AS2 / Flash 8 project and needing help with the design. I'm probably going into way too much detail for the question but...
I'm working on course template or engine (for lack of a better term) to deliver content swf's. The problem in our shop is the massive amount of change in basic functionality for each course have meant (before I worked here) the template code has to change every course. This, to me, is a very bad thing. My solution is to build the core template to be almost slide show simple, but loads classes from external swfs as "plugins" and broadcasts a number of events. Each of the plugins's implements an interface that tells the main app what events the plugin should be subscribed to. Nearly all the functionality is contained in the plugins: LMS communication, layout, accessibility, the actual interface, etc. Plugins have to be able to modify or add content to the main app and the loaded content pages. Plugins also have to be able to tell the main app when they're done doing performing their edits at each event. Now, I have a working solution, It does the job, and does it well. However, the design of the app and plugins are heavily interconnected. To get the job done, the main app has to constantly pass around pieces of itself and other plugins (like the display area or the UI), the interface to keep things working smoothly. Obviously it's not good design, but the prototype is out of the way, and I know it's not an invalid path to use something like this. Now I'm looking for a better way. Is there a Pattern or common practice for designing a plugin scheme? My first thought was "Hey, isn't there a Plugin pattern?" but my google skills are failing me on finding anything about it, or how anyone's done this in the past. Any help to be had or is this such a specific thing that general "this is the best pattern" isn't a valid question. _______________________________________________ [email protected] 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
