Developing an effective Fireworks workflow

Workflow overview

Establishing a development workflow can make the process of coding, testing, and deployment an enjoyable experience. The steps I show you separate the code from the UI as much as possible. I expand upon the following process in detail in the sections that follow:

1. Create the JSF command file.
2. Create the Flash UI.
3. Import the JSF command text into Flash.
4. Execute JSF commands in Flash using MMExecute().
5. Export the Flash SWF and test it within Fireworks.

Creating a simple command

Let's start by creating a simple JSF command. We can do this by performing a few actions within Fireworks and then saving the steps displayed in the History panel (select Windows > History) as a command:

1. Draw a rectangle on the Stage and change its fill color.
2. Select the steps you just performed in the History panel then click the Save icon.
3. When prompted for a command name, enter Draw Rect (see Figure 1).

Figure 1. Creating a simple command

You should now see the command you just saved listed in the main toolbar's Commands menu. Try deleting your rectangle and executing the command you just created (select Commands > Draw Rect). If you saved the correct steps in your History panel, a new rectangle should appear with the same specifications as the one you previously created.

What just happened?

Fireworks created a new JSF (JavaScript Fireworks) file and saved it to a special directory on your hard drive. The file contains JavaScript code that performs the actions you selected in the History panel. Fireworks sees this new file and displays it in the list of commands in the Commands menu. When you select the command from the menu, the JavaScript within this file is interpreted by Fireworks. This behavior should be familiar to anyone who has created a macro in a program like Microsoft Word.

Where is the command stored?

Fireworks commands that are saved from the History panel are stored in your user profile folder:

(Windows) C:\Documents and Settings\<User Name>\Application Data\Macromedia\Fireworks 8\Commands

(Mac OS) Macintosh HD:Users:<User>:Library:Application Support:Macromedia:Fireworks 8:Commands

Fireworks commands that are accessible to all users are stored in the following location:

(Windows) C:\Program Files\Macromedia\Fireworks 8\Configuration\Commands

(Mac OS) Macintosh HD:Applications:Macromedia:Fireworks 8:Configuration:Commands

Likewise, command panels are stored in similar locations:

(Windows) C:\Documents and Settings\<User Name>\Application Data\Macromedia\Fireworks 8\Command Panels

(Mac OS) Macintosh HD:Users:<User>:Library:Application Support:Macromedia:Fireworks 8:Command Panels

and here:

(Windows) C:\Program Files\Macromedia\Fireworks 8\Configuration\Command Panels

(Mac OS) Macintosh HD:Applications:Macromedia:Fireworks 8:Configuration:Command Panels

Editing and understanding the JSF

Browse to your Commands folder and open the file you just created using your text editor of choice. (The lightweight Notepad++ is a great choice that provides syntax highlighting.) If you followed the earlier steps and created a new rectangle, you should see something similar to the following code:

fw.getDocumentDOM().addNewRectanglePrimitive({left:36, top:39, right:101, bottom:104}, 0);
fw.getDocumentDOM().setFillColor("#99cc33");

The first line calls the addNewRectanglePrimitive method of the Fireworks Document Object Model (DOM) and passes two parameters, a Rectangle object and a corner roundness value:

dom.addNewRectanglePrimitive(boundingRectangle, roundness);

The second line calls the setFillColor method and passes a hexadecimal color value. The setFillColor method, like most available methods, performs operations on the currently selected element(s) on the Stage. Because a new rectangle was just created, that same rectangle is now selected and the setFillColor method behaves as expected.

Experiment with the values passed to addNewRectanglePrimitive and setFillColor, save Draw Rect.jsf and rerun the command within Fireworks. You have now performed an action that you will perform countless times if you proceed with Fireworks extension development.

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