Adobe Frames Interface - Essay Example

Adobe Frames Interface Introduction to Flash Web users can now experience and enjoy interactive rich media websites that load rather quickly as compared to ancient methods such as use of animated GIF images. All this is possible due to the use of Flash. So, what is Flash? Flash is a multimedia graphics platform that enables one create and add animations, interactive movies/videos to web pages (Gay, 2001). Through the use of flash, web developers can create interactive rich content such as music, vector graphics, texts, videos and photos which can be viewed in a browser through a Flash browser plugin. Executable files that can be playedfrom a compact disc can also be created using Flash without the need of any additional software.Flash has the capability of capturing user input through the keyboard, mouse, camera or even the microphone.In order to use flash, one does not need to know any programming language even though flash itself contains a scripting language called ActionScript which is object oriented and offers support for automation through JFL (JavaScript Flash Language). Overview of Action script ActionScript is an object-oriented scripting language which looks much more like JavaScript that is used by Flash to control objects within its movies. It’s based on ECMA-262 specification just like JavaScript. ActionScript enables interactive design in Flash by allowing execution of different actions within a movie (Waldron, 2006). It was initially referred to just as ‘actions’ and was introduced in Flash Player 4. It enabled simple interactivity in Flash and it was not as such a complicated language since its semantics and syntax was not anywhere close to ECMAScript. ECMAScript-based syntax was although later applied and thus ActionScript 1.0 was born and introduced in Flash Player 5. ActionScript evolved and its semantics tweaked with the release of Flash Player 6 and 7. In 2003, ActionScript 2.0 was introduced in Flex 1.0 and Flash MX 2004 but it could still work in Flash Player 6 and 7 since it was using an object model similar to that of ActionScript 1.0 (Waldron, 2006). In Flash Player 9, ActionScript 3.0 was introduced as result of a new ActionScript Virtual Machine (AVM2) which is now the main virtual machine for execution of ActionScript code although support for AVM1 is still provided in order to accommodate earlier versions of ActionScript. ActionScript 2.0 and ActionScript 3.0 ActionScript 2.0 was introduced in Flash MX 2004. Although it still utilized the same object model as ActionScript 1.0, it is well equipped for complex and larger applications. It add some few new runtime capability and functionality by improving object oriented programming in Flash through the introduction of syntax and semantics that is object-oriented. ActionScript 1.0 lacked official vocabulary for creation of objects and classes even though it was considered to be object-oriented. In ActionScript 1.0, prototypical objects were used as classes since there was no provision of class key word for class creation and extend keyword for establishing inheritance which ActionScript 2.0 now provides thus making the language more familiar to those programmers with OOP backgrounds. ActionScript 2.0 has also made it possible for creation of Java like interfaces via the use of the interface statement. ActionScript 1.0 did not offer support for using interfaces. In ActionScript 1.0, file extension for class files was .as which could be defined in in-line code or external files. ActionScript 2.0 now introduces a .class extension for class files and requires them to be defined in external class files. This enables editing class files in Flash MX professional 2004 editor or in any other external editor. Class constructor prototype property was used in ActionScript 1.0 to add methods to classes. ActionScript 2.0 now provides formal method definition syntax, which are to be used in creation of method and class instance’s (Moock, 2004). ActionScript 2.0 now replaces ActionScript 1.0’s Object.addProperty() method with a formal setter and getter method. Property instances and class instances could be added in different ways such as through the use of class constructor’s prototype property in ActionScript 1.0. This is now replaced by a formal property-definition syntax in actionScript2.0(Moock, 2004). ActionScript 3.0 was introduced in 2006 in Flash Player 9 as a result of the implementation of a new ActionScript Virtual machine (Grossman & Huang, 2006). It is a great, object-oriented programming language whose major goal is to enable rapid development of rich web applications. Even though, the preceding ActionScript versions such ActionScript 1.0 provided flexibility and required power for building amazing internet applications, ActionScript 3.0 guarantees powerful performance, intuitive language advancement and ease of development that ensures superb and complex applications, bases of reusable code, and enormous datasets (Grossman & Huang, 2006). Just as ActionScript 2.0, ActionScript 3.0 is also ECMAScript-based and it conforms to the language specifications of ECMAScript, 3rd Edition (ECMA-262). All ActionScript code is executed by the use of AVM (ActionScript Virtual Machine) which is part of Flash Player and ActionScript 3.0 is no exception. It is although dependent on AVM2 which is superbly optimized and exceeds by far the performance capability of AVM1 introduced by ActionScript 1.0. As such, the execution of ActionScript 3.0 code is ten times faster than older ActionScript code. ActionScript 3.0 delivers a consistent and an improved object-oriented programming model which is in conformity with industry standards. Developers with basic Object-Oriented programming knowledge will easily familiarize with ActionScript 3.0 even though it implements a new object model for the runtime. With ActionScript 3.0, developers can write easy to maintain and unambiguous code since it supports type safety. It allows developers to easily create complex applications that are highly responsive and perform efficiently without reference to a manual. It provides simple forward and backward compatibility since it is ECMAScript-based which employs features of ActionScript 2.0 and also extends some capabilities ECMAScript for XML.ActionScript 3.0 is made up of two major parts: the Flash API and the core language.Components and essentials of the language, for example, conditions, statements, loops, statements, expressions and types are defined by the core of the language whilst the classes that enable access to specific functions of the Flash Player. It contains several new and powerful features such as Regular expressions Support, which allows for several powerful operations on text. ActionScript 3.0 also provides an extension to ECMAScript for XML which simplifies processing of XML by transforming it into a native data type. It also offers a new Display List API which makes working with visual objects consistent and more direct. ActionScript 2.0 was partially ECMAScript-based but ActionScript 3.0 extends the key language aspects of ActionScript 2.0 into conformity with the complete ECMAScript standard. There were very many runtime errors that would silently and gracefully fail such that there was no error reporting which made debugging ActionScript applications a nightmare. In ActionScript 3.0, several runtime common error handling exceptions have been introduced thus offering an improved debugging experience(Adobe Creative Team, 2007). Stack traces marked with source files and maybe the line number are provided by runtime errors thus making error location a quick and easy task. Type annotations in ActionScript 2.0 were meant to just assist developers since all values at runtime were typed dynamically. Type annotations are preserved at runtime in ActionScript 3.0 to be used for several purposes such as representing variables in native machine versions thus reducing usage of memory and offering improved performance. The idea of sealed classes is introduced in ActionScript 3.0. A sealed class only contains a fixed number of methods and properties that were distinct during compilation and no more methods or properties can be added thus making possible strict compile-time checking (Adobe Creative Team, 2007). This also reduces memory usage since no internal harsh table is required for each instance of an object. In ActionScript 3.0, the use of dynamic classes has been made possible by simply using the dynamic key word. The use of method closures has made event handling easy. Method closures provide in-build event delegation. This was not possible with ActionScript 2.0 where a closure would no figure out which instance of an object it was removed from thus unexpected behavior is witnessed anytime the closure was invoked. In ActionScript 2.0, developers used the mx.utils.Delegate class as a workaround the closure nightmare(Adobe Creative Team, 2007). For example; myTextBox.addEventListener("click", Delegate.create(this, someMethod)); Delegate.create(this, someMethod) In ActionScript 3.0, this class is not necessary since a method closure is automatically generated when somemethodis referenced and it will remember its initial object instance. For example; myTextBox.addEventListener("click", someMethod); ActionScript 3.0 fully implements the E4X (ECMAScript for XML) which offers a fluent and natural array of language constructs used to manipulate XML. It makes XML behave like a native language. E4X reduces the size of code required thus simplifying the development of programs used to manipulate XML. Native support for regX (Regular Expressions) is provided in ActionScript 3.0 thus enabling quick search and string manipulation by implementing the ECMAScript-262 defined regular expression (Adobe Creative Team, 2007). In E4X, a new way of controlling declarations visibility known as namespaces fitted with a URI (Universal Resource Identifier) for the sake of avoiding collisions have been used to represent XML. In ActionScript 2.0, there was a single numeric type, Number, and a floating point- number (double), these has been replaced in ActionScript 3.0 with a new int type which is a 32-bit signed integer which enables ActionScript code to utilize the fast CPU math capabilities and a uint, which is unsigned 32-bit integer (Adobe Creative Team, 2007). Flash games programming Adobe provides the Flex SDK and Adobe Flash Player for the creation of Flash Games. Flash Game programming using the Flex SDK is essential because in guarantees cross-platform compatibility and easy deployment of the game which is just as easy as uploading an SWF file to the web. Games developed using flash are easily accessible since the eventual user will only need Flash enabled web browser i.e. a browser that has the Flash Plugin installed. All the tools required for compilation a Flash game source code are provided for by the Flex SDK.The Flex SDK divides a simple program into two distinct parts: the ActionScript code and the Graphical User Interface (GUI).The GUI is an XML file that has the elements of the user interface nested in tags such those of HTML. It is created in an MXML file. The MXML main focus is to define the UI but can sometimes contain some ActionScript code in an mx:Script tag. A top level tag, mx:Application tag in an MXML file is used the define the entry point of the Flex Application. For example, consider a simple 2D flash game, the application object which will act as the entry point will look like main.mxml ActionScript Source Code The above sample code is initialized by first defining the Application Object properties through the use of attributes set in the mx:Aplplication tag. We use height and width attributes to specify the size of the screen in pixels for our sample program. To specify per second limit on frames, we use the framerate. The entry point of the program is defined by the endCreation function which is called once the Application has been created. Every time the program screen is redrawn, the enterFrame function attaches a function that is called. As mentioned earlier, MXML files can also contaion some ActionScript code and in the sample above, we use the mx:Script tag to provide the space for the code. E-learning Using Flash We mentioned earlier that Flash technology has enabled the creation of superbly dynamic, intuitive and highly interactive internet applications by enabling developers to embed interactive media such audio, video, animated texts and images in web applications. E-learning is one of the areas that has highly benefitted from the use of this technology. Flash provides some e-learning interactions for developers to exploit without deep programming knowledge. These include, built-in components, rich list of capabilities, and e-learning output templates which enables maximization of course content. To your course interactive and provide richer learning experiences, adobe flash has some very interesting features. For example: Adobe Flash enables step-by-step animation of procedures through the use of time-line based animation (Castillo, S, Hancock, S&Hess, G 2004). This makes building of animated movies an easy to-do task. Step-by-step procedures in e-learning are a tricky affair and animation makes them more powerful compared to simply using static imagery. Learning objectives can be more effectively and naturally expressed by use of animated arrows to highlight specific areas. Availability of very many different audio formats on the web makes delivery of audio content in HTML-based e-learning websites a nightmare to both the developers and the users. These multiple formats may sometimes each need different players which will mean that users have to download a specific player which is an irritating distraction from the course work. Adobe Flash allows for easy audio interaction since its player, the Flash Player, provides support for various audio formats and it can be easily integrated with all major platforms and browsers (Castillo, S, Hancock, S&Hess,G2004). Flash also has in-built audio streaming capabilities which eliminate the problem of sound dropping out due to the fail of setting-up a sound file to stream. Interactive audio file can be created by using ActionScript together with on-screen buttons so as to enable user control audio playback. Using Flash, better e-learning experiences can be provided through customization and easy creation of buttons to create course navigation. This course navigation can also be made to communicate with LMS through ActionScript because Flash is able to work with AICC and SCORM courses. E-learning course implemented using Flafh have a more cohesive feel which is more attractive and interactive compared to plain-Text HTML.Using flash also support the creation of simulations by importing images into flash and then adding highlights and captions to produce a course material that is cross-platform. Use of video greatly enhance e-learning course material but could be difficult to implement due availability of several output formats just as audio. Flash comes with its distinct video format (FLV), and therefore when used, additional players are unnecessary. You can easily and quickly incorporate video in course materials either by deploying it on a dedicated Flash Video Server or your own. Drag-and –drop interactions can be built from scratch using flash.If conditional statements and hitTest properties can be used to test whether a specific target received a correct object. Experiences that mimic real world actions can be simulated using drag-and-drop interactions. These interactions can add useful features to any interactive process. Flash enables one to put text in dynamic text fields. External loader objects can also be used to land external texts into text fields. Using dynamic text ensures flexibility in that, changing an external text file is easier than trying to alter text that is embedded in a flash file. Flash also provides Quiz templates as a built-in learning interaction. Connect flash with database Many applications and websites that are dynamic are three tiers. Flash websites are dynamic too and are thus three tiers. The first tier (tier 1) is the Flash movie. This movie communicates with tier 2which is a server-side scripting language such as ASP or PHP. Tier 3 is the database which contains information that the site works with. So, how do we connect Flash with a database? We can connect Flash to a database using three different ways: using XML and CGI, XMLConnector component or the XMLSocket class. It is clear that, Flash cannot be directly connected to a database and an intermediary application between Flash and the database is needed. All these methods employs this architecture but in a slightly different method. Using XML and CGI, the XML class is used on the Flash side (Client-side) and the CGI application is used on the server-side. This method is ideal where network latency isn’t a problem. It uses the POST HTTP request to establish a connection to the application server. If the XMLSocket class is used instead, it maintains an open connection with the server thus allowing it to send incoming messages immediately without the client invoking a request. This method is more familiar to programmers of other languages and offers the programmer more control. Flash offers support to clients sockets that don’t act as servers to other client sockets but only connect to a server and are implemented by the XMLSocket class. This method though has some few shortcomings. Connection to a server that is running in a different domain other than the SWF is not possible due to security reasons and TCP ports that are greater than 1024 are not supported. Advantages and Disadvantages of Flash Several advantages are associated with the use of Flash in building websites and applications (Brumbaugh-Duncan, 2002, pp.193 - 196). They include: Interactivity of web applications is guaranteed when they are developed using Flash. Different Flash interactive features such as embedding audio and movies, feedback forms, games and animated images make website be more cohesive in their look and feel. Flash websites are compatible with all major browsers and platforms. The flash technology eliminates this problem by the use the Adobe Flash plugin which has been integrated in all the browsers. All elements will look the same in all the browsers. Flash technology makes expressive communication become easy through the use of animation feature that helps in delivery of messages in an expressive manner. Pages in a Flash-based websites are more live and vivid due to the use of animated headers, menus, images, etc. Flash also delivers dynamic websites which are very impressive in terms of presentation. Through the use of Flash, putting interactive and animated movies on web application has been made simpler. Despite its many advantages, Flash technology also poses its better share of shortcomings. Internet users have to wait for lengthy periods for a Flash site to load. Flash sites takes longer times to load compared to HTML-based site because the animated content embedded into a Flash website takes too long to load. Some users may lose patience and thus opt to leave your thus interfering with the sites traffic. A flash player needs to be installed and up-to-date before one can be able to watch Flash movies. This inconveniences users who may want to view your site since they will be required to download a Flash player which they might not want to. As a developer, you will be required to provide a redirect to a download link for a Flash player. Most search engines such as Google do not index Flash-based site since they cannot read Flash texts. This therefore implies that Search Engine Optimization will be a nightmare thereby affecting your web traffic since the sites ranking on Search Engine’s results will be too low. Conclusion It is evident that the introduction of Flash technology has revolutionized the programming and application development community web-based, desktop and mobile. It is has enabled developers to be able to create highly dynamic, interactive games, websites, and applications that are flashy, vivid and good looking. Flash technology has also not lacked in shortcomings especially when used in developing web-based application and developers are advised to only use Flash when and where necessary. Reference Adobe Creative Team, 2007, Adobe Flash CS3 Professional Classroom in a Book, Adobe Press Anderson, A , Johnson, J &Perspection, Inc 2007, Adobe Flash CS# Professional On Demand, Que Brumbaugh-Duncan, C 2002, The Flash MX Project, New Riders. Castillo, S, Hancock, S&Hess, G 2004, Using Flash MX to Create e-Learning, Rapid Intake Press , Kent Town. Grossman, G & Huang, E 2006, ‘ActionScript 3.0 overview’, Adobe ActionScript Technology Centre, Hall, B & Wan, S 2003, Object-Oriented Programming with ActionScript, New Riders. Moock, M 2004, Essential ActionScript 2.0, O’Reilly Media, Inc. Waldron, R 2006, The Flash History,Flashmagazine. Read More