Macromedia Flash Mx Actionscripting

Introducing actionscript - Using event handlers - Understanding target paths - Understanding and using objects - Using functions - Customizing objects - Using dynamic data - Manipulating data - Using conditional logic - Automating scripts with loops - Getting data in and out of flash - Using XML with flash - Validating and formatting data - Controlling movie clips dynamically - Time-and frame-based dynamism - Scripting for sound - Loading external assets.

Thoroughly updated to cover the new version of Macromedia Flash - Flash MX - this second edition builds on the strengths of the original book while incorporating changes from this major revision of the software.

Sure, you can use Flash MX 2004 without being a master programmer, but as any Flash developer worth his or her salt will tell you, you're not tapping all of its power unless you're taking advantage of its scripting language "ActionScript 2.0" which offers a more robust programming model and better object-oriented programming support than ever before. Here to take the fear factor out of learning it are Flash veterans and best-selling authors Derek Franklin and Jobe Makar, who demonstrate that scripting is an instinctual process you already know by translating real-life activities into ActionScript scripts. In these pages, you'll find methodologies and techniques for building over 40 real-life Flash ActionScript projects, including sample games, --- applications, Web sites, and more. New in this edition are coverage of ActionScript 2.0, Web services, Components, Printing, Video, and more. On the companion CD, you'll find all the project files and images you need to complete each project.

What the book covers: This is a 100% comprehensive book on the most powerful feature of Macromedia Flash, and an essential tool for interactive Web development. It provides definitive, authoritative information on all aspects of ActionScript, addressing both the beginning, intermediate and advanced scripter. It is packed with real-world insights and examples, and includes a CD-ROM loaded with a library of powerful ActionScripts, sample scripts and Flash pages from the book, and more. ABOUT THE CD-ROM Loaded CD-ROM includes... * Extensive ActionScript libraries from the book * Sample Web pages and templates using advanced ActionScript * Flash and Flash ActionScript Utilities * Additional related software tryouts

This reference summarizes ActionScript's core objects, classes, properties, and methods, as well as its syntax. Best practices, object-oriented programming, datatypes, and even handling in short order are covered, as well as common Flash elements and operations including movie clips, graphics and XML parsing.

With the release of Flash MX, scripting in Flash moved from being a desirable asset to an essential skill in the world of web design. ActionScript is, quite simply, the center of power in Flash, and it's no surprise that most of the advances in Flash MX are script-centric. Flash is a design tool, and ActionScript can easily scare designers. This book is for anyone who has ever looked in awe at a cutting-edge Flash site, then taken a look at some code, and run in the other direction. Learning ActionScript with friends of ED will not turn you into a boring programmer, it will turn you into someone who finally has the power to achieve what they want with their web design. This book will take you from knowing nothing about ActionScript to a firm knowledge that will allow you to exercise a previously unimaginable amount of power over your flash movies. It does this with fully-0worked examples throughout, and a case study that will leave you with a cutting-edge Flash site by the end of the book. The book assumes no previous knowledge of code or ActionScript, but does assume that you know the basics of the Flash interface, and have maybe created some basic timeline-based movies with tweens and so on. (If you're totally new to Flash, then you might want to take a look at friends of ED's acclaimed Foundation Flash MX, or at the more visually-oriented Flash MX Express.) This is no simple re-write of the first edition of iFoundation ActionScript

Anyone with moderate Macromedia Flash experience who is looking to acquire or improve their understanding of ActionScript will find this book a valuable resource. For this edition, the author has updated the games from the previous edition and has added several new projects.

Annotation The only comprehensive reference to Flash that creative professionals and Flash gurus will need! Covering basic skills quickly and concisely, it allows more time to be spent on more advanced topics.nbsp;Organised by topic, readers can jump in and learn only what they need to complete the task at hand. nbsp; Completely up20020828d and expanded to cover all aspects of Flash MX, including Flash's upgraded ActionScript and interface features. Concise and complete, containing the information that busy professionals need without any of the fluff. Includes contributions from several highly respected Flash professionals; they give real-world tasks and tips as well as answers to questions they've been hearing for years as trainers. Cyndy Cashman is the founder and president of Breakaway Interactive Training and Digital Media Center, located in Norman, Oklahoma. Her company is a Macromedia-authorized training center providing training and consulting services for interactive media. She has been using and teaching advanced Flash topics for many years. Michael Hurwicz has been using Flash 5 intensively since it first came out. He has written about Macromedia Director, discreet 3d Studio Max, and eRain Swift3D for WebTools. A full-time freelance writer for 16 years, he has written books on networks and architecture. nbsp.