Flash ActionScript 3 overview

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Disclaimer: Until today I have never seen any ActionScript code. I will use this page to write down a few things. Wait until this message goes away before you can trust anything ! - Daniel K. Schneider 15:56, 5 September 2007 (MEST)

This is part of the Flash series of articles. But it is not a tutorial !!

Introduction

{{quotation|ActionScript 3.0 is a dialect of ECMAScript which formalizes the features of ActionScript 2.0, adds the capabilities of ECMAScript for XML (E4X), and unifies the language into a coherent whole. (Grossman, 2006).

Basically, there are two ways of using ActionScript 3:

• Use the Flash CS3 environment more less as "in the ActionScript 2" way, i.e. you add bits of code to certain frames
• Write your code in a file and compile it (you also may use Flash CS3 that way). No drawings, just code !

Stand-alone code development with AS 3

You do not need to buy Flash CS3 (that's actually a cool thing) to program in AS3 and to create *.swf files.

Use Flex SDK 2.0.1 from Adobe

• Download this free SDK from Adobe:

http://www.adobe.com/products/flex/downloads/

For Windows and Mac there is a Flex Builder plugin for Eclipse. Otherwise there is a platform independent compiler, the Adobe Flex2 Software Development Kit (SDK).

Installing the Adobe Flex2 Software Development Kit (SDK) for Windows

• Unzip it somewhere
• Edit the Environment variables through the configuration panel to include the bin directory in the path: I.e. something like Parameters->Config Panel->System->Advanced (I don't have an English System at hand).

Installing the Adobe Flex2 Software Development Kit (SDK) for Ubuntu

• Unzip it somewhere (I put it under /usr/local/flex)
• Under Linux change permissions of the shell scripts in the bin directory, in particular mxmlc
• Then add this directory to your path. E.g. under my Ubuntu I added in file /etc/bash.bashrc:

export PATH=${PATH}:/usr/local/flex/bin

Using the compiler

• Just type something like:

mxmlc HelloWorld.as 

.... This will make an *.swf file

Development support other than Eclipse

I find these IDEs too hard to use (I only occasionally program and just use the Emacs editor). So I need some Emacs code for help with editing (not done yet)

• e.g. http://nisheet.wordpress.com/tag/emacs/

Simple AS3 code patterns

Event handling

General pattern

Definition of an event handler function:

function eventResponse (eventObject:EventType):void
 {
   // Actions performed in response to the event go here.
 }

Using it:

eventSource.addEventListener(EventType.EVENT_NAME, eventResponse);

Example

launch_button.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK,launchRocket);

function launchRocket(event:MouseEvent):void {
    gotoAndPlay(2);
}

You can see an example in the Flash button tutorial

Links

Manuals

• ActionScript 3.0 Language & Component Reference
• Flex 2 LiveDocs: Programming ActionScript 3.0

Other documentation

• Adobe Livedocs has fairly good documentation (maybe not suitable for beinners) e.g.
  • Getting started with ActionScript

Overviews

• Grossman, Gary and Huang, Emmy (2006). ActionScript 3.0 overview, Adobe.
• ActionScript (Wikipedia)
• Comparing the syntax of Java 5 and ActionScript 3

General Tutorials

• Getting Started with ActionScript 3.0 in Adobe Flash CS3

• Migrating your Flash applications to ActionScript 3.0

• Tutorials at ActionScript.org has several action script tutorials, e.g.
  • Getting started with Actionscript 3

• Kirupa, e.g.
  • Using XML in Flash CS3/AS3

Example-based tutorials

• Flash Tutorial - Copy Motion as ActionScript 3.0

Examples

• Flex Treemap Component
• Updated: List of Best Animation Packages for AS3

ActionScript without Flash CS3

• Flash/ActionScript3 Programming under Ubuntu ... Tested, this works :)

Blogs and stuff

• Tag: Actionscript3 at Wordpress