Previously I discussed the process of implementing a custom chrome in Adobe AIR, with this post I’ll delve into how I created the assets I used in Beer Near Here Desktop. In particular I’ll discuss how I acquired all the beer glass images necessary to create the loading animation for Beer Near Here Desktop.
One of the downsides to creating Rich Internet Applicationss is that they defy the standard methods for interacting with websites — the refresh, back and forward buttons have no real place in an Flex application. As a developer you probably understand that clicking refresh or back is a no-no but you users aren’t likely to be as savvy. This article will describe a method you can employ to prompt users with a confirmation dialog when they attempt to navigate away from you Flex app. Read the rest of this entry »
If you’ve been reading along you’ll know that…I haven’t posted anything in awhile. Hopefully this post will make up for that a bit. Today I’ll be writing about using custom chrome (sometimes called ’skins’) with AIR. A quick Google search will pull up quite a few resources on this but I noticed that most of them were for Flex 2 which is, apparently, quite different from Flex 3 when it comes to AIR. Also I couldn’t really find a definitive guide that pulled it all together. Maybe this post can remedy this situation.
Doomablo. It certainly has an excellent pedigree.
After laying down the plan for this project I spent quite a bit of time with the setup in Flex Builder. If you’ve read my post, Flex Builder Optimization and You, you’ll know that I’ve done a bit of reading on setting up Flex projects for efficient work flows, particularly compile times, and I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s super, extra important to setup Flex projects well. Aside from the usual upshots of enhancing efficiency and the like, it’s been my experience that a well organized Flex project will load and compile significantly faster that one that’s been poorly organized. Trust me, I learned the hard way.
As anyone who’s spent some time writing software knows: planning is paramount. Mapping out all the features of an app and how they fit together just makes life so much easier. Since Beer Near Here is a personal project I also factored in my own goals that don’t necessarily have anything to do with how the app functions into the planning stage.
One of the coolest aspects of Beer Near Here, in my humble opinion, is the desktop version. Beer Near Here is primarily a website about information, specifically, displaying information in a legible manner. That sort of site doesn’t mesh well with a cool, out-there design or lots of Flash or Javascript effects, which is why developing BNH Desktop was so refreshing. Yes, the app is still primarily about displaying information to the user but in targeting AIR I’m free to embrace all the cool animations and effects offered by that platform.
Beer Near Here is finally done! I’ve been working on this site and AIR application for a while now and I have to say it feels good to have it done and out there. So check it out at beernearhere.net or read a bit about it here.
Peruse piles of deliciously gross and greasy food with, This Is Why You’re Fat, a blog “where dreams become heart attacks”.
After taking a look I have one question, how do you even eat some of that? Follow up: Why?