Why Use Flex?

Hello Flex Forum,
I must admit some curisoity about Flex. Seems Adobe is really
pushing it. Kind of reminds me of FoxPro and Access. There are so
many differerent ways to do things web-wise these days, I am
wondering why a developer might choose Flex over Flash
(actionscript), or some of the other (like dojo) language or
environment that does similar things. I am currently working on an
e-learning project that need to be CD based, because the company I
work for cannot support a server to allow users from outside the
firewall (I work for an Aerospace company) to access "intranet"
based training where Captivate, Flash, and even Flex based apps are
designed to run best.
I would be interested in any rationale for the use of Flex,
its strong points and weak points, etc.
Thanks,
eholz1

I'd ask: why use slow, browser dependent, bug prone, outdated
Ajax hacks or old-school generated HTML when you have Flex as an
alternative. I'd rather give up and become a sleeping mall security
guard than devolve to Ajax hackery.
Flex weak points? I'd say printing and reporting is the #1
that I can think of ATM, but of course competing technologies don't
do any better. They still rely on the same crummy tools and
techniques that Flex apps often seem to call on. And for
reporting/printing when your requirements are pretty simple, Flex
can probably deal with it natively anyway, to boot.
We're using a hybrid approach for reporting. Flex charting
and interactivity (good luck doing this as well Ajax hackers) is
great for small summary reporting, and simple table data can be
printed from inside Flex. For larger/bulky and more complex reports
we call on a servlet which uses a 3rd party reporting tool to
generate PDFs.
Flex integrates with a ton of other technologies pretty well.
You can also install a Flex app using AIR, which basically makes it
a standalone client application on your workstation. This could be
the ultimate bandwidth saver (no swf OR html/js transmitted), if
you don't mind the less convenient deployment method. AMF is much
faster than the crappy protocols Ajax uses.
BTW, running on an intranet is not going to be a problem, as
long as Flash 9 or higher is deployed everywhere, or users are
permitted to install it using an internal server download. It
doesn't need to come from Adobe's server off the internet..
BUT, Adobe better not get too confident here. MS and
Silverlight are doing to be tough competition, and I'll switch if
it steals the lead in maturity. JavaFX is junk, and too late to the
game, it'll fail. ^_^ I guess Ajax could even become less crummy,
but some of it's downsides will never be resolved.

Similar Messages

Why use Flex over Flash 8

I would like to know what makes Flex more useful than Flash
8? Is Flex basically replacing the Flash SDK? I looked into Flex a
little bit and it looks like it has an awesome integration of Flash
and XML. I was also wondering if Flex integrates other development
technologies with Flash, such as PHP.
Currently I am working for a gaming company and would like to
get Flex pretty soon.
-Thanks in Advance :)
Flash Development at
Vectorflash.net

i think it is not "more useful" but both got different
strength.
flash is for animation, presentation, interactive website
& etc but flex is more to web application.

How to find Mobile device OS name and version using Flex?

is there anyway to get device information like OS name and version using flex 4.5.1 or 4.6 SDK. i am developing a project in Flex which needs to identify the end user mobile platform like Android, iOS.. and its version like Android means 2.1,2.2,etc..
Anyone can help me on this?

I don't know that there is a proprietary driver. In fact, I'm sure there isn't because I never installed one. I figured there was some code file somewhere that dealt with keyboards. Yes, I have dealt with the developer, they say to tell Apple there is a problem. I have been putting it off and waiting to update since 10.6.3, so the problem is getting a little old. Do I even know there is a problem? I'm not sure what this means. I do know that when I update my operating system past 10.6.2 my keyboard no longer works, and I have to use a stock Apple keyboard to run a time machine reinstall. Why else would I be going through this?

Using Flex Code in Flash

Hi everyone,
I really hope you can help me with this. Here's my
situation...
I've developed a flex application that connects to another
java application using "BlazeDS". It works great!! The reason why I
did this is because I'm developing (along with a Flash designer) a
website of a music band, and I use java to connect to a database
that has all the "gigs", news and subscribers to the website.
Everything works great in Flex, my problem is I'm not a
designer, I'm a developer. So I wanted to know if there's a way I
can just give my designer friend a code so he can use it in Flash
CS3?? (Like to send him objects containing the info. For example,
give him a concerts object that contains the date and the location
so he can build the datagrids for the concerts page in Flash)
I think there must be a way to use Flex libraries in CS3, or
maybe create some kind of Flex class that will work as a
"communication interface" between the database and the flash code,
I'm really not sure...
In other words, I need to know how can my designer friend use
(in Flash) what I've developed in Flex.
Please let me know if there's a way...
Just in case you need to know, I use Flex's Eclipse plug in
(it's easier for me this way cause I have java and flex in the same
place!)
Thanks!!!!!!

No need then to use the LocalConnection. In a listener
function (add a listener function for the complete event of the
SWFLoader) you can retrieve a reference to the loaded swf and get
the two values from the swf if they are public and on frame 1 of
the main timeline.
private function onSWFLoaded():void
//retrieve a reference to the loaded swf
var loadedSWF:MovieClip = logn.content as MovieClip;
<mx:SWFLoader autoLoad="true" id="logn" source="main.swf"
horizontalCenter="8" verticalCenter="185" height="364" width="588"
complete="onSWFLoaded()"></mx:SWFLoader>

HOw to connect FTP Client using flex

Hi Everyone,
i am new to flex, i am developing one flex application, some one give example of connecting ftp client using flex. i didnot found any examples.
thnx

You would need to communicate with your ftp server over a socket and implement the ftp protocol on your client. The project below aims to do this, but I have never used it:
http://maliboo.riaforge.org/
Why not download over http (and save yourself a lot of time)?

SWFObject 2, why use it?

I'd really like to know why using SWFObject 2 to embed my Flex SWF files is superior to using the html file generated by Flex Builder 3. I will admit that I'm not a real hot-shot HTML/JS coder but as far as I can see there is little to recommend SWFObject 2.
All thoughts and options welcome.

By the way, here's what your HTML Template file might look like with SWFObject:

<html lang="en">
<head>
   <title>${title}</title>
   <style>
   body { margin: 0px; overflow: hidden; }
   </style>
   <script src="http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/swfobject/2.1/swfobject.js"></script>
   <script type="text/javascript">
   var flashVars = {
        testVar: "value"
     var params = {
        allowFullScreen: "true",
        allowScriptAccess: "sameDomain"
   swfobject.embedSWF( "${swf}.swf", "swf", "${width}", "${height}", "10.0.0", "playerProductInstall.swf", flashVars, params );
   </script>
</head>
<body scroll="no">
   <div id="swf">
      <p>Alternative content</p>
    </div>
</body>
</html>
Note that the file still uses the ${variables} so you don't have to hand write anything.
Ben Edwards

Using Flex 2 for dynamic creation of a Flex 2 application at runtime

We're looking to replace our existing end-user development
environment and believe Flex 2 may be able to satisfy our
requirements. However, without spending a month trialing the
product I thought some existing user(s) could suggest (based on
personal experience) whether we'd be straining Flex 2 in expecting
it to be able to provide dynamic runtine generation and execution
of an application based on the meta-data associated with each
component. The generation of each component includes automatic form
and code generation, with end-user tailoring facilities to maintain
the meta-data (tabs, fields (visibility, location, business rules,
actions, validation etc.), display format, drill-down, work-flow
etc.), for use in the next instantiation of each conponent.

I know of at least one of our customers (not sure if I can
say which) is doing this. They use Flex to compose MXML files and
then send that to a server. The server than compiles that into a
SWF.
So it is possible, just a lot of work.

Problem in creating client side PDF with image using flex and AlivePD

I need a favor I am creating client side PDF with image using flex and AlivePDF for a web based application. Images have been generated on that pdf but it is creating problem for large size images as half of the image disappeared from that pdf.I am taking the image inside a canvas . How do i control my images so that they come fit on that pdf file for any image size that i take.
Thanks in advance
Atishay

I am having a similar and more serious problem. It takes a
long time to execute, but even attaching a small image balloons the
pdf to 6MB plus. After a few images it gets up to 20MB. These are
100k jpeg files being attached. The resulting PDF is too large to
email or process effectively. Does anyone know how to reduce
size/processing?

Silent print a PDF from a web page using Flex. We are targeting Windows and Mac with Arcobat reader installed

We are planning to Silent print a PDF from a web page using Flex. We are targeting Windows and Mac with Arcobat reader installed. I have tried using the AIR appliaction and it worked, But our requirement is NO INSTALL to the user machine for the silent printing. It is just from web page and silent printing to the default printer to the desktop/Laptop. Can anyone share your thoughts and experience with us. It will be very helpful..
For AIR : I tried the thread Re: AIR and PDF showing/silent printing

Hey CodeMonkey & Ross,
Did you either of you ever find a solution? I'm stuck too, it seems I can get remote printing on all these PDFs to work but it just prints a blank page since I've been using Javascript in the browser, not Adobe's (they are Engineering drawings that I do not have permission to edit so I can't just insert code into them but I need to make work instructions). I've been scouring the internet for hours now, it seems that this thread is the only relevant/useful one at this point. No one else was trying to achieve this for similar reasons to mine.
Thanks guys,
Lox

To load a pdf file in popup window using flex

Hi All,
Can anyone send me the code for loading pdf file in a popup
window using flex.
Regards,
Dharma

try this action script
var pdfUrl:URLRequest = new URLRequest("assets/file.pdf");
navigateToURL(pdfUrl,"_blank");

Please help me, I need to use Flex with CF

Hi everyone,
I am starting to retract my brain from an intense 2 days to
figure out how to use Flex with Coldfusion. I am using Coldfusion 8
Beta (this part is good, don't need help for CF itself). I am also
using Flex Builder 2 (with chart but this not the topic). I
installed FDS 2.5 before to install ColdFusion 8 but I think CF8
have is own FDS or something like that... anyway, it might help to
mention it!
Well, I tried HTTPService, RemoteObject, WebSer vice -
NOTHING WORKS!!! Argh! Did I mention I spent 2 days? ;-)))
Well, I start with the basic: a login form with an email (as
a username) and a password to be validated. I have a CFC to do the
validation and return a simple message (string): "OK' when it is
valid and a custom message when it is not valid; depending if it is
the password and/or the email which is not valid.
I always got an error. Since the error is different depending
of the method I use, I will explain the latest method I used in
this message and try to concentrate on that method specifically!
The method is WebService and here is the error:
faultCode:Server.Error.Request
faultString:'HTTP request error'
faultDetail: 'Error: [IOErrorEvent type="ioError"
bubbles:false cancelable=false eventPhase=2
text="Error #2032: Stream Error .
URL=http://localhost:8501/iDashboard/login.cfc"].
URL: http://localhost:8501/iDashboard/login.cfc'
Any help will be very useful!!!
Thank's

Cyber,
This may be what you are looking for. It worked well for me.
Flex is sweet, but with the number of people confused about setup
with CF they sure aren't making any friends.
Flex/ColdFusion
setup

Using flex for air 2.0

Hi,
I don't know if anybody will be able to help. I use a company to create software for me. They have been using Flex to create a menu system that runs in the Air application. The software was running fine when using Air 1.5. However, since the update to 2.0 there are now issues with the software.
Are the coding practices of the company I am using wrong? Should they be designing with Air 2.0 in mind?
Obviously i understand that this isn't an issue with Adobe. But I am concerned that this company will not tell me the whole truth and if this would be better solved using legal advice?
I appreciate any help you can give.
Thanks!

Hi,
Sorry your running into problems with Voddler. There aren't any known issues with AIR on Danish XP systems. Have you tried contacting Voddler to see what they have to say?
Chris

Feedback on impementing second horizontal axis using Flex 2.0.1

I am attempting to use the concept of a second horizontal
axis using Flex 2.0. It is not clear to me if it is supported by
the Flex 2.0.1 sdk although livedocs does provide an example using
secondVerticalAxis. A snippet of my code is attached with this
message. At runtime, the second series does not display. Any
feedback about usage of the component would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.

>>That data base is fine for a development environment.
Thanks edbrendel.
So, since I am able to run Apache 2.2 as I want to, would I
be better of to use MySQL 5 or MS SQL Express if I want it to be
largely development, but also for my own stuff (my galleries etc.)
actually running pages served to the web?
I know of the technotes, a couple of them (incl. the MySQL
note on installing V. 5 as a datasource and all that), but never
saw that one...so thanks very much. I've manually added the Apache
2.2 file line in httpd.conf and added the file in the config area,
which always worked in the past with XP Pro and XP64...hope it does
with 2003 I had 2003 server when I first started playing, it was a
nightmare, I hope now that I've bought everything I can wrap my
head around it!). I just make sure I don't try to configure CF
until after manually adding the files, and changing the Apache
config file and restarting. Then I go into the administrator for
the first time.
Shawn

Audio/Video Streaming without FMS using FLEX 2

Hello guys,
i want to develop a video conferencing application in flex 2
without using flex media server. I want to know the possibilities
of it and if possible some tutorials and examples.
Thanks.
Nehal.

Some thinks that where helpful for me:
http://coenraets.com/viewarticle.jsp?articleId=98
http://flash-communications.net/technotes/fms2/flex2FMS/index.html
NOTE: Only try and attach the Video and start the publishing
of the video after you have a successful NetConnection.

Manipulating XML file using flex 2.0

Hi,
how to add contents in to xml file using flex 2.0, ie i
actually wants to write data in to a xml file, so that data to be
appended at the end of the file.
Kumar

You can't! Well, at least Flex cannot do this. All Flex can
do is send this data -- any data -- to the server and it's up to
you how you want to append this data to a file on the server.
You see, flex can't write to local files. If you looking for
client side file manipulation, take a look at Flex's desktop
brother call AIR!
ATTA

Why Use Flex?

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for