Math.min() Math.max() …rest

By Zevan | February 16, 2009
CLICK HERE TO COPY
Actionscript:
  1. trace("min", Math.min(100, 99, 32, 75, 44, 90));
  2. trace("max", Math.max(100, 99, 32, 75, 44, 90));
  3. /*outputs:
  4. 32
  5. 100
  6. */

It's easy not to notice that Math.min() and Math.max() can take any number of arguments. I've seen people nest min/max calls instead of using the above option.... like this:

CLICK HERE TO COPY
Actionscript:
  1. trace(Math.min(1, Math.min(2, 3)));

Posted in misc | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Simple BlendMode Nav

By Zevan | February 15, 2009
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Actionscript:
  1. stage.frameRate=30;
  2. var nav:Sprite = Sprite(addChild(new Sprite()));
  3. nav.x=nav.y=150;
  4.  
  5. var cover:Sprite;
  6. var coverDest:Number=0;
  7. var spacing:int=4;
  8. var btnNum:int=6;
  9.  
  10. buildNav();
  11.  
  12. addEventListener(Event.ENTER_FRAME, onLoop);
  13.  
  14. function onLoop(evt:Event):void {
  15.     cover.x += (coverDest - cover.x) /4;
  16. }
  17.  
  18. function buildNav():void {
  19.     for (var i:int = 0; i<btnNum; i++) {
  20.         var b:Sprite=makeBox(50,50);
  21.         b.x = i * (b.width + spacing);
  22.         b.buttonMode=true;
  23.         b.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, onClick);
  24.     }
  25.     cover=makeBox(54, 60);
  26.     cover.blendMode=BlendMode.INVERT;
  27. }
  28.  
  29. function onClick(evt:MouseEvent):void {
  30.     coverDest=evt.currentTarget.x;
  31. }
  32.  
  33. function makeBox(w:Number, h:Number) {
  34.     var b:Sprite = new Sprite();
  35.     with (b.graphics) {
  36.         beginFill(0x000000),drawRect(-w/2,-h/2,w,h);
  37.     }
  38.     nav.addChild(b);
  39.     return b;
  40. }

This is something I do in my intermediate flash classes... the only difference is that we do the graphics in the flash IDE during class time instead of drawing them with ActionScript.

Posted in motion | Tagged , | Leave a comment

MYSQL SOUNDEX

By Zevan | February 15, 2009
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C:
  1. SELECT * FROM _users WHERE SOUNDEX(name) LIKE SOUNDEX('jon');

Not ActionScript, but the coolest thing I've seen in Mysql in awhile, the soundex function will convert a string into a soundex index... read more about it on wikipedia.

I did some tests and it matches things like:

what's your name? & whats yer name

very cool... since this isn't ActionScript, I will post another snippet right after this.

UPDATE: Actually started reading more about this stuff and dug up some algorithms... metaphone etc... fun stuff, maybe I'll port some of it to actionscript...

Posted in misc, string manipulation, strings | Leave a comment

Circles & cacheAsBitmap

By Zevan | February 14, 2009
CLICK HERE TO COPY
Actionscript:
  1. [SWF(width=600,height=400,backgroundColor=0x000000,frameRate=30)]
  2. var mcs:Vector.<MovieClip> = new Vector.<MovieClip>();
  3. var num:int = 2000;
  4. for (var i:int = 0; i<num; i++){
  5.     var s:MovieClip = new MovieClip();
  6.     s.graphics.lineStyle(0,0xFFFFFF);
  7.     s.graphics.drawCircle(0,0, Math.random()*30 + 3);
  8.     s.x = Math.random()*stage.stageWidth;
  9.     s.y = Math.random()*stage.stageHeight;
  10.        // comment out to kill your cpu
  11.     s.cacheAsBitmap = true;
  12.     addChild(s);
  13.     s.vx  = Math.random() * 2 - 1;
  14.     s.vy  = Math.random() * 2 - 1;
  15.     mcs.push(s);
  16. }
  17. addEventListener(Event.ENTER_FRAME, onCenter);
  18. function onCenter(evt:Event):void{
  19.     for (var i:int = 0; i<num; i++){
  20.         mcs[i].x += mcs[i].vx;
  21.         mcs[i].y += mcs[i].vy;
  22.     }
  23. }

This was created in response to a question about the real speed gain of cacheAsBitmap. Just comment out the cacheAsBitmap line to see the difference.

Despite it's extreme simplicity, this is actually a rather fun file to play with, change some of the graphics class method calls around and see what happens.

Posted in DisplayObject, Graphics | Tagged , | 1 Comment