Flash AS2 - Detect Keyboard press

var keyListener:Object = new Object();
keyListener.onKeyDown = function() {
if (Key.getCode() == Key.ENTER) {
trace("enter is pressed");
}
}

Key.addlistener(keyListener);

Flash AS2 - Pixelation effect

Recently I found out this method to put pixel effect to your movieclip in AS2. Here goes the code:

//speed is in seconds
//_mc is the movieclip you want to apply pixel effect to
//pixel_from is the number of pixel to start, 1 is the original pixel size for every image
//pixel_target is the number of pixel to display at result

function pixelation(_mc:MovieClip, pixel_from:Number, pixel_target:Number, speed:Number) {

this.createEmptyMovieClip("pixelated_mc", 1 );
_mc._visible = false;
pixelated_mc._x = _mc._x;
pixelated_mc._y = _mc._y;

var pixelSize = pixel_from;

onEnterFrame = function(){

if (pixel_target > pixel_from) {
if (pixelSize >= pixel_target) {
pixelSize = pixel_target;
}
} else if (pixel_target < pixelsize =" pixel_target;" bitmapdata =" new" scalematrix =" new" _width =" _mc._width;" _height =" _mc._height;"> pixel_from) {
if (pixelSize == pixel_target) {
delete onEnterFrame;
}
pixelSize += (pixel_from*25)/speed;
} else if (pixel_target < pixel_from) {
if (pixelSize == pixel_target) {
delete onEnterFrame;
}
pixelSize -= (pixel_target*25)/speed;
} else {
pixelSize = pixel_target;
delete onEnterFrame;
}

}

}

// must try!

getURL in as3

As we all know, there's no more getURL in as3. Below is the replacement of getURL,

navigateToURL(new URLRequest("http://google.com"), "_blank");

cheers!

Flash replace string function

code:

String.prototype.replace = function(searchStr, replaceStr):String {
var arr:Array = this.split(searchStr);
return arr.join(replaceStr);
};

----
to use:

string.replace("string to find","string to replace");

Flash dataGrid component

Why not just use a DataGrid component? They're pretty easy to use actually.
Try this: start a new AS2 project and drag a DataGrid from the components
panel onto the stage. Use the properties panel to size it to 500 x 300. When
you add data to a grid it will just show a scroll bar if necessary, it
doesn't resize... Give it an instance name of "theGrid".

Now, add the following script to the frame:

import mx.controls.gridclasses.DataGridColumn;

function doGrid(gridRef, gArray:Array)
{
for (var i = 0; i < gArray.length; i++) {
var cat:DataGridColumn = new DataGridColumn(gArray[i][0]);
cat.width = gArray[i][2];
cat.headerText = gArray[i][1];
cat.editable = false;
gridRef.addColumn(cat);
}

}

var gFormat = new Array(["fname", "First Name:", 120], ["lname", "Last
Name:", 200], ["date", "Win Date:", 80]);
doGrid(theGrid, gFormat);

If you compile now, you'll see the grid with the field titles... I use the
doGrid function, and an array like this to make formatting the grid easy.
The first item in the array matches the dataProvider property, as you will
see in a moment - the second is the title, and the third the width of the
column... change these as you need.

To add data, you just create an array of objects, with the object properties
matching the first item in the format array - like so - add the following
and test again:

var gridData = new Array({fname:"Dave", lname:"Mennenoh", date:"09/14/08"},
{fname:"giga", lname:"saurus", date:"10/14/08"});

theGrid.dataProvider = gridData;

That's all there is to it... If you add more data than can be shown, you'll
get a scroll bar. You can add en event listener to know when someone selects
an item, etc...

Flash - Event on selecting the text

code:

this.onMouseUp = function(){
var beginIndex:Number = Selection.getBeginIndex();
var endIndex = Selection.getEndIndex()
trace("TARGET : " + Selection.getFocus());
trace("Start Index = " + beginIndex + " :: End Index = " + endIndex)
trace("SelectedChar = " +
eval(Selection.getFocus()).text.slice(beginIndex,endIndex));
}

Flash function to replace string

code:

String.prototype.replace = function(searchStr, replaceStr):String {
var arr:Array = this.split(searchStr);
return arr.join(replaceStr);
};


usage:

newString = replace("string to search", "string to replace");

Flash loadPolicyFile() - how to impliment loadPolicyFile in proper way / correct way and how to host loadPolicyFile using PHP

For those people who are searching for XMLSocket function to work properly, I will tell you step by step on how to create PHP socket server to support XMLSocket function in Flash, and also how to host your crossdomain.xml so it can be use by the Flash 9 loadPolicyFile function.

Step 1:

Since Flash 9 do not support loading the crossdomain.xml file directly by url, we must first create a socket to host the crossdomain.xml.

PHP (policySocketServer.php):

#!/usr/bin/php -q
<?php
error_reporting(E_ALL);
set_time_limit(0);
ob_implicit_flush();
function __autoload ($className)
{
$fileName = "Classes/".str_replace('_', DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR, $className) . '.php';
$status = (@include_once $fileName);
if ($status === false) {
eval(sprintf('class %s {func' . 'tion __construct(){throw new Project_Exception_AutoLoad("%s");}}', $className, $className));
}
}
$ip = '127.0.0.1'; //change it to your webserver path
$port = 9996; //any port no you wish and it must be greater than 1024

//new SocketServer($ip, $port);
try{
$mySocketServer = new SocketServer($ip, $port);
} catch (Project_Exception_AutoLoad $e) {
//echo "FATAL ERROR: CAN'T FIND SOCKET SERVER CLASS.";
}
?>


Create a folder named Classes, and inside the folder create Logger.php and SocketServer.php

PHP (Logger.php):

<?php
class Logger
{
private static $instance;
public static function getInstance()
{
if(!isset($instance))
$instance = new Logger();
return $instance;
}
function __construct()
{
}

function log($message)
{
//echo "[".date('Y-m-d')."] ".$message."\n";
}
}

?>


PHP (SocketServer.php):

<?php
class SocketServer
{
var $ip;
var $port;
var $masterSocket;
var $logger;
private $currentSockets;

function __construct($ip, $port)
{
$this->ip = $ip;
$this->port = $port;
$this->logger = Logger::getInstance();
$this->initSocket();
$this->currentSockets = array();
$this->currentSockets[] = $this->masterSocket;
$this->listenToSockets();
}

private function initSocket()
{

//---- Start Socket creation for PHP 5 Socket Server -------------------------------------

if (($this->masterSocket = socket_create(AF_INET, SOCK_STREAM, SOL_TCP)) < 0)
{
$this->logger->log("[SocketServer] "."socket_create() failed, reason: " . socket_strerror($this->masterSocket));
}
socket_set_option($this->masterSocket, SOL_SOCKET,SO_REUSEADDR, 1);
if (($ret = socket_bind($this->masterSocket, $this->ip, $this->port)) < 0) {
$this->logger->log("[SocketServer] "."socket_bind() failed, reason: " . socket_strerror($ret));
}

if (($ret = socket_listen($this->masterSocket, 5)) < 0) {
$this->logger->log("[SocketServer] "."socket_listen() failed, reason: " . socket_strerror($ret));
}
}

private function parseRequest($socket, $data)
{
if(substr($data,0, 22) == "<policy-file-request/>")
{
//echo "POLICY FILE REQUEST\n";
$crossFile = file("http://localhost/crossdomain.xml"); //put your domain url where you uploaded the crossdomain.xml, it can also be any online webserver path
$crossFile = join('',$crossFile);
$this->sendMessage(array($socket),$crossFile);
return;
}
}

public function sendMessage($sockets, $message)
{
$message .= "\0";
if(!is_array($sockets))
$sockets = array($sockets);
foreach($sockets as $socket)
{
if($socket === NULL)
continue;
socket_write($socket, $message, strlen($message));
//$this->logger->log("[SocketServer] Wrote : ".$message." to ".$socket);
}
}

private function listenToSockets()
{
//---- Create Persistent Loop to continuously handle incoming socket messages ---------------------
while (true) {
$changed_sockets = $this->currentSockets;
$num_changed_sockets = socket_select($changed_sockets, $write = NULL, $except = NULL, NULL);
foreach($changed_sockets as $socket)
{
if ($socket == $this->masterSocket) {
if (($client = socket_accept($this->masterSocket)) < 0) {
$this->logger->log("[SocketServer] "."socket_accept() failed: reason: " . socket_strerror($socket));
continue;
} else {
// NEW CLIENT HAS CONNECTED
$this->currentSockets[] = $client;
socket_getpeername($client, $newClientAddress);
$this->logger->log("[SocketServer] "."NEW CLIENT ".$client." [IP: ".$newClientAddress."]");
}
} else {
$bytes = socket_recv($socket, $buffer, 4096, 0);
if ($bytes == 0) {
// CLIENT HAS DISCONNECTED
$this->logger->log("[SocketServer] "."REMOVING CLIENT ".$socket);
$index = array_search($socket, $this->currentSockets);
// Remove Socket from List
unset($this->currentSockets[$index]);
socket_close($socket);
}else{
// CLIENT HAS SENT DATA
$this->parseRequest($socket, $buffer);
}
}
}
}
}
}
?>


Create the crossdomain.xml file and put it in your webserver root:

XML (crossdomain.xml):

<cross-domain-policy>
<allow-access-from domain="*" to-ports="*"/>
</cross-domain-policy>


Step 2 (if you're running on local server):

Create a batch file in your desktop named runPolicyFile.bat:

Bat (runPolicyFile.bat):

c:/wamp/bin/php/php5.2.5/php.exe -q c:/wamp/www/policySocketServer.php

Click the batch file to run the script (make sure you have your webserver is up and running).

Alternative way is to run the policySocketServer.php straight away in your web browser.


Step 3:

In your flash file, include this script:

System.security.allowDomain("*");
System.security.loadPolicyFile("xmlsocket://127.0.0.1:9996"); //your webserver path and the port number you choose


You're done

You should be able to see that your XMLSocket function working now in the web browser :)

Check out the demo here . I have successfully implement PURE PHP SOCKET SERVER to build this chat application in Flash through XMLSocket function.
Any comment appreciated..

Flash Interval / timer function

code:

interval = function() {
//do your things here
clearInterval(intervalInt);
}
var intervalInt = setInterval(interval, 1000);

*1000 refers to 1000ms = 1s

Flash - find all clip inside a movieClip

code:

for (var clip in this){
trace(this[clip]._name);
}

Flash simple alarm clock

source code: alarmClock.fla

Flash transform color

code:

colorChange = new Color(MovieClip);
myColorTransform = new Object();
// Set the values for myColorTransform
myColorTransform = { ra: _global.Rchange, rb: _global.Rchange, ga: _global.Gchange, gb: _global.Gchange, ba: _global.Bchange, bb: _global.Bchange, aa: Alpha, ab: Alpha};
colorChange.setTransform(myColorTransform);

variable: MovieClip

Flash set color

code:

var setColor = new Color(this);
setColor.setRGB(0x00ACEE);

Flash movieClip drag

this.onPress = function() {
startDrag(this);
}

this.onRelease = function() {
stopDrag();
}

this.onReleaseOutside = function() {
stopDrag();
}

Flash dynamic swapDepth

code:

this.onPress = function() {
_root.x++;
this.swapDepths(_root.x);
}

Flash pixel collision detection

The CollisionDetection class is really simple to work with, there is a single static method called checkForCollision with four parameters:

checkForCollision(movieClip1,movieClip2,alphaTolerance);

movieClip1, movieClip2 - The MovieClip instances to check for collision.
alphaTolerance - a number from 0 to 255 that specifies the transparency tolerance when testing the collision. A higher number will increase the tolerance (ie. allow more transparent parts of the MovieClip to register collisions). Defaults to 255.

Returns a Rectangle object specifying the intersection of the two MovieClips in the _root coordinate space, or null if they do not intersect.


code (CollisionDetection.as):

import flash.display.BitmapData;
import flash.geom.ColorTransform;
import flash.geom.Matrix;
import flash.geom.Rectangle;

class CollisionDetection {
static public function checkForCollision(p_clip1:MovieClip,p_clip2:MovieClip,p_alphaTolerance:Number):Rectangle {

// set up default params:
if (p_alphaTolerance == undefined) { p_alphaTolerance = 255; }

// get bounds:
var bounds1:Object = p_clip1.getBounds(_root);
var bounds2:Object = p_clip2.getBounds(_root);

// rule out anything that we know can't collide:
if (((bounds1.xMax < bounds2.xMin) || (bounds2.xMax < bounds1.xMin)) || ((bounds1.yMax < bounds2.yMin) || (bounds2.yMax < bounds1.yMin)) ) {
return null;
}

// determine test area boundaries:
var bounds:Object = {};
bounds.xMin = Math.max(bounds1.xMin,bounds2.xMin);
bounds.xMax = Math.min(bounds1.xMax,bounds2.xMax);
bounds.yMin = Math.max(bounds1.yMin,bounds2.yMin);
bounds.yMax = Math.min(bounds1.yMax,bounds2.yMax);

// set up the image to use:
var img:BitmapData = new BitmapData(bounds.xMax-bounds.xMin,bounds.yMax-bounds.yMin,false);

// draw in the first image:
var mat:Matrix = p_clip1.transform.concatenatedMatrix;
mat.tx -= bounds.xMin;
mat.ty -= bounds.yMin;
img.draw(p_clip1,mat, new ColorTransform(1,1,1,1,255,-255,-255,p_alphaTolerance));

// overlay the second image:
mat = p_clip2.transform.concatenatedMatrix;
mat.tx -= bounds.xMin;
mat.ty -= bounds.yMin;
img.draw(p_clip2,mat, new ColorTransform(1,1,1,1,255,255,255,p_alphaTolerance),"difference");

// find the intersection:
var intersection:Rectangle = img.getColorBoundsRect(0xFFFFFFFF,0xFF00FFFF);

// if there is no intersection, return null:
if (intersection.width == 0) { return null; }

// adjust the intersection to account for the bounds:
intersection.x += bounds.xMin;
intersection.y += bounds.yMin;

return intersection;
}
}

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

code (in Flash):

import CollisionDetection;
import flash.geom.Rectangle;

createEmptyMovieClip("drawin",100);
drawin.clear();
// check for collisions:
var collisionRect:Rectangle = CollisionDetection.checkForCollision(mc1,mc2,120);

// if there is a collision, draw the intersection:
if (collisionRect) { with (drawin) {
beginFill(0x00FF00,20);
lineStyle(0,0x00FF00,40);
moveTo(collisionRect.x,collisionRect.y);
lineTo(collisionRect.x+collisionRect.width,collisionRect.y);
lineTo(collisionRect.x+collisionRect.width,collisionRect.y+collisionRect.height);
lineTo(collisionRect.x,collisionRect.y+collisionRect.height);
lineTo(collisionRect.x,collisionRect.y);
}}

if (collisionRect) {
//do your stuff
}

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Click here to download. It includes two simple demos to help you get started with it.

Flash local connection

code (outgoing msg):

var outgoing_lc:LocalConnection = new LocalConnection();
outgoing_lc.send("sessionName", "methodToExecute", "messageToSend");

code (incoming msg listen):

var incoming_lc:LocalConnection = new LocalConnection();
incoming_lc.connect("sessionName");
incoming_lc.methodToExecute = function(param:String):Void {
if (param == "messageToSend") {
//do your things
}
}

Flash load XML from php

code (in flash):

//set array
var company_name:Array = new Array();
var client_id:Array = new Array();

var ClientXML:XML = new XML();
ClientXML.ignoreWhite = true;
var height = 0;
ClientXML.onLoad = function() {
var nodes = this.firstChild.childNodes;
for (i=0;i<nodes.length;i++) {
movname="MovieClip_" + i;
company_name.push(nodes[i].firstChild.nodeValue);
client_id.push(nodes[i].attributes.id);
attachMovie("MovieClip_", movName, i);
eval("MovieClip_" + movName).company_name_tb.text = company_name[i];
eval("MovieClip_" + movName).clientID_tb.text = client_id[i];
eval("MovieClip_" + movName)._y = height;
height += eval("MovieClip_" + movName)._height;
}
}
ClientXML.load("clientflash.php");

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

code (clientflash.php - assuming you have the database connection, $client_listRS):

<?php
echo "<?xml version=\"1.0\"?>\n";
echo "<client>\n";
do {
echo "<company id="&quot; . $row_client_listRS[" client_id=""><![CDATA[" . $row_client_listRS['company_name'] . "]]></company>\n";
} while ($row_client_listRS = mysql_fetch_assoc($client_listRS));
echo "</client>\n";
?>

Flash create line art using actionScript

code:

//top line---------------------------------------------------------------
h=0;
while (h<15) {
colors = [0x381EA6, 0x381EA6];
alphas = [30, 20];
ratios = [0, 0xFF];
matrix = {a:500, b:0, c:0, d:0, e:200, f:0, g:200, h:200, i:1};
spreadMethod = "reflect";
interpolationMethod = "linearRGB";
focalPointRatio = 0.5;
lineStyle(1);
lineGradientStyle("linear", colors, alphas, ratios, matrix,
spreadMethod, interpolationMethod, focalPointRatio);
moveTo(0, 0 + (h * 50));
curveTo(500 + (h * 5), 100 + (h * 5), 200 + (h * 5), 0 + (h * 5));
curveTo(-400 + (h * 5), -170 + (h * 5), 1800 + (h * 100), 500 + (h * 100));
h++;
}

//bottom line------------------------------------------------------------
g=0;
while (g<15) {
colors = [0x381EA6, 0x381EA6];
alphas = [30, 20];
ratios = [0, 0xFF];
matrix = {a:500, b:0, c:0, d:0, e:200, f:0, g:200, h:200, i:1};
spreadMethod = "reflect";
interpolationMethod = "linearRGB";
focalPointRatio = 0.5;
lineStyle(1);
lineGradientStyle("linear", colors, alphas, ratios, matrix,
spreadMethod, interpolationMethod, focalPointRatio);
moveTo(0, 0 + (g * 50));
curveTo(500 + (g * 5), 100 + (g * 5), 200 + (g * 5), 0 + (g * 5));
curveTo(-400 + (g * 5), -170 + (g * 5), 1800 + (g * 100), 500 + (g * 100));
g++;
}

Flash glow effect

import flash.filters.*;

var glow:GlowFilter = new GlowFilter(0x00CCFF, 0.5, 2, 2, 4, 3);
MovieClip.filters = [glow];