Comments for Michael VanDaniker http://michaelvandaniker.com/blog Flex and Information Visualization Fri, 21 Nov 2008 20:32:38 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.2 Comment on How to make heat maps in Flex by Glynis Key http://michaelvandaniker.com/blog/2008/07/06/how-to-make-heat-maps-in-flex/#comment-30 Glynis Key Wed, 12 Nov 2008 23:41:58 +0000 http://michaelvandaniker.com/blog/?p=4#comment-30 a1rqvawntdh6uyog a1rqvawntdh6uyog

]]> Comment on Adding hints to Flex 3 MXML tags by Michael http://michaelvandaniker.com/blog/2008/11/05/adding-hints-to-flex-3-mxml-tags/#comment-28 Michael Fri, 07 Nov 2008 00:53:52 +0000 http://michaelvandaniker.com/blog/?p=67#comment-28 ASDOC can only be used within the Script tag in MXML documents. My goal was to document the component/effect/state tags directly since they make up the meat of most MXML files (at least for me). ASDOC can only be used within the Script tag in MXML documents. My goal was to document the component/effect/state tags directly since they make up the meat of most MXML files (at least for me).

]]> Comment on Adding hints to Flex 3 MXML tags by Tom Chiverton http://michaelvandaniker.com/blog/2008/11/05/adding-hints-to-flex-3-mxml-tags/#comment-27 Tom Chiverton Thu, 06 Nov 2008 14:12:12 +0000 http://michaelvandaniker.com/blog/?p=67#comment-27 Why can't you use ASDOC comments for this ? Why can’t you use ASDOC comments for this ?

]]> Comment on Memory leak caused by setTimeout by Michael http://michaelvandaniker.com/blog/2008/09/05/memory-leak-caused-by-settimeout/#comment-16 Michael Thu, 25 Sep 2008 13:17:10 +0000 http://michaelvandaniker.com/blog/?p=47#comment-16 In this case one timer would definitely be enough. In the end I simplified things further by only having one instance of my command. When the timer ticks out I call execute again rather than re-dispatching the event. I just found is problematic that something that looked like it should have been garbage collected wasn't. In this case one timer would definitely be enough. In the end I simplified things further by only having one instance of my command. When the timer ticks out I call execute again rather than re-dispatching the event. I just found is problematic that something that looked like it should have been garbage collected wasn’t.

]]> Comment on Memory leak caused by setTimeout by lwz7512 http://michaelvandaniker.com/blog/2008/09/05/memory-leak-caused-by-settimeout/#comment-14 lwz7512 Wed, 17 Sep 2008 02:30:15 +0000 http://michaelvandaniker.com/blog/?p=47#comment-14 I think the local timer variable is the source of memory leak. var pollTimer:Timer you should turn it to a global variable, and the whole app has only one timer, one is enough! I think the local timer variable is the source of memory leak.

var pollTimer:Timer

you should turn it to a global variable, and the whole app has only one timer, one is enough!

]]> Comment on Memory leak caused by setTimeout by Michael http://michaelvandaniker.com/blog/2008/09/05/memory-leak-caused-by-settimeout/#comment-12 Michael Fri, 05 Sep 2008 14:04:33 +0000 http://michaelvandaniker.com/blog/?p=47#comment-12 You're right, Richard. Calling clearTimeout does allow the commands to become eligible for garbage collection. It's odd that this call is necessary to clear the references that are keeping it alive. Once a timeout ends, I would expect the player to do whatever clearTimeout is doing behind the scenes since that timeout won't be used again. Thank you for your suggestion. You’re right, Richard. Calling clearTimeout does allow the commands to become eligible for garbage collection. It’s odd that this call is necessary to clear the references that are keeping it alive. Once a timeout ends, I would expect the player to do whatever clearTimeout is doing behind the scenes since that timeout won’t be used again. Thank you for your suggestion.

]]> Comment on Memory leak caused by setTimeout by Richard Butler http://michaelvandaniker.com/blog/2008/09/05/memory-leak-caused-by-settimeout/#comment-11 Richard Butler Fri, 05 Sep 2008 07:12:22 +0000 http://michaelvandaniker.com/blog/?p=47#comment-11 Have you tried saving the timeout ID and then force clearing it using clearTimeout() in the poll() method? Does it still keep the instances in memory? Have you tried saving the timeout ID and then force clearing it using clearTimeout() in the poll() method? Does it still keep the instances in memory?

]]> Comment on How to make heat maps in Flex by Trygve http://michaelvandaniker.com/blog/2008/07/06/how-to-make-heat-maps-in-flex/#comment-8 Trygve Sat, 09 Aug 2008 06:14:54 +0000 http://michaelvandaniker.com/blog/?p=4#comment-8 I found my error. In the updateDisplayList() method, the following line [graphics.drawRect(0,0,width,height);] always contained zeros for height and width so the drawHeatMap() never made it through your first if statement. I had to hardcode the width and height for some reason. I tried stage.height & stage.width but that didn't work but I can figure that out later. However, I have a new question for you :-). I'm afraid I may not be able to use this example after all. Is there a way to allow this heat map to be semi-transparent over an image. I'm assuming that I need to start with the underlying image as part of the bitmap before I start the processing of the points...? Am I heading in the right direction? I feel like a kid swinging blindly at a piñata. Again, thanks for any help you may provide. I promise I'll stop spamming your blog soon. I found my error. In the updateDisplayList() method, the following line [graphics.drawRect(0,0,width,height);] always contained zeros for height and width so the drawHeatMap() never made it through your first if statement. I had to hardcode the width and height for some reason. I tried stage.height & stage.width but that didn’t work but I can figure that out later.

However, I have a new question for you :-). I’m afraid I may not be able to use this example after all. Is there a way to allow this heat map to be semi-transparent over an image. I’m assuming that I need to start with the underlying image as part of the bitmap before I start the processing of the points…? Am I heading in the right direction? I feel like a kid swinging blindly at a piñata.

Again, thanks for any help you may provide. I promise I’ll stop spamming your blog soon.

]]> Comment on How to make heat maps in Flex by Trygve http://michaelvandaniker.com/blog/2008/07/06/how-to-make-heat-maps-in-flex/#comment-7 Trygve Sat, 09 Aug 2008 00:55:53 +0000 http://michaelvandaniker.com/blog/?p=4#comment-7 Thank you so much for responding! I hope I'm not bothering you with too many questions but I'm new to AS3 (although I have a strong programming background in Java and .NET). Can you help me understand how to render the heatBitmapData to the stage? I noticed the overloaded methods [commitProperties()] and [updateDisplayList()] however I'm assuming those are part of the UIComponent class. (I just removed the override). I added a few lines to the constructor of HeatMap to create some points in my array and replaced the _dataProvider with this points array in commitProperties(). Then I simply tried to call the commitProperties() and then the updateDisplayList() which in turn calls the drawHeatMap() method. The fla compiles fine but I don't think I'm adding anything to the stage (just a blank white stage when I debug). I thought I would need an addChild(...?) to add it to the display list. I only want to run through the points and display the map once (meaning I don't need to do it to loop on an enter frame event). I hope I'm doing a good enough job explaining myself. I could provide the source changes I made if that would help you understand my question. I know how difficult and time consuming it can be to try to help every person who may contact you so I understand if you're unable to assist me. Any help you can provide will be greatly appreciated. Thanks. Thank you so much for responding!

I hope I’m not bothering you with too many questions but I’m new to AS3 (although I have a strong programming background in Java and .NET). Can you help me understand how to render the heatBitmapData to the stage? I noticed the overloaded methods [commitProperties()] and [updateDisplayList()] however I’m assuming those are part of the UIComponent class. (I just removed the override).

I added a few lines to the constructor of HeatMap to create some points in my array and replaced the _dataProvider with this points array in commitProperties(). Then I simply tried to call the commitProperties() and then the updateDisplayList() which in turn calls the drawHeatMap() method.

The fla compiles fine but I don’t think I’m adding anything to the stage (just a blank white stage when I debug). I thought I would need an addChild(…?) to add it to the display list. I only want to run through the points and display the map once (meaning I don’t need to do it to loop on an enter frame event).

I hope I’m doing a good enough job explaining myself. I could provide the source changes I made if that would help you understand my question. I know how difficult and time consuming it can be to try to help every person who may contact you so I understand if you’re unable to assist me.

Any help you can provide will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

]]> Comment on How to make heat maps in Flex by Michael http://michaelvandaniker.com/blog/2008/07/06/how-to-make-heat-maps-in-flex/#comment-6 Michael Fri, 08 Aug 2008 12:36:47 +0000 http://michaelvandaniker.com/blog/?p=4#comment-6 Trygve: The core of HeatMap is the drawHeatMap method, and that should be easy to replicate in AS3 without using the Flex framework classes. HeatMap could extend Sprite instead of UIComponent and dataProvider could be an Array instead of an ArrayCollection. You'll lose the IInvalidating methods, but you can redraw the heat map onEnterFrame instead. If you're not coding in AS at all, you'll just need to replicate drawHeatMap using your language's bitmap utilities. Trygve: The core of HeatMap is the drawHeatMap method, and that should be easy to replicate in AS3 without using the Flex framework classes. HeatMap could extend Sprite instead of UIComponent and dataProvider could be an Array instead of an ArrayCollection. You’ll lose the IInvalidating methods, but you can redraw the heat map onEnterFrame instead. If you’re not coding in AS at all, you’ll just need to replicate drawHeatMap using your language’s bitmap utilities.

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