The explanation is on WinZip’s site. It’s to do with Windows’ Attachment Manager assigning security threat levels to files. This really isn’t acceptable though, because it will slow down your work so much.

The suggested solution is to “unblock” each file on a file for file basis, but this again is not ideal. We are not aware of a permanent solution to this issue (i.e. a way of turning off the hyper-vigilant Attachment Manager). A better solution is perhaps to turn to 7-Zip.

7-Zip is freeware which is faster than Winzip, integrates into the shell and can handle at least as many compression formats. We’re using it, and at the time of writing it seems to be the best solution for the problem with WinZip.

What they don’t make clear is that you need to be sure to overwrite your point when using it:

// WRONG:
var pt:Point = new Point(target.x, target.y);
target.parent.localToGlobal(pt);
parent.globalToLocal(pt);

// RIGHT:
var pt:Point = new Point(target.x, target.y);
pt = target.parent.localToGlobal(pt);
pt = parent.globalToLocal(pt);

Simply running a localToGlobal() method on a point in a given scope is not enough. You need to write the result back into the point. You might be forgiven for not seeing this, because it was not necessary for the equivalent method in AS2!

localToGlobal() and globalToLocal() can the source of considerable frustration, especially as this differences such as this are not mentioned by Adobe. But properly understood these methods are not complicated. We hope this post has helped you.

The course is limited to only 5 delegates. If you would like to reserve a place please let us know – we’d be happy to have you there.

If you run into the TypeError:

Error #1007: Instantiation attempted on a non-constructor

..when compiling with Flash CS4, the reason is that APE defines a class called Vector, which clashes with a new class, of a different kind, in Flash 10, also called Vector.

The solution is to either avoid publishing for Flash 10, if you don’t need it, or replace all references to Vector throughout the APE code with the fully qualified reference org.cove.ape.Vector.

The course teaches how to build Flash sites exclusively using ActionScript 3.0.

One or two places are still available if you would like to attend – but be quick!

This would cause the preloader’s bar to extend beyond the 100% mark. While we don’t have time currently to outline the full technical context of the issue, we did spend some time examining it, and we solved it.

The solution to the problem was not to use the bytesLoaded and bytesTotal of the actual ProgressEvent in the event listener, but to instead use the properties of the target (which is a LoaderInfo object). So your code looks like this:

private function update(e:ProgressEvent):void
{
  // causes misreport:
  // var bt:uint = e.bytesTotal;
  // var bl:uint = e.bytesLoaded;

  // prevents misreport:
  var bt:uint = e.target.bytesTotal;
  var bl:uint = e.target.bytesLoaded;

  bar.scaleX = bl/bt;
}

We’ll try to expand on this issue at a later time. In the meantime we hope this helps someone.

The above mentioned problem can sometimes occur on upgrading iTunes, and it doesn’t go away even on a reboot. The simple cure for it is to make a new shortcut pointing to the iTunes executable file, and dispose of the old shortcut.

myMovieClip.onRelease =
myMovieClip.onReleaseOutside = function():Void
{
   this._x += 300;
}

This directly applied event handler will trigger when the mouse is released over myMovieClip or when that clip is clicked upon then the mouse is subsequently released elsewhere.

ActionScript 3.0, however, does not define an onReleaseOutside event type, though there are plenty of other MouseEvent types.

Usually, this is not a problem. You want to detect a CLICK event, which is dispatched when the user has pressed the mouse down then released it over the same object (with any number of other possible mouse events in between). The logic for this is that the user might have changed their mind and be deliberately releasing the mouse while not over the object, not wishing to trigger any event.

But suppose we are creating a button which reacts to a MouseEvent.MOUSE_DOWN event – perhaps a fast-forward button such as we created recently in order to speed up the playback of an MP3. In this case, we want the MP3 to revert to normal playback speed even if the user releases their mouse while not exactly over the button (as is often the case). We need a releaseOutside event for this eventuality.

So how are you supposed to detect when the user has clicked on your interactive object then released the mouse outside? The solution is to temporarily apply a new event listener until the mouse is released, as follows:

private function mouseDown(e:MouseEvent = null):void
{
   stage.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_UP,
   mouseUp, false, 0, true);
}

private function mouseUp(e:MouseEvent = null):void
{
   stage.removeEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_UP, mouseUp);
   // do other stuff
}

myButton.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_DOWN, mouseDown, false, 0, true);

This code is minimal, but it illustrates the point. We always detect for a MOUSE_DOWN on the given object (myButton), but only when this has occurred do we then listen out for a MOUSE_UP. When this happens (regardless of where) our other listener function is triggered. Note that this then unsubscribes itself from the Stage, and then everything is cleaned up.