RIA Journal » ActionScript

Detecting When Mouse Leaves Movie in AS3

Jeff — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 20:35:29 +0000

One thing about previous versions of ActionScript was that you could never tell when the user no longer had his or her mouse over the Flash movie. This made it hard for people to know whether or not the user is still interacting with their movie or if they’ve given up and moved on to something more interesting. This was especially a problem for custom cursors where, if the user moved the cursor off the Flash movie, the custom cursor would still remain in the Flash movie not moving while the real cursor could be seen moving around everywhere else.

ActionScript 3 now allows you to detect when the mouse has left the flash movie using the stage’s MOUSE_LEAVE event.

stage.addEventListener(Event.MOUSE_LEAVE, cursorHide);

kirupa.com – Flash Tutorial: Detecting When Mouse Leaves Movie.

Cakes Good: Flash CS3, ActionScript 3.0, JSON keep it simple tutorial

Jeff — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 14:33:03 +0000

Great tutorial on how to use JSON data with Flash.

Cakes Good: Flash CS3, ActionScript 3.0, JSON keep it simple tutorial.

Adobe® Flex™ Builder 3 Professional for unemployed developers

Jeff — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 21:25:58 +0000

Adobe Flex Builder 3 software is currently available for free for software developers who are affected by the current economic condition and are currently unemployed.

Program eligibility:

To receive the product under this program, you must attest to the fact that you are currently unemployed and that the software will be used only for your personal use not for any production or commercial purposes.

I attest that the following statements are true:
1) I am not currently employed or being paid to develop software applications or web pages
2) Adobe Flex Builder 3 Software I receive under this program is for my personal use to learn about Adobe Flex and improve my skills
3) My license to use Flex Builder 3 under this program will not be used for production or commercial purposes, nor will it be transferred to any other person or entity, including to my employer should I become employed.

Find out more about the program here: Adobe Flex.

Facebook Connect to Actionscript 3

Jeff — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 13:11:51 +0000

Ok, now you may be asking yourself, why would I use this instead of the new Facebook Actionscript API that I talked about previously? That API is all good if you are working on a stand alone RIA, but I think it is really hampered by the process that you have to go through to authenticate your app with popup windows, etc. Even though it is an authorized API, that process feels like more of a hack than this is.

This makes use of Connect and AS3 to authenticate and do other things as well. It uses JS as a “bridge” for the AS and Connect to talk. I like this:

“But as we have to deal with automatic login and javascript popups, this way was easier to integrate in a Flash website and, moreover, the Javascript library is built with a HTML website in mind. So, it allows you to use the same library in your average website and listen to any event that passes along (login, disconnects, friends, a status that has been set, …)”

Give it a try though, I think that it works well. It works especially well in combination with the Facebook AS3 API, when using the Connect JS Bridge here as a way to authenticate the app.

Facebook Actionscript API

Jeff — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 13:00:14 +0000

The new ActionScript 3.0 Client Library for Facebook Platform API, fully supported by Facebook and Adobe, makes it easy to build applications that combine the strengths of the Flash Platform and Facebook Platform.

The Adobe Flash Platform and Facebook Platform provide the ideal solution for building rich, social experiences on the web. Flash is available on more than 98% of Internet-connected PCs, so people can immediately access the applications, content, and video that enable social interactions. The Facebook Platform is used by millions of people everyday to connect and share with the people in their lives. Together, both platforms allow you to:

Share: Create rich interactions for users to share with friends.
Have fun: Make games social; let users compete against their friends.
Connect: Let users connect to your RIAs with Facebook Connect.
Solve problems: Build RIAs that harness the power of community.
Reach people: Reach millions of Facebook users through social distribution.

Get it here: facebook-actionscript-api – Google Code.