Flex 2: Developing Rich Client Apps

Course Overview

Flex 2: Developing Rich Client Applications is a 3 day course which provides experienced application developers with hands-on, practical experience using Flex. This three day course introduces developers to all the primary features of Flex they'll need to know in order to build a fully functional, well architected front end for a Rich Internet Application (RIA).

Audience

This course is designed for application developers who want to bring the power of Rich Internet Applications to their web applications.

Prerequisites

To gain the most from this class, you should:

• Be familiar with an object oriented programming language such as Java or C++.
• Be familiar with XML terminology.

Course Outline

Introducing Adobe Flex 2

• Understanding rich Internet applications
• Introducing the Adobe Flex 2 product line
• The foundation of the RIA: Flash Player/Flash Virtual Machine
• Understanding the Flex application process flow
• Getting help and other resources
• Exploring the course application 13

Getting Started with Flex Builder 2

• Understanding the relationship between Eclipse and Flex Builder 2
• Exploring the Flex Builder 2 interface
• Creating a project and your first application
• Creating a main application page and running it
• Using debugging
• Getting help in Adobe Flex Builder 2

Learning Flex Fundamentals

• Creating a simple Flex application
• Creating your first Flex application
• Laying out a Flex application with containers
• Adding user interface controls
• Creating bindings between components
• Architecting an application with MXML components
• Creating properties and methods of MXML components

Handling Events

• Understanding events
• Creating event handlers using inline ActionScript
• Using inline ActionScript
• Handling events with ActionScript functions
• Placing ActionScript functions in external files
• Understanding the event object
• Implementing the add EventListener method

Using Simple Controls

• Getting familiar with Flex controls
• Using the Button control
• Using a CheckBox Control
• Using NumericStepper controls
• Using Text controls
• Displaying images
• Adding simple controls to an application

Laying Out an Application with Containers

• Understanding Containers
• Using the Application container
• Setting an application's layout
• Using the Panel container
• Using the Form container
• Using the Grid container
• Using Box Containers
• Using the DividedBox container
• Using the Tile container
• Container best practices
• Using the ControlBar container
• Component layout and sizing rules

Laying out an Application

• Using Constraint-Based Layout
• Understanding absolute positioning
• Positioning components within the Canvas container
• Positioning components inside a Canvas
• Creating a constraint-based layout using Flex Builder 2
• Creating a constraint-based layout in MXML
• Using constraint-based layouts with nested components

Using View States for Application Design

• Understanding view states
• Creating two states for the Contact page
• Controlling view states
• Reviewing the generated MXML code
• Creating view states that include custom components states

Creating Application Navigation

• Understanding navigator containers
• Using the LinkBar container
• Using the TabBar container
• Using the ViewStack container
• Navigating the Cafe Townsend application using the ViewStack and TabBar container
• Using the TabNavigator container
• Using the Accordion container
• Using ButtonBar & ToggleButtonBar
• Using the Application Control Bar container

Customising the Application

• Customising Flex application look and feel
• Using the Styles API to change look-and-feel
• Using theme styles
• Changing the look and feel of the Cafe Townsend application
• Applying behaviors to components
• Applying transitions to view states

Using MXML and ActionScript Data Models

• Using the MVC design pattern
• Creating an MXML data model
• Using ActionScript classes as a data model
• Instantiating an Object in MXML from an ActionScript class
• Creating an ActionScript constructor with parameters
• Defining class methods

Exchanging Data Between Components

• Using Custom Events
• Understanding the problem with bindings
• Using a binding to get data from a component
• Creating custom events
• Creating, dispatching and handling a custom event
• Sending data with a custom event

Retrieving XML Data with HTTPService

• Retrieving XML data at runtime
• Handling results
• Retrieving data at runtime with HTTPService
• Handling results using an event handler
• Handling faults
• Making HTTP requests to different domains

Looping Through Data Using a Repeater

• Understanding the Repeater component
• Using dataProvider data in repeated controls
• Dynamically creating components using a Repeater
• Using Repeater data in ActionScript
• Referencing repeated components

Displaying Data Using the DataGrid

• Using the DataGrid control
• Displaying Simple XML Data in a DataGrid
• Specifying DataGrid columns
• Specifying DataGrid columns
• Formatting DataGrid columns
• Using item renderers and item editors
• Using the TileList and HorizontalList
• Using events and selected items with list-based components

Flex 2: Developing Rich Client Apps / F2DRCA