Touch My Pixel Blog » Flash http://blog.touchmypixel.com Games + Web : Interaction Matters Thu, 22 Jul 2010 04:18:49 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 en hourly 1 Workaround for AS2’s exclude.xml in AS3 http://blog.touchmypixel.com/2008/05/workaround-for-as2s-excludexml-in-as3/ http://blog.touchmypixel.com/2008/05/workaround-for-as2s-excludexml-in-as3/#comments Fri, 09 May 2008 04:02:36 +0000 tonyp http://blog.touchmypixel.com/?p=16 When creating external libraries, you often want the contents to have have a base class from your application. When you do this however, the whole application will often be compiled into your library due to its imports. This means two issues arise:

1/ You have a whole lot of duplicate code comipiled into your libraries, which will not be used (as when the lib is loaded any classes of the same name will not override the existing ones)

2/ It takes a bloody long time to compile your library (when it should be fast)

Solution:
The best way we have found to get around this is to create a empty classes, which work similar to intrinsics (but are totally empty -no functions, vars or imports), to replicate the base class.

Eg.
If in your application you have a class for example: 'sprites.enemies.Monster'
In your lib you will want to create an asset with identifier: 'Lib_Monster' and base class 'sprites.enemies.Monster'. Normally this would compile in the full Monster class and all its dependencies.

If you set up your lib.swf in a seperate folder to the application then create another class, lets call it a placeholder class, 'sprites.enemies.Monster' and just have it empty eg:

PLAIN TEXT
Actionscript:
  1. package sprites.enemies
  2. {
  3.     import flash.display.MovieClip;
  4.     public class Monster extends MovieClip{
  5.         public function Monster{}
  6.     }
  7. }

When it compiles the Lib_Monster will have the correct baseclass, but it will not include any code.

The trick is that, when the lib is loaded into your application the class 'sprites.enemies.Monster' will conflict. The application should have its own compiled version (the one with functionality) and when the lib loads in, it will ditch its version (the empty one) and adopt the existing (correct) version.

It only takes a few seconds to create the placeholder class for the library reference.

If you want to have the lib.fla in the same folder as the application, then you can even set up a different classpath for the lib. To do this go tot the publish settings and add a new classpath (eg. ./intrinsics). This path will be checked first for your placeholder class.

If for some crazzzy reason your classes arn't used (and so compiled) in the application (if you reference them with weak references), you will need to force them to be compiled in like this.

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]]> http://blog.touchmypixel.com/2008/05/workaround-for-as2s-excludexml-in-as3/feed/ 1 Forcing classes to compile in AS3 http://blog.touchmypixel.com/2008/05/forcing-classes-to-compile-in-as3/ http://blog.touchmypixel.com/2008/05/forcing-classes-to-compile-in-as3/#comments Fri, 09 May 2008 01:47:27 +0000 tonyp http://blog.touchmypixel.com/?p=15 when you use the "import package.Class; " or "import package.*; " in AS3 the class(s) is not forced to be imported. A class is only imported if you use it somewhere in your code.

The simplest way is to just type its name:

PLAIN TEXT


Actionscript:





    

  1. 

    import sprites.Ball
    

    2. 

  2. 

     
    

    3. 

  3. 

    public function init(){
    

    4. 

  4. 

       Ball;
    

    5. 

  5. 

       // Or for many at once
    

    6. 

  6. 

       (Ball,Dirt,Kid,People);
    

    7. 

  7. 

    } 
    

    8.

Just simply typing the class type somwhere in your application will force it to compile in. Why is this of any use you may ask?

We use it for level building in games, where you have a generic component as a placeholder used in flash to lay out content/levels. Your Ball class for instance, might then simply build itself using externally loaded assets, and attach itself to the stage. It may not need to be referenced anywhere in the application, but is still compiled in.

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]]> http://blog.touchmypixel.com/2008/05/forcing-classes-to-compile-in-as3/feed/ 3 AS3 Frame Based setInterval and setTimeout http://blog.touchmypixel.com/2008/05/as3-frame-based-setinterval-and-settimeout/ http://blog.touchmypixel.com/2008/05/as3-frame-based-setinterval-and-settimeout/#comments Mon, 05 May 2008 11:23:18 +0000 tarwin http://blog.touchmypixel.com/?p=14 Sometimes you want to be able to use a timeout or interval but, as they are tied to milliseconds, if the frame-rate of your movie goes down from what you expected - games is a good example - then you can run into trouble.

I recently had this problem with a game, that when the frame rate lowered, cyclic "emitters" (ie creating bubbles underwater) would not be synced with the expeted speed of the game.

The solution. A setInterval and setTimeout that you can set using milliseconds (or frames if you want) and will be called at the expected number of frames. The only caviet with this approach is that it needs to be inited with the stage object, both so it can get an ENTER_FRAME event and the current FPS.

FrameTimer.as >

Example Use

PLAIN TEXT
Actionscript:
  1. package {
  2.     import flash.display.MovieClip;
  3.     import com.touchmypixel.utils.FrameTimer;
  4.  
  5.     public class TOTest extends MovieClip{
  6.        
  7.         public function TOTest() {
  8.             FrameTimer.init(stage);
  9.             FrameTimer.setTimeout(2000, test1);
  10.             FrameTimer.setTimeout(2500, test1);
  11.             FrameTimer.setFrameTimeout(35, test2);
  12.             FrameTimer.setFrameTimeout(70, test2);
  13.             FrameTimer.setInterval(2000, test3);
  14.             FrameTimer.setFrameInterval(70, test5);
  15.            
  16.             var iv:int = FrameTimer.setFrameInterval(15, test6);
  17.             FrameTimer.clearInterval(iv);
  18.            
  19.             var to:int = FrameTimer.setTimeout(500, test7);
  20.             FrameTimer.clearTimeout(to);
  21.            
  22.         }
  23.  
  24.         private function test7():void {
  25.             // should never be printed
  26.             trace("NOT SHOWN------ Timeout: milliseconds");
  27.         }      
  28.        
  29.         private function test6():void {
  30.             // should never be printed
  31.             trace("NOT SHOWN------ Interval: frames");
  32.         }      
  33.        
  34.         private function test5():void{
  35.             trace("Interval: frames");
  36.         }
  37.        
  38.         private function test3():void{
  39.             trace("Interval: milliseconds");
  40.         }
  41.        
  42.         public function test1()
  43.         {
  44.             trace("Timeout: milliseconds");
  45.         }
  46.        
  47.         public function test2()
  48.         {
  49.             trace("Timeout: frames");
  50.         }
  51.     }
  52.    
  53. }

Source

It makes use of "internal classes" which I had not heard about until recently. I'm finding them really good in some cases and have heard they are actually faster than using non-defined objects ie {x:0, y:10} as the compiler can make optimizations to them. The only thing you need to remember is that they must be defined outside your package - which can be counter-intuitive and a little confusing at first.

PLAIN TEXT
Actionscript:
  1. /*
  2. * FrameTimer.as
  3. * Copyright: 2008 Touch My Pixel - www.touchmypixel.com - contact@touchmypixel.com
  4. * Please see X for discussion
  5. */
  6.  
  7. package com.touchmypixel.utils {
  8.    
  9.     import com.adobe.utils.DictionaryUtil;
  10.     import flash.display.Stage;
  11.     import flash.events.Event;
  12.     import flash.events.EventDispatcher;
  13.     import flash.utils.Dictionary;
  14.    
  15.     public class FrameTimer {
  16.        
  17.         private static var frameRate:int = 35;
  18.         private static var scope:Stage;
  19.         private static var timeouts:Dictionary;
  20.         private static var intervals:Dictionary;
  21.         private static var timoutsCounter:int = 1;
  22.         private static var intervalsCounter:int = 1;
  23.         private static var millisecondsPerFrame:int = 0;
  24.        
  25.         public function FrameTimer() {}
  26.        
  27.         public static function init(_scope:Stage)
  28.         {
  29.             frameRate = _scope.frameRate;
  30.             scope = _scope;
  31.             timeouts = new Dictionary();
  32.             intervals = new Dictionary();
  33.             millisecondsPerFrame = Math.round(1000 / frameRate);
  34.             scope.addEventListener(Event.ENTER_FRAME, doTimer);
  35.         }
  36.        
  37.         static private function doTimer(e:Event):void {
  38.             var to:TimeoutItem;
  39.             for each(to in timeouts) {
  40.                 if (--to.framesLeft == 0) {
  41.                     to.callback();
  42.                     delete timeouts[to];
  43.                 }
  44.             }
  45.            
  46.             var iv:IntervalItem;
  47.             for each(iv in intervals) {
  48.                 if (--iv.framesLeft == 0) {
  49.                     iv.callback();
  50.                     iv.framesLeft = iv.frameInterval;
  51.                 }
  52.             }
  53.         }
  54.        
  55.         /*==================================================================================*/
  56.         public static function setFrameTimeout(callback:Function, frames:int):int
  57.         {
  58.             if (scope != null) {
  59.                 timeouts[++timoutsCounter] = new TimeoutItem(frames, callback);
  60.                 return(timoutsCounter);
  61.             }else {
  62.                 trace("Please INIT with scope");
  63.             }
  64.             return(0);
  65.         }
  66.        
  67.         public static function setTimeout(callback:Function, milliseconds:int):int
  68.         {
  69.             if (scope != null) {
  70.                 timeouts[++timoutsCounter] = new TimeoutItem(Math.round(milliseconds/millisecondsPerFrame), callback);
  71.                 return(timoutsCounter);
  72.             }else {
  73.                 trace("Please INIT with scope");
  74.             }
  75.             return(0);
  76.         }
  77.        
  78.         public static function clearTimeout(key:int)
  79.         {
  80.             delete timeouts[key];
  81.         }
  82.        
  83.         /*==================================================================================*/
  84.         public static function setFrameInterval(callback:Function, frames:int):int
  85.         {
  86.             if (scope != null) {
  87.                 intervals[++intervalsCounter] = new IntervalItem(frames, callback);
  88.                 return(intervalsCounter);
  89.             }else {
  90.                 trace("Please INIT with scope");
  91.             }
  92.             return(0);
  93.         }
  94.        
  95.         public static function setInterval(callback:Function, milliseconds:int):int
  96.         {
  97.             if (scope != null) {
  98.                 intervals[++intervalsCounter] = new IntervalItem(Math.round(milliseconds/millisecondsPerFrame), callback);
  99.                 return(intervalsCounter);
  100.             }else {
  101.                 trace("Please INIT with scope");
  102.             }
  103.             return(0);
  104.         }
  105.        
  106.         public static function clearInterval(key:int)
  107.         {
  108.             delete intervals[key];
  109.         }
  110.        
  111.         /*==================================================================================*/
  112.         public static function clearAll()
  113.         {
  114.             timeouts = new Dictionary();
  115.             intervals = new Dictionary();
  116.         }
  117.        
  118.         public static function clearAllTimeout()
  119.         {
  120.             timeouts = new Dictionary();
  121.         }
  122.        
  123.         public static function clearAllIntervals()
  124.         {
  125.             intervals = new Dictionary();
  126.         }
  127.     }
  128. }
  129.  
  130. internal class TimeoutItem
  131. {
  132.     public var callback:Function;
  133.     public var framesLeft:int;
  134.    
  135.     public function TimeoutItem(_framesLeft:int, _callback:Function)
  136.     {
  137.         callback = _callback;
  138.         framesLeft = _framesLeft;
  139.     }
  140. }
  141.  
  142. internal class IntervalItem
  143. {
  144.     public var callback:Function;
  145.     public var framesLeft:int;
  146.     public var frameInterval:int;
  147.    
  148.     public function IntervalItem(_frameInterval:int, _callback:Function)
  149.     {
  150.         callback = _callback;
  151.         frameInterval = _frameInterval;
  152.         framesLeft = _frameInterval;
  153.     }
  154. }

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]]> http://blog.touchmypixel.com/2008/05/as3-frame-based-setinterval-and-settimeout/feed/ 2 JSFL: Select all classes of the selected type on layer http://blog.touchmypixel.com/2008/04/jsfl-select-all-classes-of-the-selected-type-on-layer/ http://blog.touchmypixel.com/2008/04/jsfl-select-all-classes-of-the-selected-type-on-layer/#comments Mon, 14 Apr 2008 06:15:12 +0000 tarwin http://blog.touchmypixel.com/?p=3 I've been playing with JSFL a little recently. It was really hard to begin finding any resources on how to use it and those I did find were pretty sparse with information. So to help the community out I'm going to start posting my experiments, some useful, some only good for me, for everyone to take a look at, take apart and generally learn from.

The first one is one of the simplest. It lets you select all Elements of the same class on the stage. Simply select one of them, say a RadioButton, then choose the TMP - Select Same Class from the Commands menu and all other RadioButton instances should be selected.


I've been using this in a game I've been creating. I just lazily drag a bunch of different enemies onto one layer, then when I want to seperate them onto different layers just use this command. Easy. So here it is.

PLAIN TEXT


JavaScript:





    

  1. 

    doc = fl.getDocumentDOM();
    

    2. 

  2. 

    s = doc.selection;
    

    3. 

  3. 

    if(s.length == 1){
    

    4. 

  4. 

        type = s[0].libraryItem.linkageBaseClass;
    

    5. 

  5. 

     
    

    6. 

  6. 

        var tl = doc.getTimeline()
    

    7. 

  7. 

        var elts = tl.layers[tl.currentLayer].frames[tl.currentFrame].elements;
    

    8. 

  8. 

     
    

    9. 

  9. 

        a = [];
    

    10. 

  10. 

        for(i=0; i <elts.length; i++){
    

    11. 

  11. 

            if(elts[i].libraryItem.linkageBaseClass == type){
    

    12. 

  12. 

                a.push(elts[i]);
    

    13. 

  13. 

            }
    

    14. 

  14. 

        }
    

    15. 

  15. 

        doc.selection = a;
    

    16. 

  16. 

    } 
    

    17.

Yeah, stupid directory I know. I'll show you how to make an MXP installer in a later post, to make it easier to send these things around.

The "fl." holds all the functions that a Flash specific in JSFL. The rest of the code is just plain old Javascript, so if you need help with that just do a search on the net for general Javascript documentation.

Firstly we create a variable doc to make it easier to access our current document. Then s which holds an array of all the Elements currently selected. We check to make sure that we've only selected one Element (we could at this stage do an fl.alert("message") to warn that there was more than one item selected. If there is only one item selected we get the type using the .libraryItem.linkageBaseClass and then set another variable tl to make it quick to access the current timeline.

The next bit is a bit complicated. I get all the elements on the current layer, in the current timeline and put them into the array elts. If someone wants to update this I'd suggest the first place to start would be to get it to select elements on ALL layers. Would be useful.

I then loop through the array of Elements and add them to a temporary array a, but only if their linkageBaseClass ist the same as the initially selected one (it's just a simple String).

Lastly, set the document selection to the temporary array of Elements.

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