Flex 3: LocalConnection fails for no reason
I have had more problems than worth mentioning with the LocalConnection API, but felt compelled to write about it after finally getting everything up and running. Continue Reading →
Flex 3: Detecting Network Status
There are a number of methods to detect network connectivity, all of which can be read about here, here, here and here. Continue Reading →
Downloading Large Files using Flex/AIR
During my download manager development I tried a number of different methods to download files. This article was invaluable, as it explains how to download in 50k chunks rather than buffering much larger amounts. Continue Reading →
Set-top Box with Flash Lite 3.1 for the Digital Home
There seems to be a general obsession with getting flash onto mobile devices of all kinds, but little documentation around running it from a set-top box. Given this is what I want to do, I thought I would write about some of the considerations, given there appears to be little else written about this other than some high-level points and brief tutorials on the Adobe site. Apologies in advance to anyone else stumbling across this article…it provides no answers, but perhaps some helpful sole will comment. Continue Reading →
Flex 3: 40k argument limit for LocalConnection
Using either the arguments field when launching an AIR app from a browser or initiating a local connection between AIR apps or Flex apps and the browser is a great way to pass data and create a better integrated user experience. However, there are some serious flaws. The documented limit for passing data between flex application using LocalConnection is 40Kb. This is easily enough for a few IDs, but not a sizable XML document. Continue Reading →
Flex 3: Image Caching/404 Handling
Sometimes it may be useful to cache images locally or provide default alternatives in situations where an AIR application is used offline. Continue Reading →
Flex 3: Anti-aliasing on buttons, tabs & other labels
Over on the Adobe live docs page on embedding fonts and anti-aliasing there is plenty of help on how to go about getting elements looking good. Continue Reading →
Flex 3: Messages between multiple browsers and AIR
Sending messages from the browser and AIR using the Flex localConnection class is fairly well documented. I recently needed to extend this to support multiple instances of the same browser flex application talking to a single AIR app. (Cheers to Dave for this trick!) Continue Reading →
Flex 3: Detecting hard disk space
Flex does not appear to have a library that deals very well running out of disk space, and this was a key part of the recent work I did on a download manager. Continue Reading →