Components Learning Guide

Components do so many different things, they're hard to define easily. Think of them as prebuilt stuff that makes your work easier and faster. There are three types of components in Macromedia Flash MX 2004:

• User interface (UI) components allow you to build interfaces quickly.
• Media components (Flash Professional only) make it easy to add audio and video to Flash projects.
• Data components (Flash Professional only) allow you to connect to a data source, pull down data, store it locally in Flash, and update it remotely.

Components share a common architecture. They inherit from a tree of classes that defines their capabilities. This framework allows you to make changes to many components at once. For advanced users, the component framework gives you the flexibility to develop a custom set of components based on the base set from Macromedia. For less advanced users, using the base set makes your projects function and look great.

• If you are new to components, read the Components Overview.
• If you are steeped in the basics and have used components in your projects, check out Waleed Anbar's article, Exploring Version 2 of the Macromedia Flash MX 2004 Component Architecture, for a complete rundown of the component framework.

Using Components

Use components to add complex elements to your applications quickly. Find out how components let you author visually—by using UI components to adding interface elements, media components for playing video, and data components for integrating data into your applications.

When to Use v2 Components

Find out what's new in Version 2 of the Macromedia Component Architecture and how the enhancements make your applications more flexible and let you do more with less code.

Migrating from v1 to v2 Components

Learn how to decide whether to update a project built with v1 components to v2. See how you can renovate individual components or entire projects to the new architecture.

Building Components

Share your work with others by packaging and distributing it to other developers as components. Or save time by creating components for common elements that large teams can reuse.