jonnymac blog

Offline Help and Language Reference Location in Flash CS4

November 4, 2008 at 12:24 am · Filed under Actionscript 3, Adobe, CS4, Flash

Since installing Flash CS4 a few weeks back, I have been searching my hard drive looking for the offline help and ActionScript 3.0 language reference. Using the offline docs can be much faster than waiting for the online version to load, and they are helpful on planes or in other places you don't have internet access. A great resource to bookmark, which is what I did in CS3 but haven't been able to do in CS4 since they were not in the same or a similar location.

Well, it took me quite a while, but I finally found the correct location in CS4 and thought it might help save someone a few minutes of searching by posting it here:

OS X:/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Help/en_US/AS3LCR/Flash_10.0/index.html

Windows:
C:\Program Files\Common Files\Adobe\Help\en_US\AS3LCR\Flash_10.0\index.html

You can also find the entire offline documentation for the Flash CS4 IDE at the following location in OS X:

/Library/Application%20Support/Adobe/Help/en_US/Flash/10.0_UsingFlash/index.html

Note: Since I only have a copy of Flash CS4 for OS X, I don't have the path for Windows. If you find the docs location on Windows, please leave a comment and I'll update the post.

[Update: Windows path added. Thanks!]

Comments (4)

Code Snippets in Flash IDE with ASExpander

November 2, 2008 at 7:16 pm · Filed under Actionscript 2, Actionscript 3, Adobe, CS3, CS4, Flash

I noticed a post by Keith Peters this morning where he created a JSFL script for the Flash IDE that would allow similar functionality as tab shortcuts in TextMate. This means that you can type shortcuts like "&mousedown", then use a keyboard shortcut you assign to the script to have it replace the shortcut text with real code - in the case just mentioned the addEventListener for a MouseEvent.MOUSE_DOWN. If you are still unclear on how this works, check the short screen capture at this post (note: written in German).

Although Keith's post says he intended it to make AS3 easier for designers and beginners, I promptly installed the script and was happy to be on my way to typing much less when needing to code in the Flash IDE actions panel. I have a feeling other developers will agree that this is a huge time saver.

Keith has already posted an update to the script and made it available via download under the free MIT license, and I highly recommend checking it out.

Comments

< head > Conference - Slides from my SWX session

October 25, 2008 at 4:09 pm · Filed under <head> Web Conference, Actionscript 2, Actionscript 3, SWX

As promised in my session, here are the slides (PDF link) for my talk, Working with SWX: The Native Data Format for the Flash Platform. I have included a bunch of notes on what I spoke about on each slide in an attempt to aid those who couldn't make it to the session. In addition, here are some of the resources I posted in the chat during the session:

SWX on Google Code: http://swx-format.googlecode.com
SWX on twitter (follow for updates on AS3 release): http://twitter.com/swx
My twitter account: http://twitter.com/jonmacdonald

Overall the talk went very well, and seemed to have a great response. At one point there were over 60 people in the room - so an awesome turnout! Also, the announcement of SWX for ActionScript 3 received very positive responses.

As soon as the videos from the conference are released into public domain, I'll post another update with a link to the session recording.

Thanks again to Aral and <head> Conference for having me speak!

Comments (2)

See me speak at the < head > Conference

October 22, 2008 at 11:21 am · Filed under <head> Web Conference, Actionscript 2, Actionscript 3, Conferences, SWX

This Saturday, October 25th at 2pm PST, I'll be speaking at the <head> Conference on Working with SWX: The Native Data Format for the Flash Platform. Here is my session description:

In this session we'll cover the basics of SWX: what it is and what it is best used for, how systemwide simplicity benefits developers, how to use the free public gateway for integrating APIs into your mobile and web applications, and plans for the upcoming ActionScript 3 release.

If you are unfamiliar, <head> is a global web conference -- all sessions are attended online using Adobe's Acrobat Connect. There are a few local hubs scattered around the world, so you can also sign up to attend those hubs if you'd like to network, meet speakers in person, etc. Aral, the conference organizer, has arranged for an amazing line-up of speakers over three days.

Hope to see you there!

Comments