Contents

foreword to the first edition
preface
acknowledgments
about this book
about the title
about the cover illustration

Part 1 Application basics

Chapter 1 Making the case: Why are web applications so prolific?; The RIA solution; The RIA contenders; Becoming acquainted with Flex; How Flex works; What’s new in Flex 4; Summary
Chapter 2 Getting started: Flex on the cheap; Get serious with Flash Builder; Exploring Flash Builder; Views and perspectives; Our first project—Hello World!; Using design mode; Built-in reference and API documentation; MXML and ActionScript in a nutshell; Summary
Chapter 3 Working with ActionScript: Comments; Variables; Loops; Conditional statements (if statements and switches); Arrays; ActionScript tidbits; Sneak peek at functions, classes, and packages; Simple data binding; Summary
Chapter 4 Layout and containers: Spark versus Halo (MX); Absolute layout; Constraint-based layout; Automatic layout; Variable and fixed sizing; Containers; Summary
Chapter 5 Displaying forms and capturing user input: The id attribute; Flex’s catalog of controls; Accessing the control’s value; Summary
Chapter 6 Validating user input: Overview of validation; Built-in validators; Real-time validation; Committed value validation; Pass-through validation; Scripted validation; Validation tidbits; Summary
Chapter 7 Formatting data: Built-in formatters; Real-time formatting; Scripted formatting; Working with formatting errors; Summary
Chapter 8 MX DataGrids, Lists, and Trees: MX List genealogy; Understanding collections and the dataProvider; Initializing collections; Populating collections; Interacting with MX List-based components; Summary
Chapter 9 Using the Spark List controls: Spark List genealogy; Spark List-based controls; Interacting with Spark List-based components; Understanding Flex 4 List-based component architecture; Building custom List-based components on Spark Architecture; Summary
Chapter 10 List customization: Customizing data display; Item renderers; Item editors; Advanced item renderers; Filter functions; Summary 217

Part 2 Application flowand structure

Chapter 11 Events: The event system; Sending and receiving events; Custom events; Summary
Chapter 12 Application navigation: Preparing the menu data; Working with menus; Using a menu bar; Using view stacks; TabNavigator; Accordion; Summary
Chapter 13 Introduction to pop-ups: Creating your first pop-up; Controlling the window location; Data integration with pop-ups; Using alerts; Summary
Chapter 14 Implementing view states: Understanding view states; View states in Flex; Bring it together; Summary
Chapter 15 Working with data services: Accessing server-side data; Action Message Format in action; Building data-centric applications with Flash Builder; Data-centric Flex with ColdFusion; Data-centric Flex with Java EE and BlazeDS; Binding the model to the view; Summary
Chapter 16 Objects and classes: OO theory in five minutes; Playing with objects; Creating a class; Working with properties; Creating methods for your class; Summary
Chapter 17 Custom components: Understanding Flex 4 components; Creating simple custom components; Skinning with the Spark Skin object; Composite components; Creating advanced Flex 4 components; Get your components to communicate
Chapter 18 Creating reusable components: Putting reusability into action; Reveal gets a new look; Runtime shared libraries; Summary
Chapter 19 Architectural design patterns: Flex-driven design patterns; Introduction to microarchitectures; Using the Robotlegs framework; Creating an application with Robotlegs MVCS; Summary

Part 3 The finishing touches

Chapter 20 Customizing the experience: Principles of user experience design; Visual appeal; Interactive experience; Business optimization; Extensibility; Summary
Chapter 21 Working with effects: What’s an effect?; Using effects; Creating composite effects; Exploring effects; Summary
Chapter 22 Drag-and-drop: The drag-and-drop process; Implementing drag-and-drop in Flex components; Enter the DragManager; Adding D&D to non-List components; Customizing the drag-and-drop experience; Summary
Chapter 23 Exploring Flex charting: Introduction to charting; Setting the stage with series and data; Creating charts; Stacking charts; Exploring chart types; Customizing charts; Summary
Chapter 24 Debugging and testing: Debugging; Flex profiler; Testing your applications with automation; Summary
Chapter 25 Wrapping up a project: Customizing the HTML wrapper; Deployment; Summary
Bonus Chapter 26 Working with XML: Available online at www.manning.com/Flex4inAction