I set up a quick test bed based on your original post and using a static variable in the renderer(s) and it worked rather well. It may not be what you are after but I will post the example here for others that may want to use this.
Application: <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> <mx:Application xmlns:mx="http://www.adobe.com/2006/mxml"; layout="vertical" width="700"> <mx:Script> <![CDATA[ import mx.collections.ArrayCollection; import Renderers.CityRenderer; import Renderers.CompanyRenderer; [Bindable] public var initDG:ArrayCollection = new ArrayCollection([ {Company: 'Acme', Contact: 'Bob Jones', Phone: '413-555-1212', City: 'Boston', State: 'MA'}, {Company: 'Allied', Contact: 'Jane Smith', Phone: '617-555-3434', City: 'SanFrancisco', State: 'CA'}, {Company: 'Acme', Contact: 'Bob Jones', Phone: '413-555-1212', City: 'Boston', State: 'MA'}, {Company: 'Allied', Contact: 'Jane Smith', Phone: '617-555-3434', City: 'SanFrancisco', State: 'CA'}, {Company: 'Acme', Contact: 'Bob Jones', Phone: '413-555-1212', City: 'Boston', State: 'MA'}, {Company: 'Allied', Contact: 'Jane Smith', Phone: '617-555-3434', City: 'SanFrancisco', State: 'CA'}, {Company: 'Acme', Contact: 'Bob Jones', Phone: '413-555-1212', City: 'Boston', State: 'MA'}, {Company: 'Allied', Contact: 'Jane Smith', Phone: '617-555-3434', City: 'SanFrancisco', State: 'CA'}, {Company: 'Acme', Contact: 'Bob Jones', Phone: '413-555-1212', City: 'Boston', State: 'MA'}, ]); private function setColors():void { CityRenderer.textColor = "#FF0000"; CompanyRenderer.textColor = "#0000FF"; initDG.refresh(); } private function resetColors():void { CityRenderer.textColor = "#000000"; CompanyRenderer.textColor = "#000000"; initDG.refresh(); } ]]> </mx:Script> <mx:DataGrid id="myGrid" rowHeight="22" dataProvider="{initDG}" rowCount="{initDG.length}"> <mx:columns> <mx:DataGridColumn dataField="Company" itemRenderer="Renderers.CompanyRenderer"/> <mx:DataGridColumn dataField="Contact"/> <mx:DataGridColumn dataField="Phone"/> <mx:DataGridColumn dataField="City" width="150" itemRenderer="Renderers.CityRenderer"/> </mx:columns> </mx:DataGrid> <mx:HBox> <mx:Button label="Set Colors" click="setColors()"/> <mx:Button label="Reset Colors" click="resetColors()"/> </mx:HBox> </mx:Application> CityRenderer.as: package Renderers { import mx.controls.*; import mx.controls.dataGridClasses.DataGridListData; public class CityRenderer extends Text { public static var textColor:String = "#000000"; public function CityRenderer() { super(); } override public function set data(value:Object):void { super.data = value; if(value != null) { text = value[DataGridListData(listData).dataField]; } } override protected function updateDisplayList(unscaledWidth:Number, unscaledHeight:Number):void { super.updateDisplayList(unscaledWidth, unscaledHeight); setStyle("color", CityRenderer.textColor); } } } CompanyRenderer.as: package Renderers { import mx.controls.*; import mx.controls.dataGridClasses.DataGridListData; public class CompanyRenderer extends Text { public static var textColor:String = "#000000"; public function CompanyRenderer() { super(); } override public function set data(value:Object):void { super.data = value; if(value != null) { text = value[DataGridListData(listData).dataField]; } } override protected function updateDisplayList(unscaledWidth:Number, unscaledHeight:Number):void { super.updateDisplayList(unscaledWidth, unscaledHeight); setStyle("color", CompanyRenderer.textColor); } } } --- In [email protected], "valdhor" <valdhorli...@...> wrote: > > I haven't tried this so I have no idea if it would work but why not just create a static variable inside your renderer class and change that as required? > > --- In [email protected], Aaron Hardy aaronius9er@ wrote: > > > > I think there might be a misunderstanding. If it's a transient property on > > the data objects that come through the data provider, I would have to change > > the property for all the objects in the data provider to be the same value > > since I want all the renderers to change in the same way. For example, > > let's say all my renderers say "Woot: " and then the data's text value. > > Then at runtime, the user, in a different part of the app, enters "Niner" > > into a text input and therefore I want all my renderers to now say "Niner: " > > and then the data's text value. In my case, the word "Niner" really has > > nothing to do with the data, it's almost more about the "style" of the > > renderers--or what the renderers look like around the actual data. If I > > were to use the transient property of the data provider objects, I'd have to > > loop through all of them and set the property's value to "Niner". I'm not > > sure if that's what you were suggesting, but that seems dirtier to me than > > referencing a separate model from the renderers. > > > > I'm interested in understanding your analysis of this though even if we may > > disagree in the end. > > > > Aaron > > > > On Thu, Jan 7, 2010 at 5:13 PM, turbo_vb TimHoff@ wrote: > > > > > > > > > > > Sure, but you don't necessarily need a model to use a VO; it can just be > > > the strongly typed object that the dataProvider uses for its items. If you > > > then change the transient properties of that VO, the set data method of the > > > itemRenderer will work out of the box; and you can then adjust the renderer. > > > You're right in feeling dirty having an itemRenderer reference a model. But > > > reacting to changes in the data is fine. IMHO. > > > > > > > > > -TH > > > > > > --- In [email protected] <flexcoders%40yahoogroups.com>, Aaron > > > Hardy <aaronius9er@> wrote: > > > > > > > > Yes, I suppose the line of what is or is not a style can be blurry at > > > > times. In any case, using transient properties inside a VO is what I was > > > > eluding in the first item of "things I've thought of", the downside being > > > > that a model/VO of some type is needed in order to keep the renderer > > > > notified of updates to the property. In other words, I don't see a viable > > > > way of creating a "foobar" property inside the renderer and keeping it > > > > updated from an external source. Instead, the renderer would need access > > > to > > > > a model that was set at instantiation through the renderer class factory. > > > > The renderer would then watch the model for changes to its "foobar" > > > > property. > > > > > > > > Aaron > > > > > > > > On Thu, Jan 7, 2010 at 2:58 PM, turbo_vb <TimHoff@> wrote: > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > If it's a pure style, then yes that is a viable approach. However, if > > > it's > > > > > something like changing text (characters, not styles), then you might > > > want > > > > > to use [Transient] properties in a VO and/or use states in the > > > itemRenderer. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > -TH > > > > > > > > > > --- In [email protected] <flexcoders%40yahoogroups.com><flexcoders% > > > 40yahoogroups.com>, Aaron > > > > > Hardy <aaronius9er@> wrote: > > > > > > > > > > > > Good point. So maybe I have to categorize everything as being data > > > (in > > > > > > which case it hangs out with the data object) or style (in which case > > > it > > > > > > would be applied to all the renderers and can be ran through the > > > various > > > > > > style mechanisms). To be clear, the changes (that aren't > > > data-dependent) > > > > > > being made to the renderers in my case can even be text and other > > > such > > > > > > things which may not normally be thought of as "styles" but in > > > reality it > > > > > > seems they actually are styles and could be treated as such. > > > > > > > > > > > > Thanks. > > > > > > > > > > > > Aaron > > > > > > > > > > > > On Thu, Jan 7, 2010 at 1:23 PM, turbo_vb <TimHoff@> wrote: > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > One thought, since you're taking about a style, is to assign a > > > > > styleName to > > > > > > > the itemRenderer and update the backgroundColor style of the > > > > > > > StyleDeclaration when the user changes the color. You may need to > > > > > override > > > > > > > the styleChanged() method the itemRenderer, to handle the update. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > -TH > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > --- In [email protected] <flexcoders%40yahoogroups.com><flexcoders% > > > 40yahoogroups.com><flexcoders% > > > > > > > > 40yahoogroups.com>, Aaron > > > > > > > > > > > > Hardy <aaronius9er@> wrote: > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Hey folks. I have a renderer that needs information that is not > > > based > > > > > on > > > > > > > > the "data" object it's associated with. Essentially what I have > > > is in > > > > > > > View > > > > > > > > A of the app is a color selector. In View B, I have a tilelist > > > with a > > > > > > > > custom renderer. All the renderers in the tile list display their > > > > > data > > > > > > > > using the color that was selected in Part A. The way I see it, > > > the > > > > > color > > > > > > > > selected in Part A should be kept separate from the "data" object > > > > > that > > > > > > > gets > > > > > > > > injected into the item renderers. The color is just to make the > > > data > > > > > > > pretty > > > > > > > > in some way, it's not really "data" itself nor is it specific to > > > an > > > > > > > > individual data object--it applies to all renderers in the list. > > > This > > > > > > > leads > > > > > > > > me to somehow keep the renderers updated with a separate "color" > > > > > > > property. > > > > > > > > What's your preferred way of handling this scenario? > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Things I've thought of so far: > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > (1) If I have an application-wide model (like in Cairngorm) I can > > > set > > > > > a > > > > > > > > color property there and either access it using the singleton > > > accesor > > > > > > > from > > > > > > > > within the renderer (cringe) or pass the model into the renderer > > > > > using a > > > > > > > > class factory. Since the model instance shouldn't really ever > > > change, > > > > > I > > > > > > > can > > > > > > > > then watch the model for changes to the color property. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > (2) Whenever the color changes, I can grab all the renderers for > > > the > > > > > > > given > > > > > > > > list and set their color property (cringe). > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Thoughts? > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Aaron > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
