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I just had to debug some remote calls of an AIR application and was looking for the right tool. In former times for debugging HTTP and Flash Remoting I used Charles Proxy which also does the job for AIR.
Obviously you need no browser plugin. You only have to enable Proxy->Windows Proxy or Mac OS X Proxy and you can see all calls between your OS and the web including AMF introspection.
The next Flex UG Hamburg Meeting will be May 19th. Thanks to Sven and Interone for hosting the event this time.
The last meeting was in our Adobe office and now it’s a god opportunity to visit Interone as they have a really nice conference room in the 19th floor. There are no speakers yet but we are sure to find interesting stuff so if you have an idea drop a comment!
A few days ago LCDS ES 2.6 beta was published on Adobe Labs.
“Adobe® LiveCycle® Data Services ES is the server-based technology that streamlines the integration of rich Internet applications (RIAs) with LiveCycle Services, J2EE applications, and business logic. This release aligns with the releases of Adobe Flex® 3 and Adobe Flex Builder™ 3.”
Today the Flex Docs Team came up with a really good article how to build and deploy LiveCycled DataServices ES apps.
I had to move my domain to a new server and took the opportunity to upgrade my Wordpress installation from 2.0 to the lately released 2.5. WIth this new installation I tried a few new plugins. The one I like the most currently is the PDA & iPhone plugin. I tried it with my iPhone and it looks pretty cool so if you also own one point it to my domain to have a try.
Against spam I am now using Akismet which comes with Wordpress out of the box and it seems that it does was it is expected to do. After one day already more then 100 spam posts were blocked and no one came through. Spam also got me when I tried to make a backup of my old Wordpress files to reimport them on my new installation. As Wordpress 2.0 had no build in export I used Wordpress-to-Wordpress Import. When I tried to import the XML into my new 2.5 installation I exceeded the 8MB upload maximum and I stucked - what? My post are more then 8MB? I had a look into the database and here you are: more then 13.000 comments. Browsing the comments in the DB I realized that quite all were marked as spam and were the reason for my big export file. A quick DELETE FROM wp_comments WHERE comments_approved=”spam” was a good diet for my exports. Spam sucks so much!
However, I hope my server change went well. Please let me know if you encounter any problems.
In the beginning of March YouTube made a new release of there WebService API:
“We now provide a complete set of (CRUD) capabilities for uploading, managing, searching, and playing back user videos and metadata from the YouTube “cloud,” managed by us. We do all of the hard work of transcoding and hosting and streaming and thumbnailing your videos, and we provide open access to our sizable global audience, enabling you to generate traffic for your site, visibility for your brand, or support for your cause. Meanwhile, we provide full access to our substantial video library, enabling you to attract users and enhance the experience on your site. It’s all free, and it’s available to everyone, starting now. “
I think this a great move by Google and I want to try it out using Flex and AS3.
There is already a YouTube AS3 library (formlery hosted on Adobe Labs) which does not cover the latest features like uploading videos.
Searching for AS3 sample code I had a look at the YouTube API dev page.
The Contributed sample code wiki showed up the ActionScript 3 Wrapper and the AS3 Wrapper.
The first one has a Flash CS3 tutorial and uses the JSON stuff of the Open Source AS3 library corelib. But then I realized that the new features like uploading videos where not covered yet. Then I came to the blog of the author Martin Legris who blogged that he had problems using the new API.
The AS3 Wrapper is a message thread and cares about AS3-AS2 communication and also only about playback if I checked it right so also not the thing I was looking for.
So it looks like there is no open AS3 solution for the new YouTube features yet. Please leave a comment if you know anything else. I hope my next post on this will show a solution. However I hope this post may provide some good links for others who want to start playing with the YouTube API and AS3/Flex.
Another interesting link to follow up is SWFAdress and the YouTube API to allow deeplinking (e.g. start at second 10 instead of the beginning) into videos.
James Ward made a very nice example how to use Dough McCune’s cover flow component with videos hosted on YouTube.
I came across another “white label YouTube“. The startup Reality Digital just got another round funding and their services look very interesting. They use Adobe Premiere Express as online video editing solution like e.g. also the MTV Video Remixer and Photobucket.
Via TechCrunch I explored Magnify. They created VidyUp which uses the new YouTube API and are claimed the first who use the new YouTube API.
So again: If you see something in AS3 open source around the new API please drop a comment!
Since Flash Player 9.0.60 aka Moviestar got the new feature Flash Player Cache:
“The Flash Player cache enables common components, such as the Flex Framework, to be cached locally and then used by any SWF from any domain. Use of the Flash Player cache can significantly reduce SWF file sizes and speed application download times.”
Flex 3 uses this new Flash Player feature to cache Flex core framework classes. Ted Patrick posted an overview of this feature.
I think this is really a great feature as reducing the filesize/download size of Flex apps is really a great success factor as the user experience really improves with shorter download time. Yesterday Adobe Developer Connection released an article about “Improving Flex application performance using the Flash Player Cache“.
The author Darrell Loverin is in the Flex SDK team and developed the new RSL features in the Flex SDK compiler. The article is a great read and explains all in detail. What you really have to change to use the Flex framework as RSLs is not that big deal.
You compile using Flex Builder
Open project properties, go to Flex Build Path, switch to Library Path and change Framework linkage to Runtimeshared library (RSL).
Now it depends on the configuration of the flex-config.xml located in your sdk_install_dir/frameworks directory. There is the node runtime-shared-library-path which is sets the framework settings. If you also want to include datavisiulization and rpc simply duplicate the node and adjust the values. You should see a lower filesize of your compiled swf. To see the final filesize add the compiler argument debug=false to have no debug info in your swf.
You compile using Ant
I you compile with Ant I assume you use the Flex Ant Tasks. Within the mxmlc-tag add the attribute static-rsls=false and add the runtime shared libraries you like to use. Further you have to copy the libraries (swz and swf) from your sdk_install_dir/frameworks/rsls to your output directory. Check my AntExample build.xml.
You compile with command line
Specifiying RSLs on the command line is described in the article.
Andé Michelle anounced that you can now try out the Hobnox Audiotool withouth a beta invitation or registration.
“Here it is, it’ll supply you with an emulator of some famous little machines, used by DJs, producers and bands all over the planet. Right now, we can equip you with a rebuilt Roland TR-808, TR-909, TB-303 and some floorboards. Interested? Give it a try!”
I tried it out during the beta and really liked the app which works very intuitively as you can simple link the boards and effects by drag-n-drop the cable between them.
