Text Layout Framework Basics - Part 1

In this series I am going to explain the basics of using Adobe's new  Text Framework. In this first part you'll learn about the Flash Text Engine.

Inline UIComponents within a TextFlow

Lately I've been thinking about how to go about coding a "fill in the gap" exercise. This kind of exercise is very popular in e-learning applications : the user is presented with text in which a few words are missing, and he has to type them in (or select them from a list).

Flex Text Layout Framework - "How To" post

Since this is my first post to the blog, let me introduce myself (but only briefly, since I find it kind of boring): I have been a UI programmer for about 10 years now, beginning with the ancient Visual Basic, continuing to web development (mostly with XSL and JS),  and for the last 2 years I've been using Flex 3 for the UI interface of a Transaction Management application in the company I work for.


I have found Flex 3 to be an overall solid (and fun to work with) framework (espcially compared to JS), but also somewhat frustrating at times (especially when extending the framework's native classes becomes a must)., so I'm quite excited about learning and switching to Flex 4, hoping for things to be more smooth


Anyway,

I've been especially interested in Adobe's new TLF (Text Layout Framework) for some time now, having in mind an idea for a project that requires some heavy text rendering capabilities. Now that it's finally out and included in Flash Builder 4, I am trying to find the time to research it again.

As I do so, I figured it could be helpful for programmers new to the TLF (such as I, at least currently) to maintain a "How To" post with links to useful articles in other blogs, forums, etc. that I may stumble across.

I will be adding more links as I find them....

Introduction to the Text Layout Framework in Flex 4
If you know nothing (programmatic-wise) about the TLF, this is the place to start. You need to know the relationship between the following classes/interfaces: TextFlow, ContainerController, IFlowComposer, and TextLayoutFormat.

Utilizing Flash Text Layout Framework using MXML tags
Elad Elrom's article gives you a nice summary about the connection between the  TLF and Flex 4's new text-based components.
Note: Since this article is based on the Beta version of flex 4, some things are no longer true (for example, SimpleText is now called Label. Why? See here).

UPDATE: I've decided to abandon this post thread, replacing it with with a series of tutorials about the Text Layout Framework. So watch out for future posts!

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