Recently I was tasked with creating a Flash Chart Application for Pollster.com. One of the challenges in building this app involved allowing the user to turn on and off specific types of poll data, ie. live phone, automated, internet or mail based polls. Sounds simple enough, right? It was. The challenge camewith giving the user the ability to filter out specific pollsters within each category or “mode”. The reason this was a challenge was due to the fact that each category had a pollster associated with multiple data points within the chart, therefore, the list consisted of many repeat listings of the same pollster name.

Being that I already had an array created from the data feed, which was used to place the data points, I figured I could pull my list of pollsters from that array to create my new “pollster” array. Now, there are a ton of ways to accomplish such a task, but I want to focus on one specific method that I used. The every() method of the Array class. I’ve read a lot about people using splice(), slice(), pop(), shift(), etc., but nothing about every(). Nothing at all. Ever . So I figured I’d use it to accomplish the task at hand.

Basically, every() “executes a test function on each item in the array until an item is reached that returns false for the specified function” – Adobe LiveDocs. So let’s get on with some sample code… (more…)

As I mentioned in my previous post, here are the files for the AS3 version of my Box class and its companions. For those of you who downloaded the AS2 version and are either curious about or transitioning into the realm of AS3, you’ll notice a pretty big difference in the way things are done. You’ll also notice that the code is much cleaner and a bit shorter. That’s because I was a bit less lazy with the formatting and since I use Coda for all of my dev work, I have templates set up for my AS2 & AS3 class files.

The other interesting thing you’ll notice is the difference in the way the box is drawn. AS3 adds the ability to draw  a more complex rectangle which allows you to specify the ’roundness’ of each corner. To do this, you simple call ‘your_shape_name.graphics.drawRoundRectComplex’ and fill in the necessary parameters. So why is my class still needed, you ask? Well, for the most part, it’s still a nice and simplified way to create boxes with rounded corners and at the same time, apply a gradient and/or stroke to your shape and it still adds the scale9Grid for you, which automagically determines the largest rounded corner before applying. Download it and give it a try.

As well, If you haven’t already, I encourage you to download this cheat sheet which is extremely helpful in understanding the differences when moving from AS2 to AS3. As always, be sure to leave any questions, comments or suggestions.

UPDATE TO THE UPDATE: Although I am no longer supporting the AS2 files, it would seem that quite a few people are still requesting them. Therefore I am once again making them available for the masses. Please be warned: I am no longer supporting or updating these classes. Download the files here. Enjoy.

UPDATE: The files for the AS2 version are no longer available. I’ve transitioned completely to AS3 and will no longer be coding or supporting AS2 classes that I’ve written.

Since we’re just getting started, I figured I’d post something both extremely simple yet, fairly useful to those curious about getting their feet wet with Flash’s drawing API or those already familiar but currently lacking a simple solution for drawing boxes. For me at least, these classes cut down on a ton of work, when I want to create an interface exclusively in AS.

Here’s the basic idea: You want to draw a box using the drawing API, with two or three rounded corners. Easy enough, yeah? Well, you also want to be able to resize those boxes without any distortion on those corners. Even easier you say? How about adding a gradient to that box? Oh, and then we need to add a smaller box on top of that box with a stroke and one rounded corner and position it 20 pixels from the right edge of the bigger box behind it. Sounds easy, right? Well, it is, but it’s also a hell of a lot of code to write, especially if your plan is to draw an entire interface with the drawing API (crazy, I know).

Basically, what I’ve done, is created a few classes (AS2) to simplify these tasks quite a bit. A sample .fla is also included for you to play around with and test for different results. You can download the files here. An AS3 version is forthcoming. For an AS3 version of my Box Class, see the next post.

I know, nothing groundbreaking here, but I hope these are as useful for you as they have been for me over the past few years. Feel free to modify them, make the code prettier, move things around, etc. As well, be sure to leave any questions or comments you may have concerning these classes below.

Stay tuned. There are more where these came from.