Acknowledgments p. viii Introduction p. xxv Getting Started with Macromedia Flash p. 1 Introducing the Development Environment p. 1 Tools Panel p. 2 Properties Panel p. 2 Timeline p. 3 Keyframes and Animation p. 3 About the Library and Symbols p. 4 Working with Buttons p. 5 Working with Movie Clips p. 7 About Layers, Depth, and Levels p. 8 Setting Up Your Scripting Environment p. 8 Introducing the Actions Panel p. 8 Exploring ActionScript Preferences p. 9 Exploring Auto Format Preferences p. 12 Publishing a Project p. 13 Options for Detecting the Flash Player p. 16 Summary p. 18 Exercises p. 18 Getting Started with ActionScript 2.0 p. 19 Understanding Statements p. 19 Using Simple Statements p. 19 Using Compound Statements p. 20 Understanding Operators p. 20 Using Operator Precedence p. 22 Exploring Operator Associativity p. 22 Understanding the Common Operators p. 23 Using White Space p. 25 Using Comments p. 26 Introducing Variables p. 27 Assigning Data to a Variable p. 28 Viewing the Contents of a Variable p. 28 Passing Data from Variable to Variable p. 29 Naming Variables p. 29 Introducing Constants p. 30 Using Strong Variable Typing p. 30 Exploring Data Types p. 33 Using Dot Syntax p. 37 Discerning Special Variables and Keywords p. 38 Working with Collections of Data p. 40
Understanding Arrays p. 40 Exploring Associative Arrays and Objects p. 45 Summary p. 50 Exercises p. 51 Understanding ActionScript Expressions and Loops p. 53 Making Decisions p. 53 Expressions p. 54 Building Expressions p. 55 Using if..then..else p. 59 Using switch..case p. 60 Understanding Loops p. 66 The for Loop p. 66 The for..in Loop p. 69 The while Loop p. 70 The do..while Loop p. 72 Dealing with Loop Errors p. 76 Summary p. 80 Exercises p. 80 Exploring ActionScript Functions and Scope p. 83 Functions p. 83 Functions in Action p. 86 An Alternate Syntax p. 87 Passing Functions as Arguments p. 88 Variable Scope p. 92 Managing Variable Scope p. 95 Side Effects p. 96 Summary p. 98 Exercises p. 99 Getting Started with Coding p. 101 Introduction to Object-Oriented Programming p. 101 Defining Object-Oriented Programming p. 101 Coding Best Practices p. 107 Understanding Variable Naming p. 107 Variable Typing p. 110 Commenting p. 116 Formatting Code p. 118 Understanding Variable Scope p. 119 Accessing Variables in Another Timeline p. 122 Creating Your Own Functions p. 129 Summary p. 140 Exercises p. 141
Setting Up Flash Projects p. 143 Setting Up the Library p. 143 Working with Bitmap Images p. 144 Keep Images Organized on the Desktop p. 145 Keep Images Organized in the Library p. 145 Embed Images into Movie Clips p. 145 Nesting Sections within a Movie Clip p. 148 Using Keyframes to Manage Application State p. 149 Keeping Code in External Files p. 151 Using Script to Manage Application State p. 153 Summary p. 157 Exercise p. 157 Controlling Movie Clips p. 159 The Movie Clip Revealed p. 159 MovieClip Class Methods p. 160 MovieClip Class Properties p. 174 MovieClip Class Events p. 176 Creating Movie Clips On-the-Fly p. 178 Attaching Movie Clips from the Library p. 181 Loading External Movies p. 184 Loading Movies into Levels p. 184 Loading Media into Existing Movie Clips p. 185 Fully Qualified, Absolute, and Relative URLs p. 186 Using Movie Clips as Masks p. 190 Improving Movie Clip Performance p. 196 Bitmap Caching p. 196 Transparency p. 196 Filters and Blending Modes p. 197 Full Screen p. 197 Summary p. 197 Exercises p. 198 Pre-Loading Movies p. 199 Using a Custom Pre-Loader p. 199 Polling with onenterframe() Versus setinterval() p. 204 Understanding the MovieClipLoader Class p. 205 MovieClipLoader Class Events p. 205 MovieClipLoader Class Methods p. 206 Implementing the MovieClipLoader Class p. 209 Examining the Loader and ProgressBar Components p. 212 Loader Component Method, Properties, and Events p. 212 ProgressBar Component Method, Properties, and Events p. 213
Implementing the Loader and ProgressBar Components p. 215 Strategies for Using Pre-Loaders p. 217 The Monolithic Movie Approach p. 217 The Split-Up Movie Approach p. 221 Summary p. 225 Exercises p. 226 Working with Components p. 229 New to Version 2.0 p. 229 Exploring Components p. 230 Data Components p. 230 FLV Playback and FLV Playback Custom UI Components p. 231 Media Components for Flash Players 6 and 7 p. 233 User Interface Components p. 233 Placing Components Manually p. 234 Placing Components on the Stage with Script p. 237 Scripting Components p. 242 Summary p. 245 Exercises p. 245 Interacting with the User p. 247 Handling Events p. 247 Creating a Listener Object p. 247 Variation of Creating a Listener Object p. 254 Creating a Listener Function p. 255 Which Listener Technique Should You Use? p. 257 Attaching Multiple Listeners to Multiple Components p. 262 Organizing the Listeners p. 263 Handling Events from Multiple Sources p. 264 Manually Invoking Events in a Component p. 270 Summary p. 271 Exercise p. 272 Controlling Components p. 273 Introducing the Component Inspector Panel p. 273 Creating Data Bindings between Components Using the Bindings Tab p. 275 Using an XML File as a Data Source p. 277 Controlling Component Appearance p. 281 Using setstyle() to Change Component Styles p. 282 Skinning Components p. 290 Summary p. 294 Exercises p. 295 Debugging Debugged p. 297 Types of Bugs p. 297
Compile-Time Bugs p. 298 Logic Bugs p. 298 Develop to Debug p. 303 Make Your Code Readable p. 303 Develop in Small Chunks p. 304 Use Small Functions p. 304 The Science of Debugging p. 305 Develop a Theory p. 305 Run an Experiment p. 306 Analyze the Results p. 313 Summary p. 314 Exercises p. 314 Working with Vector Graphics p. 319 Using the Drawing API p. 320 Tools for Drawing Vectors with ActionScript p. 320 linestyle() p. 320 beginfill() p. 322 beginbitmapfill() p. 322 begingradientfill() p. 323 endfill() p. 324 moveto() p. 324 lineto() p. 325 curveto() p. 325 clear() p. 325 Drawing Vectors with ActionScript p. 325 The Matrix Object p. 334 Summary p. 334 Exercises p. 334 Applying Filter Effects p. 335 DropShadowFilter p. 336 BlurFilter p. 337 GlowFilter p. 337 BevelFilter p. 338 GradientGlowFilter p. 339 GradientBevelFilter p. 339 ConvolutionFilter p. 340 ColorMatrixFilter p. 343 DisplacementMapFilter p. 345 Cloning Filters p. 346 Applying Multiple Filters p. 346 Applying Blending Modes p. 352
Summary p. 353 Exercises p. 353 Working Directly with Bitmap Data p. 355 The Bitmap Object's Methods p. 356 applyfilter() p. 356 clone() p. 356 colortransform() p. 356 copychannel() p. 357 copypixels() p. 357 dispose() p. 357 draw() p. 358 fillrect() p. 358 floodfill() p. 358 generatefilterrect() p. 359 getcolorboundsrect() p. 359 getpixel() p. 359 getpixel32() p. 360 hittest() p. 360 loadbitmap() p. 360 merge() p. 361 noise() p. 361 palettemap() p. 362 perlinnoise() p. 362 pixeldissolve() p. 363 scroll() p. 364 setpixel() p. 364 setpixel32() p. 364 threshold() p. 365 The bitmapdata Object's Properties p. 365 Converting a Movie Clip into a Bitmap Image p. 366 Manipulating Bitmap Data p. 366 Summary p. 368 Exercises p. 368 Using ActionScript for Animation p. 369 Scripted Versus Non-Scripted Animation p. 369 Creating Animations Using Keyframes p. 370 Creating Animations Using ActionScript p. 372 Moving a Movie Clip Using onenterframe() p. 372 Moving a Movie Clip Using setinterval() p. 374 Frame-Based Versus Time-Based Animation p. 376 The Effect of Movie Frame Rate on Animation p. 376
Which Technique Should You Use? p. 379 Choosing a Frame Rate or Update Interval p. 379 Creating Animation with Movie Clips p. 380 Animating Multiple Movie Clips p. 381 Adding Random Behavior p. 382 Introducing Easing and Acceleration p. 387 Summary p. 402 Exercises p. 402 Automated Transitions p. 403 The Tween Class p. 403 Absolute Versus Relative Tweens p. 404 Built-In Easing Classes and Methods p. 404 Tween Class Methods p. 405 Tween Class Properties and Events p. 410 Playing Tweens in Parallel p. 414 Playing Tweens in a Sequence p. 417 Animating with the Drawing API p. 425 Summary p. 432 Exercises p. 432 Handling Text p. 433 Creating Text Fields with ActionScript p. 434 Field Instance Names Versus Field Variable Names p. 434 System Fonts and Embedded Fonts p. 434 Creating a Text Field On-the-Fly p. 434 Working with Text Display Properties p. 436 antialiastype p. 436 sharpness p. 437 thickness p. 437 Rich Text Formatting Options p. 439 Using TextFormat p. 439 New Text Format Options for Flash 8 p. 440 A Note about setnewtextformat() p. 445 Displaying HTML p. 446 Image and SWF Support in HTML Text Fields p. 448 Font Support p. 450 Hyperlinks and the ASFunction Method p. 452 Using Cascading Style Sheets p. 453 Creating a Cascading Style Sheet Object p. 454 Associating a StyleSheet with a Text Field p. 454 Define Styles Directly on a StyleSheet Object p. 456 How to Define Tags, Class, and Properties p. 458
Using CSS with XML p. 459 Scroll Text Options p. 461 Scrolling Text Using the TextArea Component p. 462 Scrolling Text Using the ScrollBar Component p. 463 Summary p. 469 Exercises p. 470 Using ActionScript for Media p. 471 Managing Images p. 471 Smart Preloading p. 473 Using the MovieClipLoader to Preload an Image p. 473 Managing Sound p. 474 Sound Class Methods p. 474 Sound Class Events and Properties p. 476 Creating a Sound Object p. 477 Loading Library Sounds p. 477 Loading External MP3 Files p. 478 Streaming MP3 Audio p. 480 Starting, Stopping, and Tracking Sound p. 480 Event Sounds p. 483 Controlling Volume, setpan, and settransform p. 483 Working with the Microphone p. 489 Microphone Class Methods p. 489 Microphone Class Properties and Events p. 490 Microphone Activity p. 492 netstream p. 494 Summary p. 494 Exercises p. 495 Managing Video p. 497 Terms, Technology, and Quality p. 497 Data Rate p. 497 Progressive-HTTP p. 498 Streaming-Flash Communication Server p. 498 Video Keyframes p. 498 Variable Bit Rate p. 499 Interlacing p. 499 Frame Rate p. 499 Creating Flash Video p. 500 Converting a Video p. 500 Loading an External Video p. 503 Exporting to Video p. 503 Loading an External FLV File p. 504
The netstream Class p. 504 The Video Class p. 506 Controlling Video Position p. 508 Using Transparency within Video p. 510 Working with Video Quality p. 513 Deblocking and Deringing p. 513 Scaling and Transparency p. 514 Working with a Camera p. 515 The Camera Class Methods, Properties, and Events p. 515 Creating a Camera Object p. 516 Displaying a Camera Feed as Video on the Stage p. 517 Security Pop-Up Considerations p. 522 Summary p. 522 Exercises p. 522 Using ActionScript to Communicate with a Server p. 523 External Data and Usability Concerns p. 523 Data Latency: Asynchronous Communication p. 524 Using LoadVars p. 524 Ampersand-Delimited Data p. 525 LoadVars Class Methods p. 525 Creating a LoadVars Object p. 527 LoadVars Event Handlers p. 529 Loading and Parsing Raw Text p. 531 Summary p. 534 Exercises p. 534 Reading XML p. 535 Using the Built-in XML Class p. 535 All Wrapped Up in Tags p. 535 CDATA and Character Formats p. 537 The Flash XML Class p. 537 XML Class Methods p. 538 XML Event Handlers p. 541 ignorewhite: A Special Property p. 542 Loading External XML Files p. 542 Measuring Bytes p. 545 A Note about Security and Locality p. 545 getbytestotal Isn't Working! p. 548 Understanding the Parent-Child Node Relationship p. 549 Navigating an Example Node Tree p. 549 Using Attributes p. 552 Using the XML Socket Connection p. 552
The XML in the XMLSocket Class p. 553 Null Bytes p. 553 XMLSocket Class Methods and Events p. 553 sendandload p. 556 Using HTTP GET and POST p. 557 Apples and Oranges p. 558 How Will You Know? p. 558 Using the XML Component p. 559 Explaining Cross-Domain Security p. 562 Understanding Why Flash Uses Domain Policies p. 563 Knowing When Policy Files Are Required p. 564 Setting Up Policy Files p. 564 I'm Offering Web Services; I Want to Allow Any Domain! p. 567 Using Shims and Proxies p. 570 Summary p. 573 Exercises p. 574 Communicating Between the Macromedia Flash Plug-in and the Browser p. 577 LocalConnection p. 577 Creating a localconnection Object p. 579 Security p. 581 Storing Data Locally with Shared Objects p. 582 Acceptable Data Types p. 584 Using Shared Objects as Cookies p. 585 Working with the User p. 587 Managing Disk Space p. 587 Sharing SharedObects p. 588 Giving a Flash Movie Data on Startup with FlashVars p. 588 Introduction to Flash Object and Embed Tag Parameters p. 589 Adding FlashVars p. 590 Creating FlashVars with JavaScript p. 591 Passing FlashVars via a Servlet Page p. 593 Summary p. 594 Exercises p. 594 Putting JavaScript to Work p. 595 Changing Security Settings p. 595 Calling JavaScript from within Flash p. 597 Introduction to geturl() p. 598 Creating a JavaScript Command with Nested Variables p. 598 Considering Limitations p. 602 Calling JavaScript Functions Using fscommand p. 602 Calling Flash from JavaScript p. 604
Basic JavaScript Methods and Events p. 606 Using the Flash JavaScript Integration Kit p. 607 Setting Up the Integration Kit p. 608 Calling JavaScript Functions from ActionScript p. 608 Calling ActionScript Functions from JavaScript p. 609 Using the External API p. 612 ExternalInterface Class Methods p. 612 Calling ActionScript Functions and Methods p. 615 Calling JavaScript Functions from ActionScript p. 617 Opening Browser Windows p. 629 Using geturl() to Create Pop-Up Windows p. 629 Use ExternalInterface to Create Pop-Up Windows p. 630 Calling a JavaScript Wrapper Function p. 630 Defining Browser Window Parameters p. 631 Summary p. 635 Exercise p. 635 Uploading and Downloading Files p. 637 FileReference Class Methods p. 637 Using browse() p. 638 Using cancel() p. 638 Using download() p. 639 Using upload() p. 639 FileReference Class Properties p. 640 Downloading Files p. 641 Uploading Files p. 645 Summary p. 651 Exercise p. 651 Communicating between the Flash Plug-in and the Operating System p. 653 Using the System Object to Retrieve System Information p. 653 System Object Limitations among Player Versions p. 655 The setclipboard Method p. 655 Projectors, Flash Executables, and Other Executables p. 656 Limitations p. 656 Using fscommand to Call Projector Functions p. 656 SDK p. 658 Third Parties p. 658 Summary p. 659 Exercises p. 659 Creating Custom Classes p. 661 Working with Classes p. 661 Defining the Class p. 661
Public Versus Private p. 663 Defining the Constructor p. 665 Defining Methods p. 669 Defining Properties p. 675 Adding Functionality to Existing Classes p. 681 Summary p. 695 Exercises p. 695 Exercise Answers p. 699 Flash Keyboard Shortcuts p. 759 Tools Panel p. 759 Integrated Script Editor Shortcuts p. 760 File Menu p. 760 Edit Menu p. 761 View Menu p. 761 Tools Menu p. 761 Control Menu p. 762 Actions Panel Shortcuts p. 762 Drawing IDE Shortcuts p. 763 File Menu p. 763 Edit Menu p. 763 View Menu p. 764 Insert Menu p. 765 Modify Menu p. 765 Text Menu p. 767 Control Menu p. 767 Window Menu p. 768 Help Menu p. 769 Index p. 771 Table of Contents provided by Blackwell's Book Services and R.R. Bowker. Used with permission.