jun :: realeyes

For those of you that like trying out AIR apps as they come out, REDbug is an app that you can use while debugging Flash, Flex, and AIR applications. Although Flex Builder has some very robust debugging tools built in, there are times when you don’t have Flex Builder, or times when you don’t or can’t run your application in debug mode…for times like these, there’s REDbug.

So, for those of you new to REDbug, come check it out.

For those of you that have been using REDbug since Beta 0.1, it’s due to timeout at midnight Sept 1st…I am happy to say that the new version 0.2 aka 0.1.1 aka Jack Bauer is online and should seemlessly install the next time you open REDbug Beta 0.1.

Happy debugging!

Yesterday I mentioned pushing a new version of REDbug.

I had the new version exported and ready to go…the auto-update tested and working on my testing server…then I realized that I might be having an issue with MIME type setting for AIR on the production server. Sadly, I do not have admin rights to my production server for making modifications such as setting MIME types…and therefore need to make a change request with the powers that be.

So, I’ll be working to get the update out, preferrably before the Sept 1st timeout, and will keep you posted…

damit!

For those of you using the current REDbug beta 1, there is a timeout build into the beta that will cause the app to stop working at the end of this month. Damit! The good news is that I will be pushing the new version up to the server within the next 24. Thanks to Adobe, we can make use of the auto-update feature, good work Adobe!

So here’s how it *should* go down:

1. I push up the new version of the app within the next 24.

2. Next time you open the app after I’ve pushed up the new version, the app *should* notice it and try to update itself.

3. Once the app has updated you will be good to go until the next beta is released, no need to worry about the expiration mentioned above.

Now, you’ll notice I said it *should* update. Damit!
The *should* comes with the territory of not only AIR being beta but REDbug being beta…so, if it doesn’t work as mentioned above please post a bug to the bug submission form at the REDbug Site. Oh and regarding bug posts, like all Flex/AIR shops, our resources are stretched pretty thin right now so any testing and bug posting done by the community is most appreciated…as a matter of fact, I will be announcing some pretty cool things for bug submitters when Beta 2 comes out…more to come!

Chloe? I need another favor…

In honor of the release of Bioshock today for the 360, I figured I would stop slacking and post the slides and sample code from my 360|Flex presentation. Also, I wanted to give big thanks to all the people that attended my presentation and didn’t fall asleep. Those of you that did…well, it was 8:30am and I wish I had been sleeping too!

Now, regarding the sample code and slides, a couple notes:

1. I am running Flex Builder 3 Beta 1. The zipfiles containing the code are exported FB3B1 Flex and AIR projects.

2. Although the client-side libraries are included in the project lib directories, for these samples to be halfway worthwhile and actually show memory statistics, you should download REDbug Beta.

3. If you want to do the things I did during my presentation to compare and contrast memory utilization within the samples, look at the TODO comments within the code. An easy way to do that is to use the awesome TODO/FIXME plugin tool many props to Dirk!

4. Although these samples are cool examples on how to compare and contrast deferred instantiation techniques, using the right components for the job, and finally to illustrate event listener memory leaks, they should in no way be construed in whole as best practices in building an app. Remember, examples only…to illustrate the key points regarding memory consumption as described in the TODO comments.

5. The module example is configured to work when you run the application, not debug the application. If you want to change that, you’ll need to either set the debug compiler option to true, or create an ant script to compile the module that’s in the project.

6. The link to the slides is actually a link to an Adobe presentation. I figured I’d give that format a try.

So…without further ado, some links:

• 360_DEFERRED_INSTATIATION_MyBigForm.zip
• 360_MyPicturesBrowser.zip
• 360_GC_MODULES.zip
• My presentation

Hope you find something useful…and if anything, rush over to your nearest game distributor and pick up a copy of Bioshock…I know I will be!

REDbug is a suite of tools used to log debugging information, flash player application environment information, and memory statistics. One module or another can be used with AIR, Flex, and older Flash applications.

For those of you that saw my memory management talks at Flexmaniacs or 360Flex, this was the tool that provided the cool and colorful memory utilization graphs.

The tool is currently in Beta 1, and we’ve recently updated the site to include downloads for the client-side libraries, and also some updated example projects to illustrate usage. So…if you’re interested, download it and check it out.

You can get to REDbug at it’s new URL –> http://www.redbugtool.com

Back in June I had blogged about how cool WST was for creating dynamic MXML and AS Snippets. Recently my blog post had caused some pain and torment to a fellow Flex developer due to Eclipse versions and plugin requirements…my bad Neil! So this is an official apology to him and a benefit to those of you that would like to start playing with Snippets during Flex development. (Now that I have this updated information thanks to Neil)

1. There are three release versions of WST to be aware of in regard to Flex Builder and some notes on their use:
   • 2.0.x – I haven’t installed this one yet since when I went to install using the update manager I didn’t feel like tracking down and installing the dependencies. So good luck on this version.
   • 1.5.x – I run Flex Builder 3 Beta 1 Standalone version which runs atop Eclipse 3.2. This is the version to install with Eclipse 3.2 based Flex Builder installs. (For instance, you can install Eclipse 3.2 then install Flex Builder 2.x plugin)
   • 1.0.x – If you’re running Flex Builder 2.x Standalone, it runs on Eclipse 3.1 and this would be the version to install. Unfortunately, from Neil’s experience, we found out it’s no longer available in the standard channels. In other word, you have to go to the archive site.
2. Currently, to install WST into Flex Builder Beta 1 there’s a couple of things to note when you are in the Eclipse Update tool:
   • There is an update site pre-populated in the Update Manager. It’s called “Callisto Discovery Site” You can install WST from this site and you will find it in the “Web and J2EE Development” category.
   • To get version 1.5.x, you may need to uncheck the “Show the lastest version of a feature only” checkbox on the Search Results page.
   • When you check the appropriate version of WST in the Search Results page you may see an error dialog noting some install dependency. If you do:
     1. First try clicking on the “Select Required” button.
     2. If that doesn’t do the trick, then you can expand the “Graphical Editors and Frameworks” category and select the Graphical Editing Framework.
     3. After that, try clicking on the “Select Required” button again and the error message should go away.
   • After the above, you should be able to proceed with the remainder of the Update Manager install like normal.

Happy coding!

If you sort a DataGrid that has invisible columns, there is a chance you’ll get an RTE when you mouse over the sortArrow in the DataGridHeader. If you’re having this issue and would like to be able to set DataGridColumns to invisible without having to worry about this problem, please click on the link to the Adobe Flex bugbase and vote for this:

DataGridHeader: After sorting with non-visible columns receive RTE during a mouseOver of the sortArrowHitArea

Don’t get me wrong, I really love developing with my Flex Builder, fo shnizzle! Of course, nothing is perfect…

During the day I have to build my Flex and AIR projects to make sure that the code I write actually works, imagine that! During this time, my music has a tendency to start sputtering and looping until the build process completes. Rather annoying, especially if you’re in a workspace where Build Automatically is set.

If this sounds like a problem you have, then here’s a potential *Windows XP* solution for you:

If you can muster up the Windows Task Manager, you can go to your Processes and find the one that represents your music player. In my case, it’s Windows Media Player – I use it’s built-in streaming music to-go service with my XV6700 – which has a process called wmplayer.exe.

From there, right click your process and set it’s priority to AboveNormal. After that…it takes precedence over the build process resulting in non-looping non-sputtering musical goodness.

Powered by ScribeFire.

To illustrate the trials and tribulations that a developer will endure to make their development environment just a little more palatable, here’s a funny little *Windows-only* hack I came up with this evening to workaround the Flex Builder bug I posted earlier:

Debugging AIR projects…can I view the framework source please?

Anyway, here we go…and believe you me…if you decide to try this at home, it is 100% UNSUPPORTED by myself, most likely Adobe, and positively Microsoft…he he.

First off, when the debugger looks for framework source code – for instance when clicking on a line item in the stack trace – it looks in:

E:\dev\flex_3_beta1\sdk\frameworks\projects\

Well, if you performed a default install of Flex Builder 3 beta 1 standalone or the plugin, the path to those framework source files is:

C:\Program Files\Adobe\Flex Builder 3\sdks\moxie\frameworks\projects

OR

C:\Program Files\Adobe\Flex Builder 3 Plug-in\sdks\moxie\frameworks\projects\

So, to get around this problem:

1. Make sure that you can free up your E: drive. For instance, if you have a DVD drive at E:\ you’ll need to change the drive letter. This is done through the Disk Management snap-in in Windows Computer Management console:

1. Windows Key + R (To get to the Run dialog)
2. Run –> compmgmt.msc
3. In the Storage node of the navigation tree you’ll see Disk Management
4. From there you can right-click on the drive that is occupying E: and select Change Drive Letter and Paths…
5. Complete the dialog by using the Change… button, assigning an alternate drive letter then clicking OK, OK, and closing the Computer Management console.
   

2. Once you’ve verified that you can free up E:, create a directory somewhere on your system and share it: read-only is fine. I created C:\srcshare and shared it. To Share a Directory:

1. Right-click the directory select Sharing and Security… and follow the directions that come up

3. Now that you have that folder shared, map it as drive E: Also make sure it reconnects on logon. To map drive E: to the directory you shared:

1. In Windows Explorer, open the Tools menu and select Map Network Drive…
2. In the Map Network Drive… dialog:
   • Drive = E:
   • Folder = \\127.0.0.1\srcshare (if you’re using the same share name as me)
   • Reconnect at logon = CHECKED

4. Download a handy sysinternals utility called Junction:

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/FileAndDisk/Junction.mspx

5. Extract junction.exe from the zipfile you downloaded somewhere to your C:\ drive – I extracted mine to C:\sysinternals – then open a command prompt and cd to the directory containing junction.exe:

at the command prompt –> cd {The directory containing junction.exe}

6. Before you can create the junction you’ll need to create the path that the Flex Builder debugger is looking at. If in step 2, you created the share directory as C:\srcshare, then you can create the path at the command prompt like:

mkdir C:\srcshare\dev\flex_3_beta1\sdk\

6. Create a junction to the framework source code. If you installed Flex Builder to the default location and used the same directory names as I did, you can create the junction using the following command at the command prompt:

junction.exe C:\srcshare\dev\flex_3_beta1\sdk\frameworks “C:\Program Files\Adobe\Flex Builder 3\sdks\moxie\frameworks”

7. Now open Flex Builder, set a debugging breakpoint somewhere in your code, and when you hit the breakpoint when debugging your app…no more “source not found”…you’ll be able to get to the Framework source code directly from your stack traces!

One last thing, I’m sure this probably can be done using symlinks on Mac, but since I don’t have a Mac I can’t say for sure. Maybe someone else can post the Mac version of this hacky workaround?

If any of you are having issues viewing the framework source when debugging AIR projects, here is a bug I posted recently:

During an AIR debug session cannot view Flex framework code

If having the Adobe engineers fix this – of course when they get a spare moment amongst all the cool stuff they’re building – sounds useful to you then please vote. Also, if you have any workarounds for this, then please post a comment for us all to see!