This is a little inconvenient because I was hoping that I could use the mediator event handlers to update a view while it is not on the display list. As it turns out, the mediator will not respond to event mappings when it’s view is removed from the stage. Also good to know.

Any input on this appreciated!

I recently finished and deployed a complete rewrite of the map mashup RunningMap.com which uses Axiis to display elevation data in a line graph. After seeing his presentation 360|Flex last May I decided to give the (then alpha) Axiis framework a try. Upgrading to the Beta 1.0 release was painless and immediately I noticed the drawing performance of the graph went from slow(ish) (which actually was not a bad effect) to instantaneous.

Connecting my data source to the graph was a challenge and I had to use the debugger to get the data wrapped “just right”. I put together an example that illustrates:

• use of Axiis LineSeriesGroup
• wrapping an array collection “just right” so it can be bound as a data source
• overlaying the graph on a map
• setting the data tip using a function

The live example is here which is source view enabled.

Wrapping the collection looked like this:

Then set the "plotCollection" and "dataField" properties in the LineSeriesGroup:

And here it is:

I considered these four techniques for casting a string to a Number:

1. parseInt("1234");
2. new Number("1234");
3. "1234" as Number;
4. Number("1234");

Below is the AS3 code and the trace results which I used to base my conclusions here.

Results:
Using "as Number" to cast a string to a Number looks like bad news to me. All other techniques preformed as expected. Casting a string such as "foo" using "as Number" to cast is to a strongly typed variable results with a false value when isNaN() is applied to it. This is the false negative I mentioned before. Even casting the string "1337" using "as Number" results in the value 0 which not only fails the falsies ternary test but is wrong.

Conclusions

• don't use "as Number" to cast a string to a Number.
• Using a "falsies ternary test" is not a great approach for string to number validation since "0" is a valid number and will correctly fail this test. Maybe that works well for your logic anyhow.

Discussion
Casting is perhaps the wrong term since I am converting a primitive to an object which isn't true polymorphism, but perhaps string is being treated as an object.

I talked to Ryan Frishberg at the recent 360|Flex in Indianapolis about this. Ryan works on the Flex SDK team at Adobe. He said that "new Number('foo')" make use of conversion methods that are not available to the technique "'foo' as Number" which will evaluate to null since this casting is not possible. String can't be a Number. Ok, that is the d'oh moment for me. Should know better.

It's problematic though, because it fails to report a run-time or compile-time error.

Simplified Logic Inc has a product that uses a private key encryption method that stops decompilation of the swf. They also have developed a backend system that can manage licenses to your application. I have been developing a Flex application for use in teaching anatomy to students at the technical institute I work at. It has proven to be a powerful tool and there is opportunity to license this application to other institutions, but there is no infrastructure to do this. I have built a proof of concept using Nitro-LM to show that we can deploy this application on the web using a Software as a Service model without creating much of a deployment infrastructure on our end beyond what we already have in place.

The NitroAdmin AIR app is used to set up and manage the encryption and licenses. Videos and examples show how to integrate the system into your Flex app but I think they need to do a bit more work around this ... perhaps a "wizard" or video that shows from start to finish the basic setup. It still took a bit of handholding to get me up and running (thanks Andrew). The proof of concept is doing its job of proving this works in a way that is unobtrusive to users. Now all that is left is the easy part: to build a business model around my application and then go out and sell it. That is someone else's job.

Simplified Logic was a major sponsor of the recent 360 Flex conference in Indianapolis. I want to say thanks to them for supporting this event. It was a good one and I enjoyed the environs.

This slide is about how Flex application development became a job, and nothing much more than that.

Doug's live demo on head tracking in Flash. He showed an application that can be used for "Safe Sexting". You can do whatever you want on the video and your face will be tracked and blurred. Big laughs on this one.

Doug had a unique take on how to push the concept of Augmented Reality. He gave himself boobs in this live demo.

1) find your mm.cfg file. Mine is located here: ~username/mm.cfg (substitute "username" with your real username)

2) open it in a text editor and add these lines:

3) open a terminal window and add this to your .profile file.

To watch your browser throw trace statements, just open a terminal window and type "trace" and they will now appear in the terminal window.

You can create an xmlListCollection and then sort the collection based on the term text.

What threw me for a loop was the sort result (by term text value):

New Term 498
New Term 668
a new term
a new term 550

As it turns out the default value for the sort case insensitivity is false. To solve this, set the property in the SortField object:

and the sort will happen as expected:

a new term
a new term 550
New Term 498
New Term 668

I see that it declares a couple namespaces but I thought since the "p" nodes do not. This ...

yields nothing. Yet this ...

works fine.

The picture above (taken by Charles Freedman) shows the massive display that was set up for the keynotes. I have never seen anything like it before. When I walked into the hall, Icky Thump by White Stripes was playing through the incredible sound system and I could feel the thumps on my chest. I had goosebumps.

The intro to the keynote was my favorite part of conference (and not because he used my video in his mix!). DJ Mike Relm took the stage and performed an incredible video scratch mix live. Check it out: (video by John Wilker. I was sitting a few sections further back)

Mike Relm was also featured on the recent YouTube Live launch:

I managed to make it to every session I signed up for except for 1. Add to that the keynotes, dinners, sneak peaks, awards, birds-of-a-feather sessions and general schmoozing on the show floor and you get three freaking long and exhausting days. The stand out sessions for me were:

• Intro to Thermo (Catalyst) by Ryan Stewart and Heidi Williams
• Sketching Interactivity (with Catalyst) by Ethan Eismann
• Cocamo Deep Dive by Nigel Pegg (fellow Edmontonian)
• Creating New Components in Flex 3 and Beyond by Deepa Subramaniam
• Debugging and Profiler with Jun Heider
• Yahoo! ASTRA and YUI by Allen Rabinovich and Zach Graves

Making a talk about the Flex debugger interesting is a credit to Jun Heider's speaking abilities. It was refreshing to go to a sessions not given by Adobe employees (a lot of them were) and it was great to see the extraordinary work that Allen Rabinovich and his team at Yahoo! are doing with open source components. In their case, it's not just marketing and feature speak. It's about real life, war tested implementation and integration with other technologies. For example, they are creating flash/javascript hybrid components that leverage the best of both technologies. I hung out a lot with Allen and Zach and declared myself an honourary Y! employee.

I did a presentation at the FITC unconference area on Y! Maps in Flex and using "Mapverstising". Unfortunately the Unconference sections/sessions were not promoted at all and given the time and location, my presentation was not well attended which made it really hard to deliver.

More photos here:http://www.flickr.com/photos/randytroppmann/sets/72157609627771667/