Through My Lenses

Important skill

Why?

• Everything isn’t always out of the box
• open source
• times are rough (set yourself apart)

Real world examples

Tips

• become familiar with class hierarchy
• FB keyboard shortcuts
• source location (including default CSS)
• finding component that best fits needs
• preserve compiler generated code

Class Hierarchy

• important to know wehre you are so you know whats available
• UIComponent is base case for all visual components
• ref docs contain inheritance paths (docs are your best friend)

Keyboard Shortcuts

• Quick class opener (cmd + shift + T) – opens window and filters list as your type in search
• quick class property/method (control + O) – lists all methods and properties for current file. works well for large files like UIComponent which is 9300+ lines

Source Location

• /{FlexBuilderInstall}/sdks/{version}/frameworks/projects/framework
• defaults.css

Demos

TextHeader/LabelHeader

• Extends Text & Label
• Objective: add border support
• Container supports bg and border styles but how? container base class and found the borderSkin style value

ResizableTextArea

• “gripper” was keyword

Preserving Compiler Generated Code

• not all functionality is hard coded in the source
• some is wired in generated code – deferred instantiation (tab content aren’t rendered until clicked on) and effect triggers
• -keep compiler switch in the project settings

Overall, a bit over my head but good preso. Javier really knows his stuff!