Table-like behavior in flash

Question

I have an app I've built for a client that displays a bunch
of dynamic data in a table-like grid. This is currently a "top 10"
that shows details of the top-10 winners of a contest. The client
has now said that under certain circumstances this "top 10" display
grid will now need to display a table of dynamic data of
undetermined height (That is it could be a "top 30" or a "top
100"). So firstly I imagine the data will need to be embedded in a
scrollable movie-clip that adjusts its height based on the amount
of data there is. I was disappointed to learn flash html does not
support tables. I've seen reference to some components available,
but they all seem sort of like a big jump for something the client
sees as a minor change to the application. Could someone please
help me determine what is the easiest route for me to take?

Answer 1

Why not just use a DataGrid component? They're pretty easy to
use actually.
Try this: start a new AS2 project and drag a DataGrid from
the components
panel onto the stage. Use the properties panel to size it to
500 x 300. When
you add data to a grid it will just show a scroll bar if
necessary, it
doesn't resize... Give it an instance name of "theGrid".
Now, add the following script to the frame:
import mx.controls.gridclasses.DataGridColumn;
function doGrid(gridRef, gArray:Array)
for (var i = 0; i < gArray.length; i++) {
var cat:DataGridColumn = new DataGridColumn(gArray
[0]);
cat.width = gArray[2];
cat.headerText = gArray
[1];
cat.editable = false;
gridRef.addColumn(cat);
var gFormat = new Array(["fname", "First Name:", 120],
["lname", "Last
Name:", 200], ["date", "Win Date:", 80]);
doGrid(theGrid, gFormat);
If you compile now, you'll see the grid with the field
titles... I use the
doGrid function, and an array like this to make formatting
the grid easy.
The first item in the array matches the dataProvider
property, as you will
see in a moment - the second is the title, and the third the
width of the
column... change these as you need.
To add data, you just create an array of objects, with the
object properties
matching the first item in the format array - like so - add
the following
and test again:
var gridData = new Array({fname:"Dave", lname:"Mennenoh",
date:"09/14/08"},
{fname:"giga", lname:"saurus", date:"10/14/08"});
theGrid.dataProvider = gridData;
That's all there is to it... If you add more data than can be
shown, you'll
get a scroll bar. You can add en event listener to know when
someone selects
an item, etc...
good luck
Dave -
www.offroadfire.com
Head Developer
http://www.blurredistinction.com
Adobe Community Expert
http://www.adobe.com/communities/experts/