Displaying Stacks in Browsers

[Dave Cragg]

Just a few comments on the Flash Player.

On 29 Aug 2006, at 01:08, Alain Farmer wrote:
>
>> 3. Consider Flash: It's already pre-installed
>> on most systems, and can be used to make some
>> great UIs.
>
> It's a good choice when plugins are an option. Flash
> can make some pretty *flashy* stuff. :) It is not an
> xCard, and it has a steep learning curve, and it is
> commercial software that you gotta purchase in order
> to author your Flash content, but... it's now and it
> works, and its plugin is bundled with many browsers,
> so.. go for it!  :)

Adobe/Macromedia have a product named Flex which can produce swf  
files for playback by the Flash player. This is quite a different  
development environment from Flash. For example, there's no timeline.  
While it's not an xTalk/xCard by my definition, it is built around  
the placing and scripting of visual components. (Scripting is in  
ActionScript = JavaScript). There is even a "viewstack" component  
that lets you implement what might be considered the equivalent of  
cards.

I think until recently, Flex was a *very* expensive product, intended  
for enterprise customers only, and needing a particular server-side  
component. With version 2, there is now a free compiler-only version,  
and a $500 or so development version (named Flex Builder) built on  
top of Eclipse. There are no server-side reqirements beyond a  
standard web server.  The marketing blurb describes it as suitable  
for RIAs (Rich Internet Applications), and not flashy-stuff. :-).

Sorry if I'm sounding like an Adobe spokesperson (too late??). But I  
think it's an interesting product, and right now, it's the only thing  
I see that lets me put in a browser what I would normally make in a  
standalone with Rev.

Cheers
Dave