RocketBoots Professional Services

Are you a client server or desktop freelance developer looking for something new to get your teeth into? RocketBoots are running a five day Adobe Flex 2 course this month from Monday the 18th to Friday the 22nd at the incredible price of $550 inc... that's $110 per day for official Adobe curriculum from a Master Certified Adobe Flex Instructor. Why? Because our clients need more and more Flex developers, and as trainers and consultants we're in a position to do something positive about it.

The course will be held at Adobe's office in Chatswood (that's Sydney, NSW, Australia) and lead by me. We only have spaces for 10 people so don't delay if you're interested - contact us using the form on this page. We may repeat the course in future as demand dictates, so if you've missed the boat this time and you're interested in Flex cross training, let us know.

The five days actually cover the two courses we believe will get you off to a good start with Flex. In past courses I've also incorporated an introduction into the widely-used Cairngorm MVC framework. Here's the course outline:

Building Rich Client Applications With Flex 2

Unit 1
Introducing Adobe Flex 2
Understanding rich Internet applications
Introducing the Adobe Flex 2 product line
The foundation of the RIA Flash Player/Flash Virtual Machine
Understanding the Flex application process flow
Getting help and other resources
Exploring the course application

Unit 2
Getting Started with Flex Builder 2
Understanding the relationship between Eclipse and Flex Builder 2
Exploring the Flex Builder 2 interface
Creating a project and your first application
Creating a main application page and running it
Using debugging
Getting help in Adobe Flex Builder 2

Unit 3
Learning Flex Fundamentals
Creating a simple Flex application
Creating your first Flex application
Laying out a Flex application with containers
Adding user interface controls
Creating bindings between components
Architecting an application with MXML components
Creating properties and methods of MXML components

Unit 4
Handling Events
Understanding events
Creating event handlers using inline ActionScript
Using inline ActionScript
Handling events with ActionScript functions
Placing ActionScript functions in external files
Understanding the event object
Implementing the addEventListener() method

Unit 5
Using Simple Controls
Getting familiar with Flex controls
Using the Button control
Using a CheckBox Control
Using NumericStepper controls
Using Text controls
Displaying images
Adding simple controls to an application

Unit 6
Laying Out an Application with Containers
Understanding Containers
Using the Application container
Setting an application's layout
Using the Panel container
Using the Form container
Using the Grid container
Using Box Containers
Using the DividedBox container
Using the Tile container
Container best practices
Using the ControlBar container
Component layout and sizing rules

Unit 7
Laying out an Application Using Constraint-Based Layout
Understanding absolute positioning
Positioning components within the Canvas container
Positioning components inside a Canvas
Creating a constraint-based layout using Flex Builder 2
Creating a constraint-based layout in MXML
Using constraint-based layouts with nested components

Unit 8
Using View States for Application Design
Understanding view states
Creating two states for the Contact page
Controlling view states
Reviewing the generated MXML code
Creating view states that include custom components states

Unit 9
Creating Application Navigation
Understanding navigator containers
Using the LinkBar container
Using the TabBar container
Using the ViewStack container
Navigating the Caf￩ Townsend application using the ViewStack and TabBar container
Using the TabNavigator container
Using the Accordion container
Using ButtonBar & ToggleButtonBar
Using the ApplicationControlBar container

Unit 10
Customizing the Application
Customizing Flex application look and feel
Using the Styles API to change look-and-feel
Using theme styles
Changing the look and feel of the Caf￩ Townsend application
Applying behaviors to components
Applying transitions to view states

Unit 11
Using MXML and ActionScript Data Models
Using the MVC design pattern
Creating an MXML data model Using ActionScript classes as a data model
Instantiating an Object in MXML from an ActionScript class
Creating an ActionScript constructor with parameters
Defining class methods

Unit 12
Exchanging Data Between Components Using Custom Events
Understanding the problem with bindings
Using a binding to get data from a component
Creating custom events
Creating, dispatching and handling a custom event
Sending data with a custom event

Unit 13
Retrieving XML Data with HTTPService
Retrieving XML data at runtime
Handling results
Retrieving data at runtime with HTTPService
Handling results using an event handler
Handling faults
Making HTTP requests to different domains

Unit 14
Looping Through Data Using a Repeater
Understanding the Repeater component
Using dataProvider data in repeated controls
Dynamically creating components using a Repeater
Using Repeater data in ActionScript
Referencing repeated components

Unit 15
Displaying Data Using the DataGrid
Using the DataGrid control
Displaying Simple XML Data in a DataGrid
Specifying DataGrid columns
Specifying DataGrid columns
Formatting DataGrid columns
Using item renderers and item editors
Using the TileList and HorizontalList
Using events and selected items with list-based components

Data Connectivity With Flex 2

Unit 2
Accessing Web Services Using web services
Invoking web service methods and using the results
Consuming a web service
Handling results using an event handler
Handling faults
Calling multiple methods from the same WebService object
Passing Parameters to Web Services

Unit 3
Introduction to Flex Data Services
Installing Flex Data Services
Explore the Flex Data Services Installation
Creating a Flex application for use with Flex Data Services
Navigating the Flex Project Structure
Understanding the Server Compilation Process
Flex Data Services Features
The Flex Proxy Service
The Proxy Service Default Destination
Named Proxy Service Destinations

Unit 4
Using ColdFusion Components as Remote Object Services
Understanding remote object services
Configuring ColdFusion, Flex Builder and calling a remote object service method
Exchanging data between ActionScript and ColdFusion

Unit 5
Using Java Classes as Remote Object Services
Understanding Remote Object Services
Calling a Remote Object Service method
Handling RPC Events
Complex Remote Method Calls
Exchanging Data between ActionScript and Java

Unit 6
Validating and Formatting Data
Validating form data
Triggering validation with events
Validating Numeric Input
Triggering validation with ActionScript
Using regular expressions
Formatting Data

Unit 7
Manipulating Complex Data
Understanding Collection Classes
Filtering data
Creating a data sort Using the IViewCursor interface
Creating a project that uses FDS

Unit 8
Using the Flex Message Service
Introducing the Flex Message Service
Reviewing Message Destination Configuration
Understanding Publish-Subscribe Messaging
Publishing Messages
Receiving and processing messages
Sending and Receiving Complex Data

Unit 9
Using the Flex Data Management Service
What is the Flex Data Management Service?
Exploring a Data Management Services
Destination Data Management Service Architecture
Changing Data Managing Pending Changes
Using Events Handling DataService Results
Advanced Data Management Service Features

Unit 10
Providing XML to Controls with E4X
Understanding XML structure
Working with XML data in ActionScript 3
Using the Tree Control
Retrieving XML data and populating a Tree Using XML objects
Removing XML items from a list

Unit 11
Uploading Files to a Server
Implementing file transfer basics
Uploading a file to the server
Enhancing the user experience with FileReference events
Understanding the FileReferenceList class
Use the Data Management Service to retrieve photo data
Send real-time messages between applications

See you there!

Robin