[flexcoders] Architecture / Design question...
I have a situation in which I am currently using a very ugly set up to get the job done, but I want to change this (will explain) and I am looking for some insight. The process is this. A user gets to a piece of our app and they are presented with some options. The options are very different depending on which route they take to get there. For instance, they might see a checkbox about saving a piece of their file as a note. They might see a set of radio buttons to order different quantities (in this case the price can change depending on which radio button is selected [the price is on the same screen]). They might see a mailing address or an email address, depending on the medium of the item they are purchasing. Basically, the options vary greatly, so I currently have a different custom component depending on which they are using. I want to be able to use one component and have different options on that component, but I am not sure of an efficient way to do it. I know this is random and probably not easily answered without a specific understanding of the system, but I thought I would ask :)
Re: [flexcoders] Architecture / Design question...
Wow yeah that would depend on a lot of things. Some thoughts that help me narrow down prospects like that: Am I doing all of the subcomponents in MXML? If so I could manage it with States perhaps using addChild. Pass the state in on instantiation/show/creationComplete, etc. Am I doing all of the subcomponents in AS3? Then I can dynamically instantiate things on the fly depending on those requirements. Whether or not I actually use the states tags, are their actual states with shared components? If so I might make a set of flags. If flag x is present, add component x, or if y is present, add y. But it depends on how detailed it needs to be, and how convoluted the solution might be. It might be better not to put it ALL in one component, but have one component that loads subsections as well. It all depends on what you need. And, just a caveat, I am not a Flex guru. They might pine in with much better solutions. Michael tchredeemed wrote: I have a situation in which I am currently using a very ugly set up to get the job done, but I want to change this (will explain) and I am looking for some insight. The process is this. A user gets to a piece of our app and they are presented with some options. The options are very different depending on which route they take to get there. For instance, they might see a checkbox about saving a piece of their file as a note. They might see a set of radio buttons to order different quantities (in this case the price can change depending on which radio button is selected [the price is on the same screen]). They might see a mailing address or an email address, depending on the medium of the item they are purchasing. Basically, the options vary greatly, so I currently have a different custom component depending on which they are using. I want to be able to use one component and have different options on that component, but I am not sure of an efficient way to do it. I know this is random and probably not easily answered without a specific understanding of the system, but I thought I would ask :)
Re: [flexcoders] Architecture / Design question...
Having one component with different states or a viewstack with all of the options may be attractive for a few variants, but I'd probably go for instantiating a specific UI interface once it's known which is required. You could either base the UI variants off a common ancestor, or use a common interface. In flex it makes little difference if a component is created from MXML or actionscript. Given the clear uncertainty that you have I would suggest an initial implementation with a couple of UI variants and see how well it works for you rather than try and get the whole thing right first time. Paul - Original Message - From: Michael Wills mich...@mawills.com To: flexcoders@yahoogroups.com Sent: Monday, March 09, 2009 11:06 PM Subject: Re: [flexcoders] Architecture / Design question... Wow yeah that would depend on a lot of things. Some thoughts that help me narrow down prospects like that: Am I doing all of the subcomponents in MXML? If so I could manage it with States perhaps using addChild. Pass the state in on instantiation/show/creationComplete, etc. Am I doing all of the subcomponents in AS3? Then I can dynamically instantiate things on the fly depending on those requirements. Whether or not I actually use the states tags, are their actual states with shared components? If so I might make a set of flags. If flag x is present, add component x, or if y is present, add y. But it depends on how detailed it needs to be, and how convoluted the solution might be. It might be better not to put it ALL in one component, but have one component that loads subsections as well. It all depends on what you need. And, just a caveat, I am not a Flex guru. They might pine in with much better solutions. Michael tchredeemed wrote: I have a situation in which I am currently using a very ugly set up to get the job done, but I want to change this (will explain) and I am looking for some insight. The process is this. A user gets to a piece of our app and they are presented with some options. The options are very different depending on which route they take to get there. For instance, they might see a checkbox about saving a piece of their file as a note. They might see a set of radio buttons to order different quantities (in this case the price can change depending on which radio button is selected [the price is on the same screen]). They might see a mailing address or an email address, depending on the medium of the item they are purchasing. Basically, the options vary greatly, so I currently have a different custom component depending on which they are using. I want to be able to use one component and have different options on that component, but I am not sure of an efficient way to do it. I know this is random and probably not easily answered without a specific understanding of the system, but I thought I would ask :) -- Flexcoders Mailing List FAQ: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/flexcoders/files/flexcodersFAQ.txt Alternative FAQ location: https://share.acrobat.com/adc/document.do?docid=942dbdc8-e469-446f-b4cf-1e62079f6847 Search Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexcoders%40yahoogroups.comYahoo! Groups Links