December 7th, 2007 by Kyle
Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in: Flex

I have seen a few people and had a customer ask how to detect when a flex app loses focus.
Here is a sample app that shows the technique and a practical application of this functionality.
When you click and drag a DividedBox separator, if you move the mouse outside the Flex application window, the app should realize this and “drop” the separator at that horizontal or vertical position (depending on the orientation of your divider). It doesn’t do this automatically (and maybe is should), but it is easily done and demonstrates the technique that can be used for other reasons.

Here is the simple app:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<mx:Application xmlns:mx="http://www.adobe.com/2006/mxml" creationComplete="addListeners(event)">
    <mx:Script>
        <![CDATA[
            private var lastX:Number;
            private var lastY:Number;          
           
            private function addListeners(event:Event):void{
                systemManager.stage.addEventListener(Event.MOUSE_LEAVE, mouseLeave);
                systemManager.stage.addEventListener(Event.DEACTIVATE,deactivate);
                systemManager.stage.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_MOVE, mouseMove);                            
            }
           
            private function removeListeners(event:Event):void{
                systemManager.stage.removeEventListener(Event.MOUSE_LEAVE, mouseLeave);
                systemManager.stage.removeEventListener(flash.events.Event.DEACTIVATE,deactivate);
                systemManager.stage.removeEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_MOVE, mouseMove);                                             
            }

            private function mouseMove(event:MouseEvent):void{
                //trace("move…"); 
                lastX=event.stageX;
                lastY=event.stageY;
            }          
           
            private function mouseLeave(event:Event):void{
                //trace("left");
                removeListeners(event);
                dispatchEvent(new MouseEvent(MouseEvent.MOUSE_UP,true,false,lastX,lastY))
            }
            private function deactivate(event:Event):void{
                //trace("deactivate");
                removeListeners(event);
                dispatchEvent(new MouseEvent(MouseEvent.MOUSE_UP,true,false,lastX,lastY))
            }
           
        ]]>
    </mx:Script>

    <mx:VDividedBox id="div1" dividerPress="addListeners(event)" dividerRelease="removeListeners(event)">
        <mx:VBox height="200" width="300" borderStyle="outset">
            <mx:Button label="Something"/>     
        </mx:VBox>
        <mx:VBox height="200" width="300" borderStyle="outset">
            <mx:TextArea width="100%"/>
        </mx:VBox >
    </mx:VDividedBox>
</mx:Application>
 

Browse the source of this example.
Download a zipfile containing the source to this sample.

This movie requires Flash Player 9


1 Comment »

April 3rd, 2007 by Kyle
Tags: , , , ,
Posted in: Flex

Someone was asking how to set the focus indicator into the TextInput rather than just setting focus to a TextInput.
Here is a simple code snippet that demonstrates how to do this using the TextIput’s setSelection() method:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<mx:Application xmlns:mx="http://www.adobe.com/2006/mxml">
    <mx:TextInput id="ti"/>
    <mx:Button label="Set Focus into TextInput" click="ti.setFocus();ti.setSelection(0,0)"/>
</mx:Application>
 

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