Flash 5 Dynamic Content Studio (with CD ROM) - Softcover

Archontakis, Philippe; Beard, David; Chua, Eng Wei; Diogo, Jorge; Doyle, Paul; Ellis, Brandon; Everett-Church, Justin; Hall, Branden; Humphrey, Dan; Kato, Randy; Khilnani, Nik; Lee, Patricia; Leone, Steve; Mahoney, Bryan; Montalenti, Andrew; Piper, Phil; Ponce, Carlos; Prideaux, Roger; Roy, Nicolas S.; Ryder, Shawn; Webster, Steve

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1903450063 ISBN 13: 9781903450062

Publisher: Friends of Ed, 2001

Synopsis

Flash movies—the ones that play and then, well...stop—are all well and good. They are great as platforms for cartoonists and motion type artists to showcase their stuff. But it's the non-interactive and uninterruptable aspect of these Flash events that has led to some serious underestimations of the power of Flash. All you need to do to begin creating the cutting-edge Flash web-sites of the future is learn how to get the most out of ActionScripting, how to hook up your Flash movie with client/server coding and begin working with a back-end database.

And it really is that easy! Suddenly, the world of true Flash functionality is at your fingertips.

Flash 5 Dynamic Content Studio is written by a collective of Flash 5 experts who will show you everything you need to know to upgrade your Flash 5 knowledge to Flash 5 expertise. Assuming a basic knowledge of Flash, the book gives you a thorough grounding in ActionScripting techniques, teaches you the basics of a myriad of scripting languages and their Flash interaction capabilities, discusses and implements client-side/server-side interaction, explains the middleware that can make your life considerably easier (Ultradev, Generator, Swift Generator, ASP Turbine), and demonstrates database interaction and usability (Access, SQL, and MYSQL).

To conclude this admittedly tough but not prohibitive learning curve, the book walks you through a selection of fairly generic real world case studies, using Flash with middleware and database connectivity, demonstrating how these elements come together to give you truly dynamic, interactive Flash sites. This book is about visual richness and utility. This Web business is getting beautiful, and Flash is getting useful.

What you’ll learn

Who this book is for

Flash 5 Dynamic Content Studio addresses the growing market of web artists under pressure to learn the finer points of interactive design with Flash 5. This book demonstrates the best tools for integrating dynamic content using a Flash front-end. Readers will see how to link Flash movies, via a middleware bridge, through to a back-end datastores (images and/or text).

This book assumes that the reader already knows the fundamentals of creating Flash movies, but doesn't assume any programming knowledge at all. The book covers ActionScripting, (of course!), ASP, PHP, JSP, Perl, CGI, Cold Fusion, Macromedia Generator, ASP Turbine, Swift Generator, and Macromedia Ultradev.

About this title

From the Publisher:

The Flash Studio series assumes that you already know the basics of Flash. Studio books take you upward from there, all the way to the high plateau of technical excellence and specialization. Along the way, a collective of Flash experts will guide and advise you.

This book assumes that the reader already knows the fundamentals of creating Flash movies, and that they are familiar with the basic relationships between web servers and web clients (browsers). It does not assume any programming knowledge.

This book will outline the importance of dynamic content in the future development of Flash, and demonstrate the best tools for integrating dynamic content using Flash as a front-end. Readers will see how to link Flash movies, via a middleware bridge, through to a back-end datastore (eg of images and text).

Dynamic content generation tools covered will include Flash Action Scripting, Macromedia Generator, Flash Turbine, Swift Generator, and ASP.

By the end of the book, the reader will have a solid understanding of the potentialities and benefits of using dynamic content with Flash, and will be able to choose the best ways of implementing dynamic content solutions in their designs.

In response to disappointment from some Mac-users, Friends of ED would like to stress that this book is strongly orientated around the Windows platform. We hope this book offers a comprehensive and advanced guide to injecting dynamic content into your Flash website. If you have any queries or suggestions please email feedback@friendsofed.com.

About the Author:

Darin Beard has been working with Web-based technology for almost a decade. As both a graphic designer and software developer, Darin has a unique perspective on the process of creating Web-based applications. He has experience in technology and software ranging from Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator to ASP, ASP.NET, HTML, PHP, JavaScript, and VBScript to Macromedia Flash to Microsoft SQL Server. His range of experience is extremely beneficial when working with Flash because he can approach a Flash project from both the graphical (design) and technical (code) perspectives. Clients Darin has worked with include Hillwood, American Medical Response, Canon, American Airlines Center, Fellowship Church, RightNow.org, RenderAid.com, BlueFishTV, and others. Darin currently lives in Dallas, Texas, with his wife of 12 years and his three children. He can be reached at darin.beard@sitetoolset.com.

About this edition

• Publisher: Friends of Ed
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 1903450063
• ISBN 13: 9781903450062
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 1000