So here's the story. My DEV environment (http://dev/) is a Virtual Host mapped in the Windows host file to point to a sandboxed directory somewhere on my hard drive. The Flex project I'm building uses a RemoteObject and tries to communicate with a AMFPHP gateway to do it's stuff. All good till here.

The weird part is that when I try to run the app, even though my flash is coming from the DEV host and the path to the gateway points to the same DEV host, the AMF calls either failed with a security exception or if they worked, they were extremely slow. The delay between a service call and a response/error was somewhere between 6 and 10 seconds.

Why oh why !? The AMFPHP Browser app that comes with the package works just fine so my app was at fault somehow. Tried some investigations and thanks to Firebug I found the vital clue.

It seems that my app was trying to make the connection to the gateway through http://localhost:37813/. WTF ?? I didn't had any reference to 'localhost' in my code, yet the app was trying to connect using that address for some reason. And quite often, the crossdomain.xml failed to load resulting in a security error.

So what in the world is the problem then ? Well, Flash Builder seems to be the problem (and me for not RTFM).

It seems that if you compile your swf with Network Monitor active, which you may not realize, especially if the window is not even opened, you have just told your swf to redirect all traffic to localhost:37813. It will compile the redirect info into your flash. Traffic may work if you have Flash Builder debugger running but try to deploy that somewhere. Heh.

All you have to do is turn network monitor off. Recompile your swf. Redeploy.

Ta da !

Related posts:

1. Create Flex/AS3 applications for Mobile Devices
2. Neural networks in ActionScript 3
3. How to identify at runtime if the swf is in debug or release mode/build

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function serialize(_obj) {
   if (_obj != undefined && typeof _obj.toSource !== 'undefined' && typeof _obj.callee === 'undefined') {
      return _obj.toSource();
   }
   switch (typeof _obj) {
      case 'number':
      case 'boolean':
      case 'function':
         return _obj;
         break;
      case 'string':
          return '"' + _obj.replace(/"/mg, "'") + '"';
          break;
      case 'object':
          var str;
          if (_obj.constructor === Array || typeof _obj.callee !== 'undefined') {
              str = '[';
              var i, len = _obj.length;
              for (i = 0; i < len-1; i++) { str += Utils.serialize(_obj[i]) + ','; }
              str += Utils.serialize(_obj[i]) + ']';
          } else {
              str = '{';
              var key;
              for (key in _obj) { str += key + ':' + Utils.serialize(_obj[key]) + ','; }
              str = str.replace(/\,$/, '') + '}';
          }
          return str;
          break;
      default:
          return '""';
          break;
      }
}

To deserialize it, just use eval().

Also, if you need the same thing for your Flash/Flex Actionscript3 project, here is a class for that as well -> Click Me.

Cheers!

Related posts:

1. How to clone (duplicate) an object in ActionScript 3
2. For Javascript devs
3. JavaScript Object-Oriented Programming (OOP) – jClass

So, repetition is the mother of all learning they say. You damn right it is. And you can do it in AS3 of course. Not the fastest choice out there but that's not the point. NN's are usually not that fast but they're useful in so many ways.

So, here is my implementation of a neural network multi-layer-perceptron made in AS3, set to learn a simple XOR problem. It uses 2 inputs neurons , 2 hidden layers, each having 2 neurons and one output neuron. It takes about 2 seconds to train it using 10.000 epochs, but then you can save a snapshot of the NN memory as a byteArray, save it to the server and load it back again in an instant without requiring a new training.  I didn't take the time to thoroughly document the classes just yet but I'm sure you'll find them pretty easy to use.

Some reading material:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_neural_network
http://fbim.fh-regensburg.de/~saj39122/jfroehl/diplom/e-index.html (this is great)
http://www.ai-junkie.com/ann/evolved/nnt1.html

Sources and Download

Related posts:

1. How to clone (duplicate) an object in ActionScript 3
2. Create professional Flex components
3. Flex Components Pack

And in their words:

"ELIPS Studio 3 is a plug-in for Adobe Flex Builder, a widely used IDE for internet & desktop application. Our plug-in allows Flex to go mobile!

The product offers a mobile-optimized Flex Framework, plus numerous Flex extensions, including mobile UI components & access to mobile device features (voice call, SMS, access to calendar and contacts, to the camera, etc.)

The product includes a form-factor device simulator allowing you to see your application behavior on different devices. It also includes a network simulator allowing to generate calls, SMS, etc."

So..get it while it's hot

Related posts:

1. Flex and Visual Studio
2. Create professional Flex components
3. Flex Components Pack

My problem was with a Flex app that uses i18n and in some languages the text didn't fit the box, the scroll bar policy was off and user had no idea there was more text in there and didn't had the possibility to scroll further. Anyway, here it is :

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	<mx :Script>
		< ![CDATA[
 
			[Bindable]
			private var text : String = 'The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog. ' +
						    'The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog. ' +
						    'The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog. ' +
						    'The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog. ' +
						    'The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog. ';
 
			private function trim(text : String) : String
			{
				box.text = text;
				box.validateNow();
				if(box.maxVerticalScrollPosition > 0) {
					text = text.replace("...", "");
					text = text.substr(0, text.length - 1) + "...";
				} else {
					return text
				}
				return trim(text);
			}
 
		]]>
	</mx>
 
	<mx :TextArea id="box"
		verticalScrollPolicy="off"
		width="250"
		height="50"
		wordWrap="true"
		text="{trim(this.text)}"
		paddingBottom="0"
		editable="false" />

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1. Create professional Flex components
2. ExtendedImage Component
3. Serialize JavaScript object to JSON

It's a work in progress but curently I've made codecs for the following formats:

• PointLineCAD 3D objects (*.p3d)
• Photoshop images (*.psd, *.pdd)
• ZSoft images (*.pcx)
• Truevision TGA (*.tga, *. icb, *.vda, *.vst, *.win)
• Windows icon files (*.ico)
• GIF images (*.gif – static and animated gifs)
• JPEG images (*.jpg. *.jpeg, *.gfif)
• PNG (Portable network graphic) images (*.png)
• Windows Bitmap images ( *.bmp, *.rle, *.dib)
• Adobe Shockwave Flash (*.swf)

As I said before, the way you provide the source doesn't really matter. You can zip up all your images in an archive and as source you can just point to the file inside the zip.

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<adm :ExtendedImage id="img" source="archive.zip://image.png" />

This way, you greatly reduce the number of requests to the server. But this is not all. Source can be also provided as a base64 encoded string, or as plain text (only p3d can take advantage of this since the p3d file is plain text as well).

For a bit more details, a demo and API description, visit this page

Related posts:

1. Adding ellipsis points in a TextArea component in Flex
2. Read/Load files from ZIP in JavaScript
3. How to clone (duplicate) an object in ActionScript 3

One solution would be to use conditional compilation. The other solution is in the following code (hack).

package org.adm.runtime
{
	import flash.system.Capabilities;
 
	public class ModeCheck
	{
		/**
		 * Returns true if the user is running the app on a Debug Flash Player.
		 * Uses the Capabilities class
		 **/
		public static function isDebugPlayer() : Boolean
		{
			return Capabilities.isDebugger;
		}
 
		/**
		 * Returns true if the swf is built in debug mode
		 **/
		public static function isDebugBuild() : Boolean
		{
			return new Error().getStackTrace().search(/:[0-9]+]$/m) > -1;
		}
 
		/**
		 * Returns true if the swf is built in release mode
		 **/
		public static function isReleaseBuild() : Boolean
		{
			return !isDebugBuild();
		}
	}
}

This code simply searches for line numbers of errors in StackTrace result. Only StackTrace result of a debug SWF file contains line numbers. Then we know that we are running a debug or release SWF file.

This class is also available in the Components Pack at Runtime subpackage

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1. How to clone (duplicate) an object in ActionScript 3
2. Read data directly from base64 without decoding
3. Create professional Flex components

Setup Hell:

Install cygwin to "c:\cygwin" - make sure to check boxes to install Perl, "Archive" (ZIP), and Devel/gcc:g++ (3.4.4.3 presumably) (is Perl necessary?)
Copy the alchemy directory to: c:\cygwin\home\Lee
Copy the flex sdk bin dir from c:\program files\etc to "c:\flex" (to avoid paths with spaces in it!)
Run the alchemy config script once:

   run cygwin
   cd alchemy
   ./config

Edit the textfile "C:\cygwin\home\Lee\alchemy\alchemy-setup" and uncomment and edit line 22 to: add "export ADL=c:\flex\adl.exe"

Edit .bashrc (in C:\cygwin\home\Lee)

   echo "LEE PROFILE"
   export FLEX_HOME=~/flex
   export ALCHEMY_HOME=~/alchemy
 
   # "This should be added before your PATH is modified" !!
   source /home/Lee/alchemy/alchemy-setup
 
   PATH=$ALCHEMY_HOME/achacks:/home/Lee/flex:$PATH
   export PATH
 
   alc-on

Do this (just once, I think):

   cd $ALCHEMY_HOME/bin
   ln -s llvm-stub llvm-stub.exe

Compiling a SW:

CD to the directory with the source
Always do "alc-on" before compiling, cuz it doesn't work without it even though i added it to the startup (dunno)

    gcc stringecho.c -O3 -Wall -swc -o stringecho.swc
    -- should give you a swc.

Import the swc into your flex builder 4 project and make sure compiler targets SDK v4

Shortcuts

alc-home - takes you to the Alchemy install folder.
alc-on - puts Alchemy gcc toolchain replacements at the front of your path.
alc-off - restores original path.
alc-util - shows you various Alchemy-related environment vars

USEFUL TO KNOW

which gcc - tells you which gcc it will use (should be the one in the achacks dir)
ln - links shit
rm - deletes links as well as files

Ugh: Make sure to do "alc-on" and "alchemy-setup" even though you put it in the startup script (?)

...

Objects:
AS3_Val
AS3_ArrayValue

Methods:
AS3_Release
AS3_LibInit

Related posts:

1. Flex Components Pack
2. Create professional Flex components
3. Install Windows XP on your Asus Eee PC using a USB flash drive

I've made a page where I will add tutorials, code examples and runnable demos as soon as possible, so check back soon. Till then, you can download the library and take a look.

Update:

(13/06/2009) - Added 5 more components. A simple but nice led light switch and 4 visualisation effects (EQTunnel, EQLine, EQWave, EQBars - winamp style). Just drag and drop the EQ on your app and it will animate any running sound inside your flash.

Related posts:

1. Create professional Flex components
2. Ho-To: Install Alchemy
3. Create Flex/AS3 applications for Mobile Devices

Thanks to a friend, I discovered the describeType function in AS3. But this alone will only take care of the copying part. To create an object of the same type as another one we use getDefinitionByName.

Although Flash reflection is pretty basic, with a little work it will do the trick.

Get the application files.

Here's the code:

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< ?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<mx :Application xmlns:mx="http://www.adobe.com/2006/mxml" layout="absolute" xmlns:local="*" creationComplete="init()">
</mx><mx :Script>
 < ![CDATA[
 
     import mx.controls.Alert;
 
     private var source:DataObject = new DataObject();
     private var cloneObject:DataObject;
 
 
     private function init():void {
 
         source.name = 'John Doe';
         source.howMany = 4.5;
         source.when = new Date(0);
         source.complexProp = new DataObject();
         source.complexProp.name = 'Name in sub-object';
 
         cloneObject = UtilFunctions.clone(source) as DataObject;
 
         Alert.show("Clone:\nname = " + cloneObject.name + "\nhowMany = " + cloneObject.howMany + "\nwhen = " + cloneObject.when + "\ncomplexProp.name = " + cloneObject.complexProp.name);
     }
 
     /**
 
      * describeType will produce this (for a DataObject instance):
      *
      * <type name="DataObject" base="Object" isDynamic="false" isFinal="false" isStatic="false">
 
           <extendsclass type="Object"/>
           <accessor name="isHandicap" access="writeonly" type="Boolean" declaredBy="DataObject"/>
 
           <variable name="howMany" type="Number"/>
           <accessor name="complexProp" access="readwrite" type="DataObject" declaredBy="DataObject"/>
 
           <variable name="name" type="String"/>
           <variable name="when" type="Date"/>
 
 
      *
      * */
 
 ]]>
 
</mx>

And the UtilFunctions.as file:

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package
{
 import flash.utils.describeType;
 import flash.utils.getDefinitionByName;
 import flash.utils.getQualifiedClassName;
 
 public class UtilFunctions
 {
 
 
     public static function newSibling(sourceObj:Object):* {
         if(sourceObj) {
 
             var objSibling:*;
             try {
                 var classOfSourceObj:Class = getDefinitionByName(getQualifiedClassName(sourceObj)) as Class;
                 objSibling = new classOfSourceObj();
             }
 
             catch(e:Object) {}
 
             return objSibling;
         }
         return null;
     }
 
     public static function clone(source:Object):Object {
 
         var clone:Object;
         if(source) {
             clone = newSibling(source);
 
             if(clone) {
                 copyData(source, clone);
             }
         }
 
         return clone;
     }
 
     public static function copyData(source:Object, destination:Object):void {
 
         //copies data from commonly named properties and getter/setter pairs
         if((source) && (destination)) {
 
             try {
                 var sourceInfo:XML = describeType(source);
                 var prop:XML;
 
                 for each(prop in sourceInfo.variable) {
 
                     if(destination.hasOwnProperty(prop.@name)) {
                         destination[prop.@name] = source[prop.@name];
                     }
 
                 }
 
                 for each(prop in sourceInfo.accessor) {
                     if(prop.@access == "readwrite") {
                         if(destination.hasOwnProperty(prop.@name)) {
                             destination[prop.@name] = source[prop.@name];
                         }
 
                     }
                 }
             }
             catch (err:Object) {
                 ;
             }
         }
     }
 }
}

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1. Serialize JavaScript object to JSON
2. How to identify at runtime if the swf is in debug or release mode/build
3. JavaScript Object-Oriented Programming (OOP) – jClass