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Creating Visual Experiences with Flex 3.0

by: Sanchez, Juan; McIntosh, Andy

Creating Visual Experiences with Flex 3.0

by: Sanchez, Juan; McIntosh, Andy

ISBN 13:
9780321545374
ISBN 10:
0321545370
Edition: 1st
Format: Paperback
Copyright: 11/17/2008
Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional

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Creating Visual Experiences with Flex 3.0 > ISBN13: 9780321545374

Summary

Take Flex's standard boring user interface and turn it into something stellar, using skinning and programming techniques.

Author Biography

Juan Sanchez is an Experience Architect for EffectiveUI, a leading provider of Rich Internet Applications based in Denver, Colorado. He created and manages ScaleNine.com, a site that provides skinning resources and UI inspiration for Flex and AIR. His work at ScaleNine has earned him widespread recognition as a community expert and he has presented at the LA Flex User Group, 360Flex, and WebManiacs. Sanchez also cofounded Degrafa, the open source declarative graphics framework for Flex.

Andy McIntosh specializes in interaction design, custom component development, programmatic skinning, and migrating enterprise applications to Flex/AIR-based solutions at EffectiveUI. He has played a key role in successful projects for clients such as Adobe, Workday, Scion, and United Airlines; he serves as an advisor for the Degrafa project.

Foreword	p. xix
Preface	p. xxi
Acknowledgments	p. xxv
About the Authors	p. xxvi
Introduction	p. 1
Rich Internet Applications	p. 3
The Audience	p. 3
The Content	p. 4
User Interaction	p. 6
The Presentation	p. 7
Summary	p. 11
Adobe Flex and AIR 13 Flex 3.0 Framework	p. 13
Developing Flex Applications	p. 15
Summary	p. 17
The Flex 3 Framework	p. 19
Dynamic Layout	p. 21
Understanding Flex Layout	p. 21
Automatic Positioning	p. 23
Absolute Positioning	p. 25
Sizing Components	p. 29
Managing Scrolling	p. 31
Summary	p. 35
Styling	p. 37
Understanding Style Properties	p. 37
Applying Styles Inline	p. 40
Applying Styles Using CSS	p. 41
Style Precedence	p. 44
Working with Styles Using ActionScript	p. 48
Styling in Design View	p. 51
CSS Design View	p. 54
Themes	p. 56
Summary	p. 56
Graphical Skinning	p. 57
Difference Between Bitmap and Vector	p. 60
Embedding Graphics in Flex 3	p. 61
Using 9-Slice Grids	p. 62
Naming Conventions for Skin Importing	p. 64
Using the Skin Import Wizard	p. 67
Working with Skins in CSS Design View	p. 69
Skin Templates	p. 70
Mixing Tools	p. 71
Summary	p. 72
Programmatic Skinning	p. 73
Introducing the Drawing API	p. 74
Creating a Programmatic Skin	p. 75
Understanding Measurement and Programmatic Skinning	p. 80
Summary	p. 81
Lists and Navigation Components	p. 83
List-Based Components	p. 84
Item Renderers and Editors	p. 87
Navigation Controls	p. 91
Navigation Containers	p. 95
Specifying Labels and Icons	p. 98
Using a List-Based Component for Navigation	p. 99
Summary	p. 100
Indicators and Cursors	p. 101
Understanding by Example	p. 101
Icons	p. 103
Focus Border	p. 105
Tool Tips	p. 107
Using the Tool Tip Manager	p. 113
Cursors	p. 115
Summary	p. 118
Fonts and Text	p. 119
Attention to Text	p. 119
Customizing Fonts	p. 120
Embedding Fonts	p. 121
Using Fonts from SWFs	p. 123 <P s
Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved.

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Excerpts

The Web is always evolving as new technologies and greater user demands bubble to the surface. With the introduction of Flash in 1996, Web pages started to change from a static point-click-reload experience to a dynamic experience void of page refreshes and back button reactions. Since then, many technologies have risen to meet the ever growing needs of the user, each proposing new conventions for reaching a final goal. As Flash matured, it became more frequently used for replicating interactions a user might expect from a robust desktop application. Flash was a usable solution for creating browser-based applications, but not necessarily the most approachable.Now with Adobe Flex, the Flash player has matured to the point that it can be considered a target for enterprise-level applications. Along with Flex, there have been lots of competing technologies breaking onto the scene, underscoring the importance of rich user experience. New focus has been placed on the processes surrounding innovation, collaboration between designer and developer, usability, and deployment. These advancing facets pose new challenges for both designers and developers to overcome in order to create compelling visual experiences in Flex 3.Creating Visual Experiences with Flex 3is a compilation of knowledge gathered from a myriad of real-world scenarios involving customization of Flex applications and creating rich user experiences. Scope of This BookRarely is there a case when no visual customization is required while creating a Flex application. It can be hard to find all the necessary information that covers the many approaches that can be taken to customize the visual experience of a Flex application. Interpreting that information to an actual use-case within an application can also be a daunting task. Our focus is to expose the knowledge we wished we had when we first started working with Flex. It is by no means meant to be an end-all be-all, but a starting point for your journey into working with the visual aspects of Flex 3. The goal is to give enough information to answer immediate questions and directions to find additional answers.Everything discussed in this book can be used in some way, shape, or form, from robust enterprise-level applications to a simple RSS reader. The walkthroughs in this book are meant to be to-the-point and clearly communicate the approaches discussed. Since we learned Flex by pulling bits and pieces from a number of different examples to meet the needs of our applications, there is an a la carte presentation of walkthroughs. This will make it easy for you to grab what you need without foraging through massive lines of code to find the one bit you're interested in.Most of the topics discussed in this book surround features immediately available in Flex. Creating custom components, advanced data visualization, and non-visual components will not be covered. Although those things are also essential to enhancing the user experience, it extends beyond the scope of this book.This book is not meant to be a rule-book of standards or a rigid set of guidelines. Each project is different and has its own requirements. There is always a judgment call to be made between deadlines, budget, client needs, and user feedback that will dictate what approach you may take to implementing your own version of a unique visual experience. In the end though, you want to be happy with what you release, from the back-end architecture to the customer facing offering. Audience for This BookThe primary audience is designers and developers interested in translating design visions to Flex while maintaining the highest fidelity. Topics discussed revolve around some light design theory of rich user experiences and the visual presentation of user interface components. Designers and developers can use the information in this book to gain an understanding of the advanced level of custom