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

“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 ! AS3 is also part of Flex, Adobe's software development kit to create rich internet applications.

So you either can do AS3 with Adobe Flash CS3 Professional or just code in AS3. For the latter there is a free kit or else just use any editor plus the mxmlc compiler.

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. You can either use:

• Flex Builder - an Eclipse plugin
• Just the Flex SDK

The Flex SDK 2.0.1 (or better) 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 and don't want learn full Flex yet). 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

Reference manuals

• ActionScript 3.0 Language & Component Reference
• Adobe Flex 2.0.1 Language 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

• ActionScript 3 from Adobelabs. Maybe superseded by the above doc, maybe not ...

• ActionScriptCheatSheet.com Look at the downloads. Several excellent ActionScript cheatsheets.

AS2 vs. AS3 comparisons

• Understanding the changes in the display API in ActionScript 3.0 (short example code comparison)

• ActionScript 2.0 Migration (Adobe). This list list is huge :)

Overviews

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

General AS 3 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

• Adobe's Developer Center includes many "quickstart" articles
  • Filtering XML data in Flash applications using ECMAScript for XML
  • Filtering and formatting data in the DataGrid component

Component programming

(to sort out)

• AS3 Mouse Events and Mouse Related User Actions by Drawk - Really useful.

• Quick Tips for Making ActionScript 3 Components by Ben Stucki.

• ActionScript 3.0 Forums at Kirupa.com. Also includes [ ActionScript 3 Tip of the Day]

• Animating Dynamic MovieClips in AS3 by Kirupa.

• Sending Variables to PHP from Flash And Back again! (AS2)

• Eric Cancil. A blog with AS3 code.

• $.console A console for debuggin, pops up over your application (looks good, not tested so far).

AS 3 Example-based tutorials

• Flash Tutorial - Copy Motion as ActionScript 3.0
• Metah.ch has a series of tutorials with source code.

AS 3 Examples

• Flex Treemap Component
• Updated: List of Best Animation Packages for AS3
• On user-triggered and user-controlled interface animation

Flex

See Adobe Flex

Development environments

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

Blogs and stuff

• Tag: Actionscript3 at Wordpress
• Drawk's blog Publishes also source and a good tweener library.