Chapter 4. Exploring the APIs

Now that you know how to create a new application with your choice of layout options and how to request application permissions, it’s time to explore the ways in which your application can interact with the BlackBerry Tablet operating system. The AIR 2.6 release includes access to many BlackBerry Tablet OS features. These include the accelerometer, GPS unit, camera, camera roll, file system, and multi-touch screen.

Accelerometer

The accelerometer is a device that measures the speed or g-forces created when a device accelerates across multiple planes. The faster the device is moved through space, the higher the readings will be across the x, y, and z axes.

Let’s review the following code. First, you will notice that there is a private variable named accelerometer declared of type flash.sensors.Accelerometer. Within the applicationComplete event of the application, an event handler function is called; it first checks to see if the device has an accelerometer by reading the static property of the Accelerometer class. If this property returns as true, a new instance of Accelerometer is created and an event listener of type AccelerometerEvent.UPDATE is added to handle updates. Upon update, the accelerometer information is read from the event and written to a TextArea within the handleUpdate function. The results are shown in Figure 4-1.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<s:Application xmlns:fx="http://ns.adobe.com/mxml/2009"
               xmlns:s="library://ns.adobe.com/flex/spark"
               applicationComplete="application1_applicationCompleteHandler(event)">
    <fx:Script>
        <![CDATA[
            import flash.sensors.Accelerometer;

            import mx.events.FlexEvent;

            private var accelerometer:Accelerometer;

            protected function application1_applicationCompleteHandler
(event:FlexEvent):void {
                if(Accelerometer.isSupported==true){
                    accelerometer = new Accelerometer();
                    accelerometer.addEventListener
                    (AccelerometerEvent.UPDATE,handleUpdate);
                } else {
                    status.text = "Accelerometer not supported";
                }

            }

            private function handleUpdate(event:AccelerometerEvent):void {
                info.text = "Updated: " + new Date().toTimeString() + "\n\n"
                + "acceleration X: " + event.accelerationX + "\n"
                + "acceleration Y: " + event.accelerationY + "\n"
                + "acceleration Z: " + event.accelerationZ;
            }

        ]]>
    </fx:Script>

    <fx:Declarations>
        <!-- Place non-visual elements (e.g., services, value objects) here -->
    </fx:Declarations>
    <s:Label id="status" text="Shake your phone a bit" top="10" width="100%" 
textAlign="center"/>
    <s:TextArea id="info" width="100%" height="200" top="40" editable="false"/>
</s:Application>
Accelerometer Information
Figure 4-1. Accelerometer Information

GPS

GPS stands for Global Positioning System. GPS is a space-based satellite navigation system that sends reliable location information to your handheld device.

If your application requires the use of the device’s GPS capabilities, you will need to select the read_geolocation permission when creating your project. See Chapter 3 for help with permissions.

Let’s review the code that follows. First, you’ll notice that there is a private variable named geoLocation declared of type flash.sensors.GeoLocation. Within applicationComplete of the application, an event handler function is called; it first checks to see if the device has an available GPS unit by reading the static property of the GeoLocation class. If this property returns as true, a new instance of GeoLocation is created and the data refresh interval is set to 500 milliseconds (.5 seconds) within the setRequestedUpdateInterval method, and an event listener of type GeoLocationEvent.UPDATE is added to handle updates. Upon update, the GPS information is read from the event and written to a TextArea within the handleUpdate function. Note that there is also some math being done to convert the speed property into miles per hour and kilometers per hour. The results can be seen within Figure 4-2.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<s:Application xmlns:fx="http://ns.adobe.com/mxml/2009"
               xmlns:s="library://ns.adobe.com/flex/spark"
               applicationComplete="application1_applicationCompleteHandler(event)">
    <fx:Script>
        <![CDATA[
            import mx.events.FlexEvent;

            import flash.sensors.Geolocation;

            private var geoLocation:Geolocation;

            protected function application1_applicationCompleteHandler
            (event:FlexEvent):void {
                if(Geolocation.isSupported==true){
                    geoLocation = new Geolocation();
                    geoLocation.setRequestedUpdateInterval(500);
                    geoLocation.addEventListener(GeolocationEvent.UPDATE, 
                    handleLocationRequest);
                } else {
                    status.text = "Geolocation feature not supported";
                }
            }

            private function handleLocationRequest(event:GeolocationEvent):void {
                var mph:Number = event.speed*2.23693629;
                var kph:Number = event.speed*3.6;
                info.text = "Updated: " + new Date().toTimeString() + "\n\n"
                    + "latitude: " + event.latitude.toString() + "\n"
                    + "longitude: " + event.longitude.toString() + "\n"
                    + "altitude: " + event.altitude.toString()  + "\n"
                    + "speed: " + event.speed.toString()  + "\n"
                    + "speed: " + mph.toString()  + " MPH \n"
                    + "speed: " + kph.toString()  + " KPH \n"
                    + "heading: " + event.heading.toString()  + "\n"
                    + "horizontal accuracy: "
                    + event.horizontalAccuracy.toString()  + "\n"
                    + "vertical accuracy: "
                    + event.verticalAccuracy.toString();
            }

        ]]>
    </fx:Script>
    <fx:Declarations>
        <!-- Place non-visual elements (e.g., services, value objects) here -->
    </fx:Declarations>

    <s:Label id="status" text="Geolocation Info" top="10" width="100%" 
textAlign="center"/>
    <s:TextArea id="info" width="100%" top="40" editable="false"/>
</s:Application>
GPS Information
Figure 4-2. GPS Information

Camera UI

A camera is available on all BlackBerry Tablet devices.

If your application requires the use of the device’s camera, you will need to select the use_camera permission to access the camera and the access_shared permission to read the new image when you’re creating your project. See Chapter 3 for help with permissions. The Camera UI tools will allow your application to use the native Camera interface within the BlackBerry Tablet device.

Let’s review the following code. First, you’ll notice that there is a private variable named camera declared of type flash.media.CameraUI. Within applicationComplete of the application, an event handler function is called; it first checks to see if the device has an available Camera by reading the static property of the CameraUI class. If this property returns as true, a new instance of CameraUI is created and event listeners of type MediaEvent.COMPLETE and ErrorEvent.COMPLETE are added to handle a successfully captured image, as well as any errors that may occur.

A Button with an event listener on the click event is used to allow the application user to launch the CameraUI. When the user clicks the TAKE A PICTURE button, the captureImage method is called, which then opens the camera by calling the launch method and passing in the MediaType.IMAGE static property. At this point, the user is redirected from your application to the native camera. Once the user takes a picture and clicks OK, he is directed back to your application, the MediaEvent.COMPLETE event is triggered, and the onComplete method is called. Within the onComplete method, the event.data property is cast to a flash.Media.MediaPromise object. The mediaPromise.file.url property is then used to populate Label and Image components that display the path to the image and the actual image to the user.

Note

Utilizing CameraUI within your application is different than the raw camera access provided by Adobe AIR on the desktop. Raw camera access is also available within AIR on BlackBerry Tablet OS and works the same as the desktop version.

Figure 4-3 shows the application, Figure 4-4 shows the native camera user interface, and Figure 4-5 shows the application after a picture is taken and the user clicks OK to return to the application.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<s:Application xmlns:fx="http://ns.adobe.com/mxml/2009"
               xmlns:s="library://ns.adobe.com/flex/spark"
               applicationComplete="application1_applicationCompleteHandler(event)">
    <fx:Script>
        <![CDATA[
            import mx.events.FlexEvent;

            private var camera:CameraUI;

            protected function application1_applicationCompleteHandler
            (event:FlexEvent):void {
                if (CameraUI.isSupported){
                    camera = new CameraUI();
                    camera.addEventListener(MediaEvent.COMPLETE, onComplete);
                    camera.addEventListener(ErrorEvent.ERROR, onError);
                    status.text="CameraUI supported";
                } else {
                    status.text="CameraUI NOT asuported";
                }
            }

            private function captureImage(event:MouseEvent):void {
                camera.launch(MediaType.IMAGE);
            }

            private function onError(event:ErrorEvent):void {
                trace("error has occurred");
            }

            private function onComplete(event:MediaEvent):void {
                var mediaPromise:MediaPromise = event.data;
                status.text = mediaPromise.file.url;
                image.source = mediaPromise.file.url;
            }

        ]]>
    </fx:Script>
    <fx:Declarations>
        <!-- Place non-visual elements (e.g., services, value objects) here -->
    </fx:Declarations>

    <s:Label id="status" text="Click Take a Picture button" top="10" width="100%" 
textAlign="center"/>

    <s:Button width="300" height="60" label="TAKE A PICTURE" 
click="captureImage(event)"
              horizontalCenter="0" enabled="{CameraUI.isSupported}"
              top="80"/>

    <s:Image id="image" width="230" height="350" horizontalCenter="0" top="170"/>
</s:Application>
Camera UI Application
Figure 4-3. Camera UI Application
Native Camera UI
Figure 4-4. Native Camera UI
Application after taking picture
Figure 4-5. Application after taking picture

Camera Roll

The Camera Roll is the camera’s gallery of images.

If your application requires the use of the device’s camera roll, you will need to select the access_shared permission when you’re creating your project. See Chapter 3 for help with permissions.

Let’s review the code that follows. First, you will notice there is a private variable named cameraRoll declared of type flash.media.CameraRoll. Within applicationComplete of the application, an event handler function is called; it first checks to see if the device supports access to the image gallery by reading the static property of the CameraRoll class. If this property returns as true, a new instance of CameraRoll is created, and event listeners of type MediaEvent.COMPLETE and ErrorEvent.COMPLETE are added to handle a successfully captured image, as well as any errors that may occur.

A button with an event listener on the click event is used to allow the user to browse the image gallery. When the user clicks the BROWSE GALLERY button, the browseGallery method is called and then opens the device’s image gallery. At this point, the user is redirected from your application to the native gallery application. Once the user selects an image from the gallery, she is directed back to your application, the MediaEvent.COMPLETE event is triggered, and the mediaSelected method is called. Within the mediaSelected method, the event.data property is cast to a flash.Media.MediaPromise object. The mediaPromise.file.url property is then used to populate Label and Image components that display the path to the image and the actual image to the user. Figure 4-6 shows the application and Figure 4-7 shows the application after a picture is selected from the gallery and the user returns to the application.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<s:Application xmlns:fx="http://ns.adobe.com/mxml/2009"
               xmlns:s="library://ns.adobe.com/flex/spark"
               applicationComplete="application1_applicationCompleteHandler(event)">
    <fx:Script>
        <![CDATA[
            import mx.events.FlexEvent;

            private var cameraRoll:CameraRoll;

            protected function application1_applicationCompleteHandler
            (event:FlexEvent):void {
                if(CameraRoll.supportsBrowseForImage){
                    cameraRoll = new CameraRoll();
                    cameraRoll.addEventListener(MediaEvent.SELECT, mediaSelected);
                    cameraRoll.addEventListener(ErrorEvent.ERROR, onError);
                } else{
                    status.text="CameraRoll NOT suported";
                }
            }

            private function browseGallery(event:MouseEvent):void {
                cameraRoll.browseForImage();
            }

            private function onError(event:ErrorEvent):void {
                trace("error has occurred");
            }

            private function mediaSelected(event:MediaEvent):void{
                var mediaPromise:MediaPromise = event.data;
                status.text = mediaPromise.file.url;
                image.source = mediaPromise.file.url;
            }
        ]]>
    </fx:Script>
    <fx:Declarations>
        <!-- Place non-visual elements (e.g., services, value objects) here -->
    </fx:Declarations>

    <s:Label id="status" text="Click Browse Gallery to select image" top="10" 
width="100%" textAlign="center"/>

    <s:Button width="300" height="60" label="BROWSE GALLERY" 
click="browseGallery(event)"
              enabled="{CameraRoll.supportsBrowseForImage}"
              top="80" horizontalCenter="0"/>

    <s:Image id="image" width="230" height="350" top="170" horizontalCenter="0"/>
</s:Application>
Browse Gallery Application
Figure 4-6. Browse Gallery Application
Browse Gallery Application with Picture Selected
Figure 4-7. Browse Gallery Application with Picture Selected

Microphone

If your application requires the use of the device’s microphone, you’ll need to select the record_audio and play_audio permissions when creating your project. See Chapter 3 for help with permissions.

Let’s review the following code. First, you’ll notice that there is a private variable named microphone declared of type flash.media.Microphone. Within applicationComplete of the application, an event handler function is called; it first checks to see if the device supports access to the microphone by reading the static property of the Microphone class. If this property returns as true, an instance of the Microphone is retrieved and set to the microphone variable, the rate is set to 44, and the setUseEchoSuppression method is used to set the echo suppression to true. Variables of type ByteArray and Sound are also declared within this application. Instances of these variables will be created during use of this application.

There are three button components within the application to trigger the record, stop, and playback functionalities.

Clicking the Record button will call the record_clickHandler function, which will create a new instance of the recording variable of type ByteArray. An event listener of type SampleDataEvent.SAMPLE_DATA is added to the microphone, which will call the micDataHandler method when it receives data. Within the micDataHandler method, the data is written to the recording ByteArray.

Clicking the Stop button will stop the recording by removing the SampleDataEvent.SAMPLE_DATA event listener.

Clicking the Play button will call the play_clickHandler method, which first sets the position of the recording ByteArray to 0 so it is ready for playback. It then creates a new instance of the Sound class and sets it to the sound variable. It also adds an event listener of type SampleDataEvent.SAMPLE_DATA that will call the playSound method when it receives data. Finally, the play method is called on the sound variable to start the playback.

The playSound method loops through the recording ByteArray in memory and writes those bytes back to the data property of the SampleDataEvent, which then plays through the device’s speaker.

To extend this sample, you need to use some open source classes to convert the recording ByteArray to an mp3 or wav file so that it can be saved to disk. Figure 4-8 shows the application.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<s:Application xmlns:fx="http://ns.adobe.com/mxml/2009"
               xmlns:s="library://ns.adobe.com/flex/spark"
               applicationComplete="application1_applicationCompleteHandler(event)">
    <fx:Script>
        <![CDATA[
            import mx.events.FlexEvent;

            private var microphone:Microphone;
            private var recording:ByteArray;
            private var sound:Sound;

            protected function application1_applicationCompleteHandler
            (event:FlexEvent):void
            {
                if(Microphone.isSupported){
                    microphone = Microphone.getMicrophone();
                    microphone.rate = 44;
                    microphone.setUseEchoSuppression(true);
                } else {
                    status.text="Microphone NOT suported";
                }
            }

            private function micDataHandler(event:SampleDataEvent):void{
                recording.writeBytes(event.data);
            }

            protected function record_clickHandler(event:MouseEvent):void
            {
                recording = new ByteArray();
                microphone.addEventListener(SampleDataEvent.SAMPLE_DATA, 
                micDataHandler);
            }

            protected function stop_clickHandler(event:MouseEvent):void
            {
                microphone.removeEventListener(SampleDataEvent.SAMPLE_DATA, 
                micDataHandler);
            }

            protected function play_clickHandler(event:MouseEvent):void
            {
                recording.position = 0;
                sound = new Sound();
                sound.addEventListener(SampleDataEvent.SAMPLE_DATA, playSound);
                sound.play();
            }

            private function playSound(event:SampleDataEvent):void
            {
                for (var i:int = 0; i < 8192 && recording.bytesAvailable > 0; i++){
                    var sample:Number = recording.readFloat();
                    event.data.writeFloat(sample);
                    event.data.writeFloat(sample);
                }
            }

        ]]>
    </fx:Script>
    <fx:Declarations>
        <!-- Place non-visual elements (e.g., services, value objects) here -->
    </fx:Declarations>

    <s:Label id="status" 
text="Click Record to grab some audio, then Stop and Play it back"
             top="10" width="100%" textAlign="center"/>
    <s:HGroup top="80" horizontalCenter="0">
        <s:Button id="record" label="Record" click="record_clickHandler(event)" />
        <s:Button id="stop" label="Stop" click="stop_clickHandler(event)" />
        <s:Button id="play" label="Play" click="play_clickHandler(event)" />
    </s:HGroup>
</s:Application>
Microphone application
Figure 4-8. Microphone application

Multi-Touch

One of the navigation methods unique to mobile devices is the ability to interact with an application via gestures on the device’s touch screen. Multi-touch is defined as the ability to simultaneously register three or more touch points on the device. Within Adobe AIR 2.6, there are two event classes used to listen for multi-touch events.

GestureEvent

The GestureEvent class is used to listen for a two-finger tap on the device. GESTURE_TWO_FINGER_TAP is the event used to listen for this action. This event will return the registration points for the x and y coordinates when a two-finger tap occurs for both stage positioning as well as object positioning.

Let’s review the code that follows. Within applicationComplete of the application, an event handler function is called; it first sets the Multitouch.inputMode to MultitouchInputMode.GESTURE. Next, it checks to see if the device supports multi-touch by reading the static property of the Multitouch class. If this property returns as true, an event listener is added to the stage to listen for GestureEvent.GESTURE_TWO_FINGER_TAP events. When this event occurs, the onGestureTwoFingerTap method is called. The onGestureTwoFingerTap method will capture the localX and localY coordinates, as well as the stageX and stageY coordinates. If you two-finger tap on an empty portion of the stage, these values will be identical. If you two-finger tap on an object on the stage, the localX and localY coordinates will be the values within the object, and the stageX and stageY will be relative to the stage itself. See Figure 4-9 for an example of a two-finger tap on the stage and Figure 4-10 for a two-finger tap on the Android image.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<s:Application xmlns:fx="http://ns.adobe.com/mxml/2009"
               xmlns:s="library://ns.adobe.com/flex/spark"
               applicationComplete="application1_applicationCompleteHandler(event)">
    <fx:Script>
        <![CDATA[
            import mx.events.FlexEvent;

            protected function application1_applicationCompleteHandler
            (event:FlexEvent):void {
                Multitouch.inputMode = MultitouchInputMode.GESTURE;
                if(Multitouch.supportsGestureEvents){
                    stage.addEventListener(GestureEvent.GESTURE_TWO_FINGER_TAP, 
                    onGestureTwoFingerTap);
                } else {
                    status.text="gestures not supported";
                }

            }
            private function onGestureTwoFingerTap(event:GestureEvent):void {
                info.text = "event = " + event.type + "\n" +
                    "localX = " + event.localX + "\n" +
                    "localX = " + event.localY + "\n" +
                    "stageX = " + event.stageX + "\n" +
                    "stageY = " + event.stageY;
            }

        ]]>
    </fx:Script>
    <fx:Declarations>
        <!-- Place non-visual elements (e.g., services, value objects) here -->
    </fx:Declarations>
    <s:Label id="status" text="Do a 2 finger tap both on and off the object"
             top="10" width="100%" textAlign="center"/>
    <s:TextArea id="info" width="100%" top="40" editable="false"/>
    <s:Image width="384" height="384" bottom="10" horizontalCenter="0"
             source="@Embed('android_icon.png')"/>
</s:Application>
Two-finger tap on stage
Figure 4-9. Two-finger tap on stage
Two-finger tap on image object
Figure 4-10. Two-finger tap on image object

TransformGesture

There are multiple transform gesture events available within AIR 2.6. Each will capture a unique multi-touch event. The next example demonstrates how to listen for GESTURE_PAN, GESTURE_ROTATE, GESTURE_SWIPE, and GESTURE_ZOOM events.

Let’s review the following code. Within applicationComplete of the application, an event handler function is called; it first sets the Multitouch.inputMode to MultitouchInputMode.GESTURE. Next, it checks to see if the device supports multi-touch by reading the static property of the Multitouch class. If this property returns as true, event listeners are added to the stage to listen for the TransformGestureEvent.GESTURE_PAN, TransformGestureEvent.GESTURE_ROTATE, TransformGestureEvent.GESTURE_SWIPE, and TransformGestureEvent.GESTURE_ZOOM events.

When a user grabs the object with two fingers and drags the object, the TransformGestureEvent.GESTURE_PAN event is triggered and the onGesturePan method is called. Within the onGesturePan method, the offsetX and offsetY values of the event are written to the text property of the TextArea component. Adding the offsetX and offsetY values returned from the event to the object’s x and y properties will move the object across the stage. The results are shown in Figure 4-11.

When a user grabs the object with two fingers and rotates the object, the TransformGestureEvent.GESTURE_ROTATE event is triggered and the onGestureRotate method is called. Within the onGestureRotate method, the rotation value of this event is written to the text property of the TextArea component. To allow the object to rotate around its center, the object’s transformAround method is called, and the event’s rotation value is added to the object’s rotationZ value. The results are shown in Figure 4-12.

When a user swipes across the object with one finger in any direction, the TransformGestureEvent.GESTURE_SWIPE event is triggered and the onGestureSwipe method is called. Within the onGestureSwipe method, the value of the event’s offsetX and offsetY is evaluated to determine which direction the user swiped across the object. This direction is then written to the text property of the TextArea component. The results are pictured in Figure 4-13.

When a user performs a “pinch and zoom” on the object with two fingers, the TransformGestureEvent.GESTURE_ZOOM event is triggered and the onGestureZoom method is called. Within the onGestureZoom method, the value of the event’s scaleX and scaleY is written to the text property of the TextArea component. The scaleX value is then used as a multiplier on the object’s scaleX and scaleY properties to increase or decrease the size of the object as the user pinches or expands two fingers on the object. The results are shown in Figure 4-14.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<s:Application xmlns:fx="http://ns.adobe.com/mxml/2009"
               xmlns:s="library://ns.adobe.com/flex/spark"
               applicationComplete="application1_applicationCompleteHandler(event)">
    <fx:Script>
        <![CDATA[
            import mx.events.FlexEvent;

            protected function application1_applicationCompleteHandler
            (event:FlexEvent):void {
                Multitouch.inputMode = MultitouchInputMode.GESTURE;
                if(Multitouch.supportsGestureEvents){
                    image.addEventListener(TransformGestureEvent.GESTURE_PAN, 
onGesturePan);
                    image.addEventListener(TransformGestureEvent.GESTURE_ROTATE, 
onGestureRotate);
                    image.addEventListener(TransformGestureEvent.GESTURE_SWIPE, 
onGestureSwipe);
                    image.addEventListener(TransformGestureEvent.GESTURE_ZOOM, 
onGestureZoom);
                } else {
                    status.text="gestures not supported";
                }
            }

            private function onGesturePan(event:TransformGestureEvent):void{
                info.text = "event = " + event.type + "\n" +
                "offsetX = " + event.offsetX + "\n" +
                "offsetY = " + event.offsetY;
                image.x += event.offsetX;
                image.y += event.offsetY;
            }

            private function onGestureRotate( event : TransformGestureEvent ) : void {
                info.text = "event = " + event.type + "\n" +
                "rotation = " + event.rotation;
                image.transformAround(new Vector3D(image.width/2,image.height/2, 0),
                                      null,
                                      new Vector3D(0,0,image.rotationZ + event.rotation));
            }

            private function onGestureSwipe( event : TransformGestureEvent ) : void {
                var direction:String = "";
                if(event.offsetX == 1) direction = "right";
                if(event.offsetX == −1) direction = "left";
                if(event.offsetY == 1) direction = "down";
                if(event.offsetY == −1) direction = "up";
                info.text = "event = " + event.type + "\n" +
                "direction = " + direction;
            }

            private function onGestureZoom( event : TransformGestureEvent ) : void {
                info.text = "event = " + event.type + "\n" +
                "scaleX = " + event.scaleX + "\n" +
                "scaleY = " + event.scaleY;
                image.scaleX = image.scaleY *= event.scaleX;
            }

            protected function button1_clickHandler(event:MouseEvent):void
            {
                image.rotation = 0;
                image.scaleX = 1;
                image.scaleY = 1;
                image.x = 40;
                image.y = 260;
                info.text = "";
            }

        ]]>
    </fx:Script>
    <fx:Declarations>
        <!-- Place non-visual elements (e.g., services, value objects) here -->
    </fx:Declarations>
    <s:Label id="status" text="Transform Gestures" top="10" width="100%" 
textAlign="center"/>
    <s:HGroup width="100%" top="40" left="5" right="5">
        <s:TextArea id="info" editable="false" width="100%" height="200"/>
        <s:Button label="Reset" click="button1_clickHandler(event)"/>
    </s:HGroup>
    <s:Image id="image" x="40" y="260" width="400" height="400"
             source="@Embed('android_icon.png')"/>
</s:Application>
GESTURE_PAN event
Figure 4-11. GESTURE_PAN event
GESTURE_ROTATE event
Figure 4-12. GESTURE_ROTATE event
GESTURE_SWIPE event
Figure 4-13. GESTURE_SWIPE event
GESTURE_ZOOM event
Figure 4-14. GESTURE_ZOOM event

Busy Indicator

A new component has been added to provide feedback to users within your mobile application. There is no cursor to show busy status like in desktop development, so the BusyIndicator component was added specifically for this reason. Using this component is simple.

Let’s review the code that follows. There is a CheckBox with the label “Show Busy Indicator” that, when checked, calls the checkbox1_clickHandler method. There is a BusyIndicator component with an ID of indicator and the visible property set to false. Within the checkbox1_clickHandler method, the indicator’s visible property is set to the value of the CheckBox. This simply shows or hides the BusyIndicator. Within the BusyIndicator, you can set the height, width, and symbolColor to suit the needs and style of your application. The results are shown in Figure 4-15.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<s:Application xmlns:fx="http://ns.adobe.com/mxml/2009"
               xmlns:s="library://ns.adobe.com/flex/spark">

    <fx:Script>
        <![CDATA[
            protected function checkbox1_clickHandler(event:MouseEvent):void
            {
                indicator.visible = event.target.selected;
            }
        ]]>
    </fx:Script>

    <fx:Declarations>
        <!-- Place non-visual elements (e.g., services, value objects) here -->
    </fx:Declarations>

    <s:CheckBox label="Show Busy Indicator"
                horizontalCenter="0"
                click="checkbox1_clickHandler(event)" top="10"/>
    <s:BusyIndicator id="indicator" height="300" width="300"
                     verticalCenter="0"
                     horizontalCenter="0"
                     visible="false"
                     symbolColor="black"/>

</s:Application>
Busy Indicator component
Figure 4-15. Busy Indicator component

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