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March 20  |  Extensions + Flash Builder + General  |  35 comments

Great New Extension for Flash Builder 4

Flash Builder 4 brings with it a ton of new features for Flash and Flex developers. The new data features, Flex 4 support, and tight integration with Flash Professional makes it a very exciting release. The one area where things could be improved is the ActionScript editing features. Our friends over at FDT have been putting in a host of great new features that I only wish were in Flash Builder.

Well I have just come across an awesome extension for Flash Builder 4 called SourceMate that can bridge the gap between Flash Builder and FDT. Below is a list of the features that you get:

Code Generation

  • Improved Getter/Setter Generation
  • Override/Implements Method Generation
  • Generate Constructor From Fields
  • Generate Constructor From Superclass
  • Generate toString()
  • Generate ASDoc Comments

Code Templates (i.e. Code Snippets)

  • Available via Content Assist and Templates View
  • Works in Both MXML and AS Files
  • Create Custom Templates
  • Import, Export, and Share Templates

Miscellaneous

  • Disable All trace() Statements
  • ASDoc Generation Wizard
  • Generate Ant build.xml from Project Settings
  • TODO, FIXME, and XXX Task Markers
  • Generate Event Handler in Actionscript
 Refactoring

  • Extract Constant
  • Extract Interface
  • Extract Method
  • Extract Variable
  • Change Method Signature
  • Convert Local Variable to Field

Metadata Features

  • Metadata Content Assist
  • Metadata Tag Validation
  • Import/Export Tag Configuration

I have been playing around with the extensions and have found it amazingly helpful. One thing to note is that the current build only works with pre-release versions of Flash Builder 4, not the public beta.

Lee


October 29  |  Eclipse + Extensions  |  108 comments

Flash Snippets panel for Flash Builder 4

I am releasing an early test version of the snippets panel that I have been working on for Flash Builder 4. Now this panel is essentially a re-skinned version of the great SnipTreeView panel that I modified to also work with MXML files. Now when I say this is an early version I really do mean it. Expect it not to work and if it does, well you will be pleasantly surprised then. Download the JAR file and place it into your Eclipse plugin folder. I am only really targeting Flash Builder 4 but you can try your luck with Flex Builder 3.

Please watch the video below to see how to use the panel and let me know in the comments if it worked for you. If it didn’t please let me know your OS, Eclipse version, and Builder version. Hope you like it!

Lee


February 22  |  Actionscript 3 + Extensions + Flash CS4  |  56 comments

New snippets panel for Flash CS4

Many of you will remember my snippets panel that I released a while back for Flash CS3. Well I have rebuilt it from scratch for Flash CS4. First of all I wanted to build it in Flex so I could take advantage of all the nice layout stuff. I also skinned the panel so it looks right at home with the other panels. Lastly I simplified the panel quite a bit to avoid bugs. All you do is click Edit XML and you will be able to edit it inside of Flash. When you are done just click Refresh to update the panel. The XML structure has also been changed to use CDATA sections for the code which makes it easier to create new snippets. You should be able to figure it out by looking at the XML file. Now it is important to note that the old panel will work in Flash CS4 and this version will work in Flash CS3.

To install, download the ZIP file and extract the contents to your WindowSWF directory. You can find that directory at the following locations:

Mac: /[USER]/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Flash CS4/en/Configuration/WindowSWF

Windows: \Documents and Settings\[USER]\Local Settings\Application Data\Adobe\Flash CS4\language\Configuration\WindowSWF

On Windows the path may be slightly different based on your OS. I’m sure you can do some investigation and find the directory.

Enjoy!
Lee


October 17  |  Extensions + Flash CS4  |  13 comments

Automatic Motion Preset Previews

After watching my last tutorial on creating your own animation presets, the folks over at Ajar Productions whipped up a nice extension that automatically creates the preview and places it in the appropriate directory. Very cool!

After downloading the extension, all you need to do is select the preset and run the command and the current document will be exported and used as the preview. Make sure that your current document is the one you want to use as a preview though. Great extension guys!

Lee


March 8  |  Actionscript 3 + Extensions + Snippets  |  45 comments

New AS3 Code Snippets Available

Here are four more code snippets that you can use with my Snippets panel for Flash CS3. The snippets included are described below:

New Document Class
This snippet creates a skeleton document class for your OOP Flash projects. Create a new ActionScript document inside of Flash and paste in the code to save yourself a bunch of time.

Play External Sound
This snippet includes the code needed to load and play an external sound file. It also sets up a SoundChannel and SoundTransform object in case you need to manipulate the audio stream.

Custom FLV Playback
This snippet creates the code needed to play back an external FLV file without using the FLVPlayback component. It takes care of all the setup including the onMetaData function.

Loading External Content
This snippet creates the code needed to load external content using the Loader class. It includes the progress event function and some math to trace out the percent loaded.

You can download the new snippets here.

Enjoy!
Lee


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