Flash datagrid component tutorial

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Introduction

Learning goals

• Learn how to use the DataGrid component

Flash level

• CS3 and ActionScript 3

Prerequisites

To use the DataGrid component, you should know some ActionScript, e.g.

• Flash components overview
• ActionScript 3 interactive objects tutorial
• ActionScript 3 event handling tutorial
• Some XML (for some sections)

Moving on

• See the Flash tutorials

Level and target population

• Beginners

Quality

• This should help you solve some problems

Data Grid level 0

{{quotation|The DataGrid class is a list-based component that provides a grid of rows and columns. You can specify an optional header row at the top of the component that shows all the property names. Each row consists of one or more columns, each of which represents a property that belongs to the specified data object. The DataGrid component is used to view data; it is not intended to be used as a layout tool like an HTML table. (DataGrid, retrieved 10:12, 30 October 2008 (UTC)).

Let's create a table to display information about Learning management systems, i.e. datagrid with 3 colums. Column 1 is called "Name", column 2 is "Licence", column 3 is "Description.

You may have a look at the data-grid-0 example now.

Below we will show three solutions:

• Doing as much as we can with Flash CS3
• Doing it with CS3 but using only ActionScript
• Doing it with AS3 only, i.e. the Flex way (not done yet)

Adding code for a DataGrid instance

Step 1 - Make a DataGrid instance

• Open the components library (e.g. hit CTRL-F7)
• Drag a DataGrid to the stage
• Give it an instance name, e.g. datagrid

You now will see an emty square on the stage without any visual appeal.

Step 2 - Resize

In the properties panel, make it a big bigger, e.g. w:300 and H:200

Step 3 - Fill in some data with ActionScript

If your instance name is datagrid then hit F9 in frame 1 (or whereever you want it to be) and copy/paste this code. The result is a three column table with headers.

datagrid.addColumn("Name");
datagrid.addColumn("Licence");
datagrid.addColumn("Description");
datagrid.addItem({Name:"Moodle", Licence:"GPL (free)", Description:"Good for blended activity-oriented teaching"});
datagrid.addItem({Name:"ATutor", Licence:"Free", Description:"Good for content-oriented teaching"});
datagrid.addItem({Name:"Blackboard", Licence:"Commercial", Description:"Good for content and exercice-oriented teaching"});
datagrid.addItem({Name:"MediaWiki", Licence:"GPL (free)", Description:"Good for writing-to-learn and technical mini-projects teaching"});

The result is not absolutely convincing, since you can't read the contents of column three. It shows the minimum AS code you need to know in order to fill in DataGrid tables. Below we show a slightly improved version.

Alternative - Pure AS3 creation

Instead of opening the component library, then dragging the component to the stage and giving it an instance name, you could just enter the code below in frame 1 of the main timeline.

We also taylor the size of column three and make the whole widget horizontally scollable.

Some explanations can be found in the //commented lines of the code.

// Import the necessary packages
import fl.controls.DataGrid;
import fl.controls.ScrollPolicy

// Now create a a new instance of DataGrid and name it "datagrid_AS"
var datagrid_AS:DataGrid = new DataGrid();

datagrid_AS.addColumn("Name");
datagrid_AS.addColumn("Licence");
// this is to make col. 3 a bit bigger
var col3 = datagrid_AS.addColumn("Description");
col3.minWidth = 350;
datagrid_AS.addItem({Name:"Moodle", Licence:"Free", Description:"Good for blended activity-oriented teaching"});
datagrid_AS.addItem({Name:"ATutor", Licence:"Free", Description:"Good for content-oriented teaching"});
datagrid_AS.addItem({Name:"Blackboard", Licence:"Commercial", Description:"Good for content and exercice-oriented teaching"});
datagrid_AS.addItem({Name:"MediaWiki", Licence:"GPL (free)", Description:"Good for writing-to-learn and technical mini-projects teaching"});

// Fix the size
datagrid_AS.width = 400;
// Set the height to the number of rows + 1 (for the header)
datagrid_AS.rowCount = datagrid_AS.length + 1;

// Position it at x=400 and y = 50
datagrid_AS.move(300, 70);

// Horizontal scrolling is on
datagrid_AS.horizontalScrollPolicy = ScrollPolicy.ON ;

// Then add it to the stage
addChild(datagrid_AS);

Example code

• Directory: http://tecfa.unige.ch/guides/flash/ex/data-grid/
• File: data-grid-0.fla

Links

Adobe tutorials

• Creating, populating, and resizing the DataGrid component
• Customizing and sorting the DataGrid component
• Filtering and formatting data in the DataGrid component

Other tutorials

• Using the DataGrid Component by Kirupa (July 2006).

Official documentation

• Using the DataGrid Adobe Flash CS3 Documentation

• DataGrid (AS3 Language and components reference)
• fl.controls.dataGridClasses Reference manual for the controls (Adobe ActionScript 3.0 Language and Components Reference)

• fl.data Reference manual for data associated (Adobe ActionScript 3.0 Language and Components Reference)