Posted in Flash AS 3.0 | December 13th, 2009 No Comments »
Man Flash can be annoying sometimes. So I’m showing some settings as a list, like
Item: value1
Item Two: value2
Item Three: value3
And the client asks if we can align the values vertically, and thinking like a programmer who likes to keep his code clean I’m thinking «Sure, that shouldn’t be a problem, I’ll just add some \t’s to the XML file and we should be all set,» but all that comes out is, “Sure, should only take a few minutes to add.”
So I add some \t’s to the XML and what does flash do with them, it prints out all literal backslashes and ts.
SO then what? Well I was being lazy and specifying xml.node not xml.node.text() to get the text values. Switching it does nothing. So then I start tracing things and looking around the Goog. Finally it becomes apparent that Flash is urlencoding the XML text in the background when processing it, and when it urldecodes it, some things are kept that shouldn’t be, like all escaped string characters that would normally not print.
Oh yeah, condenseWhite was false.
So I start with just doing a simple replace(/\\t/g, “!!!!”) to find out if I can even find the damn things, and I get no exclamation marks… or dirty words. Then a forum entry that was so buried I haven’t even found it again to link to, suggested using unescape(xml.node.text()) for a close, but ultimately unrelated problem.
To make a long story short here’s the solution:
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| var tabs:RegExp = /\\t/g;
var newlines:RegExp = /\\n/g;
txt.htmlText = unescape(wagerText).replace(tabs, "\t").replace(newlines, "\n"); |
Go figure right?
As always if anyone has a better solution I’m all ears, or at least all comment-reading… eventually.
Posted in electronics | December 12th, 2009 No Comments »
On our almost bi-weekly visit to the Goodwill store nearby, I found the Best Boombox yet. Feast your eyes on this:


That’s right, a Ghetto Blaster with a turntable!
It’s no SHARP VZ-2500, but still I only paid $7.99 for it (plus tax), and it’s even featured on Engadget. Anyway I’m working on a modular plan to add iPod functionality to it like some other boomboxes I’m working on, but not the tape adapter rout, something that connects directly to the amp IC. Details coming soon.
Posted in interaction design, javascript | October 24th, 2009 No Comments »
So it’s a difficult problem when you’re designing a form that has a lot of time inputs (the one I’m thinking of has up to 4 including a time range). There is the usual, one time box, and an AM/PM dropdown, but that requires typing then clicking, and feels too tedious, especially the 3rd time.
Then there is the huge dropdown of times, which isn’t too bad for just hours, with which you end up with 24 options, but when you add quarter hours you get 100 items in a huge scrolling dropdown (scrolling dropdowns in themselves can be dubious to some users).
So I did some looking around and found the following options the first of which isn’t the fastest to use, and doesn’t require the least clicks, but was the most consistent with other elements on the page, and also seemed to have the most development behind it, and I ended up using in my current project.
- http://pttimeselect.sourceforge.net/example/ (I think this is the cleanest, and works the best next to the date picker, because it looks the same. though it’s not the fastest or most efficient, but I think it’s the most developed.)
- http://milesich.com/tpdemo/ (ok but a little overwhelming possibly to some people because of the + the done button that needs to be pressed)
- http://labs.perifer.se/timedatepicker/ (this is probably the simplest option, but like I said, 100 might be a pain for some users)
- http://haineault.com/media/jquery/ui-timepickr/page/ (while my wife used it fine on the first try, it wasn’t scientific because I didn’t give her a specific time to set.)
- http://www.jnathanson.com/index.cfm?page=jquery/clockpick/ClockPick (OK but a little less intuitive than timepickr)
- http://www.radoslavdimov.com/jquery-plugins/jquery-plugin-timepicker/ (kinda ok, like a time only version of the second option, but sideways, I’m not sure how well AM/PM works because there isn’t an example)
- http://keith-wood.name/timeEntry.html (neat but totally hard to use until you realize its keyboard-arrow-key driven, oops I gave it away)
I think my dream selector would actually be more like this most excellent timer widget for OS X that I use almost every day called Minutes. You’d just grab it and spin around until you have the time you want, then let go to set. Anyway when I have a project with a better budget then I’ll maybe make that version…
Posted in Arduino | September 28th, 2009 No Comments »
Sorry got totally distracted by a box in the basement with some PS2 Intellimouse parts in it this weekend. I’ll have those Box2D shortcuts updated soon, promise.
Anyway if you’d like to get a PS2 Microsoft Intellimouse with wheel fully working with a current (Diecimila or newer) Arduino here’s the corrected code:
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| /**
* Code is a mix of ps2mouse from the Arduino playground
* and mousewheel code from "a world in dk" modified to
* work with Arduino Decimilia and 0017, and run a PS2
* Microsoft Intellimouse.
*
* Collin Reidorf collin@paperclipped.com
* Repaired http://blowingthroughlines.com
*/
/*
* an arduino sketch to interface with a ps/2 mouse.
* Also uses serial protocol to talk back to the host
* and report what it finds.
*/
/*
* Pin 5 is the mouse data pin, pin 6 is the clock pin
* Feel free to use whatever pins are convenient.
*/
#define MDATA 5
#define MCLK 6
/*
* according to some code I saw, these functions will
* correctly set the mouse clock and data pins for
* various conditions.
*/
void gohi(int pin)
{
pinMode(pin, INPUT);
digitalWrite(pin, HIGH);
}
void golo(int pin)
{
pinMode(pin, OUTPUT);
digitalWrite(pin, LOW);
}
/* PRECONDITION : clock is HIGH */
/* sends a single bit and returns with clock high */
void sendBit(char bit)
{
if (bit) {
gohi(MDATA);
}
else {
golo(MDATA);
}
/* wait for clock cycle */
while (digitalRead(MCLK) == LOW)
;
while (digitalRead(MCLK) == HIGH)
;
}
/* reads a single bit and returns with clock low */
char readBit()
{
char tmp = 0x00;
while (digitalRead(MCLK) == HIGH)
;
if (digitalRead(MDATA) == HIGH)
tmp = 0x01;
while (digitalRead(MCLK) == LOW)
;
return tmp;
}
void mouse_write(char data)
{
char i;
char parity = 1;
/* put pins in output mode */
gohi(MDATA);
gohi(MCLK);
delayMicroseconds(300);
golo(MCLK);
delayMicroseconds(300);
golo(MDATA);
delayMicroseconds(10);
/* start bit */
gohi(MCLK);
/* wait for mouse to take control of clock); */
sendBit(0);
/* clock is low, and we are clear to send data */
for (i=0; i < 8; i++) {
sendBit(data & 0x01);
parity = parity ^ (data & 0x01); // might not need this anymore but too lazy to test...
data = data >> 1;
}
/* parity */
sendBit(parity);
/* stop bit */
sendBit(1);
/* wait for mouse to switch modes */
while ((digitalRead(MCLK) == LOW) || (digitalRead(MDATA) == LOW))
;
/* put a hold on the incoming data. */
golo(MCLK);
}
/*
* Get a byte of data from the mouse
*/
char mouse_read(void)
{
char data = 0x00;
int i;
char bit = 0x01;
// Serial.print("reading byte from mouse\n");
/* start the clock */
gohi(MCLK);
gohi(MDATA);
delayMicroseconds(50);
readBit();
// delayMicroseconds(5); /* not sure why */ // and not evidently needed
for (i=0; i < 8; i++) { // read the bits
data = data | (readBit()<<i);
}
/* eat parity bit, which we ignore */
readBit();
/* eat stop bit */
readBit();
/* put a hold on the incoming data. */
golo(MCLK);
return data;
}
// for the mousewheel
// #define verbose // for verbose output
unsigned char msInitSequence[7]; // should go up on top when ready
char writeAndGetResponse(char data) {
// #ifdef verbose
// Serial.print("sending : ");
// Serial.print((unsigned char)data, HEX);
// Serial.print("\t");
// #endif
mouse_write( data );
return response();
}
char response() {
char data = mouse_read();
// #ifdef verbose
// Serial.print("echo ");
// Serial.print((unsigned char)data, HEX);
// Serial.print(" from mouse\n");
// #endif
return data;
}
//
void msMode() {
// sequence for ms mode (3 button + scroll)
// this is a entering procedure and i guess it will
// work with other mice/ICs as its problably stadard ps2
// And using an array were just a quick way to handle them
msInitSequence[0] =0xF3;
msInitSequence[1] =0xC8;
msInitSequence[2] =0xF3;
msInitSequence[3] =0x64;
msInitSequence[4] =0xF3;
msInitSequence[5] =0x50;
msInitSequence[6] =0xF2;
int i;
for(i=0;i<7;i++)
writeAndGetResponse(msInitSequence[i]);
}
// end of mousewheel stuff
void showMStat(char mstat)
{
int i;
char bit = 0x01;
for(i = 0; i<8; i++)
{
if(mstat&bit)
{
Serial.print("\t");
switch(i)
{
case 0:
Serial.print("L");
break;
case 1:
Serial.print("R");
break;
case 2:
Serial.print("M");
break;
case 3:
// Serial.print(" Reserve ...\t");
break;
case 4:
// Serial.print(" X data negative \t");
break;
case 5:
// Serial.print("Y data negative \t");
break;
case 6:
Serial.print("X data overflow");
break;
case 7:
Serial.print("Y data overflow");
break;
}
}
bit = bit<<1;
}
}
void mouse_init()
{
gohi(MCLK);
gohi(MDATA);
// Serial.print("Sending reset to mouse\n");
mouse_write(0xff);
mouse_read(); /* ack byte */
// Serial.print("Read ack byte1\n");
mouse_read(); /* blank */
mouse_read(); /* blank */
msMode(); // mousewheel code
// Serial.print("Sending remote mode code\n");
mouse_write(0xf0); /* remote mode */
mouse_read(); /* ack */
// Serial.print("Read ack byte2\n");
delayMicroseconds(100);
}
void setup()
{
Serial.begin(9600);
mouse_init();
}
/*
* get a reading from the mouse and report it back to the
* host via the serial line.
*/
void loop()
{
char mstat;
char mx;
char my;
char mz;
/* get a reading from the mouse */
writeAndGetResponse(0xEB); /* give me data! */
mstat = mouse_read();
mx = mouse_read();
my = mouse_read();
mz = mouse_read();
/* send the data back up */
Serial.print("\tmouse status=");
Serial.print(mstat, BIN);
Serial.print("\tX=");
Serial.print(mx, DEC);
Serial.print("\tY=");
Serial.print(my, DEC);
Serial.print("\tZ=");
Serial.print(mz, DEC);
showMStat(mstat); // print buttons that are down
Serial.println();
delay(20); /* twiddle */
} |
Based on code from The Arduino Playground which also shows the pinouts (where the black and white drawing is the female connector’s pintout, the pins on the mouse itself are a mirror image, like in the blurry photo below) and more code from A world in dk(decay/denmark).
Posted in Bugs, Flash AS 3.0, Flex 3 | September 28th, 2009 No Comments »
So first off, NEVER use this most lazy of hacks to reference the flash object when calling a method in a flash file:
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| // some code
function test() {
flashID.ner("hello"); // BAAAAAAD!
} |
For some reason it works… Some of the time. On Safari when testing running from Flex. On my Mac.
I was being lazy and not really thinking back to how things work in Javascript at the time, then having recently started using Jquery, I tried:
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| // some code
function test() {
var flashMovie = $('#flashID');
flashMovie.ner("hello"); // ALSO BAAAAAAD!
} |
Also doesn’t work, for some reason Jquery removes the methods associated with the embed tag that is written, and replaces them with only the Jquery methods. So in order for this to work the code needs to be simply:
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| function test() {
var flashMovie = document.getElementByID("flashID");
flashMovie.ner("hello"); // FINALLY! It worked.
} |