Course Content

Introducing Adobe Flex 3

• Understanding rich Internet applications
  
• Introducing the Adobe Flex 3 product line
  
• The foundation of the RIA: Flash Player/Flash Virtual Machine
  
• Understanding the Flex application process fl ow
  
• Getting help and other resources
  
• Exploring the course application 13
  

Getting Started with Flex Builder 3

• Understanding the relationship between Eclipse and Flex Builder 3
  
• Exploring the Flex Builder 3 interface
  
• Creating a project and your fi rst application
  
• Creating a main application page and running it
  
• Using debugging
  
• Getting help in Adobe Flex Builder 3
  

Learning Flex Fundamentals

• Creating a simple Flex application
  
• Creating your fi rst Flex application
  
• Laying out a Flex application with containers
  
• Adding user interface controls
  
• Creating bindings between components
  
• Architecting an application with MXML components
  
• Creating properties and methods of MXML components
  

Handling Events

• Understanding events
  
• Creating event handlers using inline ActionScript
  
• Using inline ActionScript
  
• Handling events with ActionScript functions
  
• Placing ActionScript functions in external fi les
  
• Understanding the event object
  
• Implementing the addEventListener() method
  

Using Simple Controls

• Getting familiar with Flex controls
  
• Using the Button control
  
• Using a CheckBox Control
  
• Using NumericStepper controls
  
• Using Text controls
  
• Displaying images
  
• Adding simple controls to an application
  

Laying Out an Application with Containers

• Understanding Containers
  
• Using the Application container
  
• Setting an application’s layout
  
• Using the Panel container
  
• Using the Form container
  
• Using the Grid container
  
• Using Box Containers
  
• Using the DividedBox container
  
• Using the Tile container
  
• Container best practices
  
• Using the ControlBar container
  
• Component layout and sizing rules
  

Laying out an Application Using Constraint-Based Layout

• Understanding absolute positioning
  
• Positioning components within the Canvas container
  
• Positioning components inside a Canvas
  
• Creating a constraint-based layout using Flex Builder 3
  
• Creating a constraint-based layout in MXML
  
• Using constraint-based layouts with nested components
  

Using View States for Application Design

• Understanding view states
  
• Creating two states for the Contact page
  
• Controlling view states
  
• Reviewing the generated MXML code
  
• Creating view states that include custom components states
  

Creating Application Navigation

• Understanding navigator containers
  
• Using the LinkBar container
  
• Using the TabBar container
  
• Using the ViewStack container
  
• Navigating the Café Townsend application using the ViewStack and TabBar container
  
• Using the TabNavigator container
  
• Using the Accordion container
  
• Using ButtonBar & ToggleButtonBar
  
• Using the ApplicationControlBar container
  

Customizing the Application

• Customizing Flex application look and feel
  
• Using the Styles API to change look-and-feel
  
• Using theme styles
  
• Changing the look and feel of the Café Townsend application
  
• Applying behaviors to components
  
• Applying transitions to view states
  

Using MXML and ActionScript Data Models

• Using the MVC design pattern
  
• Creating an MXML data model
  
• Using ActionScript classes as a data model
  
• Instantiating an Object in MXML from an ActionScript class
  
• Creating an ActionScript constructor with parameters
  
• Defi ning class methods
  

Exchanging Data Between Components Using Custom Events

• Understanding the problem with bindings
  
• Using a binding to get data from a component
  
• Creating custom events
  
• Creating, dispatching and handling a custom event
  
• Sending data with a custom event
  

Retrieving XML Data with HTTPService

• Retrieving XML data at runtime
  
• Handling results
  
• Retrieving data at runtime with HTTPService
  
• Handling results using an event handler
  
• Handling faults
  
• Making HTTP requests to different domains
  

Looping Through Data Using a Repeater

• Understanding the Repeater component
  
• Using dataProvider data in repeated controls
  
• Dynamically creating components using a Repeater
  
• Using Repeater data in ActionScript
  
• Referencing repeated components
  

Displaying Data Using the DataGrid

• Using the DataGrid control
  
• Displaying Simple XML Data in a DataGrid
  
• Specifying DataGrid columns
  
• Specifying DataGrid columns
  
• Formatting DataGrid columns
  
• Using item renderers and item editors
  
• Using the TileList and HorizontalList
  
• Using events and selected items with list-based components