I’ve done a little looking around and can’t seem to find any files for adding AS3 and MXML syntax highlighting to GeSHi. For those that don’t know, GeSHi stands for Generic Syntax Highlighter and is a library of PHP scripts that allows for nice source code highlighting/coloring for many different languages when you surround the code with simple HTML elements (e.g <pre lang=”html”>my code</pre>). Actionscript 1/2 is currently supported and so is XML, but as far as I can tell (looking at the Sourceforge site, and doing some Googling), no work has been done on MXML/AS3.

Does anyone out there know differently? If it hasn’t been done yet, I may spend some time getting these going… I think MXML would come together quicky, as it could be made by hacking the XML file a bit… AS3 could be made from the existing AS file, but would require a bit more work.

If you know anything about the status of this work, please comment here. I certainly don’t want to build something that’s already done.

I nearly spit out my morning coffee while I was booking my sessions and saw this topic on the agenda at Max, and also at Ted Patrick’s blog. I have so many questions here… as a Director Developer before I was a Flash Deseloper , I just wonder what Adobe could have up it’s sleeve here… If it is truly going to be a major reworking or just a tweak… some things I would expect in Director 11, if it is to be a seriously considered tool:

• HD Video man! - Maybe even support for authoring/mastering HD-DVD/BluRay for set-top boxes. It at least needs to do 1080p video of some codec for interactive devices/computers.
• Supports AS3 - If not, it’s going to be a tough sell amongst the L337 flashers out there. Why go from a strongly typed OOP syntax like AS3 to some sort of dot syntax soup like old skool lingo. (Sorry Lingo, you did serve me well 7 years ago.)
• OpenGL/DirectX - Cross Platform accelerated 3D enhancements galore.
• Ability to cross compile full fledged apps - Think Visual Studio/XCode but with a nice sheen like only Adobe can provide.
• AIR support - er, duh.
• Vector Sprites - Heck yes. An import module like how Flash does AI import. A must.
• A lower price - If Flash does 90% of what I need Director to do at 1/3 the price, I can still afford Zinc or some other SWF to exe tool to add the other 10% and still be ahead several hundred dollars in software licensing costs. For a small agency, it just doesn’t make sense to have so many expensive apps.
• Jumping on the Webservices and API train - A lot has happened in the web since Director MX, a lot. So much needs to be added for XML handlng here that it could be a post all on it’s own.
• Compile to Flash Player 10 compatible SWFs - Selling me on a waning plug-in like Shockwave is just tough. I want penetration for my media, not a niche market.

All these things said… I’m still not sure that I would be jumping ship from the Flash/Flex juggernaut. I’d like to hear from the other devs out there looking at the Max agenda scratching their heads about the upcoming Director 11, too. What do you think that Adobe has up their sleeve?

So with the dropping of the codename from Adobe… and Max right right around the corner, it only seems right that I try and put out my guesses/wishlist for Flash Player 10. So hear we go. Keep in mind, I am not an insider, an Adobe employee or anything more than just a guy who uses their tools to make an honest living.

1. A real HTML parser/renderer - please enough with the inferior handling of semantic elements like “strong” and “em”. Also, can we get a little superscript? Likelihood 5/10
2. Hardware acceleration where possible - Maybe limited to certain chispsets, but more than likely, video and vector rendering will be hardware accelerated. Say hello my little particle effects! Likelihood 9/10
3. Deprecation of AS2 - Dunno if this will happen for a while, but I am sure that someday the older VM in the FLash player will have to go bye bye… as a teacher, I am torn between teaching my students AS2 and AS3. It’s only going to become more so. Likelihood 3/10
4. New File Formats - With the addition of H.264 and AAC, why not add WAV? AIF? WMV? PSD? Let’s go crazy! Likelihood 3/10
5. Printing enhancements galore - It would only make sense that the printing support would be enhanced via some PDF technology. Why not be able to save screens or clips or display object, etc out from the Flash Player as PDF files directly? Likelihood 7/10
6. Computer Vision / Blob Recognition - Like the webcam libraries for Director, Processin, etc. Why not add some sort of capabilities to the player to enable facial recognition, optical character recognition, etc. Likelihood 1/10
7. Ability to connect directly to MySQL, MSSQL, etc. - So tired of middleware! And with some of the new data services in the Flex Framework, it makes sense to expand on this even more. Certainly, security is a concern of mine with this but with a proper sandbox, this might just be doable.
8. 5.1 Sound support - Woot! Likelihood 7/10
9. Video Conferencing / Multi user video enhancements - With the webcam tech in Flash now 3+ gens old, seems ready for a big upgrade in this area. Likelihood 5/10
10. Fractal Image handling / Caching - I want to be able to load a 6000+ pixel JPG and scroll it all over ala Zoomify, etc… right now, I need a tool like zoomify, why not be able to load a big fat image smoothly and quickly and without stuttering and choking during movement. Likelihood 3/10
11. Simultaneous release for devices - iPhone, Wii, Linux, Windows, Mac and an  open developer SDK for deploying licensed or custom players on other devices/platforms. Flash everywhere! Likelihood 3/10
12. Ability to load silver light content  - Likelihood 1/10
13. Online/Offline caching, etc. - Sound inline with MozilaFirefox 3 and the AIR model.

I suppose that’s all for now… what do you think? I see a wish starting over at Mike Huntington’s blog. I’d like to hear how crazy or off base I am. I always like a good reality check.

I had some issues with embedding Trajan Pro into my Flex file using the src: local method. It simply was making the type look bad (cropped extenders on the allcaps fonts capitalized characters). After some looking around, and seeing a few strategies on type handling in Flex I came to the conclusion that I needed to make a SWF file in Flash with the font embedded and linked. Turned out much better. Looks great, renders properly and handles fades and effects.

I noticed that through some quick tests evaluating the baselinePosition property that the font Trajan had a particularly high baseline number (78) compared to most other small caps fonts I tested (most in the 40-60 range)… not sure if this related, or bears any on the issues I was seeing, but as the baseline refers to the y placement of the type in a text or label control and the fonts were exhibiting cropped extenders when placed in a control, I assume it’s some sort of rendering bug or inability on Flex’s part to accurately draw type with a high baseline position and a high y axis height.

Anyone else see this before?

They are filling up. Some friends tried to get registered in some Photoshop sessions and were denied… I think if you haven’t been to the Max site and ran the session scheduler by now, you may start running out of options soon. If you are planning on going and want to hook up for some networking or possible freelancing opportunities, drop me a line on the intronetworks site. We could catch a beer downtown or get some coffee. I’ll be there with about 7 other employees from the Iona Group and Bradley University, so it should be a great time.

Interested in seeing what I’m registered for, here’s my schedule in PDF: My Max Schedule

I suppose it could be worse… I could be awkward and dorky, I guess.

My first commercial project to built in Flex may have to go back to being built in Flash now. I’d like ideas on how to fix this crazy issue I’m seeing with embedded fonts. After embedding the font Trajan, a small caps style font, (which must be used as part of the project due to client identity specifications) in my project’s main application I have noticed that the text simply renders incorrectly. The top 3-5 pixels on extenders for all capital letters is cut off. Take a look:

That example is when the font is directly applied to the element in the the MXML of the Label or Text Control. (I tried both). I have tried it the element having a padding on the top and on the bottom. I have tried editting the elements height to be much larger than the type size to fit the text in. It gets a bit stranger though… look at this example:

Now look at that! That example is styled via the stuff in the mx:Style tags only. The extenders on the capital letters render correctly, but the rest of the type looks like it was carved with a knife. Not acceptable.

So, how can anyone use Flex when the design is just as important, if not more important than the functionality. In this case, I was planning to use Flex to develop a text display engine for a digital signage like display. Typography is one of the main focuses of the app.

Anyone have any ideas on how to fix the symptoms I’m seeing here? I’d still like to use Flex if possible, the AS3 animation tests I ran were much smoother than the AS2 tests I ran. This is to be displayed on a Quad head  ATI Fire MV card with 4 32″ LCD displays, so it’s going to be big enough for people to notice any sort of issues with the type displays.

Over at TechCrunch, some very interesting screenshots of the redesigned and redeveloped Del.icio.us service have been posted. As an avid user of Del.icio.us (I use it as a teaching aid in my class), I have to say, it’s about time! The Ajax-y looking menus and revised workflow looks much more user friendly, and the new colors are just better by a long shot (Glad to see varying shades of pink gone). Look for it to launch sometime soon by the looks of it…

One thing I am lamenting is the loss of the del.icio.us URL…. it’s being replaced by delicious.com

Hmm, everyone that has talked to me or readthis blog in the last year has known I am firmly in the trenches as a then Macromedia now Adobe developer, and an avowed Macophile… That’s why it’s no surprise that I have written a couple posts about how Microsoft Silverlight is DOA and how it’s still DOA.. well, with the 1.0 release, it might not be DOA, but it’s certainly on a respirator and limping. Silverlight 1.0 Launched, With Linux Support

Why? One little video codec H.264 and the most ubiquitous web plugin in the world. Flash. I know that the H.264 capable Flash plugin is only in beta, but when it hits and Youtube or Revver or some other big players in the market switch over, expect to see the changeover in web video to happen quickly. WMV can’t really compete in terms of pervasiveness with the Flash and QuickTime players both being H.264 capable… that has to be 95%+ penetration (just an educated guess)… as a web developer, you just sniff the Flash plugin and if you have it, great, play the flash version, if not, sniff QuickTime… done and done… high quality web video for everyone.

I know Silverlight has the CLR going for it, but with no cross platform IDE, it’s still a nonstarter for a large chunk of the media producing community. With Flex going open-source, Adobe seems to be hitting everything correctly, IMHO.

I know how I’m spending my afternoon! Watching majors beat up on little guys. Bring on the 55-3 and 49-7 type scores. Now, if only Insight would get the Big Ten Network!