FlexDaddy -aka- Andrew Spaulding http://www.flexdaddy.info Andrew Spaulding on Adobe Flex, AIR and other related and enabling technologies. Here you'll find the good and the bad, and hopefully something useful. Enjoy! Tue, 05 Aug 2008 02:20:00 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=abc en Building desktop applications with HTML and JavaScript http://www.flexdaddy.info/2008/08/05/building-desktop-applications-with-html-and-javascript/ http://www.flexdaddy.info/2008/08/05/building-desktop-applications-with-html-and-javascript/#comments Tue, 05 Aug 2008 02:10:12 +0000 Andrew Spaulding http://www.flexdaddy.info/?p=165 This session at Adobe AIR Camp introduced traditional HTML and JavaScript developers to the AIR SDK and how to use the the various binaries (ADL and ADT) to develop, test, and package desktop applications. The session included a basic introduction to the AIRAliases.js file and it’s importance when coding against the AIR runtime with JS.

What I find really helpful is the Adobe AIR Language Reference for JavaScript developers. This is a subset of the ActionScript 3.0 Language Reference and includes all the AIR specific features that you as a JavaScript developer can access within the AIR runtime.

For the basic application seen below you can develop using your favorite text editor and the Adobe AIR SDK, download the Adobe AIR extension for Dreamweaver CS3, or even try developing with Aptana. I really like Aptana as it can be installed as a plugin for Eclipse and sit right beside my Flex development perspective.

For other AIR development tools click here.

Download the source code for the application below.

Your first desktop application with HTML and JavaScript

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<html>
 
<head>
<title>Our first HTML AIR application</title>
 
<script src="AIRAliases.js" ></script>
<script>
   function doLoad()
   {
      alert("Simple alert to show we can include regular JS scripting");
   }
 
   function writeFile()
   {
      var file = air.File.desktopDirectory.resolvePath("sample.txt");
	  var stream = new air.FileStream();
 
	  stream.open( file, air.FileMode.WRITE );
	  stream.writeMultiByte( document.getElementById('textInput').value , air.File.systemCharset );
	  stream.close();   
   }
 
</script>
 
</head>
 
<body onLoad="doLoad()">
   <h2>AIR HTML/JavaScript Sample</h2>
   <p>This sample application will take a simple text input entry and write this out to the contents of a file on the users desktop</p>
   <input type="text" id="textInput" value="www.flexdaddy.info"/>
   <input type="button" onClick="writeFile()" value="Save to desktop" />
</body>
 
</html>

And the application descriptor/manifest file

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< ?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<application xmlns="http://ns.adobe.com/air/application/1.0">
    <id>com.flexdaddy.samples.htmlair</id>
    <version>v1</version>
    <filename>aircamp_sample</filename>
    <initialwindow>
        <content>airsample.html</content>
        <visible>true</visible>
        <width>400</width>
        <height>350</height>
    </initialwindow>
</application>

Download the source code for this application.

]]> http://www.flexdaddy.info/2008/08/05/building-desktop-applications-with-html-and-javascript/feed/ Build your first AIR application with Adobe Flex http://www.flexdaddy.info/2008/08/05/build-your-first-air-application-with-adobe-flex/ http://www.flexdaddy.info/2008/08/05/build-your-first-air-application-with-adobe-flex/#comments Tue, 05 Aug 2008 00:53:15 +0000 Andrew Spaulding http://www.flexdaddy.info/?p=163 Adobe Flex really is the development tool and platform of choice for developing desktop experiences on Adobe AIR. This slide deck was presented as part of a series of topics covered at Adobe AIR Camps throughout Australia and New Zealand. Take a look, download it, and share it! If anyone is interested in the demo files the Flex Builder project archive can be downloaded here.

The presentation introduces Flex Builder, the Flex framework and the AIR runtime by creating an application with a transparent window (thanks to Matt Voerman for providing the pretzel image!) that uses custom chrome and native window commands to move and close the application.

Take a look at the sample project, and if you have any questions feel free to leave a comment.

]]> http://www.flexdaddy.info/2008/08/05/build-your-first-air-application-with-adobe-flex/feed/ AIR Camp keynote slides http://www.flexdaddy.info/2008/08/04/air-camp-keynote-slides/ http://www.flexdaddy.info/2008/08/04/air-camp-keynote-slides/#comments Mon, 04 Aug 2008 02:05:07 +0000 Andrew Spaulding http://www.flexdaddy.info/?p=158 Below are the keynote slides from the recent Adobe AIR Camps throughout Australia and New Zealand. Thanks to everyone who attended, and a special thanks to both Mark Blair and Matt Voerman who presented at the events as well, and to Mike Downey for presenting the keynote in Sydney while on his visit to WebDU 2008.

Over the next few days I’ll post slides and references to the rest of the content we covered at the AIR Camps.

Be sure to take a look at the following links to some great applications. A real nice showcase of what’s possible!

Adobe AIR Showcase
Adobe AIR Marketplace

]]> http://www.flexdaddy.info/2008/08/04/air-camp-keynote-slides/feed/ webDU 2008 presentations now available http://www.flexdaddy.info/2008/07/16/webdu-2008-presentations-now-available/ http://www.flexdaddy.info/2008/07/16/webdu-2008-presentations-now-available/#comments Wed, 16 Jul 2008 00:17:23 +0000 Andrew Spaulding http://www.flexdaddy.info/?p=148 It’s take some time, but finally here it is! I’ve made my presentations available via Share on Acrobat.com for everyone to view or download for their own use.

Flex in Acrobat 9… It’s PDF meets Web 2.0
This session covered the latest integration between Flash and PDF given that with both Acrobat 9 and Reader 9 the Flash Player runtime is now embedded within both environments. What does this mean?! Well you can now render Flash content directly within a PDF, but also add interactions between the PDF and the Flash objects themselves. I’ll post a separate follow up on this with some examples files. This really does open the door for some cool integration.

A special thanks to Joel Geraci for his help on this one!

Build multi-user real time collaboration applications with Flex and AIR
This session touched on basic data integration all the way from XML with HTTPServices, Java and ColdFusion connectivity with RemoteObjects, moving on to collaboration and messaging with BlazeDS and LiveCycle Data Services. From building a chat application to enterprise data management this session should provide a basic introduction to collaborative apps.

]]> http://www.flexdaddy.info/2008/07/16/webdu-2008-presentations-now-available/feed/ Begun, the code wars have http://www.flexdaddy.info/2008/06/03/begun-the-code-wars-have/ http://www.flexdaddy.info/2008/06/03/begun-the-code-wars-have/#comments Mon, 02 Jun 2008 23:58:41 +0000 Andrew Spaulding http://www.flexdaddy.info/?p=147 The inaugural Australia / New Zealand Code War is set to begin at WebDU Day 0 on June 11 2008. I’ve been invited by Mark Mandel and Toby Tremayne to join their team the “KILLER CODING NINJA MONKEYS OF DOOM!” Be afraid, be very afraid, as you dare to face the team from Melbourne as we take on 7 other team in a series of sudden death head-to-head coding competitions developing solutions in either Flex, Flash, ColdFusion, Director or anything else we deem fit for purpose.

Don’t forget to register for WebDU and come and see my sessions on Flex/AIR, LiveCycle Data Services, BlazeDS, CoCoMo, and even using some of the new Flash widget features in Acrobat 9!

More information on the Code War can be found here webdu:Adobe User Group Code War!

]]> http://www.flexdaddy.info/2008/06/03/begun-the-code-wars-have/feed/ Adobe removes all restrictions on SWF and FLV specs http://www.flexdaddy.info/2008/05/01/adobe-removes-all-restrictions-on-swf-and-flv-specs/ http://www.flexdaddy.info/2008/05/01/adobe-removes-all-restrictions-on-swf-and-flv-specs/#comments Thu, 01 May 2008 04:16:38 +0000 Andrew Spaulding http://www.flexdaddy.info/2008/05/01/adobe-removes-all-restrictions-on-swf-and-flv-specs/ Adobe has announced the Open Screen Project http://www.openscreenproject.org/, an initiative dedicated to driving consistent experiences across all devices including mobile phones, personal computers, consumer devices and more

Specifically, this work will include:

  • Removing restrictions on use of the SWF and FLV/F4V specifications
  • Publishing the device porting layer APIs for Adobe Flash Player
  • Publishing the Adobe Flash® Castâ„¢ protocol and the AMF protocol for robust data services
  • Removing licensing fees – making next major releases of Adobe Flash Player and Adobe AIR for devices free

I wonder how long it will take to see various open source flash players?!

More info here http://www.adobe.com/openscreenproject/

]]> http://www.flexdaddy.info/2008/05/01/adobe-removes-all-restrictions-on-swf-and-flv-specs/feed/ Raising money for charity with Adobe AIR! http://www.flexdaddy.info/2008/04/11/raising-money-for-charity-with-adobe-air/ http://www.flexdaddy.info/2008/04/11/raising-money-for-charity-with-adobe-air/#comments Thu, 10 Apr 2008 13:42:25 +0000 Andrew Spaulding http://www.flexdaddy.info/2008/04/11/raising-money-for-charity-with-adobe-air/ Visit www.visionair.info

I hope you can help me out and also help a good cause.

We are having a competition to raise the most $$$ for the “Fred Hollows Foundation� which gives the gift of sight to those in the developing world who could not otherwise afford a simple cataract operation.

It only takes $25 to bring the operation to one person or just $250 for ten people.

Please help this very worthy cause and help me and my team “visionAIR” win this competition.

To donate, please visit http://www.visionair.info between 4.30 pm Thursday 10 April and midday Friday 11 April.

This is tax deductible (depending on your location) and you will be issued with a receipt for tax purposes so please dig deep.

If you can encourage your friends, family and work mates to do the same. If you are able to encourage the company you work for to pledge/donate as well, that would be fantastic!

We’ve also written an AIR application as a widget so you can track the progress of the team! I’ll provide source code after the event.

]]> http://www.flexdaddy.info/2008/04/11/raising-money-for-charity-with-adobe-air/feed/ Slides and demos from my presentations http://www.flexdaddy.info/2007/11/27/slides-and-demos-from-my-presentations/ http://www.flexdaddy.info/2007/11/27/slides-and-demos-from-my-presentations/#comments Tue, 27 Nov 2007 05:51:28 +0000 Andrew Spaulding http://www.flexdaddy.info/2007/11/27/slides-and-demos-from-my-presentations/ Slowly but surely I’ll release a series of posts covering content from presentations I’ve given online and at Adobe events during the past few months.

Some of the content includes:

  • Using Flex with PHP
  • Branded applications with AIR
  • Showcasing local industry applications (customer presentations)
  • Using ColdFusion messaging gateways with Flex
  • Integrating MS Exchange with ColdFusion and Flex

We’ve also just finished a 4 city tour around Australia with CFCAMP where I introduced Microsoft Exchange server integration and how to bring this into Flex and AIR.

Slides and demo files for everything over the past month and more will come shortly.

Enjoy!

EDIT (12/12/07) - I’m currently traveling in the US so there’s been some delays in tidying up the demos… but they’ll be ready in time for Christmas!

]]> http://www.flexdaddy.info/2007/11/27/slides-and-demos-from-my-presentations/feed/ CFCAMP Australia is more than just ColdFusion http://www.flexdaddy.info/2007/11/11/cfcamp-australia-is-more-than-just-coldfusion/ http://www.flexdaddy.info/2007/11/11/cfcamp-australia-is-more-than-just-coldfusion/#comments Sun, 11 Nov 2007 11:17:24 +0000 Andrew Spaulding http://www.flexdaddy.info/2007/11/11/cfcamp-australia-is-more-than-just-coldfusion/ In the coming weeks get set for a FREE mini-conference for ColdFusion developers by ColdFusion developers. And better yet we’ll have renowned ColdFusion expert Ben Forta joining us along side long time CF’ers Mark Blair, Nick Watson (UK) and the many community experts here in Oz.

CFCAMP Australia

Here you’ll see more than just ColdFusion. How about powering your Flex applications and targeting desktop applications with ColdFusion? I think it’s sounds like a winning combination! And that’s exactly what i’ll be presenting on.

Interested in learning more? You’ll want to be there - REGISTER NOW!

Event dates:

Check out the wiki, vote for the community driven sessions, and come along and network with other developers interested in the latest for the Web, RIAs and desktop apps with AIR.

Hope to see you there (whether that’s in Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne or Perth)!

]]> http://www.flexdaddy.info/2007/11/11/cfcamp-australia-is-more-than-just-coldfusion/feed/ Adobe Refresh Australia, learn about MAX 2007 http://www.flexdaddy.info/2007/10/11/adobe-refresh-australia-learn-about-max-2007/ http://www.flexdaddy.info/2007/10/11/adobe-refresh-australia-learn-about-max-2007/#comments Thu, 11 Oct 2007 12:24:35 +0000 Andrew Spaulding http://www.flexdaddy.info/2007/10/11/adobe-refresh-australia-learn-about-max-2007/ Adobe Refresh 2007

Adobe Australia are holding a “Refresh” event for the local developer communities. This is your chance to hear first hand the latest news and announcements surrounding Adobe’s developer technologies! I promise you will not be disappointed! So come and spend an afternoon with your local Adobe crew including myself, Matt Voerman, Mark Blair, Mark Szulc and many others.

Click here to register.

Details:

Join us for an opportunity to connect with the local developer community, whilst refreshing your knowledge on the latest from Adobe at Adobe Refresh 2007.

Over the course of an afternoon, you will hear from the local Adobe team as they present on what’s new and what’s happening in AIR, Flash Professional, Flex, Dreamweaver, Fireworks and ColdFusion.

There’ll be summaries from the Keynote Presentations at Adobe Max 2007, as well as Community Expert Tables and plenty of time to socialise.

When:

Tue 30 Oct 07
Sydney Convention & Exhibition Centre, Darling Harbour
13:30 - 17:00

Wed 31 Oct 07
Telstra Dome, Melbourne
13:30 - 17:00

Hope to see you there! :)

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