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The Version 2 Component Architecture - An Overview

This article introduces the Version 2 Component Architecture and discusses a lot of concepts that a component developer using this architecture should be familiar with. When building components in Flash MX 2004, you have the option of basing them on Version 2 of the Macromedia Component Architecture (V2 Architecture) or the traditional MovieClip class. Building components using the V2 framework and base classes is important if you want to make sure they are compatible with Macromedia’s own components. Another benefit of using the V2 base classes is that Macromedia has invested a lot of effort in building a time-saving component architecture. The majority of small nuances that are common when building components are taken care of by the architecture, which allows you to focus on a component’s functionality. For developers new to Flash, they will find working with the V2 component architecture more natural than dealing with MovieClip’s directly like was the case in Flash MX.

NOTE : This article was written for build 2.0.0.377 of the component architecture. It is important to check which version of the architecture you are working with. If you happen to be working with a newer version of the architecture you may find some information has changed. This version of the component architecture is what is available provided with Flash MX 2004 (7.0.0 and 7.0.1)

Base Classes of the Component Architecture: UIObject and UIComponent

The Version 2 Architecture has two important base classes: mx.core.UIObject and mx.core.UIComponent .

UIObject is a subclass of MovieClip. It includes most of the functionality of the framework. UIComponent is a subclass of UIObject. UIComponent is the class that we would usually use when building components.

This tutorial will start by introducing UIObject and then move on to discussing the UIComponent class. Since most of the implementation by UIObject is inherited as is by UIComponent, a good knowledge of UIObject is crucial to understanding UIComponent and the V2 component framework.

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