David Gassner Master all the tools in the Flex 4 SDK Integrate with BlazeDS, ColdFusion, and PHP Rapidly develop cross-platform Web apps The book you need to succeed! Adobe ® Flash ® Builder ™ 4 and Flex ® 4 Gassner Master these skills and flex your development muscles Deliver rich applications for the Web or desktop with Adobe’s new Flash Builder 4 integrated development environment, Flex 4, and the comprehensive tutorials in this packed guide. You’ll first get up to speed on Flex basics and Flash Builder 4’s new development tools. From there, learn how to use Flex 4’s new Spark com- ponent skinning capability, deploy desktop apps with AIR, model and manage data, integrate your app with popular application servers, and much more! • Understand the differences between Flex and Flash development • Master Flex 4 and Flash Builder 4 fundamentals • Create and use custom MXML components in a Flex application • Work with text, Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), and layout containers • Integrate your Flex apps with BlazeDS, Java ® , ColdFusion ® , and PHP • Create cross-operating system desktop applications with AIR Companion Web Site Access code files for all projects in the book, as well as additional information, useful links, and more from www.wiley.com/go/flex4. David Gassner is the President of Bardo Technical Services, an Adobe Solutions Network Training Provider. He holds Adobe developer certifications in Flex, AIR, ColdFusion, Flash, and Dreamweaver. He is the author of Flex 3 Bible (Wiley) and of technical training videos from lynda.com on Adobe Flex, AIR, ColdFusion, and Dreamweaver. He is also a regular contributor to Adobe Systems’ Certified Courseware for Flex. Shelving Category: COMPUTERS / Web / Page Design Reader Level: Beginning to Advanced $49.99 USA $59.99 Canada www.wiley.com/compbooks Integrate Flex applications into Web pages Learn the Flash Builder 4 interface Synchronize complex data Companion Web Site Companion Web Site • Code files for all projects in the book, useful links, and more Adobe ® Ado b b e Flash ® Builder ™ 4 and Flex ® 4 Please purchase PDF Split-Merge on www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark. 01_488959-ffirs.indd ii01_488959-ffirs.indd ii 3/5/10 2:16 PM3/5/10 2:16 PM Please purchase PDF Split-Merge on www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark. Flash ® Builder ™ 4 and Flex ® 4 Bible 01_488959-ffirs.indd i01_488959-ffirs.indd i 3/5/10 2:16 PM3/5/10 2:16 PM Please purchase PDF Split-Merge on www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark. 01_488959-ffirs.indd ii01_488959-ffirs.indd ii 3/5/10 2:16 PM3/5/10 2:16 PM Please purchase PDF Split-Merge on www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark. Flash ® Builder ™ 4 and Flex ® 4 Bible David Gassner 01_488959-ffirs.indd iii01_488959-ffirs.indd iii 3/5/10 2:16 PM3/5/10 2:16 PM Please purchase PDF Split-Merge on www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark. Flash ® Builder ™ 4 and Flex ® 4 Bible Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc. 10475 Crosspoint Boulevard Indianapolis, IN 46256 www.wiley.com Copyright © 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana Published simultaneously in Canada ISBN: 978-0-470-48895-9 Manufactured in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, except as permitted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) 750-8400, fax (978) 646-8600. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, 201-748-6011, fax 201-748- 6008, or online at http://www.wiley.com/go/permissions. LIMIT OF LIABILITY/DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY: THE PUBLISHER AND THE AUTHOR MAKE NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES WITH RESPECT TO THE ACCURACY OR COMPLETENESS OF THE CONTENTS OF THIS WORK AND SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION WARRANTIES OF FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. NO WARRANTY MAY BE CREATED OR EXTENDED BY SALES OR PROMOTIONAL MATERIALS. THE ADVICE AND STRATEGIES CONTAINED HEREIN MAY NOT BE SUITABLE FOR EVERY SITUATION. THIS WORK IS SOLD WITH THE UNDERSTANDING THAT THE PUBLISHER IS NOT ENGAGED IN RENDERING LEGAL, ACCOUNTING, OR OTHER PROFESSIONAL SERVICES. IF PROFESSIONAL ASSISTANCE IS REQUIRED, THE SERVICES OF A COMPETENT PROFESSIONAL PERSON SHOULD BE SOUGHT. 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Library of Congress Control Number: 2010922565 Trademarks: Wiley and the Wiley logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and/or its affiliates, in the United States and other countries, and may not be used without written permission. Flash, Builder, and Flex are trademarks or registered trademarks of Adobe Systems, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Wiley Publishing, Inc. is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book. Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in print may not be available in electronic books. 01_488959-ffirs.indd iv01_488959-ffirs.indd iv 3/5/10 2:16 PM3/5/10 2:16 PM Please purchase PDF Split-Merge on www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark. For Jackie About the Author David Gassner is president of Bardo Technical Services, an Adobe training partner in Seattle, Washington, and serves as Content Manager for Developer Titles for lynda.com. As an author for lynda.com, he has recorded video training titles on Flex, AIR, ColdFusion, Dreamweaver, and ASP. NET. He holds Adobe developer and instructor certifications in Flex, ColdFusion, Flash, and Dreamweaver, is an Adobe Master Instructor, and has been a regular speaker at Allaire, Macromedia, and Adobe conferences. David earned a BA from Pitzer College in Claremont, California (his home town), and an MFA from the Professional Theatre Training Program at U.C. San Diego. In his copious free time (and putting his MFA to good use), he is an active director and actor in Seattle’s live theater scene. He shares his home with his wonderful wife, Jackie (Go Mets!), and he receives occasional visits from his thoroughly adult kids, Thad, Jason, and Jenny. 01_488959-ffirs.indd v01_488959-ffirs.indd v 3/5/10 2:16 PM3/5/10 2:16 PM Please purchase PDF Split-Merge on www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark. Credits Senior Acquisitions Editor Stephanie McComb Executive Editor Jody Lefevere Project Editor Katharine Dvorak Technical Editor Drew Falkman Copy Editor Lauren Kennedy Editorial Director Robyn Siesky Business Manager Amy Knies Senior Marketing Manager Sandy Smith Vice President and Executive Group Publisher Richard Swadley Vice President and Executive Publisher Barry Pruett Project Coordinator Patrick Redmond Graphics and Production Specialists Nikki Gately Amy Hassos Joyce Haughey Quality Control Technicians Laura Albert John Greenough Melanie Hoffman Lindsay Littrell Lauren Mandelbaum Proofreading Christine Sabooni Indexing BIM Indexing & Proofreading Services Media Development Project Manager Laura Moss Media Development Assistant Project Manager Jenny Swisher Media Development Associate Producer Shawn Patrick 01_488959-ffirs.indd vi01_488959-ffirs.indd vi 3/5/10 2:16 PM3/5/10 2:16 PM Please purchase PDF Split-Merge on www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark. viivii Preface xxiii Acknowledgments xxvii Part I: Flex Fundamentals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Chapter 1: About Flex 4 3 Chapter 2: Using Flash Builder 4 31 Chapter 3: Building a Basic Flex Application 73 Chapter 4: Understanding the Anatomy of a Flex Application 99 Chapter 5: Using Bindings and Components 135 Chapter 6: Debugging Flex Applications 167 Chapter 7: Working with Events 207 Part II: Designing Flex Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247 Chapter 8: Using Flex Visual Controls 249 Chapter 9: Working with Text 287 Chapter 10: Using Layout Containers 311 Chapter 11: Using Cascading Style Sheets 341 Chapter 12: Controlling Animation and Working with Drag and Drop 371 Chapter 13: Managing View States 399 Chapter 14: Declaring Graphics with MXML and FXG 419 Chapter 15: Skinning Spark Components 443 Chapter 16: Managing Application Navigation 469 Chapter 17: Working with Pop-up Windows 503 Part III: Working with Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 531 Chapter 18: Modeling and Managing Data 533 Chapter 19: Using List Controls 571 Chapter 20: Using Advanced List Controls 603 Chapter 21: Using the Flex Charting Controls 647 Chapter 22: Working with Data Entry Forms 675 Chapter 23: Working with HTTPService and XML 707 Chapter 24: Managing XML with E4X 749 02_488959-ftoc.indd vii02_488959-ftoc.indd vii 3/5/10 2:17 PM3/5/10 2:17 PM Please purchase PDF Split-Merge on www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark. viii Part IV: Integrating Flex Applications with Application Servers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 775 Chapter 25: Working with SOAP-Based Web Services 777 Chapter 26: Integrating Flex Applications with BlazeDS and Java 807 Chapter 27: Using the Message Service with BlazeDS 849 Chapter 28: Integrating Flex Applications with ColdFusion 873 Chapter 29: Integrating Flex Applications with PHP 911 Part V: Additional Subjects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 939 Chapter 30: Localizing Flex 4 Applications 941 Chapter 31: Deploying Desktop Applications with Adobe AIR 955 Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 983 02_488959-ftoc.indd viii02_488959-ftoc.indd viii 3/5/10 2:17 PM3/5/10 2:17 PM Please purchase PDF Split-Merge on www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark. [...]... Getting Flash Builder 31 Installing Flash Builder 4 32 Installing Flash Builder with the stand-alone configuration .32 Getting to Know Eclipse Features 36 The Eclipse workspace 37 Configuring Eclipse 43 Using Flash Builder .45 Creating a Flex project 45 Understanding Flash Builder s user interface .49 Getting... 40 4 Switching View States at Runtime .40 6 Declaring View States in MXML 40 7 Adding and removing components 40 8 Overriding properties, styles, and event handlers 40 9 xiv Contents Managing View States in Components 41 2 Using Transitions 41 4 Declaring a transition 41 4 Using Parallel and Sequence effects in transitions 41 5 Summary... the Flex 4 SDK Most Flex developers create their applications using the Flash Builder 4 integrated development environment product line (formerly named Flex Builder) And a new product from Adobe, Flash Catalyst, helps to bridge the gap between developers who use Flash Builder and designers who use Photoshop or Illustrator to create application designs One major difference between the Flex SDK and Flash. ..  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  44 3 Creating and Using Spark Custom Skins 44 4 Skinning a Spark application 44 4 Binding a custom skin to a Spark component 45 1 Skinning Other Spark Components 45 5 Creating a new skin .45 5 Assigning custom skins with CSS 46 1 Customizing the skin 46 2 Summary 46 7 Chapter 16: Managing Application... .48 4 Using Navigator Bar Containers 48 4 Using a data collection as a dataProvider 48 5 Handling navigator bar events 48 7 Using a ViewStack as a dataProvider .48 7 Managing navigator bar presentation .48 8 Using Menu Controls 49 1 Menu data providers .49 2 Handling menu events 49 3 Using the Menu control 49 4 Using... Flash Player’s visual rendering capabilities Flex 4 applications can take advantage of the new features of Flash Player 10, including the Flash Text Engine (FTE) and Text Layout Framework (TLF) that enable complex text presentation, and 3D animations The newly renamed Flash Builder 4 (formerly known as Flex Builder) is now positioned as the ActionScript editing product of choice for both Flex and Flash. .. history .19 Understanding Flash Player penetration statistics 21 Using the debug version of Flash Player 21 Flash Player installation .22 Flex 4 Development Tools 26 Understanding Flash Builder 4 26 Using the Flex 4 SDK 26 Getting Help .29 Summary 29 Chapter 2: Using Flash Builder 4  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... Anything you could do in Flex 3 on the Web, you could also do in Flex 3 on the desktop The Flex 3 SDK added new visual controls, such as the AdvancedDataGrid, that were licensed as part of Flex Builder 3 Professional (now known in Flash Builder 4 as the Premiere edition) And Flex Builder 3 added debugging features, such as the Flex Profiler, that improved developer productivity With Flex 4, Adobe introduces...  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxvii Part I: Flex Fundamentals 1 Chapter 1: About Flex 4  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 Learning the Fundamentals of Flex .4 Getting to know Flex applications .4 Flex versus Flash development 8 Flex and object-oriented programming .11 Understanding Adobe Flash Player .18 Learning a little Adobe Flash Player... conferences and is more the master of this material than I And finally, for my family who dealt with me deciding to do this again: my kids, Thad, Jason, and Jenny, and my extraordinary wife and best friend in the whole world, Jackie xxvii Part I Flex Fundamentals IN THIS PART Chapter 1 About Flex 4 Chapter 2 Using Flash Builder 4 Chapter 3 Building a Basic Flex Application Chapter 4 Understanding the . Fundamentals of Flex 4 Getting to know Flex applications 4 Flex versus Flash development 8 Flex and object-oriented programming 11 Understanding Adobe Flash Player. 22 Flex 4 Development Tools 26 Understanding Flash Builder 4 26 Using the Flex 4 SDK 26 Getting Help 29 Summary 29 Chapter 2: Using Flash Builder 4 ................................31 Getting