Archive for the ‘StatefulToolkit’ Category

Tutorial Overview

This tutorial will build upon the Introduction to using the StatefulToolkit example; it will add the ability to utilize the Clipboard in our example. The example will use the ClipboardUtil, which is a utility class included in the toolkit that allows the user to copy and paste objects using the clipboard. The example application will build upon the last one; it will allow the user to position four circles, to save and load the state of the circles (i.e. where the circles are positioned) and to copy and paste the circles. The example can be seen here and source files are available.

Preparation

Before you being implementing this tutorial make sure you have the latest version of the StatefulToolkit SWC, and that you’re project is set to target Flash Player 10 (if you want to target FP9, simple replace the Vector with an array in the circle container) . This tutorial also uses Keith Peter’s Minimal Comps component set to create the buttons in the application so you may want to grab the SWC for that too, but you can use your own buttons if you prefer. Both SWC files are included in the available flex project.
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Tutorial Overview

In this tutorial I’ll take you through the basic premise behind the StatefulToolkit and demonstrate how it can be used in a project. If you haven’t heard of StatefulToolkit before then be sure to read up on it. This example will also demonstrate use of the FileUtil, which is a utility class included in the toolkit that allows the user to load and save states. The application is very basic and will allow the user to position four circles and to save and load the state of the circles (i.e. where the circles are positioned). The example can be seen here and source files are available.

Preparation

Before you being implementing this tutorial make sure you have the latest version of the StatefulToolkit SWC, and that you’re project is set to target Flash Player 10 (if you want to target FP9, simple replace the Vector with an array in the circle container) . This tutorial also uses Keith Peter’s Minimal Comps component set to create the buttons in the application so you may want to grab the SWC for that too, but you can use your own buttons if you prefer.
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Update: Don’t forget to take a look at the Introduction to using StatefulToolkit.

What is it?

The StatefulToolkit was developed to enable the simple management of states in AS3. At the heart of the toolkit is one interface called IStatable. Any object that requires the retrieval or setting of its state must implement this interface. The toolkit comes with utility classes to help carry out some of the basic tasks associated with state management.

What’s included in the beta?

The initial 0.1 beta release includes the interfaces to implement and two utility classes, one to aid in saving and loading states and another to enable clipboard management, so you can copy and paste objects.

The utility classes are both currently optimized for the Flash Player – that’s not to say they can’t be used in the AIR runtime (they’d work perfectly fine) but they take into account the security sandbox restrictions that are found in the Flash Player. For example, the FileUtil allows you to save and load states, but does this using the FileReference class whereas in an AIR application you may want this to be done silently (without the browse box appearing), which would use the File class.

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