About the Course

Flash 8 Application Development with Helen Triolo

In this series of tutorials, you'll learn how to use the most important features of ActionScript 2.0 to create a working
XML-based online application. Starting with a fla containing layout guides, we'll go step by step through the process of
thinking about and putting together the application. Among the topics covered are: how to program a group of navigation
buttons to work together, how to create class-based code to separate the application into separate self-contained modules,
how to deal with asynchronous events like reading XML files and loading images from a web server, how to communicate
between classes using Flash's built-in event dispatching model, and finally how to publish and create the files necessary to
gather information from a site visitor and pass it to the Flash application.

More about Helen Triolo

Flash 8 Application Development with Helen Triolo is available through our online training subscription or
available for purchase in DVD-ROM format. The course contains over 7 hours of video-based training
tutorials. Visit our store purchase DVD.


Course Outline

Lesson 1 - Plan and Start Application Setup

Application Overview and Setup
Create Navigation Tabs
Control Navigation Tabs
Revise Code Structure
Create Tab Transitions
Create TabButon Class
Create TabButton Instances, Document Code
Create State Manager Class
Use StateManager with TabButtons

Lesson 2 - Creating a Class-Based Animation

Create an Animation Movieclip
Create the Animation Class
Add Randomness to Animation Behavior
Control Behavior with Class Methods
Add Controlled Repetitive Behavior
Combine Repetition and Randomness
Add 'Speak' Method

Lesson 3 - Creating a Utility Class

Set up Utility Class
Add Date Functions
Create Global Class Directory
Use Drawing API
Add Irregular Box Draw Function
Create Irregular Box Draw Class
Draw Curves
Add Funtion to Draw Arcs

Lesson 4 - Creating the Calendar Page

Attach the Calendar Page
Create the Calendar Class
Modify the Calendar Class to Add Cells
Add a Message Text Field
Add Dates and CSS to the Calendar
Create a Global Style Class
More Notes on the Date Class
Adding Dates to the Calendar
Format Current Date Cell
Build a Navigation System for the Calendar
Create Calendar Headers

Lesson 5 - Using XML to Populate the Calendar

XML Structure
Parsing the XML File
Create the XML Reader Events Class
EventDispatcher Overview
Use EventDispatcher with XMLReaderEvents
Making the Calendar Respond to XMLReaderEvents
Filter Dates
Populating the Cells
Creating an Error Event

Lesson 6 - Creating the Contacts Page

Start to Build the Contacts Page
Work with Muti-Dimensional Arrays
Add Components
Add Styles to the Application
Format the Cells
Skin Components
Make the Letters Clickable
Add the Dog to the Contacts Page
Move the Dog
Add Data Sort Options
Serach Function

Lesson 7 - Creating the Popup Windows

Extend a previously-created Class
Create a Popup Window
Use MovieClipLoader to Load a jpg
Resize the jpg when Loaded
Add Code to Activate and Populate Popup
Add HTML Links

Lesson 8 - Putting the Application Online

Add an Intro Screen
Add an Application Entry Page
Pass User-entered Data to Application
Review, Test and Make Final Changes
Centrals Arrays