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ColdFusion MX / FLASH MX - Tree Menu
Author: Mike Chambers
Short Link: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-talk/thread.cfm/threadid:14139#73521
this might help get you started:
http://radio.weblogs.com/0106797/2002/07/19.html#a211
mike chambers
mesh@macromedia.com
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Author: Mike Chambers
Short Link: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-talk/thread.cfm/threadid:14139#73519
greg burch has written a component that extends the Tree component, and
will take an XML document as its data source.
it will then automatically build the tree.
it is avaliable from the flash exchange:
http://www.macromedia.com/exchange/flash/
let me know if you cant find it.
mike chambers
mesh@macromedia.com
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Author: Douglas Brown
Short Link: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-talk/thread.cfm/threadid:14139#73450
I agree with that!! I hated school, seemed like all the teachers were
extremely monotone...snor.. snor.. snor..But going home and reading the books
was ok.
Douglas Brown
Email: dbrown@socal.rr.com
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Author: Ben Johnson
Short Link: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-talk/thread.cfm/threadid:14139#73449
> I agree with you Ben..
> as someone just getting into Flash and actionscripting
> like myself, would you recommend some formal training?
Training is only useful if you're the kind of person that can learn from a
school/classroom setting. For some people, it's great. I happened to sleep
through most of my schooling days simply because it wasn't the right format
for me. I learn much more simply from reading books.
It's all a matter of preference.
Ben Johnson
P.S. If you need any help with Flash, feel free to contact me off list.
Author: Tangorre, Michael
Short Link: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-talk/thread.cfm/threadid:14139#73445
I agree with you Ben..
as someone just getting into Flash and actionscripting like myself, would you
recommend some formal training?
> Would that component that we are all talking about be
> considered a starting point? I don't think it will ever have all the
> functioanlity everyone wants, but it is a nice starting point.
Starting point for learning ActionScript? Eh... probably not. The Tree
component is probably one of the more advanced components, imho. Start with
something like the List box component or combo box. Actually, start with
just a text box. Play around with it, make it do stuff, etc.
As for a starting for tree components in general, yes, it is a good starting
point. I simply wish there was more data binding functionality included.
But then again, we will always have our wish list. I don't mean to discount
the efforts put into the component sets. I think Macromedia has done a
great job with only a few minor glitches and snags here and there.
Ben Johnson
Author: Ben Johnson
Short Link: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-talk/thread.cfm/threadid:14139#73444
> Would that component that we are all talking about be
> considered a starting point? I don't think it will ever have all the
> functioanlity everyone wants, but it is a nice starting point.
Starting point for learning ActionScript? Eh... probably not. The Tree
component is probably one of the more advanced components, imho. Start with
something like the List box component or combo box. Actually, start with
just a text box. Play around with it, make it do stuff, etc.
As for a starting for tree components in general, yes, it is a good starting
point. I simply wish there was more data binding functionality included.
But then again, we will always have our wish list. I don't mean to discount
the efforts put into the component sets. I think Macromedia has done a
great job with only a few minor glitches and snags here and there.
Ben Johnson
Author: Tangorre, Michael
Short Link: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-talk/thread.cfm/threadid:14139#73441
Would that component that we are all talking about be considered a starting
point?
I don't think it will ever have all the functioanlity everyone wants, but it is a
nice starting point.
I wish I knew more flash and actionscripting to add what I need.
In due time I will im sure.
Mike
> if you have a deeper data structure, then you will have to loop through
> the data and map it too the tree.
I think we're talking about the same thing. The problem that I have is that
I can rarely think of an instance where I would have a tree with only one
level (excluding the root node level). It seems as though there should have
been more functionality put into the Tree component to allow for truely tree
structure data. There's a TreeDataProvider class. I haven't taken a good
look at it, but I don't believe that it allows for tree structured data.
Ben Johnson
Author: Ben Johnson
Short Link: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-talk/thread.cfm/threadid:14139#73439
> if you have a deeper data structure, then you will have to loop through
> the data and map it too the tree.
I think we're talking about the same thing. The problem that I have is that
I can rarely think of an instance where I would have a tree with only one
level (excluding the root node level). It seems as though there should have
been more functionality put into the Tree component to allow for truely tree
structure data. There's a TreeDataProvider class. I haven't taken a good
look at it, but I don't believe that it allows for tree structured data.
Ben Johnson
Author: Mike Chambers
Short Link: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-talk/thread.cfm/threadid:14139#73435
the tree menu has a method called setDataProvider, which takes a data
provider class (as do many of the other components).
thus you don't have to manually map the recordset data to the tree menu,
you just do something like:
tree.setDataProvider(recordset);
if you have a deeper data structure, then you will have to loop through
the data and map it too the tree.
mike chambers
mesh@macromedia.com
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Author: Ben Johnson
Short Link: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-talk/thread.cfm/threadid:14139#73418
> I've been doing this very thing right at the moment, and
> once you get your head into actionscripting its actually
> quite easy.
Even once you learn ActionScripting, which can be a beast of it's own, you
still have to learn Flash Remoting and CFCs. After you have the basics down
with that, you'll have to understand recursive functions, which again, can
be a beast.
I have not had the chance to really test the following assumptions so
anyone, please let me know if I'm wrong.
If you don't use recursive functions, you load the data in one recordset at
a time. The first recordset is easy because you assign it to the
DataProvider of the RootNode (actually, I would recommend DataGlue, but
setDataProvider works well too). Once you want to pull in the next set of
data for a tree node, you have no reference back to the original tree node
(unless you create a lookup for your tree). For example, you make your call
to the server and when the recordset comes back, you have to reference to
the parent tree node. You can find it's ID from the recordset perhaps, but
there's no "findTreeNodeByID()" function.
The only other way I could see implementing something like this without
using a recursive function would be to have the server return a recordset of
all the nodes, ordered by ParentID and doing this:
(pseudo-code because I can't remember Recordset syntax off-hand):
// input is a recordset from the server called "result"
var rsLkp = new Object();
var rsTree = new Object();
rsTree.ID = 0;
rsTree.ParentID = null; // not really necessary, but used for clarity
rsTree.Name = "root node";
rsTree.arrChildren = new Array();
rsLkp[0] = rsTree;
// loop through recordset and stick nodes into the tree
for(var i=0; i<result.recordcount; i++) {
// find parentNode from Lookup
var parentNode = rsLkp[result[i].ParentID];
// find max index of child array in the parent node
var childIndex = parentNode.arrChildren.length;
// set tree node with information
parentNode.arrChildren[childIndex] = new Object();
parentNode.arrChildren[childIndex].ID = result[i].ID;
parentNode.arrChildren[childIndex].ParentID = result[i].ParentID;
parentNode.arrChildren[childIndex].Name = result[i].Name;
parentNode.arrChildren[childIndex].arrChildren = new Array();
// add node to the lookup
rsLkp[result[i].ID] = parentNode.arrChildren[childIndex];
}
Disclaimer: I haven't tried that code, but it looks like it should work.
(Famous last words) You could probably change that code around to assign it
to a Tree component as well.
Ben Johnson
Author: Rich Wild
Short Link: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-talk/thread.cfm/threadid:14139#73386
I've been doing this very thing right at the moment, and once you get your
head into actionscripting its actually quite easy.
set up your CFC to return a query...
<cffunction name="getCategories" access="remote" returntype="query">
<cfquery name="categories" datasource="test" dbtype="ODBC">
SELECT group_id, group_name
FROM groups
WHERE active = 1
</cfquery>
<cfreturn categories>
</cffunction>
then in your flash MX movie, ensure you have flash remoting properly setup
and include the following in the first frame:
#include "NetServices.as"
if (gatewayConnection == null) {
NetServices.setDefaultGatewayUrl("http://localhost:8500/flashservices/gatewa
y");
gatewayConnection = NetServices.createGatewayConnection();
CFMService = gatewayConnection.getService("componentdir.componentname",
this);
}
you may need to change some of the above....
then call your CFC function:
CFMService.getCategories();
and build a _Return function to handle the incoming data (in it I reference
an fTree component instance on the stage named 'catTree'):
function getCategories_Result(result) {
_root.catTree.setEnabled(true);
_root.treeRoot = new FtreeNode("Categories");
_root.treeRoot.setDataProvider(result, "group_name", "group_id");
_root.catTree.setRootNode(_root.treeRoot);
//_root.catTree.setDataProvider(result);
_root.catTree.setAutoHideScrollBar(true);
_root.catTree.setSize(300,400);
_root.treeRoot.setIsOpen(true);
_root.catTree.refresh();
}
there we go! Flash displays all my categories in the tree component (and you
can add a clickHandler to handle what happens when a node is selected). You
can change the appearance of the whole thing (although I'm not going into
that here) and you can add child nodes to other nodes etc. Look at the
reference window for the fTree component and you'll see all its methods
available to you.
I'm still learning myself, so the above may be stylistically yucky, but it
the idea is right.
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Author: Mike Chambers
Short Link: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-talk/thread.cfm/threadid:14139#73384
get the Flash Component UI Kit 2 from the flash exchange:
http://www.macromedia.com/exchange/flash/
there is a tree menu component included.
mike chambers
mesh@macromedia.com
----- Excess quoted text cut - see Original Post for more -----
Author: Mike Tangorre
Short Link: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-talk/thread.cfm/threadid:14139#73345
Thanks Ben.
I think I will go with the Flash approach now.. no better time to get up to
speed.. I'll deal with the elarning curve. :-)
Flashkit.com has been useful in the past, are there any other sites you can
think of that might discuss the concepts I will need to grasp to build the
menu?
Data Binding and Data Glue.. any other concepts/ideas/or approaches?
I appreciate the help.
Mike
----- Excess quoted text cut - see Original Post for more -----
Flash
> MX project. On the other hand, if you haven't used Flash MX before,
there's
> going to be quite a learning curve to get to the point where you can pull
> dynamic data from the server and populate a Tree component with a
recursive
> function.
>
> I have an article that will/may/(who knows) be on FlashKit that covers
Data
----- Excess quoted text cut - see Original Post for more -----
Author: Ben Johnson
Short Link: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-talk/thread.cfm/threadid:14139#73344
> Anyways, does this sound like a good Flash MX project? I
> have never used Flash to interact with dynmaic data so any tips,
> links, advice, or thoughts would be much appreciated.
Well, the answer is two fold. One hand, yes, this is actually a great Flash
MX project. On the other hand, if you haven't used Flash MX before, there's
going to be quite a learning curve to get to the point where you can pull
dynamic data from the server and populate a Tree component with a recursive
function.
I have an article that will/may/(who knows) be on FlashKit that covers Data
Binding using the DataGlue class. That would be a good start. It doesn't
cover adding tree data, though, because that's a whole other can of worms.
If you don't have to worry about browser compatibility, you can go with an
IE 5.0+ solution which involves some heavy javascripting & XML. That also
has a pretty steep learning curve, but it's really a nice interface. It's
used as the left hand navigation on Microsoft's MSDN library:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library
Ben Johnson
Author: Mike Tangorre
Short Link: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-talk/thread.cfm/threadid:14139#73343
Hi All..
Can anyone point me to some tutorials or online docs or manuals that would
aid me in doing the following:
I have a menu to build consisting of dynamic "parent" categories. Next to
each "parent" will be an image, a "+" sign. When clicked the menu will expand to
reveal the "parent's children". If the "child" also has "children", there will be
a "+" sign next to their text as well and so on. Whenever a parent is expanded
the "+" will turn to a "-" and thus when clicked again will be retracted. A tree
menu! LOL
Anyways, does this sound like a good Flash MX project? I have never used
Flash to interact with dynmaic data so any tips, links, advice, or thoughts would
be much appreciated.
Thanks!
Mike
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May 24, 2012
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