash component is collection of ActionScript classes and Flash FLA file making one graphic component simple to use and reuse. It allows developers to simply drag&drop component to their project, add parameters and they are done with it. It also allows live preview of changing dimensions and changing skins to the component. The beauty is that component is reliable separated from rest of the project.

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26Aug/090

AntiAliasing dynamic TextField

Problem

Problem comes up when you dynamically add TextField with special font to your movie. You can create empty dynamic TextField on stage and embed fonts in it. Then you have global access to that font from TextFields through your classes. But by default you have No Bitmap antialiasing turned on. So your font looks distorted.

Solution

Assuming you embedded fonts which you will use, to fix this problem there is class AntiAliasType. TextField contains property antiAliasType which you will need to set.

var format:TextFormat = new TextFormat( "Calibri" );

textField.text = "Some text.";
textField.embedFonts = true;
textField.antiAliasType = AntiAliasType.ADVANCED;
textField.setTextFormat( format );

Don't forget importing:

import flash.text.AntiAliasType;
Filed under: Tutorials No Comments
18Aug/090

Basic XML checking…

Lots of unexpected errors can come from mistyping XML. So you have wrong data, and you load it to your program and of course it will work wrong.

You can be sure to check your loaded data before doing anything. Also be sure to cast your data when assigning it to variable. In example:

//Sample XML
var xml:XML = <node attribute="1">Node text</node>;
 
//Assign node text to txt variable
var txt:String = null;
if ( "node" in xml ) {
	txt = String( xml.node );
} else {
	trace( "Node doesn't exist!" );
}
 
//Assign node attribute to num variable
var num:uint = 0;
if ( "@attribute" in xml ) {
	num = uint( xml.@attribute );
} else {
	trace( "Attribute doesn't exist!" );
}
Filed under: Best practices, Tutorials No Comments
5Aug/090

Second language: AS 3.0

This is not a standard post, but it's so awesome I had to put it up. Everyone should have a chance to learn to speak ActionScript, and Doug Winnie made sure you can do it.

So if you're new, enjoy it:
ActionScript 1:1 with Doug Winnie

Filed under: News No Comments
   

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