Macromedia Flash 8: ActionScript (3 days)
Sign up for a class beginning October 15, 2005. Classes will be available November 15, 2005.
Description
Macromedia Flash 8: ActionScript provides experienced Flash designers with the knowledge and hands-on practice they need to create dynamically generated event-driven animation and interactive games with Flash. The course teaches fundamental programming techniques. It begins by introducing core concepts including instance names, variables, functions, properties, and methods; then proceeds through conditions, loops, event handling, and animating with ActionScript.
Audience
To take this course, you should have:
- Completed the Macromedia Flash 8: Rich Content Creation course, or have equivalent experience.
- The desire to learn how to program Flash content using ActionScript.
Course Outline
Unit 1: Introducing the Course
- Understanding the course format
- Reviewing the course objectives and prerequisites
- Looking at the course outline
Unit 2: Controlling Visual Objects with ActionScript
- Using the Actions and Help panels
- Declaring variables and their data types
- Using the trace() function
- Using code hinting
- Assigning instance names and using them to assign runtime property values
- Using the with operator
- Introducing core properties of visual built-in classes: MovieClip, Button, and TextField
- Controlling Button and MovieClip position and visual state
- Controlling TextField content
- Introducing core properties of non-visual built-in classes: Math
- Using mathematical operators
- Understanding data type conversion
Unit 3: Using and Writing Functions
- Working with Flash Player global functions
- Converting values returned from functions and assigning them for display
- Writing user defined functions
- Returning, or not returning, data from a function
- Understanding variable scope
- Adding code within a MovieClip symbol's own timeline
- Introducing the this operator
- Understanding object methods
- Introducing core methods of visual built-in classes: MovieClip and TextField
- Controlling the MovieClip playhead within its timeline
- Loading external MovieClip content
- Understanding cross-domain security issues
- Exporting and attaching MovieClip symbol instances at runtime
- Writing and using user defined functions to create visual content
- Understanding depth
- Dynamically referring to instance names and property names at runtime
Unit 4: Using Text, Dates, Math, and Paths
- Controlling TextField formatting through code
- Creating and formatting TextFields at runtime
- Using Date objects
- Working with String concatenation
- Generating random numbers and integers using the Math class
- Understanding relative path names
- Controlling nested MovieClip objects
Unit 5: Understanding and Handling Events
- Understanding event driven programming
- Working with event handler syntax
- Moving from symbol-based to timeline-based event handling
- Introducing core events of visual built-in classes: Button, MovieClip, and TextField
- Controlling the playhead within an event handler
- Understanding the this keyword inside an event handler
- Creating rollover effects
- Responding to TextField focus events
- Calling a single function from multiple event handlers
- Referring to a parent object from within an event handler
Unit 6: Managing Color, Sound, and Data with Built-In Classes
- Understanding complex (aggregate) variables
- Working with Arrays
- Working with generic Objects
- Transforming MovieClip objects using Transform and ColorTransform objects
- Generating random color transformations
- Using Sound objects
- Creating audio feedback with event-driven sounds linked from the Library
Unit 7: Making Decisions and Repeating Yourself
- Understanding looped code
- Using loops and arrays to attach, name, and control MovieClip objects
- Using loops to create, name, and control TextFields to display data object values
- Understanding conditional code execution
- Surveying the comparison and logical operators
- Using if/else comparison to toggle MovieClip visual states
Unit 8: Animating with ActionScript
- Dragging and dropping a MovieClip object
- Testing for collision between MovieClip objects
- Initializing attached MovieClip objects
- Using the onEnterFrame event handler
- Controlling visual change rate
- Testing and responding to position at runtime
