Grant Skinner created an amazing regular expressions tester which is available as a web application or as a desktop air application.
This application allows you to create regular expressions and then test them on the fly. I highly recommend downloading this application for testing your regular expressions. I used this to successfully debug some regex parsing errors taking an SVG into flex.
Google Insights reveals that Utah searches the most for “adobe flex,” “flex 3,” “flex 2,” and “flex builder.”
My buddy Bryce Barrand found that Orem is the Flex Capitol of Utah
My buddy John Anderson discovered that Utah is also #1 in search for web technologies such as PHP, CakePHP, MySQL, and Linux.
Utah is definately one of the tech capitols of the United States.
Today I paid the $150 and took the Flex 2 certification test. I passed and am now an ACP – Adobe Certified Professional (add that to my Flash MX 2004 Certified Developer, MCP (Microsoft Certified Professional) and MOUS (Microsoft Office User Specialist) certifications).
Overall I found the test to be challenging. I wouldn’t take it without sufficient preparation. Here are my Flex 2 study preparation tips:
Obviously use the flex documentation as a reference over concepts that you are unfamiliar with.
Topics founds on the test that I rarely used include: IViewCursor, Flex Data Services.
Good luck.
Today at work we rediscovered the Flash / Flex font size limit of 127px.
We are creating an RIA that needs the ability to scale down a large SVG to a web editor and then scale it back out for a print-ready SVG. Flex would take a 300 px font, convert it to a 127 px font, and then scale it down. This caused our textfields to be very small and inconsistent.
At work we ordered a Inspiron 530S as an upgrade to my previous machine. Dell tech support stated that the system would be able to support dual monitors with an extended desktop.
Here’s what happened:
Once the Inspiron arrived, we purchased a PCI Nvidia 5500 GeForce MX card. This NVidia card overpowered the ATI Radeon 2400 Pro due to a setting in the bios that gives preference to PCI over PCIe. So in short, I could never get both video cards to play together. Once I removed the NVidia card from my computer, the ATI Radeon 2400 started functioning properly for the first time. (Dell Tech Support took over my computer and they couldn’t figure out why).
Next, talked to Dell Tech Support on the phone. Their sales rep claimed that a DVI Splitter cable would support dual monitors with extended desktop. We ordered two of them. There is no setting on the ATI drivers to support a DVI Splitter cable with extended desktop. Don’t have faith in Dell Sales Reps. Do your homework before you purchase something from them.
After this failed, I noticed a black cap on a VGA port. I took it off and tried plugging in my second monitor into it and rebooted. At start up an warning message displayed stating that my video card configuration wasn’t supported and I had to press F1 to continue. I continued. The integraded graphics card on the motherboard took control over my PCIe ATI Radeon 2400. I couldn’t even get the PCIe card to show up in device manager.
I talked to a senior tech support over at dell, let’s call him, Rasheem, and after dissecting what he was saying, he stated that the only way to get dual monitors with extended desktop was to purchase a video card with a DMS-59 connector. This DMS-59 connector outputs two DVI outputs to a dongle which you can connect two DVI cables to, to support two monitors. Some even support up to four monitors.
Solution:
Purchased an ATI Radeon X1300 PCIe card that comes with a dongle for $125.
Shoot me an email if you come up with a better solution or if this saved you a few hours.
When attempting to load external compiled css swfs that have an embedded font into my flex application I was getting this error: Unable to load style(SWF is not a loadable module). This is reported as an official bug on adobe’s site at: Enable Local App to load RunTime CSS.swf from Server
To solve this, you require two things.
Regardless if this is a bug, the host server still needs a crossdomain policy at the root of the domain. Here’s an example crossdomain.xml policy.
The next problem is that you cannot load external compiled swfs from a
document root (c:/my documents/flex projects/myProject/myProject.html) until the bug is fixed.
PC Users:
What I did is installed easyphp. Next, I set up an alias in easyphp. Right click on the ‘easyphp’ icon in the taskbar -> administration. I set the alias to my bin folder of my project so that when I access the url http://127.0.0.1/myProject/myProject.html it loads up my bin directory. Also in my debug settings in flex I set the default debug and run path to launch as http://127.0.0.1/myProject/myProject.html.
Now my css/style swfs are loading great remotely. The only downside is having to run easyphp on top of everything just to load in my external compiled font swfs.
Mac Users:
Thanks to Bryce Barrand
Alias /nameOfAlias /pathToYourFlexBinFolder
Options Indexes FollowSymLinks MultiViews
AllowOverride None
Order allow,deny
Allow from all
should be good to go after this. you can see the results by going to http://localhost/nameOfAlias in your browser
For anyone that is confused about whether or not it is legal to use your neighbor’s wireless internet access point (router), please read this. It is illegal. After being annoyed out of my mind by an acquaintance claiming that it is legal to use your neighbor’s wireless access point if it is unsecured, I did one google search to find this:
Is It Legal to Use Open Access Wi-Fi Internet Connections?
He claimed that the “Internet Privacy Act” made it legal to use your neighbor’s wireless access point if it wasn’t secured. Too bad the “Internet Privacy Act” was a hoax.
Using Public Wi-Fi Hotspots
Many public places such as restaurants, airports, coffee shops, and libraries offer free Wi-Fi connections. It is usually legal to use these services. Using any public Wi-Fi hotspot is legal when you have the service provider’s permission and follow the terms of service. These terms may include:
Restrictions on the time of day when, or locations where, you can access the public internet.
-Limits on the amount of network bandwidth you use.
-Restrictions on the viewing of inappropriate websites or engaging in questionable online activities.
Using a Neighbor’s Wi-Fi Connection
Using a neighbor’s unprotected wireless access point without their knowledge and permission, known as piggybacking, is a bad idea even if it isn’t illegal in your locality. It might not be legal even with permission. The answer depends on the policies of residential internet service providers and plans. If the service provider allows it and the neighbor agrees, using the neighbor’s Wi-Fi connection is legal.
Visit: iminlikewithyou.com
As a flex developer, I realize the amazing feat that this is to take on an accomplish. Wow. Iminlikewithyou is an innovative social media network that allows users to play games with each other, comment on videos, and share pictures with one another.
Being a college student, it is also very entertaining. Play social games, make comments on cheesey 80’s videos, and post pictures of yourself. This is the grand masterpiece of social media in a flex app. Check it out, you will laugh as you read and make comments and play games with others. Facebook now has some competition for delaying your research paper.
At Rain we developed Logomaker, a do-it-yourself logo designer. When a client would come in for a custom logo, designers would come up with many variations and then the client would pick one. Instead of throwing away the variations, Logomaker decided to reuse these assets with an online do-it-yourself logo designer.
I had the opportunity of working on the ask a friend feature and also the credit card authentication process through flash. I learned a lot and was able to deliver what was required.
If google wasn’t google, they’d have to do this in order to show up on their searches. Enjoy.