Writing a JSFL component for Flash AS3

Writing a JSFL component for Flash AS3: "

In case you don’t know, JSFL is a javascript library used to create components for the Flash IDE. So, if you have repetitive tasks that you want to automate, you can create a component that does it for you. Once you have your component debugged, you can actually package it and distribute it as an MXP file for others to use. For example, one of my favorite components is the Preloader Shuffle component that I used to use back in my AS2 days (it seems to be unavailable now). I recently made a component to Rename a class package throughout all the files in a project. It’s essentially a glorified find-and-replace script for multiple FLA and Actionscript files. You can get it here.

I never needed to write a custom component until recently. At work, I have a generic Flash AS3 application that works as a good starting point for new projects. It usually needs pretty heavy modification, but having a simple setup with the preloader, flashvars, error tracking, analytics, and basic pages already set up saves hours of coding on each new Flash project. The one downside is that I have placed all of the classes in a package called “com.sampleclient.” So, I have to rename this class package in all of the Actionscript class files and update all of the linkages in the FLAs. This takes about 20 minutes each time. So, I decided to write a JSFL component to do all of this renaming for me.

Well, the reality of JSFL is that it’s one of the many poorly documented features of Flash. So, actually creating this component took a lot longer than I expected. I’m posting this in the hope that it might save someone else a little time. The finished MXP component is available here. All of the source files that I used to create it are here. Here are a few tips for you if you are thinking of going down this rabbit-hole:

You will need some links to help you get started. I probably referenced a few dozen different blogs and forums to get this component working, but here are a few of the most helpful links I found:

• An indispensible tutorial on creating and packaging an MXP component can be found here.
• Most components will need the FLfile object. Here is a good reference for it.
• The comprehensive API specification for JSFL is here (warning: this is a large PDF file).

There are some more links at the bottom of this post that I found helpful [...]