User specific login information is usually stored in session variables in any web application. However, Flex doesnt have anything called session variables in it. So how do we save this information across the whole application. Static classes come to the rescue here. This can also be achieved by use of shared objects and Singletons but I am going to focus on static classes for now.
A static class holds the information in it once declared and is very useful for such scenarios. Typically, after you are done with the username/password authentication in your Flex app, you would need to store the data in a static class to be able to access it from anywhere in your application. More »
In one of my other blog posts, someone pointed me towards the Flex AJAX bridge as an alternative to using Flex ExternalInterface. So I went ahead and had a look at it. Its currently in beta state and would need the Flash debug player to be notified of any errors etc while execution but apart from that, I think its an improvement over the ExternalInterface. As per the article, ExternalInterface has some limitations :- More »
Google has released out Flex version of the searchmash website, http://www.searchmash.com/flash/search/#home . It seems to have a few interesting features. It has got Google Maps embedded and when searching for videos, you can play videos within the results. And when you get the web results, you can mouse over a result to view a snap shot view of the webpage.
However, I think the HTML version of searchmash is also very cool and worth having a look.
In one of my recent projects, I had the requirement to open a browser window from within Flex on click of a button. Thats when I came across this Externalinterface call. Here is how I did it.
Dont forget to do this though :-
Might be useful to some of you trying to achieve the same in your project.
callLater() is a function thats rarely talked about and not very well documented as well but I find it rather very useful in some instances. Its quite handy when you want the UI to update and you do a series of things at once. Before each update of the screen, the Flash Player calls the set of functions that are scheduled for the update. Sometimes, a function should be called in the next update to allow the rest of the code scheduled for the current update to be executed. Some features, like effects, can cause queued functions to be delayed until the feature completes.
e.g. if you call a webservice or HTTPService onGridChange event, you will have to wait for that event to complete before you fire off another call to another HTTPService etc. This is where it gets very handy.
Details here .
Its syntax is simple.
Having worked with both AJAX and FLEX, I think this is very useful article to read.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AJAX_vs_Flex
However, after having worked on several projects in FLEX, I am more inclined towards using FLEX over AJAX as it gives far more options to do stuff and now we can also create dekstop apps with AIR.
Your thoughts ?
Flex has some nice components and libraries for charting purposes. However, this new component library called ILOG Elixir (currently in Beta) looks really nice and has some excellent features. It is scheduled to be released in early 2008 though. Here are some key features :-
- 2D chart extensions with radar charts (also named spider charts)
- Full 3D charts including bar/column, area, line and pie
- Treemap charts, for analyzing large data sets
- Planning and scheduling displays, such as Gantt charts
- Organizational charts
- Maps for creating interactive dashboards
Full details here.
Ebay and Adobe have launched an AIR powered desktop version of eBay, it is finally out, check it out it looks really good and has some amazing features!!! http://desktop.ebay.com .
I personally have done a couple projects in Flex and I beleive it is a big step forward in creating RIA apps. I am glad that more and more users are taking this approach. Way to go!