October 10, 2008
Some of you reading may be familiar with the fact that Adobe has decided to contribute AMF support to Zend Framework for deeper Flex and AIR integration. You might even be familiar with the fact that Adobe has decided to go on tour with rock stars like Kevin Hoyt to PHP groups spreading the good news while providing some ZF+AMF training. Riafox made the decision months back to use ZF for our back-end php code so as you can imagine we were pleasantly surprised by both announcements.
Speaking of pleasantly surprised, something funny happened to me today. I came into work all ready to grab the latest Zend_Amf from incubator and play with it to put together a post on how to integrate Zend Framework and Flex. To my surprise it wasn’t there. I knew it should be there, I had stopped to visit countless times before. It didn’t even leave a note, or a forwarding address. ”Could it be?” I asked myself as I began browsing trunk. Lo and behold there it was in all of its “I’m-going-to-be-in-the-next-release” glory.
Zend_Amf will be released in version 1.7 which is in the “sanity” (semi-nearing the release candidate) stage.
If you are curious, I compiled a snapshot of the Zend_Amf portion of the manual and stuck it here.
To celebrate, starting Tuesday 10/13 we are going to feature a 7 part series on building a complete rich Internet application a la Zend Framework and Flex using the new Zend_Amf component.
We hope to see you for that, but in the meantime here are some handy links:
Zend Amf Component Proposal
Zend Framework Trunk w/ Zend_AMF
Zend_Amf Manual
Cheers!
September 17, 2008
About iHawk Learning Systems
iHawk Learning Systems and RIA Fox, INC, worked together to create a revolutionary Learning Management System (LMS) to facilitate the Continuing Education (CE) of Real Estate agents, Mortgage Originators and Contractors, as well as to help educate the consumer. The owners of iHawk Learning Systems researched the available options for CE courses on the internet, and prepared a plan for an improved system. When they approached RIA Fox, INC, it sounded like the perfect candidate for a Rich Internet Application.
Rich Internet Applications
Rich Internet Applications (RIA) are web based or desktop based applications that allow for a more user-friendly and interactive experience than traditional websites or applications. In many cases, an RIA will look and function much like a desktop application, often making these applications much more intuitive for the average user.
Another benefit of an RIA is speed and responsiveness. The manner in which the data is passed back and forth between the user (client-side) and the backend (server-side) doesn’t require the page to be refreshed as the user interacts with it. This results in a smoother experience, with less waiting as the data on the page changes.
The iHawk Learning System Experience
Once a user registers on the iHawk site, buys a course, and opens that course, the course window will pop up and the timer will start. When the user is finished with the first page, they click on the arrow and move to the next. There is a test at the end of each section, and if the user is wrong about an answer, they get another chance to answer correctly until they get the right answer. They can then move to the next section. The user can go back to any page they have previously viewed.
If the user is away from the computer for 5 minutes, the countdown stops and a message pops up to inform the user that they need to be at the computer to continue. If the user needs to close the course, they can use the Save and Exit button and their time used as well as their position in the course will be saved for when they return.
After the user views all the pages in the course, answers all the questions on each test correctly, and their time has run out, they are finished with that course. Upon completion, the user fills out a short survey, and then can print out their certificate for the course, stating they have fulfilled their credit requirements.
Check out this project by going to the iHawk Learning Systems site.
The Future of the Learning Management System
iHawk Learning Systems hopes to expand their course offerings to as many states as possible, for all four categories of Continuing Education. They will continue to provide quality courses, as well as useful information for consumers.
RIA Fox, INC is planning on looking for other companies in different industries that can use this versatile course and testing system.
September 17, 2008
By: bmw
The Adobe Developers of Idaho and the Boise Adobe Users and Graphic Design Group have come together to start a new program called <dev>. <dev> offers non-profit companies an opportunity to work with a team comprised of user group members to develop a Rich Internet Application (RIA) for their organization.
As the head of the Adobe Developers of Idaho, RIA Fox, Inc. is excited to be sponsoring <dev>. Rich Internet Applications are our passion, and we believe this is a valuable opportunity to increase involvement in user groups while providing a free service to non-profit organizations.
User groups are an excellent way to meet and collaborate with other skilled developers who share an excitement for Adobe Flex and RIA Technology. Application development is moving towards a more team-based environment. We believe that participating developers and designers will gain valuable experience by sharing innovative ideas in collaboration with other skilled individuals.
For more information visit the Adobe Developers of Idaho website athttp://adidaho.org/devRIA.php.
September 17, 2008
By: Jonathan Marecki
When I first started writing Flex applications, I needed to get the useHandCursor property to work. Many will find that settinguseHandCursor=true doesn’t really do anything. After doing a little research, I found a couple different ways for doing getting the hand cursor to work.
The first way is creating a custom hand yourself and use the CursorManager class to set a new cursor icon. Use the mouseOver and mouseOut Events to set and remove the new cursor using these two methods.
import mx.managers.CursorManager;
[Embed(source="/images/pointer.png")]
private var handCursorSymbol:Class;
private var _numCursorID:Number;
public function createPointer(event:Event):void{
_numCursorID = CursorManager.setCursor(handCursorSymbol);
}
public function destroyPointer(event:Event):void{
CursorManager.removeAllCursors();
}
After adding my new cursor to the screen, the positioning of the pointer is off a little. When I moused over the component, I found that when the cursor changed over to my new pointer that the pointer wasn’t even on the component. There is an offset attribute you can use to position your new cursor.
_numCursorID = CursorManager.setCursor(handCursorSymbol, 2.0,-8);
For more information on the CursorManager Class go to flex language reference.
If you don’t want to have to create your own hand icon, the second way to get a hand cursor working is to use a mouseOver Event.
mouseOver="event.target.onRelease=null;event.target.useHandCursor=true;"
I found this example over at Prismix Blog. Check it out to learn more about how it works.
The third and the easiest way to use change the cursor to the hand cursor, is just change a couple of properties.
useHandCursor="true"
buttonMode="true"
If the component has children also set mouseChildren="false"
Here are a couple of different ways you can turn on useHandCursor and how to create a custom cursor.
http://livedocs.adobe.com/flex/201/langref/flash/display/Sprite.html#useHandCursor
Hopefully this will save you some time.
September 17, 2008
By: megan
Last Wednesday I went to the Boise Graphic Design Meetup and it was a great experience. The last time I went to the meetup, there were about 10-15 people there. I hadn’t been to a meeting in a few months, for various reasons. Last week, there were 30-35 people! And apparently last month there were upwards of 50!! It’s great to have such an awesome group coming together; it’s an amazing resource for local designers.
A few of us were talking towards the end about how much we miss the collaboration and sense of community we had in school. The meetup provides that sort of community, and an opportunity to meet many very talented people.
The presentation of Flash techniques given by Randy Jamison from Curious Media was very interesting and entertaining. Getting to see the work of a Flash professional was great, and I picked up a few ideas and techniques to try.
I’m looking forward to next month, and seeing everyone again. We’re looking for a bigger venue to call “home”, so if anyone has any ideas we’re open to suggestions!
September 17, 2008
Adobe Photoshop Express is out and in beta. This RIA is free and allows you to show and share your photos and also includes photo editing capabilities to edit your images right online. 2 Gigabytes of storage come with the account. Adobe Photoshop Express also allows you to upload photos from various social networking sites as well.
http://www.photoshop.com/express
You can find the complete press release here
