Until now Google Maps via the Flash platform hasn’t been available unless you’ve been using the the UMAP component from AFComponents. As you may have heard, Google has opened up its API to the Flash and Flex community. This is huge as it offers more possibilities for Rich Interactive Applications and Google Maps. To find more info on Google Maps for Flash, check out Google’s official blog.
Check out the these examples using the new Google Maps for Flash API:
Video Sync Map
A map pans and updates while a synchronized video shows footage from the city highlighted on the map.
Photo Flip Map
Locations in Las Vegas are plotted on the map with a small photo showing up inline; the view can be “flipped” to show a larger photo without the map.
Local Searcher
Displays a Flex UI with ComboBox, Button, and TextField that are used to perform a local search with the AJAX Local Search API.
Custom Campus Map
Creates a custom map by extending TileLayerBase to load in USC image tiles.
Form Geocoding
Shows how to take a user-entered address from a Flex TextField, geocode it, and display the result as a map marker.
Control Options
Shows how to customize the display of MapTypeControl and OverviewMapControl using their associated options classes.
Draggable Marker
Shows how to create a draggable marker and respond to its dragstart and dragend events.
Custom Tiles Map
Creates a custom map that displays tiles that are actually Sprites displaying information about the tile x/y/z.
TextualZoom Control
Shows how to extend ControlBase to create a custom control with buttons for zooming in and zooming out.
Encoded Polyline
Shows how to create a Polyline from an encoded points and encoded levels string.
You can check the rest of the demos at the Google Maps API for Flash Demo Gallery.
Here’s a Quick Question: Who will build the first feature-rich Google Maps AIR application? I’d love to see one or two!
The time has come to give Flash Player 10 a try. The list of features go very deep as Flash Player 10 delivers on the promises made up to this point. This version offers dazzling effects, faster performance, and Linux support right out of the box.
Flash 10 “Astro” Demo
Flash Player 10 includes new features, enhancements and bug fixes, including:
As a Flash user, there are many time in which having a set of drag and drop Flash utilities come in handy. I am sure most people don’t have the time to start from scratch on every project and that is why I’ve compiled this list of Flash stock utilities. Check out this list of quality Flash utilities that’ll allow you optimize your precious time and resources.
Lee Brimelow’s fun demo of sample desktop applications create with Adobe AIR. Some of the desktop applications created in this demo include:
drag and drop video players
interactive video screen shot grabber
drag and drop media players
Interactive screensaver
I know this may be an older video, but for those of you who haven’t seen it enjoy! Also, for those of you who have seen it, this video gets better the second time around.
Advanced Flash Components updates their Google Maps powered AS3 component. If you are not familiar with this UMAP, it is scalable component model that allows you to create rich maps with interactive data layers. Its features are impressive and it now even supports Microsoft’s Virtual Earth along with Google Maps.
Latest Features Include:
InfoWindow has been completely rewritten for better extendability.
KMLLayer generates OverlayEvent.READY once all markers and linked KMLLayers have been loaded.
autoInfo parameter is added to the Layer to control the automatic Info Window appearance
BaloonStyle property has been added to the Marker Manager.
Also, you can expect this version not only as an Adobe Flash component but also as a Adobe Flex component. Check out the latest update of UMAP!
This article introduces some of the theories behind Degrafa, the basics of composition, advanced implementations, and how the framework may fit into your Flex or AIR projects.
What is Degrafa?
Degrafa is an open-source, declarative graphics framework for Flex created by developers in the RIA community. Degrafa aims to offer the quality of static graphics and the flexibility of dynamic graphics via runtime while allowing designers and developers to create dynamic graphics in MXML markup language.
Features of Degrafa include:
A library of pre-composed shapes for you to use as well as the ability to create your own.
Use SVG path data to create complete reusable shapes. • Flexible options for fills and strokes.
Binding of properties for Fills, Strokes and Geometry.
Advanced CSS support for layered backgrounds, complex border control and background image positioning based on CSS 3.
Productive features like derivatives, composition reuse, shape libraries, repeaters, and other utilities that allow you to do more with less code.
Follow Adobe’s Chief Technology Officer Kevin Lynch as he walks the halls of Adobe Headquarters and interviews several core members of the AIR engineering team.
Now that AIR has been out for a couple of months, see what some of the member of the AIR team have to say on their approach on building a diverse developing platform. You’ll be amazed as to all of the details that were thought out when developing Adobe AIR.
FlashVars is Flash answer to Query String. It’s a way to pass data or variables from html to a Flash movie. Variables passed via FlashVars will go into the _root level of the Flash movie.
Differences Between AS2 and AS3
The key difference between AS2 and AS3 is how to retrieve the FlashVars. The FlashVars are no longer available in the _root level of the movie. Instead, you must use the new LoaderInfo class object to access the FlashVars. The FlashVars is available in the parameters member of the LoaderInfo. This makes the AS3 solution much more dynamic and independent to each object that is created. See below for an example of both.
function loaderComplete(myEvent:Event)
{
this.flashVars=this.loaderInfo.parameters;
this.flashVarsLoaded=true; // set a flag to indicate that the FlashVars is loaded
this.useFlashVars();
}
I hope this post helped you understand the key difference between defining your FlashVars within AS2 and AS3. If your interested in learning more about FlashVars, check out the resources below as they will go deeper into the topic.
Page-flipping animations have been very popular as of late. Today’s quality Flash stock has took that very same concept and composed a pack of Flash paper transitions. These animations are completely vector-based and can be transformed without loss of quality. With your creativity, the use of these paper transitions are endless. Check it out and you’ll see what I mean.
