Ryan Campbell » 360Flex http://www.ryancampbell.com Flex/Flash Developer Blog Fri, 30 Jul 2010 03:46:35 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 Customizing the OpenFlux ScrollBar http://www.ryancampbell.com/2008/09/10/customizing-the-openflux-scrollbar/ http://www.ryancampbell.com/2008/09/10/customizing-the-openflux-scrollbar/#comments Wed, 10 Sep 2008 19:27:38 +0000 Ryan Campbell http://www.bobjim.com/2008/09/10/customizing-the-openflux-scrollbar/ At the 360|Flex Day 1 Keynote, Mark Anders presented on Flex 4, Thermo and Flash Player 10 (video here). One of his demos was a custom scroll bar that was easily built with Flex 4/Thermo, but complicated with Flex 3. I've created a similar scroll bar using OpenFlux below with view source enabled. You'll be pleased to see how little code is involved. Making use of OpenFlux+Degrafa all customizations were done in MXML with not a drop of AS3 code required.

View Source Code

]]> http://www.ryancampbell.com/2008/09/10/customizing-the-openflux-scrollbar/feed/ 3 Plexiglass: 3D Components Made Easy at 360|Flex http://www.ryancampbell.com/2008/08/13/plexiglass-3d-components-made-easy-at-360flex/ http://www.ryancampbell.com/2008/08/13/plexiglass-3d-components-made-easy-at-360flex/#comments Wed, 13 Aug 2008 19:21:34 +0000 Ryan Campbell http://www.bobjim.com/2008/08/13/plexiglass-3d-components-made-easy-at-360flex/ In the time since 360|Flex Atlanta, Ben and I have made a lot of progress on OpenFlux. The majority of my focus has been on what's called Plexiglass. It consists of an alternate view class, 3D layouts and cameras allowing you to create 3D components with as little as a couple lines of mxml or css.

We've still got a ways to go, OpenFlux is still in alpha release, but I'm really happy with what we've done so far and I can't wait to show it off. My session at 360|Flex will give you a great idea on what's currently possible, how to get started and future plans. Not to mention some sweet demos with full source code provided.

I'll also be looking to the crowd to drum up discussion on where to go next with the project. Although OpenFlux has been quoted as "Flex 4 Now", Plexiglass is definitely beyond the scope of the Flex 4 SDK. We've got a pretty solid core, I've experimented with Flex 4 compatibility and I think with the communities help this project can go a long way.

Below is a quick example (took 5 minutes) of a regular OpenFlux List component using the FlowLayout and an OpenFlux List using Plexiglass with the SpiralLayout. You can see by the source code, Plexiglass is really easy to get started with.

If you are interested in learning more come check out my session on Monday afternoon. On Sunday there is also free training on OpenFlux with Ben Stucki and I'll also be there to show you how to build a 3D component (e-mail info@360flex.com to RSVP).

Lastly: This will be my third time going to 360|Flex. The previous 2 (Seattle, Atlanta) I had a blast, learnt a lot, meet a bunch of great people and it sounds like this one is going to be even better. I look forward to seeing you all there and if you see me around please come say hi.

]]> http://www.ryancampbell.com/2008/08/13/plexiglass-3d-components-made-easy-at-360flex/feed/ 0 My Experience at 360|Flex Atlanta http://www.ryancampbell.com/2008/03/02/my-experience-at-360flex-atlanta/ http://www.ryancampbell.com/2008/03/02/my-experience-at-360flex-atlanta/#comments Mon, 03 Mar 2008 05:41:15 +0000 Ryan Campbell http://www.bobjim.com/2008/03/02/my-experience-at-360flex-atlanta/ atl_bling_100.pngThis is my second time attending 360|Flex and my first time speaking at it. Overall I had an amazing time and can't wait for the next one. I showed up by myself, knowing hardly anyone and left with a ton of new friends (beer helped with that).

The conference is full of brilliant approachable people who are eager to swap knowledge. As an independent developer who works from home, I really enjoyed meeting others face-to-face. Talking to fellow developers about Flex is a lot more rewarding compared to forcing my fiancee to listen to my "cool" programming breakthroughs.

Back at home before the conference, many people asked if I was nervous about speaking. I responded with no (only half lying to them) and that I was more excited than anything. When I previously went to the Seattle conference I got to experience the community vibe and felt that everyone is just appreciative of the knowledge you have to share. Also, as Doug McCune has said, it's ok to say you don't know the answer to something because there is usually someone in the crowd who will gladly answer for you.

Also, I owe my left nut to the guy who let me borrow his Mini-DVI to VGA Adapter. Thanks so much dude! It would have been a fairly pointless session without it.

One of my favorite sessions was building your personal brand that Doug McCune and Juan Sanchez bravely took on in place of Jesse Warden. Although I give huge props to the two of them for being able to whip up a lot of useful tips (in only 20 minutes!), I really enjoyed the input from the crowd. I think this is where 360|Flex shines. Whether or not you are a speaker, everyone brings something to the table and everyone's opinion helps take the discussion further than it would without them.

As the Atlanta conference was ending, I was already getting excited hearing about when/where the next conference will happen. I really hope Tom and John were able to step away from their lovely blue registration table for at least a few moments to see how well their conference turned out.

To all of the great people I met at 360|Flex Atlanta, please keep in touch and I hope we'll be meeting up again at a future conference.

]]> http://www.ryancampbell.com/2008/03/02/my-experience-at-360flex-atlanta/feed/ 3 Example Code for my 360Flex Session – Accessing Secure APIs within Flex http://www.ryancampbell.com/2008/03/02/example-code-for-my-360flex-session-accessing-secure-apis-within-flex/ http://www.ryancampbell.com/2008/03/02/example-code-for-my-360flex-session-accessing-secure-apis-within-flex/#comments Sun, 02 Mar 2008 23:55:55 +0000 Ryan Campbell http://www.bobjim.com/2008/03/02/example-code-for-my-360flex-session-accessing-secure-apis-within-flex/ For those who weren't at my session, I'm providing a link to an example application for integrating the PayPal API into Flex. This includes Express Checkout and Direct Payment.

Download the Example Application

The majority of my presentation was me talking, but since no video is available I'm hoping the provided code is self-explanatory. I am also providing a link to my slides.

View/Download the Slides

Basically, the provided code contains a Flex application and PHP code to proxy PayPal API requests/responses. I tried to keep the amount of code to a minimum so that it's easier to read and understand how it all works.

I ment to get this up sooner but a cold has kept me away from the computer. Enjoy :)

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Photo by John Mason

]]> http://www.ryancampbell.com/2008/03/02/example-code-for-my-360flex-session-accessing-secure-apis-within-flex/feed/ 17 Understand Flex and PayPal API Integration at 360Flex http://www.ryancampbell.com/2008/02/20/understand-flex-and-paypal-api-integration-at-360flex/ http://www.ryancampbell.com/2008/02/20/understand-flex-and-paypal-api-integration-at-360flex/#comments Wed, 20 Feb 2008 16:33:07 +0000 Ryan Campbell http://wp.bobjim.com/wordpress/2008/02/20/understand-flex-and-paypal-api-integration-at-360flex/ Need to get your Flex app talking to PayPal and have no idea how to do it? You're not alone! I spent days losing hair (and sleep) figuring out how to get Flex and PayPal to play nice with each other. I don't want anyone else to have to go through that madness.

I've received plenty of e-mails asking for advice and code examples on this topic. In response, I will be releasing a modified copy of the FlexStore sample app with a completed order screen using PayPal. At my presentation I will be giving a detailed step-by-step talk on how I got this working. Also, although I'm using PayPal in this example, the knowledge gained could be applied to using any secure payment API.

If you haven't registered for 360Flex yet, be sure to do so quickly (really quickly actually, I've heard there's only a few seats left). This will be my second time attending the conference and I can't wait to get there! Also, don't forgot to enter the API Contest for a chance to win some really great prizes.

See ya there and don't forget to say hello :)

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