Web Development - Assets Loaded In Flex / Images Wont Update?
Nov 11, 2010
I build a project with Flash Builder. I copied everything from the "bin-debug" directory to a server (including all images we use which are under /assets).
After I have updated the project, and a few images, i recopy the primary .SWF file (Main.swf) and everything under assets up to the server again. Unfortunately, when I run the application, I am clearly running all of the updated code but the images have no updated.
The new SWF was definitely copied up as well as the new images (I can say that with 100% certainty), and additionally, I cleared my Flash Cache, so that's most likely not the problem either.
I'm trying to load a swf compiled by the Flex SDK into a swf exported by the Flash IDE and instantiate the assets by way of getDefinition(). Normally this works fine with assets exported from the Flash IDE then loaded into another swf also from Flash IDE.This is how I could normally do this using only the Flash IDE:Loader - > Using same ApplicationDomain - > getDefinition(class)Now, using the 'Test.as' compiled from Flex SDK using the [Embed] metadata tag:Loader - > Using same ApplicationDomain - > getDefinition("Test_" + class)The problem is I'd rather not have to keep track of the asset libraries loaded to prefix the class name I'd like to get (('Test_" + class) vs (class)). Is there any way of doing this without referencing the library the class is being pulled from or without accessing the original loader? This way I don't need to know which swf the asset is coming from, just the class name that I could instantiate from the current ApplicaitonDomain.
I had someone create a template site for me that is pretty simple - a single swf that pulls resources from a directory of xml files and assets. In theory, I should be able to update the xml for my site and provide new assets. I know some code and within the xml there are some <font> tags that over ride the swf's formatting or provide and href.
My problem is that I now have to update our logo, which is hard coded into the source .fla file, which I know how to get in and swap out (the guy who did the work is not available). My problem is, when I publish, the new swf with the new logo does not want to read the <font> tags anymore. I have tried everything and I can't crack this. I've narrowed it down to two possibilities:
1. Something in the Publish settings, though I've tried every conceivable variation to no avail. 2. Something in the .as file that defines page template.
I know I need to provide more info but this is a start. I'm working on a Mac (as was the coder) and we were both using CS4.
I'm building a simple flash webpage using as3 in order to get accustomed to it. I've got some code for a preloader which, the end result works fine,but I cannot get the preloader assets to update with the loader data.To put it simply, I cannot get the code to update my text field that would display the percent done text.It only shows at 100 when it should go 1, 2, 3, 4...etc.Also I cannot get the bar_mc (just a simple bar graphic) to scale along with the percent loaded.
Code: function handleLoadProgress(e:ProgressEvent):void { while (percentDone < 100) { totalBytes = loaderInfo.bytesTotal;[code]....
I am using flex sdk 4.5.1 and flash develop to compile my AS3 project. I have small images, about 12KB which is silly to load them using Loader class, so embeding is better solution.
However when this line at the top of my Main class is uncomented i get blank swf[URL]..(when i comment it out, the compilated swf is ok)
What could be the error. Why do I get the blank swf?
I'm working on an AS3 project that must load a lot of external files; images, sound clips, movie clips etc. The program first loads an XML file that contains the file names of all assets needed by each class. From that point on I'm not sure what would be the best way to distribute those assets.I thought about making a dedicated assets class that will load everything the XML object describes, and then pass it to each class' constructor so they can access the objects they need. This seems like the "tidiest" option, but is there a best practice way for managing loaded assets?
Can anyone explain the model for actionscript in externally loaded SWF assets? For example, suppose the stage owner uses methods from Class1 and that it loads an SWF file with an asset that also uses methods from that class. This means the code for Class1 is included multiple times in the application?
I'm very very new on ActionScript 3.0 for mobile development. I'm using loader class to load images. I'm loading ten images with different sizes. I'm trying to load them with a common size (300x300) doing this:
I am currently in the process of developing an application with Flash/AS3. I have worked a lot with AS3 (FlashDevelop) before so I am rather familiar with it, however, since I won't be the one designing (nor the only one for that matter), and because it isn't a one day job, it is important to be able to get some structure in the project. So that we can have a "core" of AS3 that loads SWF-files and then does the interaction with the loaded SWFs, like providing information for fields and submitting the data, etc.
However, I've searched and I can't find any good up-to-date information on how to actually take care of the communication with the loaded SWFs. I found a lot of tutorials on it, but every single one ended up simply not working or being "depreciated" by the compiler because they were built for earlier versions of AS2/AS3 or Flash. (I found this promishing guide: [URL].. but that too ended up being depreciated) The only working piece of information I've found is LocalConnection, but it is really not well-suited for this, and from what I can tell a very complicated way to go about things.
So my question is how does one go about implementing the communication between AS3 and the loaded SWFs? Being able to dispatch events or call functions both ways is basically what I think is necessary.Or perhaps there are better ways to go about application development with Flash?
I'm making a game for the browser that has a lot of assets, but not all of them are needed at once. I'm deciding whether to embed my assets at compile time or load them at run time. I'm not concerned about loading time -- only the performance of the game during run-time.
If I load these assets and store them into memory for eventual use later in the game, will they consume system resources just being latent in an AssetLoader? Will that affect performance?
If I embed these assets, will they consume system resources just being latent in the compiled SWF?
Is there a difference in performance between these 2 methods?
I have a widget containing a number of displayobjects, i.e. up arrows, down arrows, tab 'buttons', backgroundrectangularblocks, sliders, company logos etc.I am currently creating these displayobjects using the graphics class with parameters taken from an external file, things such as fontsize, font, colour, width, height e.t.c and adding them as children of "container" sprite objects for easy manipulation and referencing later can these assets be loaded in their entirety externally, rather than being created using graphics class draw methods (which I want to avoid) as some of the things I need to design cannot be created in pure actionscript very easily (if at all?), and then used or do they always have to be in the library and instantiated from there?
if the first question is yes they can be loaded externally, this question probably isn't needed; however, if I have to put the items in the library and recompile each time a client wants to use say a curved blue up arrow instead of a yellow one and then decides he wants a yellow circle instead then how do I write the code to do the following:-Say on my first ever compile I have 'upArrowBtnset1' in the library, I instantiate it and use the instance name to access it in the usual way using standard code,
Now if they send me a second set of 'upArrow' graphics they want to use I could either update all the upArrowBtnset1 assets with the new graphics meaning the original set is no longer available to the client and I would either have to hold a "original set" FLA file with the first set of arrowbuttons or I could import these to the library as upArrowBtnset2 and a third set they send as upArrowBtnset3 and so on each time I am sent some new assets; I would then recompile them into the SWF and adjust the references to the new assets within the code. In the code, for each instance of "upArrowBtnset1" I would have to rename them to "upArrowBtnset2", recompile and send it back to the client.
Because I have already abstracted the font/colour/size choices out to an external file, they can change that as much as they like without a recompile which is what we want. The problem comes if they want to use set1 again and haven't kept the original "set 1" compiled SWF. It would be easier to abstract the 'setchoice' also to the external file. The SWF would over time build more and more available sets that they could use by just changing an external variable.
For example, if the designer wants to use set 1 on Monday, set 2 on Tuesday and set 3 on Wednesday I want to make it so they can just adjust an option in an external file to "setchoice = 3" for weds instead of either having to recompile the swf each time or they have to have 3 versions of the SWF for each asset set. The idea is that as more and more assets are added in, they have more and more choices. Ideally, in an external file there would be a list of assets and links to where they are loaded from. (i.e question 1 above).
If I have an external file (say XML) which holds the setchoice option that the designer wants to use (say they want set3 today) my 'generic' code has to be something like upArrowBtn(setchoice).scaleY and every instance in the code where that object is used I append the 'setchoice' as chosen by the designer from the external file where (setchoice) is retrieved from something like var setchoice:String = "set3"; from the external file (I am currently abstracting all the adjustable variables to a configuration.as file. I will work on using an XML later when the principle of external files works (I hope!);
Is it possible to import assets from external sources and then use them in the SWF as if they were in the library? The loader class? Is this just fraught with danger I wonder.
Essentially I am being asked to remove as much as I can from the SWF so that if the client wants to change the positioning of things on the stage or the text on buttons or change the style of the buttons or the company logo they don't have to come back to us to ask for a recompile of the SWF for each tiny adjustment. Inevitably SOMETIMES a recompile will be unavoidable (such as if they want the widget to suddenly be twice as wide (i.e. the stage). My code already handles some of this using stage.stageWidth and then positioning objects relative to other objects already on the stage using this value and centred so that just changing the document properties is all I would have to do and everything else adjusts proportionally. I am trying to make this as reusable as possible with as little effort from myself as possible to save our company wasted time.
After all that waffle, my question is this, if I can't load all my buttons and assets and things externally, how do I write the code for this:- I have a library asset called upArrowBtnset1 and another called upArrowBtnset2. Instantiated with say upArrowButtonset1 and upArrowButtonset2 The code would normally be upArrowButtonSet1.x = 100; upArrowButtonSet2.y = 300; but I need it to be upArrowButton(setchoice).x = 100; upArrowButtonSet2(setchoice).y = 300; where (setchoice) comes externally from var setchoice:String = "set1";How does the code change if the (setchoice) string was named not at the end i.e 'button(setchoice)UpArrow'?
ActionScript Code: var numClips:Number = 5; for (var i:Number = 0; i < numClips; i++)
[code]....
I need to do something like, getChildByName("mainTab"+i).addChild(myMovieClip) ? or maybe this["mainTab"+i].addChild(MovieClip)?Is it possible without using .name?
I want an air application to be able to update the assets it uses, but minimizing the download needed, so only downloading files added since it last updated.I'm thinking this would include a server portion which would zip the needed files based on a version number? Has anyone implemented anything similar / got any thoughts on the best approach to building this sort of system?
I have the following Actionscript code in my Flex 4 app to display images on a Sprite. Works perfect in the local flash player while developing this:
private function initializePhoto():void { var photoLoader:Loader = new Loader(); photoLoader.contentLoaderInfo.addEventListener(Event.COMPLETE, onPhotoReady);
Is there a way to use 9-slice scaling with images loaded at runtime? To clarify, let's say that I build an application that lets a user skin a button with whatever image they want. This would be an image that's not embedded with the swf. Is there a way to set that runtime image as a background and use 9-scaling?
I have a rect that i need to fill with a tiling image. The problem is that there seems to be no way of doing this without using embedded images, which isn't a possibility for me.how to work around this? The reason i can't embed the images is that they are selected by the user from a list, generated by a plsql procedure. it's flex 4 beta 2 by the way,
Does anybody use bare .SWF files as webpages? I know it's possible; it seems to work fine for me. Why would I embed a SWF inside an HTML page if it's just going to be full screen (I mean the size of the browser's normal viewable page area, not COMPLETELY fullscreen)?
Is there a lack of browser support? Or is this functionality determined by the browser's Flash plugin?
I want to have a web site which switches the web camera of users, makes a video recording and send results to my web server.Is it possible to do that? I think it should be. For example such sites as chatroulette.com starts web camera. Should it be done with the Adobe Flash technologies? Is it hard to do that?
If I load a web page full of other files, e.g. images, my browser doesn't load them all at once.I seem to remember reading that IE will only have at most 3 requests open at a time for a page. The rest will be queued.If I have a flash movie on the page which is continually making image requests, how does this affect the maximum number of downloading files in the browser?
Is this browser limit accurate, and is it generally the same across browsers? Does flash share the requests of the browser? If not, does flash have a limit and what is that limit? For some background, I do have a flash movie that is continually loading files so there is a queue of Loaders waiting to make requests.My idea was that if there was a different request that I needed to be executed straight away I could make it jump the queue by making a javascript call and allowing the browser to make the request instead.
i have some code that moves a movieclip container(mC) left to right in an "infinite" fashion. The container is populated with image via xml and i have two categories with different xml files for each.
When i initially load the swf, everything works as though it should, the images scroll left to right infinitely. When i switch categories (go to frame 2, removeChild(mC), return to frame 1 with variable set to other category), loading in a different xml, the scroller no longer works. it registers that i want it to move from side to side, but it seems to be governed by something else. If i try to switch back to the first category again, the same thing occurs where the movement is broken.
Does it have something to do with garbage collection not occuring to clear out the values of mC and its contents?
I want to reuse the TitleWindow's closeButton inside a simple Flex component I am writing, but I'm having trouble getting it to compile. I copied the code that deals with the closeButton, which looks somewhat like this:
I have a website [URL] there is a flash gallery, every time I have to clear magento cache and browser cache to display my new images but now I've made few changes in swf file that before the smaller bars are not left aligned now there are both. In my local system the new swf file shows exact number of images in the smaller bars but in server they are not showing in full numbers.
I don't know what to do as I've cleared every cache that I can. I've read some where that put version number in your swf file so that brower can check if its new then it will download new but in magento how to do that. As the swf file contents are in cms pages home page content and they have done as :
I've been given a Flash tutorial to post to the corporate website that is an .exe file with an embedded Flash player. Users will be on IE, so I guess they would get the run/save prompt. I don't like this and I know it generally isn't done, but I need to know if it is OK to just do it. When I try to explain the security issues with executable files, eyes glaze. Is it possible that the users' system admins would be able to block the run prompt and make the user save the file? Could they block that too? The user community is hopeless, so having the embedded Flash player could be a good thing.
I have a mobile application that I want to try and reorganize so that it's easier to read and update and follows better practice.I want to implement an MVC pattern, but I'm getting a little tripped up on getting there. I'm just hoping for some help with rebuilding the architecture. Here's the outline of my application:
Level1) MainView has a column of 5 buttons that when clicked lead to View1, View2, View3, View4 or View5.
Level2) Each of these views is the same: a list, but each is populated with different data. Selecting an item brings the user to another set of views SubView1 - 20. that each are again populated with a list.
Level3) However, any selection made on a List in a SubView leads to a view that is always the same for all selection paths - but is populated with different data. Basically a button, another list, a text input and a textarea.
From what I gather, I should be able to use a lot less files and achieve something of the same result:The model being a single class for data? The controller being a class or that controls the business logic, and a view that calls the controller?
When I build the project using Flex Builder, it compiles fine. However, when I try to compile it using ANT, I get the following error:
Error: Problem finding external XML: assets/data/help.xml
How come ANT isn't finding the XML file? Apparently it knows the source path otherwise it would not have found the component to begin with. I added the source path to the target anyway, but it doesn't seem to have made any difference:
My main.swf loads symbols from other swfs at runtime. If I keep all the swfs(main and others)on my server, things work fine. But if I keep all of them on a CDN, one particular symbol won't display occassionally. With flash tracer plugin for firefox I am able to see that all the symbols have been loaded and their z-indices are as they should be.
I am designing a website with flash video content. If I pass in the URL to a .flv file as a flash parameter to the embedded video player someone can easily extract the URL and download the flv video file. How to do I prevent this? Can someone refer me to anti-leeching techniques being used my websites like youtube.
I have just started looking into using Modules in Flex and would like to know how you all go about developing them.I understand how to use them (load, unload, application domains, shared classes, etc.), but I'm wondering what a good workflow is in creating them and using them in multiple applications.If I were building reusable application components (text editor, image cropper, compass, whatever), and I wanted to reuse them in many different applications, it seems like I would:
1) Create an Application specifically for one of those modules
2) Create a Module inside that Application
3) Develop the Module by itself, make it work right
4) Link shared libraries to it somehow (like library projects I would use between all of the modules)
5) ... then I'm unclear what's next.I now have lets say 10 Module/Applications, and I want to start mashing them together into usable applications.What's the best way to do this?I would like to not have to copy-paste code and swfs, using something like git submodules if an equivalent is possible.
