Grant Skinner recently posted his lecture notes on optimization and garbage collection (from FlashForward 2006 Austin). Grant explains what garbage collection is, how garbage collection works in ActionScript 3.0, and what strategies you should follow when managing a program's resources. Well worth a look.
>> view Grant's resource management lecture notes
See also Grant's collection of articles on resource management
Thanks for filling this documentation gap Grant!
flash player 9 for linux, beta 1 has just been released.
if you're interested in the development of Flash Player on linux, you might enjoy Flash Player engineer Tinic Uro's comments, as well as Mike Melanson's ongoing development blog.
O'Reilly has just added three new chapters to Essential ActionScript 3.0 on Rough Cuts. The current list of chapters available is now as follows:
Chapter 16, The Display API and the Display List
Chapter 17, Events and Display Hierarchies
Chapter 18, Interactivity
Chapter 24, Loading External Display Assets
>> Visit Essential ActionScript 3.0's Official Rough Cuts Page
To use the Tween class in an ActionScript Project in Flex Builder 2 you must include all dependent class libraries in the application's library path. Specifically, you must include the Flex framework's framework.swc and the appropriate version of framework_rb.swc, depending on the current language. The framework_rb.swc library is necessary because Tween references UIComponent, which references framework_rb.swc.
Here's how to gain access to the Tween class:
First, follow these steps to add framework.swc to the Library path:
1) In the Navigator, select the project's root folder.
2) Select Project > Properties.
3) Select ActionScript Build Path > Library path.
4) Select Add SWC...
5) In the Add SWC dialog, enter: ${FRAMEWORKS}/libs/framework.swc
6) Hit OK. Hit OK.
Next, follow these steps to add framework_rb.swc's for folder to the Library path:
1) In the Navigator, select the project's root folder.
2) Select Project > Properties.
3) Select ActionScript Build Path > Library path.
4) Select Add SWC Folder...
5) In the Add SWC dialog, enter: ${FRAMEWORKS}/locale/{locale}
6) Hit OK. Hit OK.
Bingo. Tween at will.
If you forget to add framework_rb.swc to your Library path, you'll see this error: "Unable to resolve a class for ResourceBundle". Which is just the compiler's way of telling you that it can't find one of the dependencies for the Tween class.
Warning: the preceding technique works, but it also yanks in approximately 100kb of dependent code.
The first pre-release chapter of Essential ActionScript 3.0 is now available through O'Reilly's "Rough Cuts" service.
>> Visit Essential ActionScript 3.0's Official Rough Cuts Page
Through the Rough Cuts service, you can purchase access to Essential ActionScript 3.0 chapters as they are completed, before the book is published. For now, only one chapter is available: Loading External Display Assets (50 pages). But very soon another chapter--"Flash Player Security Restrictions"--will be added. And new chapters will be posted regularly until the book is complete (at which time, the entire manuscript will be accessible online). I'll post a note on this blog every time a new chapter becomes available.
Note that all Essential ActionScript 3.0 content posted on Rough Cuts is content-complete, and has had an official technical review, but is still under editorial review. In other words, the content is reliable and accurate, but still needs some editorial polishing. That said, it's not too late to fix errors; comments on Rough Cuts material (especially regarding technical inaccuracy) are welcome and encouraged. If you find any errors, please let me know at "colin" [at character] "moock.org".
Access to Essential ActionScript 3.0 on Rough Cuts can be purchased on its own or in combination with a pre-purchase of the printed book (see the above link).
>> Read more about Rough Cuts here
My thanks to O'Reilly for creating such a neat publication service. It's real swell to be able to share this information right away rather than waiting for it to be printed.
The beta version of Flash Player 9 Update 1 is now available on Adobe Labs. The new release includes:
* a new feature to enable full screen mode in the web player (mostly for video playback)
* some bug fixes (see release notes below)
* New ADDED_TO_STAGE and REMOVED_FROM_STAGE events
* support for Windows Vista
>> download the updater
>> read the list of new features and bug fixes