What Causes Flash Error #2012 (Can't instantiate class)? - apache-flex

I am new to ActionScript 3 and have run into a problem:
Using Flex Builder 3, I have a created a project with a few simple classes. If code in class A instantiates an object of class B (class B is in its own source file) then the code compiles fine, but I get the following run time error:
ArgumentError: Error #2012: B class cannot be instantiated.
Can someone explain what I'm doing wrong?
Update: Please see my own answer below (I could not vote it to the top since I'm not yet registered).

I finally realized what was wrong: Class B was subclassing from DisplayObject which I now see is an abstract class. Class B did not implement the abstract members, thus the error. I'll probably change class B to subclass from Sprite instead.
This seems like a problem that should have been caught by the compiler. Does the fact that it wasn't mean implementation of abstract members can wait until run time? Even if so, it would be nice to at least get a compiler warning.
Thanks for everyone's answers, hopefully they will help others who run into error 2012.

This usually means that the class information was not included in the SWF.
Make sure that you are importing the class, and that there is a reference to it somewhere (so the compiler will included it in the SWF).
btw, here are the runtime error codes:
http://livedocs.adobe.com/flex/201/langref/runtimeErrors.html
(not much useful info though)
mike chambers
mesh#adobe.com

It's worth noting that if you're including classes that someone else built, and they used Flash CS3 and you're using Flex, or vice versa, that the core libraries of each are different and some things are not included in both. Check out the two reference docs to be sure:
CS3: http://livedocs.adobe.com/flash/9.0/ActionScriptLangRefV3/
Flex: http://livedocs.adobe.com/flex/2/langref/

Related

0 references showing for classes called by convention

VS2015 shows how many references there are to a class.
However if the class is started by WebApplication.Run the references are not shown.
The highlighted code does get executed when the application is run.
Is there any way to get the reference count for the Configure method?
Here are two reasons ;)
The Startup Class is invoked by reflection (it does not implement an interface)
I doubt that code pieces outside of your local source code will influence the reference count. So even if somewhere deep in WebApplication.Run the Configure method is invoked (assuming directly over some magic interface), the reference code will not rise. Make sense, otherwise the counter for string would have overflow ;)

what is the fastest way to get all attributes from a class?

I'm working in a tool that is supposed to generate some Java Code to accelerate part of the development based in a swing input dialog...there is no need to get any further with it so I'm going to my problem...
I need to retrieve all the attributes from a class to check whenever it is necessary to add a new one. I tried to use reflection but things started getting complicated. In order to use reflection I need to compile the class I want to get the attributes as it does not work directly from .java file, .class is required for it.
The problem is that many of the classes has a lot of dependencies! Due to some design flaws some classes are a high coupled, so if I am supposed to dynamic use a class loader to compile a class A I would have to retrieve and compile all its dependencies! And then retrieve all the possible dependencies from the class A dependency classes!
I made a test running an existing ant file to compile to whole project instead of the above approach but it takes about 9 minutes to finish! From the final user perspective waiting 9 minutes every run is not accetable!
Does any one here knows a better solution???
If you want to avoid working with reflection and bytecode, it means that you will have to parse the .java files yourself with a grammar and, well, a parser based on this grammar. It is possible (especially if you do not implement the whole grammar, because many java features might be useless in your project perimeter), but I reckon this is no easy task.
There is an Apache commons Sandbox package called ClassScan. It is capable of doing the kind of source parsing you appear to require. http://commons.apache.org/sandbox/commons-classscan/. Note that it is in the Sandbox, so not part of the Commons Proper.

Can i compile without life cycle method in EJB 2.0?

iam begineer in ejb's.I have one doubt in ejb 2.0,In session beans,i will create() with out args in EJBhome.But i didn't define any methods i.e., ejbcreate and ejbremove in the bean.So,Can i compile or run this code without those method in the bean?.
You can compile it but cannot run it. You must have a matching ejbCreate() method in your bean class.
If you are very new to EJB I recommend testing your code with OpenEJB (here's a getting started video). Not because I work on the project (which I do), but because we aggressively check code for mistakes and will print clear errors as to what you might have done wrong.
The output can come in 3 levels of verbosity. On the most verbose level, the output is more email response oriented and error messages include information like "put code like this -code-sample- in your bean." The code samples even try to use your method names and parameter names where possible.
As well it is compiler style. Meaning if you made the same mistake in 10 places, you will see all 10 in the first run and then have the opportunity to fix them all at once. Rather than the traditional style of fix 1 issue, compile, test, get same error elsewhere in code, repeat N times.
And of course you can still deploy into another EJB container. Sounds like you are stuck using a pretty old one if you have to use EJB 2.0.
Here's a list of some of the mistakes that are checked

Spark lifecycle changes between Flex 4.5 and 4.6

I have recently migrated some of my projects to the shiny new Flex 4.6 SDK. I wasn't expecting much trouble since it was only a minor release. But as a matter of fact I got hundreds of errors all over the place. These errors would mostly come from Spark SkinnableComponents; for example:
override protected function getCurrentSkinState():String {
return mySkinPart.someProperty ? "normal" : "someOtherState";
}
would work just fine under 4.5, but would throw me a nullpointer error in 4.6. The reason is simple enough: in 4.6 getCurrentSkinState() is called before the skinparts are created, whereas in 4.5 I could be certain that the skinparts in the default state would be there.
Further investigation led me to believe that the initial state of a Skin is now undefined instead of the first state in the States array (until it calls getCurrentSkinState() that is).
Fixing these problems is usually pretty easy and requires just somewhat more defensive programming from my part. But that's not my real issue.
The real issue is that if the component lifecycle has changed, I'd like to know exactly what has changed and what parts of my projects might be affected.
I would be very appreciative if someone could shed some light on this or at least point me to the right place where I can read all about it (because the only release notes I could find were only covering the new mobile components).
Edit (this doesn't change the question; I just wanted to share my findings with you)
Another issue I just ran into: the dynamic modifier seems to no longer be inherited by subclasses. This is a pure ActionScript issue, so I guess it's the compiler that treats it differently.
Let me explain. Consider this class:
public class MyClass extends Array { }
Now, if I try to push a new item into this custom Array like this:
var t:Array = new MyClass();
t.push("hello");
SDK 4.5.1: no problem
SDK 4.6: "Cannot create property 0 on MyClass" at runtime
Apparently that's because Array is dynamic and MyClass isn't, so it's easily fixed:
public dynamic class MyClass extends Array { }
and the error's gone.
But what if I used a third-party library that has code like this and to which I had no source code access? My application would break and there's no way I could fix it. I mean: come on, that's no minor change for a dot-release.
I think there are two questions in there.
1 ) The real issue is that if the component lifecycle has changed, I'd
like to know exactly what has changed and what parts of my projects
might be affected.
I haven't seen a comprehensive low-level analysis of the differences between the two version. If you are really concerned, and you have the time to spare, you could use a diff tool to compare the source code for the two SDK's. There shouldn't be too many major structural changes - e.g. renamed classes or packages, so it might not be so bad. I expect a lot of classes won't have changed at all.
2 ) Another issue I just ran into: the dynamic modifier seems to no longer
be inherited by subclasses. This is a pure ActionScript issue, so I
guess it's the compiler that treats it differently.
This one is easier. dynamic has never been inherited. Object is dynamic, so if the attribute was inherited every class would have to be dynamic too.
If there appears to be a change in behaviour related to dynamic class instances, then there is something else going on in your code.

Documentation of the lesser know AS3 properties

Over the past three weeks, I have lost at least 120 man hours because of some lesser known functionality in ActionScript 3. One of the problems was that, with Internet Explorer, if there are too many messages sent through LocalConnections, it will slow the messages sent through, but in the standalone player and in Firefox, this threshold is significantly higher. Another was that the static values of a class are instantiated even if the member itself is not being used:
import path.to.FooClass;
private function thisIsNeverCalledButItEnsuresThatFooClassIsImported():void
{
var f:FooClass = new FooClass();
}
Since FooClass had a static reference to a Singleton, that Singleton was instantiated so when I loaded a Module which used that Singleton, it would bind to values in an unpredictable way.
Additional cases where things behave in an unexpected way:
MovieClip.addFrameScript
flash.trace.Trace as a class
int is a faster incrementer class, Number is faster for mathematics, and uint is incredibly slow.
PrintDataGrid, if it has only one page, needs to have an empty value appended to the end of its dataProvider
If you use try...catch around two LocalConnections and connect them to the same channel, you will force garbage collection without needing System.gc
So here's the question (and I'm sorry for omitting this in the original post), is there any consolidated documentation for this type of behavior anywhere? Is there any (even non-Adobe) documentation on these issues (websites, forums, books, ANYTHING)? I know that these things are definitely easy enough TO document, but has anyone done so?
If not, am I missing anything? Are there other issues which I should know about?
This kind of useful information is very often not "centralized". Moreover, what you are looking for is something related to the experience of the programmer (more than to official docs).
FYI, there are two other methods for ensuring a class is included.
#1 - This syntax is actually used in the Flex source code:
import path.to.FooClass; FooClass; // note double reference
public class References
{
// No references needed in this class
}
#2 - Use the includes command line argument
-includes path.to.FooClass
You can always submit your experience using the "feedback" section in the help. Unfortunately, this is less obvious than the link that used to be at the bottom of each page in the older help files (which also served the useful function of opening a browser window with the web version of that help page).
Adobe says that it incorporates the comments from previous versions of the help into new versions, but my own observation suggests that there are instances where it does not happen. However, that and the appropriate cookbook are still the best avenue for those who believe that this kind of information should be centralized.
Note that the whole purpose behind modules is to avoid compiling code multiple times, so importing FooClass kind of defeated the purpose. The problems you had in this instance are just one of the many that happen if you use Singletons, and it's unfortunate that the first official Framework, Cairngorm, encouraged their widespread use. Check out http://misko.hevery.com/2008/08/17/singletons-are-pathological-liars/ .

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