Basics of P2P in Flash

May 31st, 2009

This videotutorial explains the basics of working with P2P (peer to peer) in Flash Player 10.

I made this tutorial with focus on simplicity of this fantastic feature of Flash. There are bunch of articles and examples in the world showing how to create your own P2P app, but most of them are very complex or hard to catch.

In this tutorial you’ll get idea how to connect two different peers and exchange data between them with ActionScript 3.0 and Flex only.

Prerequsites:
- familiarity with ActionScript 3 and Flex Framework
- Flash Player 10 Debug version installed download
- Flex Framework 3.3+ download

Videotutorial: http://flashrealtime.com/tuts/p2p-in-flash.html (20 min.) 
Try: P2P demo (run in two browsers, explained in video)
Source: download P2P.mxml.zip

Note: Programatically the main P2P logic is not to connect peers together just via NetConnection, but by defining peerIDs to NetStream.
PS: don’t forget to change your Flex Compiler settings to use Flash Player 10
Btw: nice P2P Mill Game done by my friend Pavel Šimek http://nestor.cz/mill/ 

Good Luck!

Tags: flash player 10, P2P, RTMFP
Posted in Flash Media, Flash Player, Flex, Video tutorial | 70 Comments »

Multi-Bitrate Dynamic Streaming with Flex and FMS 3.5 (Videotutorial)

March 27th, 2009

This video tutorial will guide you through the process of creating Flex Video Player utilizing latest Flash Player 10 feature - Multi-Bitrate Dynamic Streaming - in connection with Flash Media Server 3.5.

 

Download DynamicStream and DynamicStreamItem classes at FMS Tools Page

Flex Project source files download

Requirements:

• - Flash Media Server 3.5 - download
• - Flex SDK 3.3 - download
• - Flash Player 10 - download
• - Flex Builder 3 - download

 
Note: If you want to test DynamicStream properly, you would probably need to shape your network traffic bandwidth. For this purpose, I propose you to download NoobProof utility, which uses IPFW on Mac or NetLimiter for Windows.

PS: FMS 3.5 Development server is free for commercial use with 10 connected simultaneous clients … so why not to start experimenting today?

Posted in Flash Media, Flex, Server-side, Video tutorial | 11 Comments »

Is your Flex app big in KB? Use Runtime Shared Libraries

December 8th, 2008

Using RSLs is one of the most recommended methods for reducing file size and I highly encourage you to do this. Simply - more people use RSLs in their projects, better for everybody and I am going to tell you why.

When you compile you Flex app, the whole SDK and other SWC libraries are added to your SWF, that means if you write only one line of ActionScript code in Flex you compiled app will have definitely more than 100 KB in size and this is really not cool.

RSL technique separate libraries you use from your code and place them next to your app. Then when your app is loaded, it looks for dependency libraries (RSLs), load them and cache them - so this is the answer for why more people should use it, because it may simply happen - that user loading your Flex app already has the library and doesn’t have to load it again.

There are signed and unsigned libraries. Signed are those cached by a Flash Player, which is great, while it’s independent on browser cache and system. Unsigned are simply cached by browser, which is same cool, but it may happen that you empty your cache and lose all cached libraries. Adobe is responsible for signing libraries and it’s all Flex SDKs and later others.

To enable RSLs in Flex is very easy, just change your Flex Build Path Framework linkage from Merged into code to Runtime shared library:

 

RSL setup in Flex

 

 

Serge Jespers has recorded great video: 3 Ways to Make Your Flex Applications Smaller:
1. use modules
2. use release output instead of debug
3. use RSLs

It’s 5 minute video… really recommend you to watch it!

Useful links:
- RSL at Adobe Labs
- Using Runtime Shared Libraries at Adobe Developer Center

Tags: Flex, reduce, RSL, Runtime Shared Libraries
Posted in Flex, Programming Techniques | 2 Comments »

Jak vypadá Flash Catalyst

December 3rd, 2008

Flash Catalyst sice ještě není ke stažení, ale účastníci konference MAX v Miláně měli možnost si ho vzít na CD od jedné z hezkých italských hostesek hned po skončení General Keynote Session Day 2, kde v jej kostce předvedli a pak na dalších sessions a labs podrobně rozebrali.

[Uvedení Flash Catalyst v Miláně]

Flash Catalyst je produkt, který slouží pro přípravu layoutu (view) ze strany grafika pro prográmatora. Żamezí se tak tomu, že grafik měl trochu jinší představu než jak to ve výsledku udělal programátor.

Úvodní stránka vám umožňuje vytvořit nový prázdný projekt, do kterého si grafiku postupně nasazíte sami, nebo import z Creative Suite produktů - Photoshopu, Illustrator, Fireworks či výměnného layout formátu FXG.

Jakýkoliv prvek (vrstvu či objekt z illustratoru) jednoduše převedete na interaktivní prvek typu tlačítko, scrollbar, textové pole apod. Všechny vrstvy můžete procházet v panelu vrstev. Převod je tak pro grafika zvyklého např. na Photoshop velmi plynulý, nemusí si vícemeně zvykat na nic nového. Flash Catalyst používá časovou osu (timeline) a stavy (states). Pro přechod mezi stavy můžete použít předpřipravené efekty, či změnit parametry prvku a docílit např. 3D animace.

Ve chvíli, kdy převedete prvek na komponentu např. tlačítko, můžete se přepínat mezi stavy (Up, Over, Down, Disabled) a každý stav přizpůsobit vašemu gustu. Vedle toho lze nastavit i další parametry komponenty.

Vedle toho je k dispozici i výsledné MXML (XML kód layoutu), které Flash Catalyst vygeneruje, grafik se tak postupem času může naučit upravovat i tento jednoduchý zápis a zpřesnit tak své nároky. Jinými slovy má plnou kontrolu nad prototypem, který posléze předá programátorovi a ten jej propojí s datovou vrstvou a přidá další fičury.

Tento kód se dále předá do Flex Builderu 4 s názvem Gumbo. Adobe klade v poslední době velký důraz na úzkou integraci mezi produkty a co nejjednoduší propojení.

Tags: flash catalyst
Posted in Flex, Tools | No Comments »