Archive for the 'flex' Category

 

Flexible Navigation – Wordpress Plugin *beta

Jun 13, 2008 in flex, php, wordpress

Beta release 0.09

Download it here

This Plugin adds a Flex Accordion Navigation to your wordpress instance. This plugin is perfect for those sites that have out of control links in the sidebar. With Flexible-Navigation you can simple use one function call in the sidbar to generate an accordion navigation.

add AddFlexNav(); anywhere you would like to add the navigation. (most commonly the sidebar.php file of your theme.)

Flexible navigation takes your links, posts and catagories and creates an accordion navigation. You may customize this from the admin menu or by editing the php file itself.

more to come!

31 Comments »

flex accordion navigation xml updated for 3.0

Jun 03, 2008 in flex, internet, php

Since it seems I get much traffic from the accordion navigation, I decided to come up with a new example updated for flex 3.0.

I left the flexlib out in this version, so the mxml should compile by itself. Also, to make this example even more dynamic, I use some php along with a flash variable to ready the url of the httpService at page load. This makes it possible to load different XML documents, and therefore create different navs based on…well whatever you want. For this example I use rand(1,2) to pick randomly between 2 different properties files.

Here is the example

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<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<mx:Application xmlns:mx="http://www.adobe.com/2006/mxml" xmlns="*"
layout="vertical" viewSourceURL="srcview/index.html" backgroundColor="#ffffff"
creationComplete="init();">
<mx:Script>
<![CDATA[
 
import mx.collections.ArrayCollection;
import mx.utils.ArrayUtil;
import mx.rpc.events.ResultEvent;
//[Bindable]
//public var navData:ArrayCollection;
 
[Bindable]public var str:String;
 
[Bindable] public var httpServiceURL:String;
[Bindable] public var appHeight:Number;
[Bindable] public var appWidth:Number;
 
[Bindable]public var xmlData:Object = new Object();
[Bindable]public var headingData:Object = new Object();
[Bindable]public var linkData:Object = new Object();
 
private function init():void{
httpServiceURL=Application.application.parameters.httpServiceURL;
appHeight=Application.application.parameters.appHeight
appWidth=Application.application.parameters.appHeight
srv.send();
}
 
private function getHeadings(evt:ResultEvent):void{
xmlData = evt.result;
headingData = xmlData.a_nav;
}
 
private function getLinkObject(a:Number):Object{
linkData = headingData.heading[a];
return linkData;
}
 
]]>
</mx:Script>
 
<mx:Style>
Application {
backgroundGradientColors: #FFFFFF, #FFFFFF;
backgroundGradientAlphas: 1, 1;
vertical-align: top;
horizontal-align: center;
padding-top: 0px;
padding-left: 5px;
padding-right: 0px;
}
 
Accordion {
textRollOverColor: #FFFFFF;
textSelectedColor: #FFFFFF;
color: #FFFFFF;
headerHeight: 35;
vertical-gap: 5;
background-alpha:0;
open-duration:500;
border-style:none;
 
}
 
.gradientHeaderSquare {
font-family: Verdana;
borderColors: #AAB1CD, #AAB1CD;
overBorderColors: #FFFFFF, #FFFFFF;
selectedBorderColors: #FFFFFF, #FFFFFF;
borderThickness: 2;
color: #FFFFFF;
borderAlpha: 1;
fillColors: #7f8182, #7f8182;
fillAlphas: 1, 1;
fillColorRatios: 0, 255;
overFillColors: #FFFFFF, #FFFFFF;
overFillAlphas: 1, 1;
overFillColorRatios: 0, 169;
selectedFillColors:#000000, #000000;
selectedFillAlphas: 1,1;
fontSize: 13;
padding-left: 10px;
padding-top: 0px;
}
 
.gradientHeaderRound {
cornerRadius: 20;
font-family: Verdana;
borderColors: #AAB1CD, #AAB1CD;
overBorderColors: #FFFFFF, #FFFFFF;
selectedBorderColors: #FFFFFF, #FFFFFF;
borderThickness: 2;
color: #FFFFFF;
borderAlpha: 1;
fillColors: #7f8182, #7f8182;
fillAlphas: 1, 1;
fillColorRatios: 0, 255;
overFillColors: #FFFFFF, #FFFFFF;
overFillAlphas: 1, 1;
overFillColorRatios: 0, 169;
selectedFillColors:#000000, #000000;
selectedFillAlphas: 1,1;
fontSize: 13;
padding-left: 10px;
padding-top: 0px;
}
 
LinkButton {
fontSize: 10px;
rollOverColor: #fafafa;
selectionColor: #fafafa;
color: #0B357F;
textRollOverColor: #25bbfc;
textSelectedColor: #0B357F;
padding-left: 15px;
padding-top: 5px;
}
 
.headerBox {
font-weight: bold;
color: #FFFFFF;
}
 
</mx:Style>
 
<mx:HTTPService id="srv" url="{httpServiceURL}" resultFormat="object" result="getHeadings(event);"/>
 
<mx:Accordion id="accordion" width="{appHeight}" height="{appWidth}" headerStyleName="gradientHeaderRound">
 
<mx:Repeater id="rep" dataProvider="{headingData.heading}">
<mx:VBox label="{rep.currentItem.title}" styleName="headerBox" backgroundColor="#fafafa" width="{rep.currentItem.width}" height="{rep.currentItem.height}">
<mx:Repeater id="rep2" dataProvider="{getLinkObject(rep.currentIndex).link}">
<mx:LinkButton buttonDown="navigateToURL(new URLRequest(event.currentTarget.getRepeaterItem()), '_top')" label="{rep2.currentItem.linkname}" />
</mx:Repeater
</mx:VBox>
 
</mx:Repeater>
 
</mx:Accordion>
 
 
</mx:Application>

as you can see for this example I have decided to use Object instead of ArrayCollection. I just found it easier to get the data than using e4x.

Download the complete example to see how the index file that embeds this swf generates the service that will be used to create the navigation.

Here is the result

Here is the full source

Updated: 6-12-08 : I had a needless function that was causing a bug. Works as it should now ;)

6 Comments »

Flex ticker messages, the basic idea

Jan 16, 2008 in flex

The other day I decided to write a small flex app that presents a very basic ticker message for presenting important information on a site. This example is pretty simple, and could easily be modified to include actionable links (using LinkButton instead of Label).

Here is the MXML

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<mx:Application xmlns:mx="http://www.adobe.com/2006/mxml" backgroundColor="#ffffff" initialize="resetText();"><mx:Script>
<![CDATA[
 
// Event handler for the effectEnd event.
private function endEffectHandler():void {
moveText();
}
 
private function moveText():void {
myMove.end();
myMove.duration=8000;
myMove.xTo=-600;
myMove.play();
 
}
 
private function resetText():void {
myMove.end();
text.x=500;
moveText();
}
 
]]>
</mx:Script>
 
<mx:Style>
 
Application {
backgroundGradientColors: #FFFFFF, #FFFFFF;
backgroundGradientAlphas: 1, 1;
vertical-align: top;
horizontal-align: center;
padding-top: 0px;
padding-left: 5px;
padding-right: 0px;
}
 
.tickerWindow{
 
}
 
Label {
fontSize: 20px;
color: #FFFFFF;
fontFamily: Verdana;
}
</mx:Style>
 
<mx:Move id="myMove" target="{text}" effectEnd="resetText();" />
 
<mx:Panel title="Information" height="125" width="500"
paddingTop="10" paddingLeft="10" paddingRight="10" paddingBottom="10" backgroundColor="#ffffff">
 
<mx:HBox  id="tickerWindow" height="65" width="450"  borderStyle="solid" paddingTop="10" paddingBottom="10" backgroundColor="#ff0000"
paddingLeft="10" paddingRight="10" horizontalScrollPolicy="off">
 
<mx:Label y="15" id="text" text="a very extra super important message here" />
 
</mx:HBox>
 
</mx:Panel>
</mx:Application>

3 Comments »

flex accordion navigation using xml

Jan 07, 2008 in flex

Today I would like to share a flex application I think may be very useful to someone. Imagine you need to generate an accordion navigation with dynamic content such as the one used on the second level of cnn’s website. You would like to be able to use the same application over without massive effort, or copying and pasting code blocks all over the place. Sure this could be done with a mountain of javascript, or you might want to consider flex. For those with experience using flex, I present the mxml file free of charge. For those without any experience with flex, you may want to read a tutorial before jumping into this example.

 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?><mx:Application
xmlns:mx="http://www.adobe.com/2006/mxml" xmlns="*" xmlns:flexlib="http://code.google.com/p/flexlib/"
layout="vertical" viewSourceURL="srcview/index.html" backgroundColor="#ffffff"
creationComplete="srv.send();"<mx:Script>
<![CDATA[
 
import mx.collections.ArrayCollection;
import mx.utils.ArrayUtil;
[Bindable]
public var navData:ArrayCollection;
 
[Bindable]
public var index:int=-1;
 
]]>
</mx:Script>
 
<mx:Style>
Application {
backgroundGradientColors: #FFFFFF, #FFFFFF;
backgroundGradientAlphas: 1, 1;
vertical-align: top;
horizontal-align: center;
padding-top: 0px;
padding-left: 5px;
padding-right: 0px;
}
 
VAccordion {
textRollOverColor: #FFFFFF;
textSelectedColor: #FFFFFF;
color: #FFFFFF;
headerHeight: 35;
vertical-gap: 5;
background-alpha:0;
open-duration:500;
border-style:none;
 
header-style-name: gradientHeader;
 
}
 
.gradientHeader {
 
font-family: Verdana;
cornerRadii: 10, 10, 10, 10;
borderColors: #AAB1CD, #AAB1CD;
overBorderColors: #FFFFFF, #FFFFFF;
selectedBorderColors: #FFFFFF, #FFFFFF;
borderThickness: 2;
color: #FFFFFF;
borderAlpha: 1;
fillColors: #7f8182, #7f8182;
fillAlphas: 1, 1;
fillColorRatios: 0, 255;
overFillColors: #FFFFFF, #FFFFFF;
overFillAlphas: 1, 1;
overFillColorRatios: 0, 169;
selectedFillColors:#000000, #000000;
selectedFillAlphas: 1,1;
 
fontSize: 13;
padding-left: 10px;
padding-top: 0px;
 
}
 
LinkButton {
fontSize: 10px;
rollOverColor: #fafafa;
selectionColor: #fafafa;
color: #0B357F;
textRollOverColor: #25bbfc;
textSelectedColor: #0B357F;
padding-left: 15px;
padding-top: 5px;
}
 
.headerBox {
font-weight: bold;
color: #FFFFFF;
}
 
.students {
padding-top: 0px;
}
 
.medical {
padding-top: 0px;
}
 
.employ {
padding-top: 0px;
}
 
.services {
padding-top: 0px;
}
 
.label {
font-weight: bold;
color: #FFFFFF;
}
 
VBox{
 
}
 
</mx:Style>
 
<mx:HTTPService id="srv" url="properties.xml" resultFormat="e4x" />
 
<mx:XMLListCollection id="headingData" source="{srv.lastResult.heading}" />
<mx:XMLListCollection id="linksData" source="{srv.lastResult.heading.link.@linkname}" />
 
<flexlib:VAccordion id="accordion" headerRenderer="Header" width="238" height="230" >
 
<mx:Repeater id="rep" dataProvider="{headingData}">
<mx:VBox label="{rep.currentItem.@title}" styleName="headerBox"  backgroundColor="#fafafa" width="{rep.currentItem.@width}" height="{rep.currentItem.@height}">
 
<mx:Repeater id="linkrep" dataProvider="{rep.currentItem.link}">
<mx:LinkButton buttonDown="navigateToURL(new URLRequest(event.currentTarget.getRepeaterItem()), '_top')"  label="{linksData.getItemAt(index+=1)}" />
</mx:Repeater>
 
</mx:VBox>
</mx:Repeater>
 
</flexlib:VAccordion>
 
</mx:Application>

What this application does is loads data from an XML properties file containing the titles for the headers, the names for the links, and the URLs. I think the example is pretty straight forward.

To compile this you will need the flexlib.swf added to your flex/frameworks/libs folder as well as the header.mxml file which is used to allow the accordion to activate on mouse-over. The header.mxml file was found on http://dougmccune.com although the exact post escapes me now.

Here is the result

http://www.dreamwagon.com/flex/examples/accordion/

The xml properties file is herehttp://www.dreamwagon.com/flex/examples/accordion/properties.xmlThe source file can be copied from above or downloaded

http://www.dreamwagon.com/flex/examples/accordion/AccordionNavigation.mxml

and the header http://www.dreamwagon.com/flex/examples/accordion/Header.mxml

And finally the flexlib can be found here

http://code.google.com/p/flexlib/downloads/list

Of course you may take out the reference to the header and to the flexlib and complile the AccordionNavigation.mxml alone if you like.

Happy Flexing!

4 Comments »