Interactive Adventures
Adobe Flex/Flash Training
Flash Fundamentals Flex Fundamentals

Flex Fundamentals

Flex is a program used to create Flash applications. Unlike the Flash animations you may have seen before, such as splash screens and navigation menus, the Flash applications that Flex builds are typically more functional and often involve interactive maps, charts, and grids. Flex is sometimes called "Flash for Developers." These applications can run on a web page or as standalone apps in the AIR (Adobe Interactive Runtime) environment.

This course is designed to give an overall feel for the basics of Flex/Flash and also for the student to come away with a strong understanding of how to create an application and publish it to the web. As part of the benefits of taking this course, you will be given a personal directory for the display of your Flex/Flash projects. This can be used as an example of your practical knowledge (Flash/Flex employers always request on-line samples).

There are no pre-requisites for this course, but a basic understanding of programming is helpful. Additionally there are no materials to buy (you will be able to download a trial copy of Flex Builder for 60 days) but a book on Flex and a book on Actionscript 3.0 is advised, such as the "Flex 3.0 Cookbook" and the "Actionscript 3.0 Cookbook", both from O'Reilly publishing. There are also on-line resources available but you must use the "login id/password" given to class members.

Week 1: Getting Started with Flex Builder

  • Understanding the relationship between Eclipse and Flex Builder
  • Exploring the Flex Builder interface
  • Creating a project and your first application
  • Creating a main application page and running it
  • Using debugging
  • Actionscript 3.0 basics
  • Getting help in Adobe Flex Builder

Week 2: Learning Flex Fundamentals

  • Creating a simple Flex application
  • Laying out a Flex application with containers
  • Adding user interface controls
  • Creating bindings between components
  • Architecting an application with MXML components
  • Creating properties and methods of MXML components

Week 3: Handling Events

  • Understanding events
  • Creating event handlers using inline ActionScript
  • Using inline ActionScript
  • Handling events with ActionScript functions
  • Placing ActionScript functions in external files
  • Understanding the event object
  • Implementing the addEventListener() method

Week 4: Using Simple Controls

  • Getting familiar with Flex controls
  • Using the Button control
  • Using a CheckBox Control
  • Using NumericStepper controls
  • Using Text controls
  • Displaying images
  • Creating custom controls with Actionscript 3.0

Week 5: Laying Out an Application with Containers

  • Understanding Containers
  • Using the Application container
  • Setting an application's layout
  • Using the Panel container
  • Using the Form container
  • Using the Grid container
  • Using Box Containers
  • Using the Tile container
  • Container best practices
  • Component layout and sizing rules

Week 6:Retrieving XML Data with HTTPService

  • Understanding XML Structure
  • Working with XML data in ActionScript 3
  • Retrieving XML data at runtime
  • Displaying Simple XML Data in a DataGrid
  • Handling results
  • Retrieving data at runtime with HTTPService
  • Handling results using an event handler
  • Handling faults

Week 7:Uploading Files to a Server

  • Implementing file transfer basics
  • Uploading a file
  • Back-end (host website) considerations
  • Streaming audio and video

Week 8: Using View States

  • Understanding view states
  • Creating two states for the Contact page
  • Controlling view states