MACROMEDIA FLEX - DEVELOPING COMPONENTS AND THEMES User Manual

UNDERSTANDING+THE+FLEX+3+COMPONENT+AND+FRAMEWORK+LIFECYCLE!1!!©!2009!DevelopmentArc!LLC,!All!rights!reserved.!++++Unde rstanding!the !Flex!3!C omponen

Version#1.0#(May#14,#2009)#Looking!at!FlexSprite’s!constructor!all!it!does!is!define!the!name!property!with!a!unique!string!value.!5!!Since!that!is!al

UNDERSTANDING+THE+FLEX+3+COMPONENT+AND+FRAMEWORK+LIFECYCLE!11!!©!2009!DevelopmentArc!LLC,!All!rights!reserved.!child’s!parent!reference,!setting!the!c

Version#1.0#(May#14,#2009)#After!createChildren()!is!complete,!the!childrenCreated()!method!is!called.!!This!method!is!responsible!for!enabling!the!fi

UNDERSTANDING+THE+FLEX+3+COMPONENT+AND+FRAMEWORK+LIFECYCLE!13!!©!2009!DevelopmentArc!LLC,!All!rights!reserved.!!Figure'3')' Invalidatio

Version#1.0#(May#14,#2009)#own!width!requiring!the!component!to!update!its!layout,!set!its!children’s!width!causing!them!to!update!their!layout!and!th

UNDERSTANDING+THE+FLEX+3+COMPONENT+AND+FRAMEWORK+LIFECYCLE!15!!©!2009!DevelopmentArc!LLC,!All!rights!reserved.!have!a!parent!and!then!registers!itself

Version#1.0#(May#14,#2009)#It!is!important!to!know!what!is!affected!during!the!Invalidation!phase!when!we!call!these!methods.!The!invalidateProperties

UNDERSTANDING+THE+FLEX+3+COMPONENT+AND+FRAMEWORK+LIFECYCLE!17!!©!2009!DevelopmentArc!LLC,!All!rights!reserved.!before!we!start!laying!out!our!componen

Version#1.0#(May#14,#2009)#initialized!or!not,!if!not!the!LayoutManager!marks!the!component!initialized.!!At!this!point!our!component!is!considered!in

UNDERSTANDING+THE+FLEX+3+COMPONENT+AND+FRAMEWORK+LIFECYCLE!19!!©!2009!DevelopmentArc!LLC,!All!rights!reserved.!(such!as!other!object!pointing!the!comp

Version#1.0#(May#14,#2009)#+Table+of+ Contents+Table+of+Contents ...

Version#1.0#(May#14,#2009)#!Figure'9')' Flex'Application'Lifecycle'Flex+Application+Ph a s es:+Construction+The!Construc

UNDERSTANDING+THE+FLEX+3+COMPONENT+AND+FRAMEWORK+LIFECYCLE!21!!©!2009!DevelopmentArc!LLC,!All!rights!reserved.!exactly!how!the!compiler!builds!the!cal

Version#1.0#(May#14,#2009)#!Figure'10')'The'Windowed'Application'H ierarchy'When!a!DisplayObject!is!added!to!the!st

UNDERSTANDING+THE+FLEX+3+COMPONENT+AND+FRAMEWORK+LIFECYCLE!23!!©!2009!DevelopmentArc!LLC,!All!rights!reserved.!information!as!bytes!are!being!loaded!t

Version#1.0#(May#14,#2009)#external!content!is!delegated!to!the!SystemManager,!which!uses!a!Preloader!to!load!the!content!in!and!display!feedback!to!t

UNDERSTANDING+THE+FLEX+3+COMPONENT+AND+FRAMEWORK+LIFECYCLE!25!!©!2009!DevelopmentArc!LLC,!All!rights!reserved.!inform!the!Preloader when!to!update!the

Version#1.0#(May#14,#2009)#Now!that!we!have!an!instance!of!our!Application!class!created,!the!SystemManager!registers!to!the!instance’s!FlexEvent.CREA

UNDERSTANDING+THE+FLEX+3+COMPONENT+AND+FRAMEWORK+LIFECYCLE!27!!©!2009!DevelopmentArc!LLC,!All!rights!reserved.!SystemManager!duties.!!The!Application!

Version#1.0#(May#14,#2009)#method!does!store!the!value!properly!and!when!the!Addition!phase!begins!the!style!values!are!be!applied.!!The!problem!with!

UNDERSTANDING+THE+FLEX+3+COMPONENT+AND+FRAMEWORK+LIFECYCLE!29!!©!2009!DevelopmentArc!LLC,!All!rights!reserved.!Overall,!the!Construction!Phase!is!real

UNDERSTANDING+THE+FLEX+3+COMPONENT+AND+FRAMEWORK+LIFECYCLE!3!!©!2009!DevelopmentArc!LLC,!All!rights!reserved.!Conclusion ...

Version#1.0#(May#14,#2009)#override!is!dependent!on!what!you!are!trying!to!do.!!If!you!want!to!access!children!after!they!are!created!then!you!will!pr

UNDERSTANDING+THE+FLEX+3+COMPONENT+AND+FRAMEWORK+LIFECYCLE!31!!©!2009!DevelopmentArc!LLC,!All!rights!reserved.!In!our!example,!we!have!a!component!tha

Version#1.0#(May#14,#2009)#Using+Dirty+Flags+The!first!step!in!solving!this!process!is!introducing!the!concept!of!dirty!flags.!!A!dirty!flag!is!a!Bool

UNDERSTANDING+THE+FLEX+3+COMPONENT+AND+FRAMEWORK+LIFECYCLE!33!!©!2009!DevelopmentArc!LLC,!All!rights!reserved.!private var _chartDirty:Boolean = false

Version#1.0#(May#14,#2009)#changed!there!is!no!reason!to!run!our!calculations!and!re‐draw!our!UI.!34!!If!our!value!has!changed!then!we!calculate!the!t

UNDERSTANDING+THE+FLEX+3+COMPONENT+AND+FRAMEWORK+LIFECYCLE!35!!©!2009!DevelopmentArc!LLC,!All!rights!reserved.!To!help!in!this!process!the!Flex!Compon

Version#1.0#(May#14,#2009)#Con clusion+We!hope!this!paper!has!been!educational!and!maybe!even!an!eye‐opening!experience!for!you!about!that!Flex!Compon

Version#1.0#(May#14,#2009)#Introduction+The!Adobe!Flex!Framework!SDK!has!an!aura!of!voodoo!around!it!that!is!partially!created!by!the!power!of!a!well‐

UNDERSTANDING+THE+FLEX+3+COMPONENT+AND+FRAMEWORK+LIFECYCLE!5!!©!2009!DevelopmentArc!LLC,!All!rights!reserved.!entire!lifecycle.!!Her!comment!to!the!au

Version#1.0#(May#14,#2009)#means!that!Flex!is!bound!to!the!same!set!of!rules!and!realities!of!any!Flash!SWF.!!The!one!fundamental!rule!that!all!SWF!fi

UNDERSTANDING+THE+FLEX+3+COMPONENT+AND+FRAMEWORK+LIFECYCLE!7!!©!2009!DevelopmentArc!LLC,!All!rights!reserved.!Sean!has!augmented!the!racetrack!by!brin

Version#1.0#(May#14,#2009)#calculations!(HBox,!VBox),!animation!(Effects,!Transitions),!data!loading!(Remote!Object,!HTTPService),!user!interaction!(m

UNDERSTANDING+THE+FLEX+3+COMPONENT+AND+FRAMEWORK+LIFECYCLE!9!!©!2009!DevelopmentArc!LLC,!All!rights!reserved.!!Figure'1')' The'Pha