Special Edition Using Macromedia Studio MX 2004

Michael Hurwicz is a freelance writer, developer, designer, animator, and musician living in Eastsound, WA. He is the Flash and 3D Guy at Late Night Design. He has been writing about technical topics for the computer trade press since 1985. Michael is president of Irthlingz, a nonprofit organization dedicated to environmental education and entertainment. You can e-mail Michael at michael@hurwicz.com as well as visit his Web sites at http://www.latenightdesign.com, http://www.hurwicz.com, http://www.flashoop.com, and http://www.irthlingz.org.

Introduction.


What's New in Studio MX? Who Should Read This Book? How to Use This Book. Conventions Used in This Book.

I. GETTING STARTED WITH MACROMEDIA STUDIO MX.

1. Setup and Planning.


Additional Software. Planning and Design. Troubleshooting.

2. Studio MX: A Bird's-Eye View.


Studio MX: Choosing Your Tools. The Basics: Words and Graphics. Animation, Navigation and Interaction. Dynamic Content.

3. Introducing the MX Interface.


Studio MX: Family Resemblances. Main Menu Bar and Toolbar. Panels. Tools Panel Subsections. Tools. Working with Text. Character and Paragraph Attributes. Keyboard Shortcuts. Troubleshooting.

II. DREAMWEAVER MX.

4. What's New In Dreamweaver MX 2004.


A New Dreamweaver User Interface. Siteless Page Editing. Enhanced CSS Support. Increased Integration with Other Suite Applications. Enhanced Support for Dynamic Platforms. Copy and Paste from Microsoft Applications. Additional Coding Tools. Enhanced Security Using FTP. Troubleshooting. Peer to Peer: Taking the Anxiety Out of CSS.

5. Working in the Dreamweaver Environment.


The Dreamweaver MX Interface, In Depth. Working with Text in the Document Window. Creating Lists in Documents. Troubleshooting. Peer to Peer: The Essence of Structure.

6. Setting Up Sites, Pages, and Templates.


Establishing a Web Site. Managing Documents. Pre-Design Page Setup. Managing Pages with Templates. Using Templates. Troubleshooting.

7. Working Efficiently in Dreamweaver.


Keeping Track of Site Components. Working with the Assets Panel. Creating a Favorites List and Favorites Folder. Asset Types. Adding an Asset to a Web Page. Maintaining the Assets Panel. Creating Library Items. Using Library Items. Checking Your Page Code. Testing Your Site Online. Troubleshooting. Peer to Peer: Standards and Search.

8. Writing and Editing HTML, XHTML, and CSS.


Browser Languages. HTML 4. XHTML. HTML and XHTML Syntax. CSS Styles: Background. CSS in Dreamweaver MX 2004. Troubleshooting. Peer to Peer: Macromedia and the Web Standards Project. Peer to Peer: CSS Resources.

9. Professional Page Design.


Table Elements. Using Layout Mode. About Frames. Building Framed Pages in Dreamweaver MX 2004. Modifying Framesets and Frame Elements. Targeting Windows. Layout with Style. Layer Preferences. The Layer "Box". Using the Layers Panel. Setting Layer Attributes. Designing with Layers. Troubleshooting.

10. Adding Interactivity and Multimedia.


Oh, Behave: JavaScript and Behaviors. Rollovers and Nav Bars. Interactivity and Layers. Plug-Ins, Applets, and Controls. Audio and Video for the Web. Troubleshooting. Peer to Peer: Making Pages Containing Audio and Video Valid and Accessible.

11. Managing Your Site.


Site Management Concepts. Compatibility and Accessibility Testing. Uploading Pages. Collaborating. Site Reports and Link Maintenance. Troubleshooting. Peer to Peer: Using Macromedia Extensions and Products for Accessibility Testing. Peer to Peer: Tracking Usage Statistics.

12. Expanding Dreamweaver and Using Third-Party Software.


Extending Macromedia Dreamweaver. Using Contribute 2 with Dreamweaver. Integrating Dreamweaver with Fireworks. Integrating Dreamweaver with Flash. Microsoft Integration Features. Troubleshooting. Peer to Peer: Macromedia Extensions for Markup Compliance. Peer to Peer: Markup and Contribute.

13. Developing ColdFusion Applications in Dreamweaver.


Dynamic Dreamweaver. Creating a Site for Dynamic Pages. Database Operations. Making Client Access Easier: Web Services and Components. Troubleshooting.

III. FLASH MX.

14. What's New in Flash MX 2004?


Faster Flash Files. 3D, Text Effects, Graphs, Charts, and More. Effects and Animation Made Easy. Speeding Up Common Tasks. A Tale of Two Versions. More and Better Components. Quick Take-off with Templates. Text: Spelling, Formatting, Translating. Better Importing. Searching Through Space and Time. JavaScript for Flash (JSFL). New Security Rules. A New Version of ActionScript. Troubleshooting.

15. The Flash Environment and Tools.


Panel Sets. Setting Document Attributes. The Timeline. The Toolbox. Keyboard Shortcuts. The Library. The Movie Explorer. Setting Flash Preferences. Troubleshooting.

16. Working with Vector Graphics and Bitmaps.


Understanding Vector Graphics. Editing and Adjusting Shapes. Using Layout Aids. Creating a Mask. Working with Bitmaps. Troubleshooting.

17. Working with Text.


Working with Text. Displaying Clear, Sharp Text. Dynamic and Input Text. Best Practices for Using Text. Troubleshooting.

18. Animation, Interactivity, and Rich Media.


Symbols, Instances, and Library Assets. Animating in Flash. Using Sound. Flash Interactivity. Accelerating Application Development with Components. Integrating Video. Troubleshooting.

19. Introduction to ActionScript.


Adding Interactivity with ActionScript. Using the Actions Panel. Understanding Object-Oriented Languages. The Three R's: Readability, Reusability, and Reachability. Hint, Hint: Flash Helps You Code. Troubleshooting.

20. Basic ActionScript.


What Do You Mean, "Basic"? Managing Variables, Data, and Datatypes. Working with Operands, Expressions, and Statements. Control Blocks. Combining Statements into Functions. Using Event Handlers to Trigger Action. Working with Movie Clips. Troubleshooting.

21. Advanced ActionScript.


ActionScript 2.0: Real Class. Using the Core Classes. Movie-Related Classes and Global Objects. Building Your Own Components. Troubleshooting.

22. External Communications.


Introduction to External Communications. Communicating Locally. Introduction to Network-Aware Communications. Loading Text Data with LoadVars. XML Data. Customizing HTTP Headers with addRequestHeader(). NetConnection, NetStream, and the Rich Media Classes. Troubleshooting.

23. Using Flash for Dynamic Data.


Introduction to Dynamic Data in Flash MX 2004. Databinding and Components. Flash Remoting. Using and Modifying the DataGrid Component. Web Services. Troubleshooting.

IV. FIREWORKS MX.

24. What's New in Fireworks MX 2004?


Upgrading to Fireworks MX 2004. Performance Improvements. Interface Enhancements. New Tools. Enhanced Roundtrip Editing. New Anti-Aliasing Options. New Effects. JavaScript API Extensions. Full Unicode Support. Site Management.

25. Fireworks MX 2004 Environment and Tools.


Fireworks MX 2004 Environment. Document Window. Tools Unique to Fireworks. Property Inspector. Main Menu. Customization with Preferences. Troubleshooting.

26. Creating Graphics, Rollovers, and Animations.


Graphics as Objects. Layers. Frames. Layers and Frames. Simple Rollover. Swap Image Behavior. Navigation Bars with Four-State Buttons. Fireworks and Animation. Building an Animation. Troubleshooting.

27. Optimizing and Exporting Graphics and Web Pages.


Optimization Fundamentals. File Types. Using the Optimize Panel. Exporting Fireworks Images. Troubleshooting.

28. Automating and Extending Fireworks.


Automating Tasks. Extending Fireworks. Troubleshooting.

V. FREEHAND MX.

29. FreeHand MX Environment and Tools.


FreeHand MX Environment. Document Window. Panels. Tools Unique to FreeHand MX. Toolbars Unique to FreeHand MX. Troubleshooting.

30. Using FreeHand in Web Site Planning and Creation.


Site Architecture. Site Design. Troubleshooting.

31. Integration with the Studio MX Suite.


Moving Designs to the Web. Working with Fireworks MX. Working with Flash MX. Troubleshooting.

VI. COLDFUSION MX.

32. Understanding and Administering ColdFusion.


Introducing ColdFusion. ColdFusion Architecture. Using Flash to Access the ColdFusion Server. Using the Built-in Web server. Configuring Data Sources. Troubleshooting.

33. ColdFusion Markup Language (CFML).


Introducing CFML. Variables and Scopes. Using ColdFusion for Database Operations. Custom Tags. Creating and Using ColdFusion Components (CFCs). Creating and Using Web Service CFCs. Troubleshooting.

VIII. APPENDIXES.

Appendix A: ActionScript Reference.


The ContextMenu Class. Datatype Conversion Rules. The MovieClip Class. Arithmetic Operators. Understanding Bitwise Operators. Assignment and Compound Assignment. Comparison Operators. Using Logical (Boolean) Operators. The Conditional Operator. The Comma Operator. Named Operators. The Date Class. The Key Object. The Math Object. The TextField and TextFormat Classes. Wrapper Classes: Boolean, Number, String. The Camera Class. The Microphone Class.

Appendix B: Making Flash Accessible.


Accessibility Guidelines. Introduction to Accessibility in Flash MX 2004. How to Make Content Accessible.

Index.