ActionScripting in Flash

Name: ActionScripting in Flash
Price: 63.7 USD
Availability: InStock
ISBN: 9780672320781

ISBN-10: 0672320789

ISBN-13: 9780672320781

Edition: 2001

Authors: Phillip Kerman

List price: $39.99

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This volume seeks to teach those embarking on scripting how to recognise situations that call for scripting and make their hard-wired sites extensible. It contains practical exercises to help build problem solving skills.

Book details

List price: $39.99
Copyright year: 2001
Publisher: Sams
Publication date: 4/9/2001
Binding: Paperback
Pages: 648
Size: 7.25" wide x 8.75" long x 1.25" tall
Weight: 2.332
Language: English

Phillip Kerman is an independent programmer, teacher, and writer specializing in Macromedia products. His degree in Imaging and Photographic Technology from the Rochester Institute of Technology was earned back when ""multimedia"" had a different meaning from today. One of Phillip's internships, for example, involved programming multiple slide projector presentations with dissolves synchronized to a sound track--the multimedia of the 1980s. In 1993, he found Macromedia Authorware a natural fit for his interests and skills. After getting his start at The Human Element, Inc., he moved back to Portland, Oregon, to work on his own.Phillip has transitioned his expertise from Authorware to…




Foundation


{Foundation} Introduction



Flash Basics


Timeline Hierarchy


Implications for Animation and Filesize


Implications for Programming


Targeting


Script Locations


Always Movie Clips


Coordinate System


Tricks of the Trade


Invisible Buttons


Empty Movie Clips


Empty Layers and Keyframes


Summary



What's New in Flash 5


Advanced Features Making Programming Easy


Clip Events


Smart Clips


External Scripts


Custom Functions


Objects


HTML Text


Previous Knowledge Worth Forgetting


Deprecated ActionScript


Non-Deprecated ActionScripts That Should Be


Old Tricks That Are Old News


Summary



The Programmer's Approach


Specification


Prototyping


Hard Wiring


Pseudo-Code


Good Style


Less Is More


Comments


Magic Numbers, Constants, and Variables


Repeated Code


Code Data Separation


Summary



Basic Programming in Flash


Terminology, Special Characters, and Formatting


Events


Results of Events


Terms


Special Characters and Formatting


Data Types and Variables


Variables' Names and Values


String and Number Data Types


Other Data Types


Using Variables


Assigning and Accessing Variables


Comparing and Passing Values


Scope and Variable Collision


Dot Syntax


Summary



Programming Structures


Statements, Expressions, and Operators


Writing Expressions


Using Operators in Expressions


Types of Statements


Built-in Statements


Simple Objects in Statements


Using the Math Object


Using the Number Object


Conditional and Loop Statements


Conditional Statements: if, if else, if else if


Loop Statements: for, for in


While


Applied Expression Writing


Summary



Debugging


General Approaches to a Bug-Free Life


Finding and Defining Bugs


Fixing Bugs


Preventing Bugs


Using the Debugger


Viewing and Setting Properties and Variables


Watching Variables


Remote Debugging


Strategies of Debugging


Summary



The Movie Clip Object


Properties of Clips


You Can Get Them All, But You Can't Set Them All


Anonymous Targeting


Variables in Clips (or "Homemade Properties")


Methods of Clips


Referencing Clips and Targeting


Relative and Absolute Referencing


Dynamic Referencing


Summary



Functions


How to Use Functions


Using Built-in Functions


Using Homemade Functions


Creating Homemade Functions


Basics


Functions as Subroutines


Making Functions That Accept Parameters


Making Functions That Return Values


Using Functions as Methods


Local Variables


Applying Functions to Previous Knowledge


Review Built-in Functions


Things to Remember


Summary



Selecting Text, Trapping Keys, and Manipulating Strings


String Object Form


Esoteric String Object Details


Methods of the String Object Explored


Zero-Based System


Extracting Portions of Strings


Extracting Characters, Changing Case, and Searching


String Object Methods Applied


Using HTML Text


Selection Object


Getting and Setting Focus


Setting and Getting Selections


Key Object


Using the Key Object


Key Object Examples


Summary



Arrays


Array Overview


Array Creation and Manipulation


Creating and Populating Arrays


Accessing Array Contents


Array Object Methods


Associative Arrays


Summary



Objects


Formal Rules of Objects


Attach Sound


Sound Object Basics


Advanced Sound Controls


Controlling Multiple Sounds


Color


Simple Coloring


Using RGB Values


Using the Color Transform Method


Date


Instantiating a Date


Manipulating Dates


Attach Movie Clip


Summary



Homemade Objects


Basic Objects


Using Constructor Function


Making Methods


Inheritance


Practical Example of Homemade Objects


Summary



Smart Clips


Standard Smart Clips


Making Smart Clips


Advanced Applications for Standard Smart Clips


Replacing the Clip Parameters Panel with Custom UIs


Designing Custom UIs


Building Custom UIs


Summary



Interfacing with External Data


External Scripts


External Data Files


Waiting for Variables to Load


Data File Format


Examples of Using External Data Files


Server Scripts


XML


JavaScript


Quick and Dirty Method


JavaScript Talking to Flash


Targeting the Flash Object


Workarounds


Director and Authorware


Flash in Authorware


Flash in Director


Summary



Workshop


{Workshop} Introduction



Beginning Workshops



Ensuring That Users Have the Flash 5 Player



Faking Video



Creating Custom Cursors



Creating a Horizontal Slider


Creating a Quick and Dirty Slider


Converting the Slider into a Smart Clip


Summary



Building a Slide Show



Mapping



Working with Odd-Shaped Clickable Areas



Adapting Built-in Smart Clips



Intermediate Workshops



Creating a Currency-Exchange Calculator



Creating a ToolTip Smart Clip



Creating a Digital Timer



Creating an Analog Timer



Creating a Countdown Timer



Using Math to Create a Circular Slider



Developing Time-Based Animations



Creating a Multistate Button



Advanced Workshops



Offline Production



Creating a Dynamic Slide Presentation



Creating JavaScript Cookies



Writing JavaScript Inter-Movie Communications



Fixing Broken Scripts


Card Flip


Hint


Solution


Card Snap


Hint


Solution


Circle Move


Hint


Solution


Multiple Choice


Hint


Solution


Rotating Box


Hint


Solution


Word Float


Hint


Solution


Yellow Box


Hint


Solution


Click and Hold


Hint


Solution


Objects


Hint


Solution


Move Multiple


Hint


Solution


Summary



Appendices



Equivalents


Alternatives to Deprecated Code


TellTarget ()


Call ()


IfFrameLoaded ()


ToggleHighQuality ()


Eval ()


Logical Operators (and, or, and not)


String Comparison Operators (eq, ge, gt, le, lt, and ne)


String Functions


Int ()


Random ()


No More Funkiness


Two-Frame "Updater" Movie Clips


Drag Invisible Movie Clip to Ascertain Mouse Position


Pseudo Arrays


URL-Encoded Data Instead of XML-Structured


The Oldest Ones in the Book


You Can't Set_currentframe


You Can Jump Only to Integer Frame Numbers


There's a Big Difference Between = and ==


For-Loops Use Semicolons, Not Commas



Making Flash Extensions for the Macromedia Exchange Web Site


How It Works


The MXI File Format


Index