Course Content

Flex 3: Programming the Visual Experience

• Modifying the default look-and-feel of Flex applications
  
• Introducing Mastery Learning
  
• Understanding the Course Format
  
• Reviewing the course prerequisites
  
• Reviewing the course outline
  
• Setting up the application files

Enhancing the application with imagery and layering

• Adding background colors and imagery to the application
  
• Adding an application background image
  
• Adding imagery to the Natural Experiences application
  
• Layering content using absolute layout
  
• Creating a reusable embedded image
  
• Creating instances of an embedded image class
  
• Using bindable variables for imagery
  
• Creating simple popup functionality
  

Enhancing the application with fonts, fi lters and blends

• Understanding the limitations of device fonts
  
• Learning the limitations of device fonts
  
• Embedding fonts with direct calls to the font fi les in the fi le system
  

Embedding fonts using FlashType

• Exploring advanced FlashType settings
  
• Exploring fi lters
  
• Exploring fi lter properties
  
• Applying blends

Modifying the look-and-feel of Flex components graphically

• Exploring 9-slice scaling
  
• Modifying the look-and-feel of Flex components using MXML styles
  
• Modifying the Natural Experiences
  
• Modifying graphical skins using Adobe Flash templates
  

Extending Flex Components

• Learning display object basics
  
• Exploring the non-content children
  
• Introducing the DisplayObject class and its subclasses
  
• Extending Flex components
  
• Creating an extended component
  
• Implementing the createChildren() method
  
• Implementing the updateDisplay List() method
  
• Calling the updateDisplayList() method of the super class
  
• Improving custom component reusability with stylesheets
  

Drawing shapes and programmatically modifying the look-and-feel of Flex components

• Understanding the relationship between display list objects and the Graphics class
  
• Calling the clear() method
  
• Exploring the clear() method
  
• Drawing lines
  
• Using the scaleMode argument of the lineStyle() method
  
• Ordering the lineStyle() method arguments
  
• Using line methods to draw a star
  
• Creating a visual element as an ActionScript class
  
• Creating shapes
  
• Defi ning fi ll methods
  
• Implementing a ButtonSkin from the
  
• mx.skins.halo package
  
• Implementing a programmatic skin
  

Animating components and state changes

• Reviewing Behaviors
  
• Defi ning behavior triggers
  
• Applying behaviors
  
• Creating a fl y-in popup component
  
• Reviewing View States and Transitions
  
• Using the CurrentStateChange change event
  
• Understanding the order of events and transitions
  
• Setting a custom component’s size for state changes
  
• Handling child components that become invisible in transitions

Passing data between components to affect layout and data display

• Creating custom component properties
  
• Passing and displaying XML photo data in the gallery
  
• Reviewing the Repeater component
  
• Using dynamic data in the Repeater
  
• Using currentItem with a complex data structure
  
• Using Repeater data in ActionScript
  
• Calculating custom component size
  
• Creating a more flexible tile display
  

Creating mouse-aware application features

• Detecting the mouse position
  
• Moving the popup to the mouse position
  
• Detecting the stage dimensions
  
• Creating animation using the Timer class
  
• Understanding easing
  

Implementing Drag and Drop Functionality

• Understanding the DragManager
  
• Enable drag and drop functionality in a drag enabled component
  
• Specifying the data to display in a List control
  
• Enabling dragging on non-list-based controls
  
• Controlling dropping with formats
  
• Handling data in drag and drop operations
  
• Viewing data in the DragSource