In this article we’ll optimized the generated code by Catalyst dividing the application in custom/generic components.
We’ll also introduce Interactions,to add interactivity.

In this article we’ll import an Adobe Illustrator CS5 layout in Flash Catlayst “Panini”

In this tutorial (divided in 9 chapters) we will create a prototype of a typical RSS reader for mobile devices using Adobe Flash Catalyst “Panini” importing the entire layout from Adobe Illustrator CS5.
We will use some of the most important components available in Flash Catalyst – “DataList”, “VerticalScrollBar”, “ScrollPanel”, “TextInput” - applying transitions and iterations in order to enable navigation and create a more pleasant user experience.
We will also analyze the UI import process from Illustrator to Flash Catalyst and we’ll structure the project so that the mxml …

Reading RSS feeds from Flex or Flash often generate some security issues when the origin domain doesn’t contain a crossdomain.xml file to manage the policy settings.
A little workaround is create a PHP proxy to read the feeds and pass the content to the Flex script.

ActionScript 3.0 doesn’t manage all developers needs, so often they have to use other languages, as JavaScript, to accomplish some operations like open an HTML popup or get the userAgent property, useful to know the user Browser.
The AS3 ExternalInterface class allow to invoke Javascript functions directly from Flash.
Usually these functions are defined inside the HTML page but in this sample we’ll see how to implement them inside an ActionScript class, avoiding to edit HTML code.

As often happens, i got the expiration to write this little post after an user request from an actionscript.it forum.
In few words, user asked how integrate a Google Search inside its Flex application to display the result always inside the flash app.
So I started to surf around the web to find a valid solution, and after founding many PHP solutions I found a cool AS3 library, developed by Boulevart.
This API provides a lot of classes to connect Flex (and Flash too) to Google services (Google Search, Translation, News, and so …

The Adobe User Group flex-developers.org invite you at Flex camp on the beach (Milano Marittima), a free one day gathering with food, drinks, coding and time with the Flex engineers covering the most desired topics about the upcoming release of Flex 4 and Flash Catalist.
Speakers and topics are great, so you must join it!!
Matt Chotin
Adam Flater (http://adamflater.blogspot.com/)
Michael Labriola (http://blogs.digitalprimates.net/codeSlinger/)
Rich Tretola (http://blog.everythingflex.com)
Michael Plank (www.powerflasher.de)
Jaco Pixeldump (pixeldump.org)
Giorgio Natili     (flex-developers.org)
John Lindquist (http://pv3d.org, http://flex4.org)
Joost Nuijten
Eros Marcon     (actionscript.it)
Simon Slooten (www.simonslooten.com)
Matteo Lanzi  aka Gallo_Teo (flex-developers.org)
Gabriele Farina
Alessandro Crugnola aka Sephiroth
USEFUL …

I was playing with the Flex Google Map API and I think one of the coolest stuff is the Direction feature.
In few words, you can do a query like this: “from Milano to Torino” and you’ll get:
1) Distance
2) Trip duration
3) The complete travel displayed on Google Map
4) Many other usefull info (check GoogleMap website to get the API reference and other samples)
In this script I simulate a Store Locator, where user digits its city in a TextInput and at the same time he can selects a store from a List.
Each time user will …

Problem: customize the HSlider / VSlider skin and add the handcursor to the track icon
Solution: create two skin actionscript classes to customize the trackSkin and a thumbSkin styles
Final SWF Output:
This movie requires Flash Player 10

swfobject.embedSWF(”http://www.fabiobiondi.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/slidersample.swf”, “swfa0e51″, “450″, “170″, “10.0.0″, “”, {}, {wmode: “window”, menu: “false”, quality: “high”, bgcolor: “#FFFFFF”, allowFullScreen: “true”}, {});

Problem: Using the TileList component (or other List Base components) a light blue color appears when you rollover an item and a dark blue when you select it.
You want remove them to implement your own graphic effects.
Solution: Extend TileList Component and override drawSelectionIndicator() and drawHighlightIndicator methods() methods
Following an image to recognize the issue: