Flash MX ActionScript
Duration 2 days
Objectives
Macromedia Flash MX ActionScript is for existing Macromedia Flash users ready to start programming with ActionScript. This course will teach you how to use ActionScript to perform a variety of tasks including navigation, animation, data capture, data access from a server, create content dynamically, and work with the built-in Flash MX components. This course also explains about the object-oriented capabilities of Macromedia Flash MX, the Flash MX object model and how to use object methods, events, properties, and functions.
The practical nature of this course enables you to consolidate knowledge as you learn it, with plenty of hands-on exercises and guidance on good practice implementation of Flash MX ActionScript. Requirements
Three to six months' regular use of Macromedia Flash MX. Good working knowledge of the Flash MX environment and workspace; ability to animate with the timeline and use symbols, buttons, text and movie clips within Flash. Entry-level knowledge of ActionScript, or basic programming knowledge in any other OOPs programming language desirable but not essential.
Course Outline
Introduction to Flash MX ActionScript
• What is ActionScript?
• ActionScript underlying concepts
• The ActionScript Debugger
• The ActionScript Reference
• The ActionScript Editor
• Applying ActionScript to a movie clip
ActionScript Fundamentals
• About Objects and Events
• The Flash MX Object Model
• The Flash MX Event Model
• Using Symbols and Instances
• Adding Actions to the Timeline
• Referencing the Timelines within a Movie Clip
• Using the Button Object
• Tips for writing sensible ActionScript
Animating with ActionScript
• Animation concepts and ActionScript
• Iterative animation and the onEnterFrame event
• Collision detection with hitTest
• Conditional behaviour: changing direction
• Conditional behaviour: stopping animation
• Tidy-up: stopping the onEnterFrame event
• Tidy-up: removing the onEnterFrame event
• Tidy-up: removing the movieClip
Generating Movie Clips with ActionScript
• Creating a Movie Clip with ActionScript
• Dynamically Loading JPEG Files into Movie Clips
• Using the Drawing Methods to Build Movie Clips
• Using the With Statement
• Duplicating a Movie Clip
• Duplicating a Movie Clip with Unique Instance Names
Creating Forms in Macromedia Flash
• About Forms
• Creating Input Text Fields on a Form
• Displaying Form Data Dynamically
• Using ActionScript to Validate a Form
• Sending Data our of Flash MX to a server
Creating Objects in ActionScript
• What exactly do we mean by an Object?
• What is Inheritance?
• Creating an Object that Inherits Events
• Using the "new" keyword to create an object instance
• The Button Object and its methods
• Using the Texfield and Textformat Objects
• Using the Colour Object
Writing Re-usable Code
• What is the point of re-usable code?
• About Flash MX Functions
• The difference between a function and a method
• Integrating functions within Objects
• What is scoping?
• Local Variables and the "var" statement
• Global Variables
• Evaluating References Dynamically
• Sharing Code with External ActionScript files
Importing Text Data Programatically
• Why do we need dynamic content
• Data sources and clients
• Structuring data within a text file
• Ensuring data has loaded with the onLoad event
• Utlising dynamically imported data within Flash MX
Using ActionScript with Flash MX Components
• About Flash MX components
• Using the Scroll Bar component with a text field
• Using the Scroll Bar component methods and properties
• Creating a Dynamic Drop Down List
• Using c Change Handler to detect a user selection
• Additional uses for components
Wrap-up
• QandA
• Additional ActionScript Resources
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