Ian, thank you for the link on Robert Taylor's FlashInterface.
Regarding Scott's intuitive response, the responses by Austin, Muzak and Ian pretty much tell the story. When I used the word stupefying the other day this is what I meant. Just to recap: AS2 to AS3 -> At runtime can only integrate through external APIs -> Only a small subset of AS2 components got rev'ed up to AS3 -> leaving Flash application developers a choice of staying at AS2, building their own AS3 components, programming to lower level APIs in AS3, or integrating Flex into their workflow/architecture. Anyway, since Flex 2 is AS3 only, Flash/Flex developers have been confronted for a full year now with the runtime firewall between AVM1 and AVM2. None has been more eloquent in analyzing this than Jesse Warden. See in particular the following among his posts: Integrating a Flash Interface into Flex 2 http://www.jessewarden.com/archives/2006/12/integrating_a_f.html Here is an excerpt. To make the relevance of Jesse's original Flash/Flex comments apparent to our current AS2/AS3 discussion, in the excerpt I use square brackets to replace Jesse's original references to Flash and Flex with [AS2] and [AS3]. I will include Jesse's original, unedited language at the end. Of course, see Jesse's original post for his full analysis. EXCERPT: Why Integration? ... For security & various other engineering reasons, the AVM's cannot talk to each other. This results in a SWF written in [AS2] not being able to "talk" to a [AS3] SWF. The need for doing such is that the [Flash AS2 components] allows creation of design content that [Flash AS3 components] cannot create on it's own. ... There are a few solutions out there. ... Another is to utilize a small set of classes to communicate via LocalConnection. ... A third one is to utilize ExternalInterface. ... So, why not use one of the above methods. First off, [since the AS2 components are a complete component set (including data components), the AS2 components] is powerful; it's not just a design asset. So, simply being loaded in isn't good enough for some functionality; [AS2] & [AS3] need to talk. Secondly, LocalConnection isn't syncronous, and doesn't have good error checking. This makes debugging long and frustrating. Third, Externalnterface uses JavaScript. You've now gone from 2 languages to 3; ActionScript 3, ActionScript 2 (or 1), and JavaScript as well as at least 2 different tools; Flex Builder for ActionScript 3 and JavaScript and Flash 8 btw ... Integrating even Flash AS3 content into Flex 2 apps requires special processes. See the following post by Jesse for details on using the "Flex Component Kit for Flash CS3<http://labs.adobe.com/wiki/index.php/Flex_Component_Kit_for_Flash_CS3>" that is now on labs: Example for Flex Component Kit for Flash CS3 http://www.jessewarden.com/archives/2007/04/example_for_fle.html hth, g [ORIGINAL LANGUAGE] Why Integration? ... For security & various other engineering reasons, the AVM's cannot talk to each other. This results in a SWF written in the Flash 8 IDE not being able to "talk" to a Flex 2 SWF. The need for doing such is that the Flash IDE allows creation of design content that Flex cannot create on it's own. ... There are a few solutions out there. ... Another is to utilize a small set of classes to communicate via LocalConnection. ... A third one is to utilize ExternalInterface. ... So, why not use one of the above methods. First off, Flash is powerful; it's not just a design asset. So, simply being loaded in isn't good enough for some functionality; Flash & Flex need to talk. Secondly, LocalConnection isn't syncronous, and doesn't have good error checking. This makes debugging long and frustrating. Third, Externalnterface uses JavaScript. You've now gone from 2 languages to 3; ActionScript 3, ActionScript 2 (or 1), and JavaScript as well as at least 2 different tools; Flex Builder for ActionScript 3 and JavaScript and Flash 8 _______________________________________________ Flashcoders@chattyfig.figleaf.com To change your subscription options or search the archive: http://chattyfig.figleaf.com/mailman/listinfo/flashcoders Brought to you by Fig Leaf Software Premier Authorized Adobe Consulting and Training http://www.figleaf.com http://training.figleaf.com
