Rich Symbol feature for Buttons?

Im making a site with menu links where the text size and font
is the same, but the color is different for each one. So I can play
about with changing the font etc ive used a simple script to make
the colour editable, attached to the graphic type of symbol.
This is working but what I really want is to do the same
thing, but with the button type of symbol. This would allow me to
design the rollovers and down states, while still having the font,
size etc easily updatable.
Is there a way of using the rich symbol feature for buttons
or is it for graphics only?
thanks

I think i could get round this by making a button with a roll
over state (say italic), then applying a style to the whole button
and using the style to control the appearance. ( I know that styles
are only updatable in CS4 but im thinking of upgrading).
When a style is applied to a button it seems to override the
appearance setting of the button (font, colour, etc).
Say I wanted to have some buttons different colors, but have
the other appearance elements controlled by the style applied,
could i override the colour (or similar feature) some way? I would
still need to have the style linked to update it.
thanks

Similar Messages

Not remembering 9-slice guide placement for rich symbols

Y'all,
I'm learning to create rich symbols in the new FW CS3, and
I'm having some difficulty with the 9-slice guides. I create the
rich symbols, enable 9-slice scaling, save them to the common
library, and generate the accompanying JSF file. Then I drag the
new symbol onto the canvas, double-click to edit it, position the
9-slice scaling guides, and click DONE. The rich symbol now behaves
properly for all instances in the current document.
However, when I open a new document and drag the rich symbol
onto the canvas, the position of the 9-slice guides has reverted to
the default placement. The positions that I defined for the guides
in the previous document do not seem to be saved with the master
rich symbol.
I've looked at other rich symbols (that come with FW CS3) and
see that the scaling guides are clearly positioned and that those
positions are remembered and stored with the master symbol.
How do I get FW CS3 to remember the placement of the 9-slice
scaling guides for my custom rich symbols so that I do not need to
edit and place the guides EVERY time I open a new document? I've
tried to look through the help documentation, and I've searched
online and the forums here, but I haven't found any instructions
for creating rich symbols that remember the 9-slice scaling guide
placement.
Any help would be most appreciated. Thanks!

OK, I figured it out over the weekend:
When you define the 9-slice guides for the rich symbol, they
are only applied to the symbol instance(s) in the current document,
so you need to go to the Assets > Library panel, select the rich
symbol, then go to the options menu and choose "Save to Common
Library", then browse to the rich symbol filename. You will be
asked if you want to overwrite the existing symbol file, and yes,
you should. The placement of the 9-slice guides defined as defined
in the current document will now be saved to the rich symbol master
file, and the placement of the guides will be preserved and used
for future instances of that rich symbol in new documents.
Seems kind of odd that there are multiple disjointed steps to
create a rich symbol: draw it, save it, define the JSF script, save
it, define 9-slice guide placement, save it. If I check "Enable
9-slice guides" when I save it initially, shouldn't FW CS3 insert a
step asking me to define their placement before I save the rich
symbol to the common library?
Just a thought.

Script to insert an existing Rich symbol throws error

I have an existing Rich Symbol called RSymbol. Now I write a script to place RSymbol into a certain layer which create. The problem is, that everytime i import a symbol like this with
fw.getDocumentDOM().importFile(fw.appSymbolLibrariesDir+"RSymbol.graphic.png", {left:136, top:108, right:136, bottom:108}, false, 0, false);
Fw doesnt import the properties for this symbol and throws an error "Component graphic or script edited An error occured"
I also tried to put the rich symbol in the appSwfCommandsDir but it didnt work either. I guess the problem could be that the RSymbol isnt in the Common Library folder. appSymbolLibrariesDir doesnt point to the common library folder but to some other folder (Adobe Fireworks CS5\Configuration\Libraries).
I also tried to use fw.getDocumentDOM().importFile(fw.appSettingsDir+"/Common Library/... but it doesnt work either.
I want to use this script in a panel so I cant hard code the absolute path.
Any suggestions how to import a rich symbol and make the rich properties available?
Thanks a lot!

Sadly, I don't think there's any way to programmatically insert a rich symbol while maintaining its "richness". I tried and failed to do that in my QuickFire extension: http://johndunning.com/fireworks/about/QuickFire
The best I could do was to insert the symbol in a way that if you had already dragged that symbol from the common library into the document, the new instance would still show something in the symbol properties panel. Here's the code that QuickFire uses to insert symbols:
function insertSymbol(
     inSymbolName,
     inPath)
     var dom = fw.getDocumentDOM();
     var middleX = Math.round(dom.width / 2);
     var middleY = Math.round(dom.height / 2);
     try {
               // first assume the symbol is already in the library and try to
               // insert an instance. there doesn't seem to be an API to list
               // the symbols in the document, so we just have to try it.
          dom.insertSymbolAt(inSymbolName, {
               x: middleX,
               y: middleY
     } catch (exception) {
               // replace the user or app JS directory path tokens with the
               // actual path, so that importSymbol will find it below
          inPath = inPath.replace(/^:U:/, k.UserSymbolsPath).replace(/^:A:/, k.AppSymbolsPath);
               // the symbol isn't in the document yet, so import it. we use
               // importFile instead of importSymbol because the former seems
               // to preserve some magic that allows you to turn it back into a
               // rich symbol if you later drag the same symbol from the Common
               // Library into the doc and replace existing instances.
          dom.importFile(inPath, {
               left: middleX,
               right: middleX,
               top: middleY,
               bottom: middleY
          }, true);
// this is a failed attempt to import a rich symbol.
               // the jsf filename doesn't include the .graphic bit
          var jsfPath = inPath.replace(/\.(graphic|animation|button)\.png$/, ".jsf");
          if (Files.exists(jsfPath)) {
                    // to change the opCode, so that the rich symbol's jsf file
                    // will give it the default values, we need to create a proxy
                    // Widget object. but first save off the actual Widget.
               var _Widget = Widget;
               Widget = {
                         // we want this to be opCode 1, which will set the symbol's
                         // default values
                    opCode: 1,
                         // the symbol we just imported is Widget.elem
                    elem: fw.selection[0],
                    propString: _Widget.propString,
                         // pass these method calls on to the real Widget
                    GetObjectByName: function()
                         return _Widget.GetObjectByName.apply(_Widget, Array.prototype.slice.call(arguments, 0));
                    isWidgetSelected: function()
                         return _Widget.isWidgetSelected.apply(_Widget, Array.prototype.slice.call(arguments, 0));
                    UpdateWidget: function()
                         return _Widget.isWidgetSelected.apply(_Widget, Array.prototype.slice.call(arguments, 0));
               fw.runScript(jsfPath);
                    // reset the global to the real Widget object
               Widget = _Widget;
Hope that helps.

My top ten requested features for Flash Catalyst Next

Here is my top ten list of requested features for Flash Catalyst:
10. Rearranging of pages / states in the pages / states panel (also resizing to smaller icons)
9. Menu bar option to Insert Custom / Generic Component. There isn't a way to create a custom component without first adding something to stage and then converting that.
8. Edit component on double click in layers panel
7. Replace existing artwork with library component - for example, when you create a button or text input then you should be able to use that skin in all of the text input instances rather than creating new ones every time you choose convert artwork to component
6. Artboard sized to content - no hardcoded size of the project
5. Import of Flex Components / movieclps
4. Flex Capacitor library integration / support - supports deep linking and navigation through your flash catalyst or flex project without coding - all the work is done
3. Integration and coexistence in native Flex project - no fxpl or zip - flat file structure
2. Container support - VGroup HGroup Skinnable Container - set layout property
1. Component Constraints support - top left bottom right horizontal center vertical center baseline width height 100%

Additional features:
• When opening a Illustrator file the option to choose which artboard or layers to import (rather than the whole project).
• Set a default option so that all imported text fields from Illustrator use "Fit Height". Mainly because currently it is cutting off the descent but also bc it allows you to change the text content (globalization) and have the text fit.
• Show intersection lines while dragging. At least vertical center and horizontal center... similar to Flex and Illustrator.
• Add a convert to vector when selecting images.
• In the code view the default directory "components" could be renamed to something like: design, compositions, construction, architecture, form, embodiments, chassis, constitution, frame, representation, manifestation, cast, expression, mold, etc. just not skins. design, chassis, representations, cast, expressions, compositions are my favorites. It would be nice to be able to define this folder path in preferences.
• Use the layer name to name the library components. Otherwise there is a directory with 30 assets named "graphic[n]".
• Command to clean out library of unused symbols.

Why won't rich symbol properties show when the .jsf file exists?

In FW CS4 I've created a rich symbol via the "create symbol script" command, then I reloaded my common library, and put the symbol from common librray on a page. Even though I have a .jsf file in C:\Documents and Settings\<user>Application Data\Adobe\Fireworks CS4\Common Library\Custom Symbols to match my symbol, there are no symbol properties available for it on my page.
I can use the create symbol script command again on this symbol & it comes up with the same properties I had already defined.
What would stop symbol properties from showing up when the symbol is taken from a recently reloaded Common Library & placed on a page?
I've discovered that I can see the properties when I use this symbol in a totally brand new Fireworks file, but I can't in an existing file that ever had that same symbol before, even when I tell FW to "Replace the existing item."
Below is my jsf file contents.
Thanks!
5
title,textChars,Title,Title;
outline,visible,Active%20window%3F,true;
win%5Fmin%5Fbtn,visible,Min%20btn%20visible%20%28not%20modal%29%3F,true;
win%5Fmax%5Fbtn,visible,Max%20btn%20visible%20%28not%20Modal%29%3F,true;
background,fillColor,fillColor,%23ffffff;
function setDefaultValues()
    var values = new Array();
    values.push({ name:"Title", type:"text", value:"Title" });
    values.push({ name:"Active window?", type:"boolean", value:"true" });
    values.push({ name:"Min btn visible (not modal)?", type:"boolean", value:"true" });
    values.push({ name:"Max btn visible (not Modal)?", type:"boolean", value:"true" });
    values.push({ name:"fillColor", type:"color", value:"#ffffff" });
    Widget.elem.customData["currentValues"] = values;
function applyCurrentValues()
    var values = Widget.elem.customData["currentValues"];
    Widget.GetObjectByName("title").textChars = values[0].value;
    Widget.GetObjectByName("outline").visible = values[1].value;
    Widget.GetObjectByName("win_min_btn").visible = values[2].value;
    Widget.GetObjectByName("win_max_btn").visible = values[3].value;
    Widget.GetObjectByName("background").pathAttributes.fillColor = values[4].value;
switch (Widget.opCode)
    case 1: setDefaultValues();   break;
    case 2: applyCurrentValues(); break;
Message was edited by: oic.now

Solution Found: I had to explicitly delete the existing copy in my orginal FW file even though when I used the one from the common library I told it to "Replace the existing item" I guess the replace doesn't really work for rich symbols. After I deleted the symbol with the same name from the document library & pulled in the one from Common Library, it showed its rich symbol properties.

Script to move rectangle in rich symbol

I am trying to write the script to move a rectangle (or path
or bitmap) that is part of a rich symbol. The API docs say that
.left and .top are not read-only, but they do not appear to be
working. When setting .left on a rectangle, the value changes but
the new value seems to have nothing to do with the value I
specified. (The new value was some very small decimal.) Doing the
same to a path or bitmap did not seem to have any effect at all.
Has anyone had any success programatically moving (or
resizing because I will want to do that next) a rectangle, path, or
bitmap that is part of a rich symbol, i.e. with script in the
applyCurrentValues() function? Thanks.

quote:
Originally posted by:
psemlohq
The API docs say that .left and .top are not read-only, but
they do not appear to be working. When setting .left on a
rectangle, the value changes but the new value seems to have
nothing to do with the value I specified.
You could try the dom methods for moving, like
dom.moveSelectionTo() (I think that's what it's called). I've seen
cases, especially in CS3, where changing the attributes doesn't
work but calling the equivalent dom functions does.

Suggesting features for iTunes

I'll start this post by telling readers a little about my computing background. I used to be a PC nerd who hated Macs and would never consider buying one. iTunes came out, I gave it a try to prove to myself that Apple made crappy software. To my surprise, it was great, and I completely switched to it from years of Winamp addiction. I still didn't like Macs though.
Enter OSX and the PowerBook. 10 minutes of playing with my friend's new PB caused me to buy one, and I've loved every minute of using my PB since the day I opened its box. So now I am a Mac and PC nerd.
The reason for this post is that I would like to suggest 2 features for iTunes. They are both pretty obvious to me, but version after version comes out, without these features.
Here they are:
CD-TEXT. Why the **** would you release a program in the year 2006, that burns audio CD's but does not write CD-TEXT? Seriously. WHY?
The other feature: an easy way to update the library on the Windows version. On the Mac, iTunes seems to somehow know when you move your music files (maybe even delete them, haven't noticed), and it updates your library automatically. This is awesome, and the fact that no such feature is included in the Windows version kills me. I have thousands of songs on my Windows machine. I download tons of music (legally of course), and every time that I go to add music to my library, I have to think twice about where I place the files. I like to keep a very organized music directory, and I don't want iTunes doing it for me either. I just want a button that scans for missing files and deletes them from the library, then scans the iTunes music folder for new songs and adds them.
With these 2 features, iTunes couldn't get any better.
Screw all the video features, podcasts, etc. Who cares? Music is what I (and most people in general) use the program for, and the fact that it can even function with the amount of songs I have in my library amazes me and tells me its meant to work with such a quantity of files.
So why not add such vital features? Come on Apple!! Microsoft does suck, but you gotta pick up the slack to stay as far ahead of them as you have been ever since the release of OSX!
By the way, is there anywhere on this site that I could officially suggest these features? I looked but could not find such a page.
PowerBook G4 Mac OS X (10.4.6) I also use a decently fast Windows box.
PowerBook G4
PowerBook G4

hi Jeffery!
By the way, is there anywhere on this site that I could officially suggest these features? I looked but could not find such a page.
although there isn't a dedicated enhancement request channel for itunes, there is one for the ipod. since itunes is the only supported software for getting music onto an ipod, i figure that's a worthy place to make itunes enhancement requests:
iPod Feedback
love, b

Rich Symbol Contents don't update properly

Hi Fireworks people,
I have a Rich Symbol in which you can type text and set a few properties. Saving works but sometimes when there are many instances of this Rich Symbol in a document only parts of the entered text are displayed on the stage. In the symbol properties the text is still there.
It looks like the Rich Symbol doesnt update properly for some reason. Is there a way to "refresh" the symbols to show the full text from the symbol properties on stage as well?
I thought by calling the applyCurrentCalues() function of the Rich Symbol, Widget.UpdateWidget or smth like that. BUt the documentation on these methods as well as other properties of the Widget Object isnt sufficient!
In some cases when many Rich Symbols with text are on stage the text is even lost. Its visible in the symbol props but wrapped in a new line(red outline in image). You cant access the text anymore and have to re-create the symbol.(see screenshot) and an error is shown (blue outline)
I guess the second problem is some sort of bug but maybe someone has a tip/trick/advice for the first problem, to update the Rich symbol.
Thanks a lot in advance!
Matt

Pagemaker is old software, it was designed for use when fonts were quite limited. It will only display the first 256 characters in a font. Modern fonts have moved way beyond this limitation. The solution is to stick with older fonts, or to upgrade to indesign. It does sound like your souvenir font could be corrupted, running font management software is a good practice no matter what program you use.
Jay

No search feature for Dashboard widgets?

In Dashboard, when you click the Manage Widgets button at the bottom and then you click More Widgets in the Manage Widgets window, you are taken to Apples' official Dashboard Widgets web page at http://www.apple.com/downloads/dashboard.
At the bottom of the page, it says there are "3901 Dashboard Widgets" available. But oddly, there seems to be no search feature for the widgets.
There's a Widget Browser where you can drill down by category, but sometimes it's just easier to search for what you want.
There's a search field at the very top of the page in the navigation bar (just as there's one for this page, but that searches the whole Apple site, not just the widgets.
Is there a way to do a text search for Dashboard widgets?

I took a look and agree that there doesn't seem to be a way so you aren't just blind...unless we both are
The only thing I noticed is since all the widgits seem to reside in the same directory you could do a google search a la
"widget I want site:http://www.apple.com/downloads/dashboard/"
I suppose apple thinks most people don't commonly associate widgets by there actual name so categories are easier but it seems trivial just to throw in a search function with a nice little preview of each widget.
Maybe we just didn't look deep enough.

Need help for button actions

Hi, can someone help me please? I like to put a invisable
button over a picture (movie) with two actions. 1. rollover will
show a title, 2. release will get new URL. I succeed in one or the
other action but not on both of them combined. What can I do? I use
action script 2. Thanks. Sarosa

You could achieve the same result putting code in the
button...
1 - Open example.fla
2 - Save it as example2.fla
3 - Layer Actions --> frame 1, delete all the code leaving
only:
testing._visible = false;
stop();
4 - Layer button: select the bt button instance
5 - in the Actions Panel (by the way, attached to the
button), put this code:
on (rollOver) {
testing._visible = true;
on (rollOut) {
testing._visible = false;
on (release) {
getURL("
http://www.google.com", _blank);
6 - Test your movie: it works too!
If you are totally new to Flash, always remember to name
things in an appropriate way using the "official" names.
(read again the beginner's tutorials)
For example, it's wrong to say "I put the action script on
the button not on a separate layer".
This is completely ununderstandable...
More: I didn't "convert" a graphic symbol to a button but I
changed the behavior of a graphic symbol into the behavior of a
button.
Doing so, the graphic symbol is recognized as a button with
all the properties attached to a button.
The main difference between a graphic symbol acting as a
button and a real Button is that the Button has four frames (Up,
Over, Down and Hit) and the graphic symbol has not.

Problems creating rich symbols

I followed the step to create a rich symbol, when I get to
the create symbol script, I browse to common library/custom
symbols, I click plus, but there is no info in the element name
box, I can not type it in, can not contine from that point as it
will not continue further without an element name, any idea what
step I probably missed?

Hi Terry - Make sure the objects in the layer have unique
names. For example, creating a rectangle is called rectangle by
default. Change the name to something specific like "upstate"
instead of "rectangle". Also make sure you do not have spaces
(whitespace) in the object name.

Bevel effect moves Featured News buttons down and right after update

After I applied the update today, all of the Featured News buttons with the Bevel Effect have been moved down and right about 1/4" and I cannot seem to fix. I used the Bevel feature for all buttons in the Rollover, Mouse Down, and Active states. Before I applied the update, the bevel feature worked great, but now, as you can see from the image, the buttons have now moved down and to the right. I've even tried deleting the entire widget and starting over, but no fix.
The attached image shows the Featured News buttons. The top button is in ACTIVE state with the Bevel effect activated. The "Step 3" button shows the Rollover state with the Bevel effect activated. All other buttons show the NORMAL state - NO BEVEL. Before the update was applied, the buttons would appear in the same location as the NORMAL state, but now the buttons appear lower and to the right as you can see.

I'm having similar problems - and now I cannot remove the bevel from my buttons and they are shifting all over the place!

Air 3.0 multitask features for ios

Hi,
My app needs to update it's status to my server, when it goes to background.
Currently I'm using Air 2.7, and do a curl by listenning deactivate.
It works fine on Android, but can not finish the curl on ios after home button is pushed(the event is fired, but the curl seems never be executed).
Is there any way can do this job on ios? How about air 3.0 multitask features for ios?

I can confirm that defining the UIBackgroundMode for 'audio' allows you to run code while the app is in the background. I have a similar issue I am trying to solve, but with regards to location. I need to be able to receive geolocation updates when the app is active, at the home screen, while in another app and when the screen is turned off. I have gotten it to work with all of the cases except for while the screen is off by defining the UIBackgroundmodes for both 'audio' and 'location'.
To test if code can be run, I have an event listener that gets triggered when the app is deactivated and activated. I am setting a timer the moment the app gets deactivated and incrementing a varaible every 100 milliseconds while the app is inactive. When the app becomes active again I report the number back in a debug textfield. If I press the home button or open another app, the number is accurate to how long the app was inactive for... but as soon as I press the power button to shut the screen off, the number stops incrementing shortly after.
I have seen plenty of native iOS geolocation-based apps get updates while the screen is off, why is this not the case for an AIR iOS app? Is there a workaround for this? Does someone at Adobe need to fix this issue? At this point, I'm not even sure Native Extensions would do the trick...
ANY help would be greatly appreciated.

All buttons in all files are now showing error: Mouse events are permitted only for button instances.

Somebody please help:
I've taught myself enough with Flash to customize a
fully-Flash template for my wife's website, and two of the buttons
didn't do what I wanted them to in Actionscript. They then began
giving me the message:
**Error** Symbol=sub_butt1, layer=Layer 4, frame=1:Line 1:
Mouse events are permitted only for button instances
on (rollOver) {
**Error** Symbol=sub_butt1, layer=Layer 4, frame=1:Line 4:
Mouse events are permitted only for button instances
on (releaseOutside, rollOut) {
Total ActionScript Errors: 2 Reported Errors: 2
Not only do I not know how to fix this, the same message
comes up for every single button in the entire fla I had saved,
plus earlier versions where I hadn't even messed with the buttons
yet.
Any suggestions?

Hello Corbett,
The error is saying that you are trying to apply a button
action to something
other than a button. Often this happens when you select the
frame that the
button is on instead of the actual button, thus applying the
action to the
frame instead of the button.
Make sure you select the button on the stage and then apply
the actions there.
You'll probably have to remove the action from the frame
before it will work
(looks like it's on Layer 4 frame 1).
Good luck!
Jesse H.
Adobe Community Expert
My site:
http://www.jharding.com
Free Blog Radio:
http://www.tornadostream.com
> Somebody please help:
> I've taught myself enough with Flash to customize a
fully-Flash
> template for
> my wife's website, and two of the buttons didn't do what
I wanted them
> to in
> Actionscript. They then began giving me the message:
>
> **Error** Symbol=sub_butt1, layer=Layer 4, frame=1:Line
1: Mouse
> events are
> permitted only for button instances
> on (rollOver) {
> **Error** Symbol=sub_butt1, layer=Layer 4, frame=1:Line
4: Mouse
> events are
> permitted only for button instances
> on (releaseOutside, rollOut) {
> Total ActionScript Errors: 2 Reported Errors: 2
>
> Not only do I not know how to fix this, the same message
comes up for
> every
> single button in the entire fla I had saved, plus
earlier versions
> where I
> hadn't even messed with the buttons yet.
> Any suggestions?

Custom FPM Event for Button row element

Hi Expects,
I have created a new button row element in standard screen, where I want to add custom FPM event and handle the same in get_data( ). But by default SAP is providing few event ID's in drop down.
Please help me how to add custom FPM event for button row element.
Regards,
Reny Richard

Hi Remy,
Process Event method does have any signature parameters in it which allow us to disable/enable buttons.
We can handle this in Get data method.Get Data is always triggered after Process Event. So you can write that in Get Data instead.
****this is a sample code to do the same. You can do a read as well if single button needs tobe handled***
LOOP AT CT_ACTION_USAGE INTO lw_action WHERE id = (your event id for the button).
    lw_action-enabled = abap_false.
    MODIFY CT_ACTION_USAGE FROM lw_action TRANSPORTING enabled.
    EV_ACTION_USAGE_CHANGED = 'X'.
ENDLOOP.
***use field symbol to avoid modify if you want***

Rich Symbol feature for Buttons?

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