Tomorrow Evening » Flash

Google Code

Colin — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 21:25:58 +0000

I now have a Google Code page to offer open-source classes.

Flash Filters

Colin — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 04:03:20 +0000

I recently was working on a project where most Display Object's on my stage had an outer glow with an Add blend mode. In this instance, I got quite lucky because each object's filter settings were the same. It made a lot of sense to code the filter rather than duplicate the setting for the dozens of objects that were spread apart the project. Here's the basis of what I used:

/**
 * Adds the universal glow to the display object.
 * @param displayObject The display object to receive the glow.
 * @param container The container to hold the newly created snapshot.GlowMC.PAGE_VECTOR.
 */
public static function addGlow( displayObject:DisplayObject, container:DisplayObjectContainer ):void
{
	// Capture an instance of the displayObject
	var rect:Rectangle = new Rectangle( -1, -1, displayObject.width + 2, displayObject.width + 2 );
	var bmd:BitmapData = new BitmapData( displayObject.width + 2, displayObject.height + 2, true, 0xFF );
	bmd.draw( displayObject, null, null, null, rect, true );
 
	// Apply the Capture
	var bitmap:Bitmap = new Bitmap( bmd );
	var filters:Array = container.filters;
	var glowFilter:GlowFilter = new GlowFilter();
	glowFilter.blurX = glowFilter.blurY = 10;
	glowFilter.inner = false;
	glowFilter.knockout = true;
	glowFilter.strength = 1;
	glowFilter.quality = 2;
	glowFilter.color = 0xFFFFFF;
 
	// Set
	filters[filters.length] = glowFilter;
	bitmap.filters = filters;
	bitmap.blendMode = "add";
	container.addChild( bitmap );
 
	// Clear vars
	rect = null;
	bmd = null;
	bitmap = null;
	filters = null;
	glowFilter = null;
}

Also, it's best to add the filter object into a container so the blend mode works properly.

New MC

Colin — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 16:25:26 +0000

Most of the time when creating a new MovieClip I need to create 2 additional layers right away: "Actions" and "Labels". This JSFL does that for you. To increase productivity, adding this Command as a Keyboard Shortcut is recommended.
Download it here.

Error proofing SWFAddress

Colin — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 00:22:41 +0000

SWFAddress is a great library which all flash sites should incorporate. However, giving the user control of changing the URL address can break your site. Because many flash websites don't check for this, the user is often left not viewing content.
I created a utility class to do the following:

Navigate a website based off valid deeplink possibilities.
Enable multiple URL values for a single page.
Check for valid URL requests, then act accordingly.
Set a default homepage so the website doesn't redirect you to a "/#/homepage".

The last item in that list has become a pet peeve of mine. In my opinion, a website shouldn't auto-direct you to a "yoursite.com/#/home". It should keep the homepage URL until there's user interaction (such as clicking a link).

Source - Online Example

Find and Replace

Colin — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 21:18:05 +0000

A "Find and Replace" method is always handy when trying to avoid repetition in code (especially when replacing variables in XML Strings) and so here's a quick script everyone should know:

 
public static function replaceWord (searchString:String, find:String, replace:String) : String
{
	var wordLength = searchString.length;
	var result:String = '';
	for (var i = 0; i < wordLength; i++) {
		if (searchString.substr (i, find.length) == find) {
			result =	searchString.substr (0, i) +
						replace +
						searchString.substr (i + find.length, wordLength);
		}
	}
	if (result == '') result = searchString; // didn't replace anything
	return result;
}