Ben Huckaby, Summer 2005 ****************************************************************************** ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ FLIPIX Project Usage Instructions and Technical Info/Suggestions for Extension ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ****************************************************************************** __________ CONTENTS: __________ I) Versions and their Descriptions II) Usage Instructions III) Instructions for Using the Demo IV) Known Issues/Limitations/Suggestions for Extension V) Author Contact Information =============================================================================== ___________________________________ I) VERSIONS AND THEIR DESCRIPTIONS ___________________________________ Three versions of this particular project are included here. FLIPIX v1 --------- A set of rather large (800 x 600) movies that was used mainly for testing and developmental purposes. They are unfit for a PDA, but the functionality for the other two versions of this project are all based on the code developed with this version. The files included that are associated to this version are: Flipix_Composer.fla Flipix_Core.fla Flipix_Reader.fla Flipix_Title.fla Flipix_Composer.swf Flipix_Core.swf Flipix_Reader.swf Flipix_Title.swf Any images to be used with this version should optimally have a size of 750 x 250 pixels (or less--though it should be noted that any images smaller than that size will have their upper leftmost corner aligned with the same corner of the reader's image display window and will not be centered, so if positioning is important than the image should be converted to have these dimensions (or just fill in the blank spaces with black or some other color to give it these dimensions). FLIPIX v2 (aka FLIPIX_Mini) --------------------------- In this version the code and interfaces from v1 were adapted to a smaller movie size (240 x 320), and a few minor issues brought over from v1 were fixed (mainly dealing with the composer). These should be ready for use on a PDA. The files associated with this version are: Mini_Composer.fla Mini_Core.fla Mini_Reader.fla Mini_Composer.swf Mini_Core.swf Mini_Reader.swf Any images to be used with this version should optimally be 240 x 195 pixels in size. Anything smaller will encounter the same issue as v1, anything larger will simply have anything exceeding those dimensions cut off from view. FLIPIX v3 (Same as v2, but added functionality) ----------------------------------------------- This is nearly identical to v2, but it has one extra feature. Aside from the reader and composer options, a third option is available through the core movie--a message listing that will display any movies that have been composed on the user's computer using this specific version of FLIPIX. Associated files: Mini_Composer2.fla Mini_Core2.fla Mini_Reader2.fla Mini_TitlePreviewer.fla Mini_Composer2.swf Mini_Core2.swf Mini_Reader2.swf Mini_TitlePreviewer.swf Any images to be used with this version should optimally be 240 x 195 pixels in size. Anything smaller will encounter the same issue as v1, anything larger will simply have anything exceeding those dimensions cut off from view. _______________________ II) USAGE INSTRUCTIONS _______________________ ---------------------- v1 ---------------------- Open Flipix_Core.swf with Flash Player 6 or greater. You will start off in Composition mode. To change to Reader mode, simply click the "Reader" button in the upper right. Clicking on the "Composer" button will take you back to Composition mode (though if you typed something in there, it will be gone). A breakdown of the interface for each mode is as follows: ++++++++++ +Composer+ ++++++++++ ####ALL TAGS MUST HAVE AT LEAST 1 SPACE ON EITHER SIDE OF THEM!#### Text fields: ------------ "Message Title: " Type the title of the message you wish to save in the white box following these words. Message body: Should start off with the words, "Type message here" and will be directly below the message title box. The message itself is typed here. "Input Text Box/Image Name": Any text that will have formatting applied to it, or the name of any image to be inserted, goes here. Once the formatting button is pressed, this text will be inserted into the main message box. Buttons: --------- "Save Message": Upon clicking this button the message will be saved (or an error message generated and displayed in the lower-most text box). "Bold Text": Inserts the text in the Input Text Box with the bold formatting tags around it. "Italic Text": Inserts the text in the Input Text Box with the italic formatting tags around it. "Underline Text": Inserts the text in the Input Text Box with the underline formatting tags around it. "Font Size": After typing a value from -5 to 5 in the text box to the right of this button, clicking the button will insert the text in the Input Text Box with the proper font size formatting tags around it. "Insert Image": Inserts an image key into the message using the image name in the Input Text Box directly above it. Arrow up and down buttons: Scroll the message text up and down if it exceeds the length of the body text box. ++++++++ +Reader+ ++++++++ Text fields: ------------ "Message Title: " Type the title of the message you wish to view in the box following these words. Buttons: --------- "Read Message": Attempts to open and display the message with the title in the Message Title field. Pause button: Either pauses a message in progress or resumes playing a message that is paused Slider: Dragging this slider will fast-forward or rewind a message that is playing (upon release) Speed Controls: Though unmarked, the buttons correspond to the slowest speed on the left (60 words/min) to the fastest speed on the right (600 words/min). ---------------------- v2 ---------------------- Open Mini_Core.swf with Flash Player 6 or greater. You will start off in Composition mode. To change to Reader mode, simply click the "R" button in the upper right. Clicking on the "C" button will take you back to Composition mode (though if you typed something in there, it will be gone). A breakdown of the interface for each mode is as follows: ++++++++++ +Composer+ ++++++++++ ####ALL TAGS MUST HAVE AT LEAST 1 SPACE ON EITHER SIDE OF THEM!#### Text fields: ------------ "Title: " Type the title of the message you wish to save in the white box following these words. Message body: Should start off with the words, "Type message here" and will be directly below the message title box. The message itself is typed here. "Format / Image": Any text that will have formatting applied to it, or the name of any image to be inserted, goes here. Once the formatting button is pressed, this text will be inserted into the main message box. Buttons: --------- "Save": Upon clicking this button the message will be saved (or an error message generated and displayed in the upper-most text box). "Bold": Inserts the text in the Format text box with the bold formatting tags around it. "Italic": Inserts the text in the Format text box with the italic formatting tags around it. "Underline": Inserts the text in the Format text box with the underline formatting tags around it. "Font Size": After typing a value from -5 to 5 in the text box directly below this button, clicking the button will insert the text in the Format text box with the proper font size formatting tags around it. "Insert Image": Inserts an image key into the message using the image name in the Format text box. Arrow up and down buttons: Scroll the message text up and down if it exceeds the length of the body text box. ++++++++ +Reader+ ++++++++ Text fields: ------------ "Message Title: " Type the title of the message you wish to view in the box following these words. Buttons: --------- "Read": Attempts to open and display the message with the title in the Message Title field. Play/Pause button: Either pauses a message in progress or resumes playing a message that is paused Slider: Dragging this slider will fast-forward or rewind a message that is playing (upon release) Speed Controls: The numbers above the buttons indicate the speed, 1 being the slowest and 9 being the fastest. The exact words per minute breakdown of each button is as follows: 1: 60 words/min 2: ~67 words/min 3: ~86 words/min 4: 120 words/min 5: ~172 words/min 6: 240 words/min 7: 400 words/min 8: 600 words/min 9: 1200 words/min ---------------------- v3 ---------------------- Open Mini_Core2.swf with Flash Player 6 or greater. You will start off in Composition mode. To change to Reader mode, simply click the "R" button in the upper right. Clicking on the "C" button will take you back to Composition mode (though if you typed something in there, it will be gone). To view a list of the messages composed on this computer using v3 of FLIPIX, click on the button marked by the open envelope in the upper right corner. A breakdown of the interface for each mode is as follows: ++++++++++ +Composer+ ++++++++++ ####ALL TAGS MUST HAVE AT LEAST 1 SPACE ON EITHER SIDE OF THEM!#### Text fields: ------------ "Title: " Type the title of the message you wish to save in the white box following these words. Message body: Should start off with the words, "Type message here" and will be directly below the message title box. The message itself is typed here. "Format / Image": Any text that will have formatting applied to it, or the name of any image to be inserted, goes here. Once the formatting button is pressed, this text will be inserted into the main message box. Buttons: --------- "Save": Upon clicking this button the message will be saved (or an error message generated and displayed in the upper-most text box). "Bold": Inserts the text in the Format text box with the bold formatting tags around it. "Italic": Inserts the text in the Format text box with the italic formatting tags around it. "Underline": Inserts the text in the Format text box with the underline formatting tags around it. "Font Size": After typing a value from -5 to 5 in the text box directly below this button, clicking the button will insert the text in the Format text box with the proper font size formatting tags around it. "Insert Image": Inserts an image key into the message using the image name in the Format text box. Arrow up and down buttons: Scroll the message text up and down if it exceeds the length of the body text box. ++++++++ +Reader+ ++++++++ Text fields: ------------ "Message Title: " Type the title of the message you wish to view in the box following these words. Buttons: --------- "Read": Attempts to open and display the message with the title in the Message Title field. Play/Pause button: Either pauses a message in progress or resumes playing a message that is paused Slider: Dragging this slider will fast-forward or rewind a message that is playing (upon release) Speed Controls: The numbers above the buttons indicate the speed, 1 being the slowest and 9 being the fastest. The exact words per minute breakdown of each button is as follows: 1: 60 words/min 2: ~67 words/min 3: ~86 words/min 4: 120 words/min 5: ~172 words/min 6: 240 words/min 7: 400 words/min 8: 600 words/min 9: 1200 words/min +++++++++++++++++++++++++ +Message Title Previewer+ +++++++++++++++++++++++++ The only thing here is a list of the names of messages, as well as a scroll up and scroll down button. _____________________________________ III) INSTRUCTIONS FOR USING THE DEMO _____________________________________ Simply open up Mini_Core.swf or Mini_Core2.swf from inside the folder "TheRavenDemo" and, in the composer mode, copy and paste the contents of "EdgarAllanPoe--TheRaven.txt" into the composer window. **NOTE**--Make sure that word wrap is turned OFF when you copy the material into the composer window. Give the message a title and save it. If using Mini_Core2.swf, then you will now be able to see that message's title in the Title Previewer mode. Either way, open up the reader and type in the name of the message you just saved. By clicking on "Read" Poe's famous poem will be played back to you, complete with images corresponding to each stanza, in the display window. _______________________________________________________ IV) KNOWN ISSUES/LIMITATIONS/SUGGESTIONS FOR EXTENSION _______________________________________________________ 1) Upon coming to a carriage return in a message, the reader will skip the word immediately after the carriage return in the message. 2) To my knowledge there isn't a way to just search a directory for messages, thus the TitlePreviewer will only show messages that have been written specifically with v3 code and specifically on that computer. 3) To save on the intensity of the code, all of the tags require that there is at least 1 space between them and the next word (or tag). Though the formatting buttons automatically insert tags (and the text from the input box) correctly in this format into the text box, the user can change this. A solution to this would be to search each individual word as it comes out of the message array for one of the tags, then split the word up into two parts before proceeding to process each part (in the Reader code). This could possible add a considerable delay to the application's operation. 4) Unless the user hand-codes the tags, stacking multiple formats (bold, italic, underline, font size) is not possible. For example, without typing the tags yourself you can only have one of the formats applied to a word or words at a time, but if you hand-coded them, such as This is bold and italic , the reader will correctly apply both formats to the text. I couldn't think of any easy way to organize the format buttons to allow for format stacking, but perhaps this area could be improved upon in later revisions. The only place code needs to be modified is in the functionality of the Composer--the Reader, as noted, will be able to handle it. 5) A possible extension would be figuring out some way to have the message titles displayed in the TitlePreviewer be clickable, so that the reader automatically opens up and the message begins playing. Using what already exists in v3, my thoughts on this would be to have each button set a global variable in the Core movie (such as a string variable "loadThisMessage"), then use the Core movie's modeLoader function to switch to Reader mode, then feed the global variable to the message start function (or just create a second message start function specifically for loading from the TitlePreviewer) and the message should work normally from there. ______________________________ V) AUTHOR CONTACT INFORMATION ______________________________ For anyone continuing to work on this project or anyone that has questions about what the code is doing, you can contact me by email at one of the following addresses: (Prior to my graduation, so before Fall 2006 or Spring 2007, depending): bmhuckab@ncsu.edu (For a more permanent email address) muglybird@yahoo.com In either case please identify yourself and say that you are involved with this project (and, if possible, what way) and I will try to respond as soon as I can.