I am trying to understand what is going on in a SWC that I am importing from Flash CS4 into Flex Builder 3. Specifically I am using a SWC supplied by a Designer as the animation for a custom preloader (a subclassed DownloadProgressBar).
The issue I am trying to understand is, once the FlexEvent.INIT_COMPLETE is fired, I cleanup by removing the swc by running this :
removeChild(myPreloader);
myPreloader = null;
though even after I have removed this (which is successful, as I have checked by comparing this.numChildren before and after the call) the key framed animation still continues to run (not visibly). This has been detected by the Designer placing a trace in the time line of the animation (in Flash).
Can anyone tell me why is it, that even after I have removed the animation from the subclassed DownloadProgressBar, it still keeps running ?
Also, is it standard practice when importing SWCs to manage the cleanup of resources from the Flash side of things (much like releasing memory in obj-c). I find it counter intuitive that removing the child from the Flex side does not stop the animation.
Any clues to this would be greatly appreciated.
Basically, your SWC file is nothing more than a ZIP containing a SWF. So what you're doing is removing a MovieClip from the stage, but it is NOT stopping or unloading it. You might want to try
myPreloader.stop();
to stop the animation and
myPreloaderLoader.unload();
after you removed the item from the stage to free up memory.
Beware, though: the Flash Player garbage collection does not always work correctly. If there is any kind of ActionScript running within myPreloader, chances are it will continue to run, and it will be ignored during garbage collection. It is usually best to include a clear() or destroy() method for all AS classes and call it upon Event.REMOVED_FROM_STAGE.
This would have to be done by your designer colleague, but in my experience it is the cleanest procedure.
Related
Well, it's a little ridiculous; and probably unbelievable, but when I have more than five hundred lines of actionscript in tags in my MXML FLEX Main.mxml, all syntax highlighting, error and syntax verification, error reporting, "Problems" pane, and even sometimes compilation fail. Upon removing any chunk of code, it works again.
I don't see why Adobe could release a product such as Flash Builder 4.5 Premium, have this big of a problem; and nobody notice. Therefore I believe the problem has to do with my computer, or my project; as there's now ay more people have had this happen if I can't even find it on Google.
Additionally, many objects that have been defined in the MXML properties above the code, even those in All States, are now showing as warning: Access of undefined property down the side of my document. However, these warnings are not showing up in the "Problems pane", and aren't even yellow squigly underlining the right sections of code to pertain to the message.
Steps I have taken to TRY and fix this:
I have tried restarting, as well as re-installing the IDE (Adobe Flash Builder 4.5).
I have tried creating a new project.
I have tried splitting my code into smaller .as files and including them.
I have tried compiling my application.
Nothing has worked, PLEASE HELP.
--
Edit 1: In response to the first answer, I have already tried increasing the memory allotted to Adobe Flash Builder 4.5 by editing the flashbuilder.ini and flashbuilderC.ini files in the main installation folder, it did not help; as my heap (heap display in bottom right) never uses more than 128MB anyways (even during compile) this did not fix anything.
You can try the following steps:
You can try to allocate additional memory for your Eclipse/Flash Builder by editing of eclipse.ini.
You can try to compile your project from the command line using mxmlc compiler and compare result.
You can try to split your code but not using just code including (which you should avoid forever) but extraction subcomponents (keywords are refactoring, OOP, composition etc.).
And of course you can use all of these advices together :)
Anyway you should avoid large code listings in a Script block of a single MXML file. The main purpose of Script block of MXML is to have simple and clear code with event handlers and required fields declarations.
I have one swf file in that i used fscommand to get final output when submit button clicked in that swf ,
i am loading that swf in SWFloader in flex3 .i need to get fscommand value as Alert, how to get that value first and display as alert.
Thanks in advance
fscommand cannot be used for communication between loaded and containing SWFs.
From livedocs
fscommand: Lets the SWF file communicate with either Flash Player or the program hosting Flash Player, such as a web browser. You can also use the fscommand() function to pass messages to Director or to Visual Basic, Visual C++, and other programs that can host ActiveX controls.
You can call a method in the loaded swf OR access its properties directly OR use events OR use local connection to pass data between parent and loaded SWFs.
TECHNICALLY this is feasible, but a bad idea. You'd need to register a callback which would call the child swf (generally done from the child swf). But, you will risk a good deal of headache, and you'll have to rely a lot more on the browser than other options. It would also be slower than an AS only solution.
You're much better off (in this order):
Using a shared Singleton. This allows for complete separation of the two
swf's without requiring any major coordination between the two. The only
real potential problem can be caused if you want the child swf to have its
own ApplicationDomain, but even with that, there are work-arounds
Using events. This can work if you have the child swf dispatch a bubbling,
non-cancel-able event and have the event.target recorded by the
parent swf. You may have to adjust to avoid
SecuritySandboxViolations, however.
Using LocalConnections. The two detriments to LocalConnections are:
You will need to continually re-generate unique connection names to
avoid the error thrown by connecting two LocalConnections to the same
channel.
LocalConnections do have bandwidth limitations which can call
slowdowns if there is a high volume of traffic or if the messages are
too large.
Using direct manipulations like loader.content.foo.bar.baz;
I don't like this solution because it is much harder to maintain. It is
also much worse from a design perspective: you want to use
encapsulation as much as possible in this situation -- this technique
actively works against that.
Will there be any difference between the swf generated by Flex Builder and mxmlc?
In my application, there is a page with certain fields to be filled in. Upon clicking a button, it opens up a popup. Upon selecting an option in the popup and clicking OK, it makes a request to the server, fetches some data and adds it to the main page.
When the swf is generated by the Flex Builder, everything works just fine. But when the same is generated using an ANT script, upon selecting a value from the popup, I get an error.
[ResultEvent messageId="8638F71F-BCB8-ACFD-E577-B6F97156374D" type="result" bubbles=false cancelable=true eventPhase=2]
This happens only when ANT is used for building the swf.
<mxmlc output="$swf_name" file="$mxml_name" allow-source-path-overlap="true" optimize="true">
I'm using the Cairngorm framework, and the swc is generated before hand.
<compc output="$swc_name">
Also there is a size difference between the final outputs.
The swf is 802 KB when generated from Flex Builder whereas its only 788 KB when generated using ANT. I haven't made any config changes in Flex Builder. It uses the default values(which I believe is optimized) for generating swf.
Am I doing anything wrong with ANT scripts? Do I need to use any different arguments so that I can remove the error which I get only when using the swf built by mxmlc?
Please provide your suggestions.
There could be differences between your configurations; have a look here -- this Adobe KB article might help you determine whether there are, and if so, what they might be so you can correct them:
http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/404/kb404341.html
I hesitate to mention this second part, because I haven't often toggled between the two compilers (I generally stick with one or the other), but I can say that I've noticed this issue before myself, and as I recall there was a brief mention, in Ely Greenfield's talk at MAX this past month, about a push with Flex 4 to achieve parity between Flex Builder's compilers and their SDK counterparts -- suggesting that such parity doesn't quite exist today. So while I don't have much in the way of details on that, it does seem there are some differences between the two.
Wish I could be more helpful on that -- maybe someone with a little more detail could chime in on it.
I can't get flash preloaders to work when there is a a # in the url of my page (even without any deep linking libraries or logic). I am using flex 3.3. Flash plugins 9 and 10, all browsers.
There is this bug regarding # in the url preventing preloaders from working:
http://bugs.adobe.com/jira/browse/SDK-14162
However, somehow, someone, somewhere has ways around this. Here are somewhat working examples (remember to clear your cache to ensure you see the preloader awesomeness):
http://www.adobecards.com/index.html#wtf
http://www.escriba.es/base_en.html#wtf
http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/onceuponatimeinmexico/site/mexico.html#wtf
http://instinct.ru/flash.html#wtf
http://www.alternativedesign.tv/plant5.html#wtf
However, these do not work (no preloader at all or momentarily stuck on 100%):
http://www.flashmagazine.com/articlefiles/preloader_finished.html#wtf
http://www.mariaclaudiacortes.com/colors/Colors.html#wtf
http://whoswestudios.com/flashsite.html#wtf
http://www.iotashan.com/examples/NotSoCustomPreloader/index.html#wtf
So, what is going on here? I suspect the flex framework.
Anyone know where to look in the flex code? Or is this bug deeper than anyone but adobe can fix?
Few things going on here.
(1) Looks like the quickest pre-loader from my #wtf examples is from Adobe. They load a very small container.swf, which then loads their 3mb main swf (amongst other biggies).
(2) Some of the others "preloaders" aren't really preloaders. Their opening animations play when the whole thing is loaded.
I believe the problem you are having is that you have your assets loading into the same frame as your preloader assets and code. Flash doesn't display a frame until it has been loaded to its entirety, cause your preloader not to be seen during load, and then covered up by the new asset after.
As a flex developer you do not have a timeline, so this is why it is important to use a small "container" as you call it or as loader movie. This movie is to have a tiny foot print so that it is available asap. Upon completion of load, the container can then call the main movie into itself, tracking the incoming data with the ProgressEvent.
It is hard to know exactly what the issue is from what you have said, but this is a common problem. Fonts, and any other embedded items either need to be embedded on frame 2 or laterm which I believe you can only do with the flash IDE, or you require the extra loader swf, lightweight and quick to load!
I have successfully deeplinked the following with preloaders
http://www.madagascargame.com
http://www.kungfupandagame.com
So, I have an application where I'll be loading any number of swfs into a SWFLoader and removing them at runtime. The issue is - they are all timeline based movies authored in Flash CS3. I have very little control over what is in the movie other than the authors are not able to program any interactivity (i.e. no event listeners) but I want to make sure I am using the best technique to stop and trash these things so they don't hang around in memory too long. Here is the process I use right now to get rid of them:
Try stopping the content using MovieClip(content).stop();
Remove any listeners that I know about (ENTER_FRAME, etc...)
Set the source of the SWFLoader to null.
cross fingers, pray, make sacrifice (human if need be)
So that seems to work but is some better (or more comprehensive) method that you guys use to accomplish this same task? In all honesty - I'm not entirely sure these things aren't just kept in memory but I don't hear them so I don't know that they are there...
That's pretty much right. Loader (what SWFLoader uses under the hood), removes it's loaded clip from the stage with .unload(), but depending on what the clip has referenced the clip still runs and events still fire.
Flash Player 10 added .unloadAndStop(), but that is mostly just doing the same thing you are.
You could also try giving an explicit SecurityDomain (and probably ApplicationDomain so any contained classes are separate as well) in the optional LoaderContext parameter to Loader.load(), to try to prevent it adding event listeners outside (if you don't trust the clip not to), and avoid forming any references to anything from the clip so it can be garbage collected — but apparently it might still not unload in some cases.