Hello All,
As I dive into converting my commercial Flash Map Application, into a
Flex-based Application, I am quickly finding out that Flex may not be
able to perform some key functions.
This of course, may be attributed to my lack of understanding of Flex -
so my main goal of this post, is to get some clarifications from the
List Gurus regarding if/how I can do the same things in Flex, as I did
in Flash.
For a quick overview, I wrote a Commercial Flash Application for my
primary client, and it allows their user-base to load Vector-based Lake
Maps, from their 10,000+ Lake Map Database. Once the user browses to
the desired map, they can immediately start to customize it - by adding
Waypoint Icons, Points of Interest, Notes, etc. As they move their
mouse cursor around, they get real-time GPS Coordinates in any format
they like.
On the Flash programming side of things, I used the following
methodology:
I use CF / Remoting to handle all Database reads/writes. I use
the MovieClipLoader Component, to handle all the loading of SWF
Maps. I have an Icon Bar at the bottom of the screen, in which
the user can drag those Icons directly onto the Map. After they
release the Mouse Button, I use "attachMovie()" to attach a copy
of the Icon to the Map SWF File. At the same time, I make a
Remoting call, to record the x,y coordinates of the Icon in
relation to the Map. When the user wants to come back to their
custom map in the future, I simply make another Remoting Call
to the CF Server, get the Results, and then Loop through the
Result Set. Within the For/Next Loop, I again use
"attachMovie()"
to put the Icons back to their original locations when they were
first saved.
This pretty much covers the logic required, to make my Map Application
do it's thing.
Now how the heck would I duplicate this functionality inside of Flex???
So far, I've mastered the SWFLoader Component, and can Scale/Zoom the
SWF Files, in addition to Panning them around using startDrag() and
stopDrag(). This is where things pretty much stop, as I am not sure
what to do next. The Remoting stuff is a total no-brainer, and I am
well-versed in Cairngorm-based Flex Apps - so I have the Data
interaction aspects down cold.
What I need the most, is how to handle all the Drag/Drop logic with the
Icons, and attaching them to the Map SWF File (so that when I pan the
SWFLoader Component around, the Icons go right along with it).
Sorry for the lengthy post, but I needed to explain things as clearly as
possible to get my problems across.
Thanks in advance, for any help you can throw my way,
Mike
