Follow along with this tutorial to expand on what we created in the previous tutorial, PatchPanel: Integrating your ExtendScript, with the objective of using a framework that embraces running our Flash plug-in in multiple Creative Suite applications (Photoshop and Illustrator). When we are done, our Flash plug-in will work in all three CS applications using code that is appropriate for each host application― keeping in mind that this is necessary due to the differences in the DOMs of each application.

Our Flash plug-in will get the RGB values of the foreground color of the host CS4 application. You will integrate a separate ActionScript file for each host application within the Flash plug-in that you develop within a Flex Builder MXML project using the PatchPanel SWC library as the mechanism for communicating between your SWF and the host application, which will dynamically be defined in this example.

After completing this tutorial, you should be able to:

• Add the Adobe PatchPanel SWC library, cs4.swc, to your Flex Builder Project
• Import the host CS applications ExtendScript DOM
• Copy your ExtendScript code from ExtendScript Toolkit to Flex Builder
• Know what the appropriate color object structure is within the DOM of the three possible host applications
• Install the SWF and accompanying JSX/JS file so that it is accessible from within Photoshop and Illustrator

Requirements

In order to make the most of this article, you need the following software and files:

Photoshop CS4

• Try
• Buy

Illustrator CS4

• Try
• Buy

Flex Builder 3

• Try
• Buy

PatchPanel CS3 & CS4 SDK (includes the SWC for Flex Builder)

• Download

Sample files:

• patchpanel_flashpanels.zip (ZIP, 714K)

Prerequisite knowledge

You must be comfortable with developing in Flex Builder. Basic familiarity with ExtendScript ToolKit would be beneficial, but is optional. You should have already worked through the Hello World examples for PatchPanel.

Although it is not a prerequisite, these tutorials compliment and attempt to expand upon the samples included within the Adobe PatchPanel SDK download. It would be beneficial to work through the sample documentation, Getting Started with Adobe PatchPanel.pdf and for this specifically the section Generalizing host-specific implementation.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License

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