Dynamic Flash

Throughout almost all of my ActionScript 2.0 development I used the excellent LuminicBox.Log framework (along with the bundled FlashInspector) to debug my Flash applications. With the advent of ActionScript 3.0 / Flex 2 / Flash 9 we now have a logging API but there's no easy way to view the logged information*. To stop me tearing what little hair I have left out I have created the LuminicBoxLoggingTarget class, which can be used with the FlashInspector to debug your applications.

Before I go on I know all the hip kids these days are using the fabulous XRay tool, but sometimes it's a little too heavy-weight for the job of simply logging debug messages to a console. Plus I've not yet got it to play nicely with an ActionScript 3.0 / Flex 2 application.

So, how do you use this fine class?

As with most of my classes, this is released under the MIT license, so feel free to use it wherever.

* Unless, that is, you've had better luck than me tracking down the mysterious MiniDebug application that's mentioned in the ActionScript 3.0 Logging API documentation.

I've been working on a personal project recently (more on that later if/when it comes off) where I needed to be able to convert various bits of information into Base64 encoding and then back again. I couldn't find a decent ActionScript 3.0 class, so I decided to roll my own.

The Base64 class can encode from or decode to simple strings or ByteArray objects, which means that you should be able to handle any type of data that can be written to or read from a ByteArray (which is pretty much everything).

I've tried to follow the conventions used in the ActionScript 3.0 libraries, including a FlexUnit tests/test runner in the download package, along with a script to build the test runner.

This class is working just fine for me, but I'm only exposed to a limited amount of Base64 data to test with. If you use this in your applications I'd be interested to hear your experiences. It's released under the MIT license so is completely free for commercial use.

For more information see the Base64 class page, which is part of the revamped Goodies section.

Yahoo! is looking for a talented web designer to join its London UK design team. I've included the job spec below. If you're interested email your CV to steve {at} dynamicflash [dot] com and I'll forward them on to the appropriate person. If you're not interested but you know someone who might be, please forward them a link to this article.

[edit - I've changed the description to read 'web designer' as this is very much a design-oriented role.]

Job description

Yahoo! is continuing to grow its Product Development group in Europe and we are looking to strengthen our User Experience Design team. We are seeking a Designer with solid visual and interactive design skills.

The role involves designing interfaces for our web sites and prototyping concepts to share with our stakeholders and development team, and also test with our users. The Designer will also be producing visual style guides and graphical assets and will ensure a consistent design system for the solution.

The candidate should be a team player and ideally have had experience working with user researchers, information architects, visual designers, and web developers. The desire to work in a fast paced and evolving environment coupled with the ability to juggle multiple priorities is key, as is a diplomatic mindset and sense of humour.

Requirements

• A Bachelor's degree (or equivalent) in Graphic Design, Industrial Design, HCI, Computer Related Design
• 3+ years experience designing web sites in agency environment - projects in Media and e-commerce a definite plus
• A command of the following applications required: Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop and FLASH
• In-depth knowledge of typography, colour, and composition to support developing on brand and on target solutions
• In-depth knowledge of ActionScript and ability to quickly prototype concepts in FLASH
• Ability to understand project goals and execute multiple thought out concepts against the design direction
• An understanding of the components and importance of a brand identity and ability to explore and extend under direction
• Ability to take direction and criticism in a mature manner. Strong team player and is excited about the job and the medium
• Understanding of the possibilities/limitations of HTML, CSS, Accessibility, and CMS on the design solution
• Desire to push the boundaries of Web design and explore Web 2.0 possibilities and its impact on interface design

If you're interested email your CV to steve {at} dynamicflash [dot] com and I'll forward them on to the appropriate person. If you're not interested but you know someone who might be, please forward them a link to this article.

I've finally caved in and got myself a ticket for Flash on the Beach in December. It's the first Flash conference in the UK for 6 years, and now that I'm London-based I've got no excuse not to be there. I'm heading down with a couple of the design team from Yahoo! and hope to meet up with as many of you as possible during the 3 day geek fest.

For all you non-natives out there, December in the UK is seriously cold - please don't take the words 'Flash' and 'beach' too seriously.

PS. Early-bird registration finished this Friday. Get your tickets now for just £299 and save yourself £100 over the regular price.

I've just been playing around with BBEdit 8.5 (the big brother to TextWrangler) which has just been released and have found that it supports ActionScript 3.0 for syntax highlighting, code collapse and function/method lookup. This is a nice surprise that I didn't see on the official changelog.

If you're coding ActionScript 3.0 on a Mac and you find XCode a little too heavy-weight, give BBEdit a try. It's a little expensive for a text editor at $129 USD (£66-ish) but it should be powerful enough to handle all your code editing needs.