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Suggested Terms is an excellent usability element which helps the user select a better option or just increase search speed.

In this tutorial, we will learn how to create and display suggested terms in a Flash application.

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Step 1: Overview

We’ll make use of TextField and String methods and properties to retrieve and display words from an external file containing the search suggestions.

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Step 2: Document Settings

Launch Flash and create a new document. Set the stage size to 500x270px, background color to #F6F6F6 and the frame rate to 24fps.

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Step 3: Interface

This is the interface we’ll use, a simple background with a title bar and a two TextFields, an Static TextField telling us what to do and an Input TextField that we’ll use to start suggesting.

No buttons this time, the events will be called by pressing a key.

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Step 4: Background

You can leave the background color as it is or add 500x270px rectangle to have something you can select. For the title bar, use again the Rectangle Tool (R) to create a 500x30px rectangle and center it.

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Step 5: Title

Select the Text Tool (T) and write a title for your application. I used this format: Lucida Grande Regular, 15pt, #EEEEEE.

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Step 6: Text Area

We’ll use a Rectangle shape to show where the TextField is.

With the Rectangle Tool, create a 300x24px rectangle and remove the fill, instead, use a #CCCCCC stroke.

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Step 7: Input TextField

Lastly, use the Text Tool to create a 345x20px Input TextField and name it inputField.This is the format I used: Helvetica Bold, 16pt, #666666.

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Step 8: Font Embedding

To display the font correctly in the Input Text we’ll have to embed it.

Select the Input TextField and go to the Properties panel, Character section and press the Embed… button.

A new window will come up, select the characters you want to embed, and click OK.

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Step 9: New ActionScript Class

Create a new (Cmd + N) ActionScript 3.0 Class and save it as Main.as in your class folder.

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Step 10: Package

The package keyword allows you to organize your code into groups that can be imported by other scripts, its recommended to name them starting with a lowercase letter and use intercaps for subsequent words for example: myClasses. It’s also common to name them using your company’s website: com.mycompany.classesType.myClass.

In this example, we’re using a single class, so there isn’t really a need to create a classes folder.

package
{

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Step 11: Import Directive

These are the classes we’ll need to import for our class to work, the import directive makes externally defined classes and packages available to your code.

import flash.display.Sprite;
import flash.net.URLLoader;
import flash.net.URLRequest;
import flash.events.Event;
import flash.ui.Keyboard;
import flash.events.KeyboardEvent;
import flash.text.TextField;
import flash.events.MouseEvent;
import flash.text.TextFormat;

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Step 12: Declare and Extend the Class

Here we declare the class using the class definition keyword followed by the name that we want for the class, remember that you have to save the file using this name.

The extends keyword defines a class that is a subclass of another class. The subclass inherits all the methods, properties and functions, that way we can use them in our class.

public class Main extends Sprite
{

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Step 13: Variables

These are the variables we’ll use, read the comments in the code to find out more about them.

private var urlLoader:URLLoader = new URLLoader();//Used to load the external file
private var suggestions:Array = new Array();//The suggestions in the text file will be stored here
private var suggested:Array = new Array();//The current suggestions
private var textfields:Array = new Array();//A textfield to be used to display the suggested term
private var format:TextFormat = new TextFormat();//The suggestions text format
private var currentSelection:int = -1;//Will handle the selected suggestion in order to write it in the main textfield

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Step 14: Constructor

The constructor is a function that runs when an object is created from a class, this code is the first to execute when you make an instance of an object or runs using the Document Class.

public function Main():void
{

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Step 15: External File Contents

The terms to suggest will be stored in an external text file, you can also use XML, PHP or the format of your choice.

Write the terms you want to suggest (separated by commas “,” ) and save the file in the same directory as your swf, in this case I used a list of sports and saved them in the file Sports.txt.

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Step 16: Load External File

This line calls the load method of the URLLoader class and passes as parameter the url of the txt file we are using.

urlLoader.load(new URLRequest("Sports.txt"));

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Step 17: Initial Listeners

Two initial listeners; one listens for the load of the external file and other listens for key up events in the Input TextField.

urlLoader.addEventListener(Event.COMPLETE, loadComplete);
inputField.addEventListener(KeyboardEvent.KEY_UP, suggest);

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Step 18: Suggestions Text Format

Sets the text format used in the suggestions textfields.

format.font = "Helvetica";
format.size = 12;
format.bold = true;

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Step 19: Loaded Data

The following function is executed when the external load is complete, it creates an array containing the comma-separated strings in the txt file.

private function loadComplete(e:Event):void
{
	suggestions = e.target.data.split(","); //The split method separates the words using as delimiter the ","
}

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Step 20: Suggest Function

The suggest function handles all the operations to create and display the suggestions, is executed when the Input TextField detects a Mouse_UP event.

private function suggest(e:KeyboardEvent):void
{

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Step 21: Reset

The first thing to do is clear the suggested array, this will erase the previous suggestions (if any).

suggested = [];

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Step 22: Search Available Data

The next for loops through the available suggestions and uses an if statement and the indexOf method to search for the starting letters of any of the available words.

for (var j:int = 0; j < suggestions.length; j++)
{
	if (suggestions[j].indexOf(inputField.text) == 0)//indexOf returns 0 if the letter is found
	{

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Step 23: Create Suggestions TextFields

If the written letter(s) are found, a new TextField is created for the corresponding word, since we are still in the for, if more than one suggestion starts with the same letter(s), then many TextFields will be created.

		var term:TextField = new TextField();

		term.width = 100;
		term.height = 20;
		term.x = 75;
		term.y = (20 * suggested.length) + 88;//Positions the textfield under the last one
		term.border = true;             /* Here we use the border property
		term.borderColor = 0x353535;       to separate the textfields */
		term.background = true;
		term.backgroundColor = 0x282828;
		term.textColor = 0xEEEEEE;
		term.defaultTextFormat = format;//Set the previously created format

		//Mouse Listeners
		term.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_UP, useWord);
		term.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_OVER, hover);
		term.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_OUT, out);

		addChild(term);
		textfields.push(term); //Adds the textfield to the textfields array

		suggested.push(suggestions[j]);

		term.text = suggestions[j]; //Sets the found suggestion in the textfield
	}

}

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Step 24: Clear TextFields

If the user deletes the letters in the Input Field, the suggestions are removed.

if (inputField.length == 0) //input field is empty
{
	suggested = []; //clear arrays

	for (var k:int = 0; k < textfields.length; k++)
	{
		removeChild(textfields[k]); //remove textfields
	}

	textfields = [];
}

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Step 25: Keyboard Control

The next code allows the user to move through the suggestions using the keyboard.

It changes the color of the selected word, adds or removes a number to the currentSelection variable to use it later in the textfields array, this way it retrieves the correct item from the suggestions.

When the enter key is pressed, the selection is written in the Input Field and the suggestions are removed.

	if(e.keyCode == Keyboard.DOWN && currentSelection < textfields.length-1)
	{
		currentSelection++;
		textfields[currentSelection].textColor = 0xFFCC00;
	}

	if(e.keyCode == Keyboard.UP && currentSelection > 0)
	{
		currentSelection--;
		textfields[currentSelection].textColor = 0xFFCC00;
	}

	if(e.keyCode == Keyboard.ENTER)
	{
		inputField.text = textfields[currentSelection].text;

		suggested = [];

		for (var l:int = 0; l < textfields.length; l++)
		{
					removeChild(textfields[l]);
		}

		textfields = [];
		currentSelection = 0;
	}
}

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Step 26: Mouse Control

This function is also used to select the suggestion, although this is easier because of the ability to add event listeners to the TextFields. The listeners were added in the suggest()function in Step 23, remember?

private function useWord(e:MouseEvent):void
{
	inputField.text = e.target.text;

	suggested = [];

	for (var i:int = 0; i < textfields.length; i++)
	{
		removeChild(textfields[i]);
	}

	textfields = [];
}

private function hover(e:MouseEvent):void
{
	e.target.textColor = 0xFFCC00;
}

private function out(e:MouseEvent):void
{
	e.target.textColor = 0xEEEEEE;
}

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Step 27: Document Class

Go back to the FLA and in the Properties Panel > Publish section > Class field, add Main as value. This will link this class as the Document Class.

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Conclusion

You’re done creating and implementing a suggested terms class, it’s time to make your own and customize it! Why not try using PHP to save the terms that users enter to the list of suggested terms?

Thanks for reading this tutorial, I hope you’ve found it useful!

First of the month (more or less) and therefore time for another Exclusive Freebie! This month ActiveDen author flashanctuary offers up an interesting tool making use of the Google Text-To-Speech API. Check it out after the jump!

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Using the Unofficial Text-To-Speech Google API

Not so long ago, google added a new cool feature to the google translate system named the text-to-speech function. Is isn’t an official API, but anyone can make use of the service. All you need to do is access a url which generates an mp3 file. This file can be played in flash like any mp3 file.

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Step 1: Creating the text-to-speech Class

The first step is to create the text-to-speech class. Open flash and select the file menu, new submenu and new action script file. Then save this file on the hard-disk in your desired package. Let’s name this class and file Text2Speech.as.

package com.flashanctuary.text2speech
{
	// flash imports
	import flash.events.Event;
	import flash.media.Sound;
	import flash.media.SoundChannel;
	import flash.media.SoundTransform;
	import flash.net.URLRequest;

	/**
	 * Text2Speech Main class
	 */
	public class Text2Speech
	{
		public function Text2Speech() : void
		{	

		}
	}
}

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Step 2: Declaring Necessary Variables

First, we need the url constant link to the Google API. Another constant declared regards the google api limitation: it can not play a string which is longer than 100 characters. Of course, my flash file plays phrases longer than 100 characters, I’ll explain how later on.

Other variables that we need inlcude: the text to be played, an array to contain phrases of maximum 100 character from the text, the current sentence position to be played at one moment, the language where to play the text. We also need three variables to play the sound: a Sound variable, a SoundChannel variable and a SoundTransform variable.

// google api link
private static const url : String = "http://translate.google.com/translate_tts?";

// maximum number of characters supported by google api
private static const noOfMaxChars : Number = 100;

//
private var _text : String;
private var _sentences : Array;
private var _sentencePosition : int;

//
private var sound : Sound;
private var soundChannel : SoundChannel;
private var sTransform : SoundTransform;

//
private var _volume : Number = 0.5;
private var _currentPosition : Number = 0;

//
private var _language : String;

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Step 3: Let’s Initialize it!

Now we would need a public function to initialize this class: this will contain the text we want to play and the language.

public function init(language : String, text : String) : void
{
	// set language
	_language = language;

	// if the number of chars is longer than the maximum number of chars supported
	// the the text will be split
	if (text.length <= noOfMaxChars)
	{
		initSound(url + "tl=" + language + "&q=" + text);
	}
	else
	{
		_sentences = new Array();

		// split text
		divideText(text);
		_sentencePosition = 0;

		// begin palying the first part of the text
		initSound(url + "tl=" + language + "&q=" + _sentences[_sentencePosition]);
	}
}

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Step 4: Trim Text

If our text length is longer than the supported number of characters, than we must split it into sentences of a maximum of 100 characters. In order to do this, we create a recursive function to go through all the text and insert the sentences of maximum 100 characters in an array.

private function divideText(str : String) : void
{
	var substr : String;
	if (str.length >= noOfMaxChars)
	{
		substr = str.substring(0, noOfMaxChars + 1);
	}
	else
	{
		substr = str;
	}

	if (substr.charAt(substr.length - 1) != " " && str.length >= noOfMaxChars)
	{
		var index : int = substr.lastIndexOf(" ");
		substr = str.substring(0, index);
	}

	_sentences.push(substr);

	if (str.substring(substr.length + 1, str.length).length > 0)
	{
		divideText(str.substring(substr.length + 1, str.length));
	}
}

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Step 5: Play the Sentences

From now on, the process is similiar to when you create an mp3 player. Firstly, we initialize the sound variables that I spoke about in the first instance and after this we begin to play the first sentence from the whole sentences array.

When this sentence has finished playing, we go and play the next one (when the SOUND_COMPLETE events is happening). And so on and so forth until all maximum 100 characters sentences from our initial text are played.

public function initSound(path : String) : void
{
	// reset sounds chanels, sound and sound transform if they are not null
	if (soundChannel != null)
	{
		stopSound();
		soundChannel = null;
	}

	if (sound != null)
	{
		sound = null;
	}

	if (sTransform != null)
	{
		sTransform = null;
	}

	_currentPosition = 0;

	// create the new sound and begin playing
	sound = new Sound(new URLRequest(path));
	soundChannel = new SoundChannel();
	sTransform = new SoundTransform(_volume);
	playSound();
}

public function playSound() : void
{
	soundChannel = sound.play(_currentPosition);
	soundChannel.addEventListener(Event.SOUND_COMPLETE, soundComplete);
	soundChannel.soundTransform = sTransform;
}

public function stopSound() : void
{
	_currentPosition = soundChannel.position;
	if (soundChannel.hasEventListener(Event.SOUND_COMPLETE))
	{
		soundChannel.removeEventListener(Event.SOUND_COMPLETE, soundComplete);
	}
	soundChannel.stop();
}

private function soundComplete(evt : Event) : void
{
	stopSound();

	// when the current sound is complete go to the next group of charcters and play that part
	if (_sentences != null)
	{
		if (_sentencePosition < _sentences.length - 1)
		{
			_sentencePosition++;
			initSound(url + "tl=" + _language + "&q=" + _sentences[_sentencePosition]);
		}
	}
}

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Step 6: How to use This Class

You would probably now ask how this class can be used in one of your projects. Well, this is very simple: you just need to create one instance
of this class and initialize it with your desired language and text. All languages supported are listed and can be found at http://translate.google.com.

// create the new text to speech variable
var t2s : Text2Speech = new Text2Speech();

// initialize the text to speech class instance with the language desired and the text
t2s.init(language_abbreviation, text_to_play);

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Sound Playing Issues

You have possibly already noticed in the preview that sometimes a cut-off appears when a sound ends and another one begins. This problem can be easily solved by loading all sounds before playing them back. This method implies a longer loading time, especially when the chosen text to play back is very long. The best solution for the time being seems to be the above one, but should anyone have a better one, you are most welcome to leave a comment!</p

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Conclusion

I’ve spent a long time trying to find a solution for this text-to-speech problem so I can use it in Flash. It seems google has solved it and the solution is these days easy and accessible for all developers.

This is my first contribution to Activetuts+, I hope you have learned something useful, enjoy the file and thank you for reading!

In this tutorial, Michael Szabo from Big Mike Design walks us through his recreation of the popular baseball wall title scenes that have been used to advertise baseball games this season. After modeling both manually and with the help of Mograph, Mike also covers proper rendering habits when moving into After Effects for compositing!

The tutorial covers a lot of ground within Cinema 4D and After Effects, as we build a 3D environment that closely resembles an outfield wall in a baseball stadium. The final project resides in After effects and can easily be tweaked by simply updating and swapping the title images that are placed in our scene.

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Note: click the ‘Monitor’ icon to view tutorial in full-screen HD.

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Note: click the ‘Monitor’ icon to view tutorial in full-screen HD.

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Do you want to be my friend? Or my follower? Or whatever it is we call each other on this social network? I know we don’t know each other…but that shouldn’t stop you from making me one of your 1,742 friends.

To be honest, I’m kind of shy when I get friends requests. I generally don’t connect when I don’t know someone. Here are some rules of engagement on my social networks:

• Foursquare: Absolutely no way if I don’t know you. Because I let people know where I’m hanging out, it seems a little to personal to notify complete strangers.
• Facebook: Again, I want to know my friends. There are some casual acquaintances in the list. But they are people who I want to know better.
• LinkedIn: If we haven’t met, then I want to get to know you better. This is purely professional.
• Twitter: Anyone can follow me. And I follow people who interest me. I share a lot of information via Twitter because I see it as a publishing platform rather than a social network. Feel free to follow me.

This is what works for me, my comfort level and promotional needs. You may need to be friendlier or more restrictive. The important thing is that you have a strategy.

How do you choose your friends on social networks?

Microsoft Word 2007 (a.k.a. Word 7) offers a variety of brochure templates, but what if you quickly want to create your own?  This tutorial gives a thorough walkthrough on how to do just that.

Step 1

Open up Word.  You will automatically have a new blank document.  Go to Page Layout, click Margins and choose Narrow.

Step 2

Click now on Orientation and choose Landscape.

Step 3

Still on the Page Layout Tap, choose Page Color and pick a color to your liking.

Step 4

Now go to the Insert Tap and select the Text Box button. Choose Simple form the pop up window.  Since we are creating a Standard Tri-fold Brochure with the size 8.5 x 11 inch, we want the text box to be around 3.5 in. Place the text box on the right hand side. Type some text or leave the default text.

Step 5

Right click on the text box and choose Format Text Box from the bottom of the pop up window. There you can set the background and outline. I set the color and outline to none.

Step 6

While still in the Format Text Box window, choose the Text Box Tab and set the text to be align to the center of the text box.

Step 7

Go now to the Shapes button (we are still on the Insert Tab) and add a rectangle. Set the size to the lenght of the document and choose a height and fill color.  The right click and from the Order option set the box behind the text.

Step 8

Add more shapes and more text boxes. Remember that we have a trifold  brochure and we are adding therefore at least three text boxes. As a small help, you can set the default text box to three columns (Page Layout Tab). This might help you to align the added text boxes.

Step 9

Here is what we have so far. Some shapes, some text boxes with a header and a list.

Step 10

Add another text box just like we did in Step 4. Repeat this step for each brochure panel. Since we have per page three panels, you might want to add three bigger text boxes.

Step 11

This is what I have so far. Add as many elements as you want.  You can fold a trifold brochure two ways , Accordion Fold or Gate Fold.  You are looking at the outside of the brochure.

Step 12

This is the inside if we are making an accordion fold. I kept the style the same.

Step 13

Here are the two pages.  The back panel could have the contact info or the inside panel. Once you add all the text, images or any other elements, you can print your brochure on your home printer. Make sure you can print borderless. Once you printed the first pages, turn over your page and print the other page onto the paper.

Conclusion

This is how the brochure can look like. Nothing fancy or complicated but semi professional looking.

When we asked last week whether or not you need music at work, many of you responded in favor. Some mentioned that music lets you create a zone and focus more on what you are doing. In fact, there are many theories in support of that – like the so-called “Mozart effect”.

If you just can’t work with music on, you might want to try streaming sounds of different types to see if they have a positive effect on your focus and overall productivity. Check out the following tools if you intend to give it a shot.1. SimplyNoise

SimplyNoise is a color noise generator that creates clean sound waves. It can generate white noise, pink noise and brown noise, and also oscillate them as you need.

2. Zendesk Buddha Machine Wall

Zendesk’s Buddha Machine Wall has a nice collection of relaxing sounds that play smoothly in the background while you do your work.

3. Musopen

Musopen has a huge collection of instrumental tracks from music composers around the world. It’s basically an online library of music that’s in public domain.

4. Soma fm

Soma.fm is an internet radio station that broadcasts continuous streams of ambient beats among others.

5. Wikipedia’s Sound List

Finally, you can check Wikipedia’s sound list that has thousands of license-free sounds files that could be played directly on the site.

So, have you been listening to any of the above sites while at work? Any other such sound sources you know about?

Sure, it sounds like the start of a hokey pyramid scheme – but unless your office is very transparent about salaries, it’s hard to know if you are in the top, middle, or bottom of what you should be earning.

Money isn’t everything, and you’ve been able to help your company through the economic downturn.  Are you curious to find out if you are being valued appropriately by your current employer?

Here’s a list of salary comparison links that might help you get an idea of what you are, or should be, earning:

Salary.com

American-focused, and broken down by state and by profession.  Salary wizard is handy to give you an answer for the “expected salary” question in your next interview

Payscale.com

Based out of Seattle, WA, but providing info for jobs around the world.  They provide a free customized salary report or you can upgrade to the more detailed version for $19.95.  You can evaluate your current offer, or see what your current market value is.  Claim to represent 100,000 employers

Jobstar.org

While the design folks might cringe at this site, there’s some decent info if you drill down a bit.  Good links to salary surveys for quite a few different vocations.

Whatsalary.com

A new site and it looks like it will have good info once it gets some traction and the info gets populated.  Available in different regions (US, Europe, South Asia) Full disclosure: I have written a few articles for them, but they are still looking for more.

Computerworld.com

A quick and easy way to match your current salary up against the rest of the IT workers in the US.  If you aren’t in the US, or aren’t in IT – you might find value in some of their whitepapers, and that value might be a cost effective alternative to your sleeping pills

Globalrichlist.com

Once you’ve looked at your salary, stroll over to this site to find out how you rank among the world’s richest, and once you’ve done that…

Give Half

Apparently some rich folks – a couple named Bill and Melinda Gates and Jimmy Buffet’s older brother Warren – have come up with an idea to encourage the ultra-rich folks around the planet to pony up a hefty donation.  A billion here, a billion there – pretty soon you’re talking about real money!

So the next time you’re wondering if you’re getting paid what your worth, check out a few of these links.

In this era of always-on, constantly connected mobile and computing devices, it’s comforting to know it’s still possible to be incredibly efficient and effective using the humble sticky note. In this article I’ll show you how to use a system called “The Critical Six” to manage your most important life goals using simple square sticky notes. You’ll be amazed at how focused and productive you can become and how much more you’ll get done.100 Years Of Productivity

The idea originally appeared about a 100 years ago as the brainchild of Ivy Lee, an efficiency expert hired by Charles Schwab, chairman of Bethlehem Steel. The story goes that Lee told Mr. Schwab he could have the idea for free, but would appreciate some form of compensation if it proved beneficial to Schwab within three months. Apparently it worked, since Schwab later sent Lee a check for $25,000 and claimed it was the greatest productivity tool he’d ever seen.

Your Six Most Important Things

The Critical Six list is very different from tracking daily to-dos like catching up on email, follow-up calls, paying your bills, and other busy work. The Critical Six is only for those activities that will clearly move you in the direction of your dreams and goals. To get started, take out a single square Post-it note and think about what is most important to you. What is the one thing you could do today, that if you completed it, would move you in the direction of your dreams and goals? Write it down on the sticky note. What else is important for you to accomplish? Write that down.Keep adding to your list until you have a total of six items.

It’s vital to list no more than six things, since more than that will make your list hard to manage. Next, prioritize them in order of importance from one to six. Your Critical Six list is now ready to rock. Next you need to put it where you can see it as often as possible.

Using a small Post-it note makes it easy to place your list in a convenient location like your computer monitor or desk. You want something you can easily refer to throughout the day that will constantly remind you of your goals despite daily distractions and interruptions.

Why, When and How it Works

Make your list at the end of the day or right before you go to bed. This way you avoid spending time planning your day the next morning. The time it takes “planning to plan” really adds up over the course of a year, so don’t waste your precious early morning hours planning when you could be taking action. Instead, wake up, check your list and get going.

Start working on item number one until it gets done. Don’t do anything else on your list until that one thing is completed. Of course you’ll have interruptions throughout the day, so keep coming back to number one until you can check it off your list. And, because life often gets in the way when we’re making other plans, you may need more time to complete a given item than you have available in a single day. Don’t worry. Just keep coming back to that one thing until it’s done, as long as it is the top priority.

Don’t change your priorities unless doing so really will move you forward faster. It’s all about setting your general trajectory by staying on course and making little adjustments along the way.As each item is completed, move the others up in priority and add new ones to the bottom so you still have a total of six. At the end of each day update your list on a fresh sticky note for use the following day.

What’s On Your List?

To summarize, here’s how to execute your Critical Six list:

• At the end of the day or before you go to bed, take out your pad of sticky notes and write down the six things that will move you toward your goals and dreams. Only include six items per day – no more, no less.
• Prioritize each in order of importance: number one is the most important, followed by number two, etc. Start working on number one the first thing the following morning. Do not move on to item number two or any others until the first one is completed, even if you get distracted by other activities. The only time you would change the order is if you decide your priorities need to be adjusted. After all, it’s your life, your goals and your dreams.
• At the end of the day tally up all the items you’ve accomplished. If you have not yet completed number one your list will not change. If you have completed it and any others, move the remaining items up in priority to the top of the list and add new items until you have your next day’s Critical Six list.

This simple strategy could make a tremendous difference in your life. By staying focused and committed to your priorities, you will see tremendous changes over time that will help you move forward in the direction of your dreams and goals, all thanks to a humble little sticky note.