Archive for Open Source Flash
November 18, 2008 at 10:04 am · Filed under Actionscript 3, Adobe, Flash, Flex, Open Source Flash, SWFAddress
Yesterday Google made a significant announcement which seems to have gotten overshadowed by all the MAX Conference goodness: the Google Analytics team has released an ActionScript 3 API for tracking user events within Flash.
Yes, you could track events prior to this announcement by manually calling the JavaScript function embedded within the HTML page via ExternalInterface and passing it a unique identifier, but now you have two new options: either use the simple Flash or Flex component, or use the Flash or Flex AS3 tracking library. It should be noted that all four of these methods are being released as open source under the Apache 2 License.
Also, it looks like Rostislav will be looking at including this new GA library in his SWFAddress project (which already has support for tracking page views via the method I mentioned above).
The project is being hosted on Google Code where you can download the source and find documentation.
August 10, 2008 at 7:46 pm · Filed under Actionscript 2, Actionscript 3, Books, Flash, Flex, Open Source Flash, SWX
I am super late in posting this, but the book in which I recently co-authored, The Essential Guide To Open Source Flash Development, was released toward the end of July and is available for purchase.
The book covers a completely open source work flow for Flash and Flex developers, as well as providing concrete examples and documentation for some of the most popular open source projects, including: PaperVision3D, SWX, Red5, Fuse, and AMFPHP. I contributed the chapter on SWX, featuring both mobile and website uses with the p.i.n.k. Sprits website as a case study. More details can be found on the Friends of Ed website. Marc Hughes, one of the main authors on the project, also has a good write-up on his blog.
Overall, I really enjoyed the experience of writing and hope to continue to do so in the future. If I learned anything, it is how much time and effort really goes in to these books -- I can't imagine what Colin Moock must have felt like writing the massive 1000 page effort that is Essential ActionScript 3.0. Just getting the 40 pages I wrote through the whole publishing system took over a month, including writing, technical and editing reviews, page formatting and proofing.
All of this has led me to start thinking about why as a developer I own such a large and ever-expanding library of printed material. The photo to the right is of my library of work-related books. Mostly reference material and inspiration, but all in print. To this day I still buy printed copies of books even when a PDF version is available. As a developer who helps create digital experiences, shouldn't I be trying to help expand the digital world? I doubt that I'll ever stop buying printed materials, but the notion is certainly one to think about.
July 29, 2008 at 11:39 am · Filed under Open Source Flash, SWX
I just posted over on the SWX blog about some recent updates with the project. If you have been wondering what has happened with SWX since the blog was last updated a few months ago, go check out this post.
Highlights include a solution to using the current AS2 version of SWX within AS3 projects, and SWX being featured in a chapter of the new Friends of Ed book entitled "The Essential Guide to Open Source Flash Development", written by me!
I will also be posting more about this on the SWX blog in the coming days, but I am starting an initiative to form a development team for an AS3 version. If you are interested in helping out with writing the necessary byte code, have started something similar on your own, or would like to help out in some other way, please post to the SWX mailing list.
June 22, 2008 at 5:17 pm · Filed under Adobe, CS4, Fireworks, Flash, Flex, Open Source Flash
This weekend I was catching up on my unread email when I came across an interesting quote from the June 2008 edition of Adobe Edge, specifically, an article on the new features of Dreamweaver CS4:
When your projects include SWF files created with Adobe Flash or Flex, the newly updated Insert Flash feature in Dreamweaver, which now uses the open source SWFObject 2.0 codebase, enables you to visually preview your SWF file in context using Live Preview and even design the static, alternative HTML/CSS content right in Design view, too.
The thing that struck me most here was that SWFObject 2 will be used as the default for embedding Flash content in HTML pages, which is very cool. For those who don't know, Adobe has always rolled their own embedding code which was cumbersome at best. Every developer I know would end up creating their own HTML files and using SWFObject to embed Flash - in essence redoing what Dreamweaver had already done for them, albeit poorly. It is nice to see Adobe yet again making great use of the open source contributions of the community.
What is more exciting to me, however, is that one can assume Flash CS4 and the next version of Flex (either Flex 4, or an update to Flex 3) will use SWFObject to embed the SWFs they publish as well. A quick search of the SWFObject Google Group confirms this as well.
June 12, 2008 at 10:02 pm · Filed under Actionscript 3, CS3, Flash, Flex, Open Source Flash
This week Didier Brun released his Liquid Components set, which I have previously blogged about, as open source. The component set is written in AS3, and provides a simple alternative to those provided by Adobe with Flash CS3, in a similar vein as Keith Peter's MinimalComps.
April 30, 2008 at 11:52 pm · Filed under Actionscript 2, Adobe, AIR (Apollo), Flash, Flex, Mobile Development, Open Source Flash, Remoting, Tech
Life just got a lot more interesting for those who make a living working with Flash:
http://blogs.adobe.com/open/2008/04/the_open_screen_project.html
As a part of the announcement, Adobe is publishing exactly how the SWF format works without restrictions, and removing all other barriers to getting Flash on the widest range of devices. Set top/cable boxes, all mobile phones, televisions, your appliances... anything technical, really. Even those devices without a screen and/or user interface. Bill Perry does a great job of going into more detail on the implications for devices on his blog.
Ryan Stewart has a great post explaining all the implications of this announcement, for devices and desktop computers alike. He goes into more detail on the several parts of the announcement, so it is worth the read.
As someone who makes their living from the Flash ecosystem, you should care greatly about this announcement. It may not seem like it to a non-developer, but this is huge for anyone who knows how to use Flash. The thought of having Flash everywhere is finally a reality for those who want to include it in their products as a user interface layer, or even to allow developers to control the product using ActionScript. And this means that your capabilities to design, develop, and then deploy your Flash experiences just became more marketable and useful.
Lastly, as a member of the Flash community, you should also be excited about the implications this has on open source projects such as SWX, AMFPHP, and the like. The more open the specifications surrounding the various parts of the Flash ecosystem, the easier it is for members of the community to create tools and open source projects which contribute to the growth and prominence of said ecosystem... and make all of our lives as participants in that ecosystem that much more interesting and fun.
« Previous entries ·
Next entries »
Powered by WordPress.
