ActionScript 3 and Flex support in iSpring

This article describes the way of the iSpring generated presentations communication with Flash applications written in ActionScript 3 and Flex.

Table of contents:

• ActionScript 3.0 and ActionScript 2.0 communication
• ActionScript 3 bridge communication module API
• Integration with Flex applications
• Samples
  • ActionScript 3 sample source code
  • ActionScript 3 communication demo
  • Adobe Flex communication demo
• References

     
var lc:LocalConnection = new LocalConnection();
lc.sayHello = function(name:String):Void
{
    trace("Hello, " + name + "!");
}

lc.connect("connectionName");
  
   

Another Flash movie calls these methods using send() method:

var lc:LocalConnection = new LocalConnection();
lc.send("connectionName", "sayHello", "John Smith");
   

The first Flash movie will receive and execute commands froth the second. When a two-way interaction is needed, each Flash movie must create 2 LocalConnection objects: one connection to send commands and another one to receive them.

There is one thing which must be taken into account. It is possible to create only 1 LocalConnection with a given name on the same PC. So it is recommended to generate connection name based on some random information such as date. The sending Flash movie needs a connection name of the receiving Flash movie. This connection name can be passed as an URL parameter:

var lc:LocalConnection = new LocalConnection();
lc.sayHello = function(name:String):Void
{
    trace("Hello, " + name + "!");
}

// generate connection name which is most likely unique
var connectionName:String = "conn" + (new Date().getTime());
lc.connect(connectionName);
var childMove:MovieClip = this.createEmptyMovieClip("mc", this.getNextHighestDepth());

// load child movie and pass the connection name in URL parameter
childMovie.loadMovie("someMovie.swf?lcid=" + escape(connectionName));
   

A child Flash movie gets the connection name from URL variables:

var lc:LocalConnection = new LocalConnection();
lc.send(this.lcid, "sayHello", "John Smith");
   

The similar way of Flash movies interaction can be used to establish communication between ActionScript 3 Flash movie and iSpring generated presentations.

iSpring Presenter and iSpring SDK products allow embedding a special ActionScript communication module (AS3 Connector) into the generated flash presentation. This communication module provides presentation playback control facilities via LocalConnection protocol accessible from Flash applications written in ActionScript 3.

iSpring SDK and iSpring Presenter products include a set of AS3 classes and interfaces which simplify communication between AS3 applications and iSpring generated presentations with embedded AS3 connector. These classes and interfaces provide facilities for presentation loading and playback control. They can also broadcast notifications about various events during presentation playback.

The communication between ActionScript 3 application and iSpring generated presentation is illustrated in the following diagram.

ActionScript 3 <-> iSpring presentation communication

Class name	Description
AcquireFocusEvent	Creates acquire keyboard focus event objects.
IAnimationStep	Provides the information about animation step timing.
IAnimationSteps	Stores a collection of the slide animation steps.
ICompanyInfo	Stores the information about company.
ICompanyLogo	Stores the information about company logotype.
IPlayer	Provides an access to the presentation playback core.
IPresentationInfo	Provides an access to the presentation information.
IPresentationPlaybackController	Provides presentation playback and navigation control.
IPresenterInfo	Stores the presenter information.
IPresentersCollection	Stores a collection of presentation presenters.
IPresenterVideo	Stores the information about presenter video.
IReferenceInfo	Provides the information about the particular presentation reference.
IReferencesCollection	Stores a collection of presentation references.
ISlideInfo	Provides the information about the particular slide.
ISlideResources	Provides the information about resources associated with particular slide.
ISlidesCollection	Stores a collection of slides.
ISoundController	Provides sound control facilities.
PlaybackEvent	Creates playback event objects.
PlaybackPositionEvent	Creates playback position event objects.
PlayerEvent	Creates player initialization event objects.
PresentationLoader	Simplifies the process of iSpring generated Flash movies loading.
SlidePlaybackEvent	Creates slide playback event objects.
SoundEvent	Creates sound event objects.
StepPlaybackEvent	Creates animation step playback event objects.

Samples

       import ispring.as2player.*;
       import flash.events.*;

       var g_player:IPlayer;

       // load presentation
       var loader:PresentationLoader = new PresentationLoader();
       addChild(loader);
       loader.addEventListener(PlayerEvent.PLAYER_INIT, playerInit);
       loader.load(new URLRequest("presentation1.swf"));

       // send after presentation loaded and initialized
       function playerInit(e:PlayerEvent):void
       {
       g_player = loader.player;
       g_player.playbackController.addEventListener(SlidePlaybackEvent.CURRENT_SLIDE_INDEX_CHANGED, onSlideChange);

       playButton.buttonMode = true;
       playButton.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, onPlayClick);
       pauseButton.buttonMode = true;
       pauseButton.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, onPauseClick);
       }

       function onSlideChange(e:SlidePlaybackEvent):void
       {
       trace("current slide: " + e.slideIndex);
       }

       function onPlayClick(e:MouseEvent):void
       {
       g_player.playbackController.play();
       }

       function onPauseClick(e:MouseEvent):void
       {
       g_player.playbackController.pause();
       }

   

ActionScript 3 communication demo

Adobe Flex communication demo

References