Extending Macromedia Flash MX 2004: Complete Guide and Reference to JavaScript Flash [Paperback]

Keith Peters (Author), Todd Yard (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 5, 2004 | ISBN-10: 1590593049 | ISBN-13: 978-1590593042 | Edition: 1

• Get up to speed with the latest Flash technology
• Create new Flash extensions
• Enhance your production workflow

With the release of Flash MX 2004, Macromedia gave us a brand-new Extensibility architecture layer, which let us look under the hood of Flash and extend its functionality. With the extensibility tools, which include behaviors, custom-made tools and commands, the JavaScript API (or JSFL), and the XML-to-UI API, you can literally extend Flash to do things it cannot do out of the box. Things such as adding new custom commands to the menu and customizing the tool bar, adding brand new, custom created tools. The commands could be as simple as drawing a commonly used shape on the stage, or as complex as creating an entire new Flash movie from scratch.

These features not only allow users to share code and effects more easily within the community or a production environment, but will also allow developers to package up and reuse more within Flash than was ever possible before, increasing productivity and decreasing production times. We now have the ability to take our designs further than ever before—if you have an idea for a new feature, you can just create it yourself and “plug it in”. This is the future of Flash!

Extending Macromedia Flash MX 2004 covers the entire spectrum of the extensibility architecture in Flash MX 2004. It includes in-depth tutorials on each new area—commands, tools, timeline effects, behaviors, use of the MMExecute command, executing Flash from the command line, and full coverage of XML to UI, which enables you to easily create custom user interfaces for your Flash Extensions. The final section of this book contains a comprehensive desktop reference to JavaScript Flash (JSFL), the new language that you'll use to create your Flash extensions.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Keith Peters lives in the vicinity of Boston with his wife, Kazumi, and their daughter, Kristine. He has been working with Flash since 1999, and has co-authored many books for friends of ED, including Flash MX Studio, Flash MX Most Wanted, and the ground-breaking Flash Math Creativity. In 2001, he started the experimental Flash site, BIT-101 (BIT-101.com), which strives for a new, cutting edge, open-source experiment each day. The site won an award at the Flashforward 2003 Flash Film Festival in the Experimental category. In addition to the experiments on the site, there are several highly regarded Flash tutorials which have been translated into many languages and are now posted on web sites throughout the world. Keith is currently working full time doing freelance and contract Flash development and various writing projects.

After studying theatre in London, then working for several years as an actor in the U.S., Todd Yard was introduced to Flash in 2000 and was quickly taken by how it allowed for both stunning creativity and programmatic logic application—a truly left-brain, right brain approach to production—and has not looked back. He now freelances as a Flash developer in New York City, creating both silly animations and utilitarian applications. His personal work and experimentation can be found at his website, 27Bobs.com.

Product Details

• Paperback: 470 pages
• Publisher: friendsofED; 1 edition (January 5, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1590593049
• ISBN-13: 978-1590593042
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #261,896 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #49 in Books > Computers & Technology > Graphic Design > Web Design > Flash

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book for teaching how to create Extensions, July 25, 2004

By 

Kirupa Chinnathambi "Computer/Design Geek" (Cambridge, MA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Extending Macromedia Flash MX 2004: Complete Guide and Reference to JavaScript Flash (Paperback)

If you are an advanced Flash user, Extending Flash MX 2004 may be just the right book for you. Written by veteran Flash developers Keith Peters (bit-101) and Todd Yard (ego7), this book introduces you to the world of extending Flash MX 2004 by teaching you how to create custom functions and features for the Flash MX 2004 authoring environment.

At first I had never heard about 'Extending' Flash MX 2004, but hopefully my following explanation may help you to understand this concept if you are new to this term. Imagine Flash MX 2004 being a customizable browser such as Firefox. In Firefox, you can download snippets of programs called extensions that add some cool, extra features to your browser. Creating new extensions for Flash MX 2004 is similar to developing extensions for your browser. Using a new language called JavaScript Flash (JSFL), you have the ability to create scripts, commands, behaviors, etc. that add new functionality to not a Flash animation, but to your actual Flash MX 2004 application itself.

This book teaches you how to use JavaScript Flash to create extensions - custom commands, menu items, and others things to help make repetitive tasks easier and enhance your Flash MX 2004 program. You start with the basics and progress towards complicated techniques. Early on you start by creating a command that, for example, allows you to take any shape and automatically arrange them on a user-defined grid. Towards the end, you move beyond simple commands and learn how to modify Behaviors, create custom interfaces using XML, and more!

Another great feature of this book is the expansive JavaScript Flash (JSFL) reference. The JSFL reference section contains all of the various items of the JSFL language that you can refer to when creating your own JSFL extensions. For any JSFL code item or property, you will find a description, the types of values it accepts, and a code example.

If you use Flash MX 2004 extensively and are interested in automating some of the repetitive tasks or adding new, useful features to Flash, you will find this book's coverage of this new topic excellent for intermediate and advanced users.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Extending Flash makes your life easy, June 29, 2004

By 

S. Robbins - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Extending Macromedia Flash MX 2004: Complete Guide and Reference to JavaScript Flash (Paperback)

Keith and Todd command a huge knowledge of one of the more interesting and productive new features of Flash MX 2004, extensibility. The authors guide you on your way to learning about these new features starting off with easy concepts and then moving into more specific areas. This book is essential for anyone who develops with Flash MX 2004, the skills and tools that you get from the book will streamline your work flow and improve your productivity. From JSFL commands, xml to UI, custom behaviors and custom tools this book will load your Flash IDE with tools and widgets to get the job done faster and smoother. Excellent book!

4.0 out of 5 stars Out of date but still useful!, September 20, 2011

By 

James - See all my reviews

This review is from: Extending Macromedia Flash MX 2004: Complete Guide and Reference to JavaScript Flash (Paperback)

This book is way out of date. It was recommended to me and I was very skeptical but if you are doing any sort of flash extension programming this book is worth it. Pretty much the best reason to buy it is for the JSFL(JavaScript Flash) reference in the back which is around 130 pages long. I withheld a star because there is a large amount of out of date material in the book. I gave it four stars because it really helped me get a handle on JSFL.