Converting artwork to built-in Flex components
Interactive components, such as buttons, scrolling panels, check boxes, input text, and scroll bars, are the building blocks of rich internet applications, and Flash Catalyst makes adding them easy. Flash Catalyst provides a collection of built-in component types with predefined states and behaviors, such as the up, over, down, and disabled states of a simple button component. You select the artwork to include in the component, tell Flash Catalyst which type of component to create, and then indicate which artwork to show or hide in each component state. The Flash Catalyst built-in components types include:
- Button
- Checkbox
- Radio Button
- Toggle Button
- Text Input
- Horizontal Slider
- Vertical Slider
- Scroll Panel
- Horizontal Scrollbar
- Vertical Scrollbar
- Data List
If the available component options don’t fit your needs, you can use the Custom/Generic Component option to design original components with up to 20 unique states. By using custom components, you can add unlimited depth and scope to your application by nesting components within other components. For example, you can design a control panel or dialog box that appears when someone interacts with the program. This can include other components, such as buttons and sliders, or other submenus. The really unique opportunity here is that you’re not limited to traditional models for user interface controls. Because you can skin your components using custom artwork, you can design completely original and highly creative user interface elements.