Flash MX 2004: Developing Applications

2 days

Overview

As a prospective Web developer, you want to create engaging experiences for visitors to your sites. Thus far, you've probably created straightforward HTML, and you may have done some programming in languages such as JavaScript, but you haven't delved into Flash yet. In this course, you'll create rich Internet applications with Flash. The site you create will pull data from external sources, so it will respond to user choices based on the information in those files. You'll also create ActionScript programming to perform calculations and tailor the interface, and you will finish by publishing the final files in .swf format.

Course Objective

You will create rich internet applications using Flash MX 2004 to dynamically integrate with external data and respond to user actions.

Target student

The target student is the professional who wants to be an advanced developer of media technologies, on a path towards programming and Web development. Target customers are advertising agencies, marketing agencies, production houses, or departments that work in such disciplines within an organization.

Prerequisites

Experience with Windows Operating Systems and various Web browsers. Basic understanding of Object Oriented Programming, JavaScript, and Flash.

Exploring Macromedia Flash MX 2004

Define Rich Internet Applications
Orientation to Macromedia Flash MX 2004
The Process of Producing Flash Applications

Create a Presentation with Screens

Manipulate Screens
Manage Screen Content

Adding and Organizing Content

Creating and Manipulating Layers
Import Images
Adding Flash User Interface Components

Connecting to External Data

Dynamic Content in Flash
Orientation to XML
Connect to an External Data Source
Linking Retrieved Data to a Component
Create Dependent Components

Using ActionScript

Manage Commands with the Actions Panel
Trace a String
Populate a TextArea with ActionScript
Store Data in Variables

Manipulating Components with ActionScript

Create an Event Handler
Create a Form with Interactive Components

Controlling Application Flow

Create an If Statement
Create an If...Else Statement

Working with MovieClips

Create a MovieClip
Perform an Action on a MovieClip
Check for MovieClip Collisions
Attach a MovieClip from the Library

Using Built-In Classes

Create a TextField Object
Prepare an External Data Source for Use in Flash
Read Data from a Text File

Reusing Code with Functions

Streamline Code Using Built-In Functions
Create User-Defined Functions
Create Global Functions
Reference an External ActionScript File

Building a Navigation System

Create a Button
Display Screens from Menu Options
Display SWFs from Menu Options
Build a Submenu Using Screens

Gathering and Submitting User Data

Gather User Data with a Form
Create a Submit Button
Submit User Data

Publishing Flash Documents

Publishing