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Hi everyone,
Today we shipped public beta 2 of Flex 4 and Flash Builder 4 on Adobe Labs. Even though it's kind of been a moving target, we have a pretty full set of learning resources and I'd like to take a minute to lay them out for you.

As before, you should start by reading the introductions from our Product Managers:

• Matt Chotin's intro to Flex 4


• Tim Buntel's intro to Flash Builder 4

Also, if you are a Flex 3 customer, you should read Joan Lafferty's Differences between Flex 3 SDK and Flex 4 SDK beta article, which (as of today) has more information than the Features and Migration guide.

Although we still have a lot of work to do, we've provided a fairly rich set of beta documentation.

• Using Adobe Flex 4 (PDF) - Flex SDK and Framework usage content. This book combines the Flex Developer's Guide, Creating and Extending Flex Components, and Building and Deploying Flex Applications.


• Using Adobe Flash Builder 4 ((PDF)) - Flash Builder usage content


• Adobe Flex 4 Tutorials (PDF) - Tutorials to help you get started with new Flex 4 and Flash Builder 4 features.


• Accessing Data with Flex (PDF)- Usage content for data access in Flex. Includes information on new Flash Builder data service features. (Formerly Creating Data-Driven Applications with Adobe Flex 4.)


• Adobe Flex 4 Feature and Migration (PDF-only)


• Flex 4 ActionScript Language Reference

Also, we have a few new things in Beta 2:

• ActionScript 3.0 Reference for the Adobe Flash Platform (Beta) - Contains all ActionScript 3.0 APIs for all Adobe products. I'm very excited by this and will blog more about it in a few days.


• Flex 4 in a Week (Beta) - A Flex 4 version of the popular Flex in a Week video series.


• Adobe Community Help beta on Adobe Labs - A preview of Adobe's next-generation help experience. This beta release is configured to work with Flash Builder and Flash Catalyst content. I strongly encourage you to try this out.

And, as always, I need to acknowledge and thank the Flex Learning Resources team: Erich Champion, Janice Campbell, Linda Adler, Matt Horn, Pam Araki, Shimi Rahim, Stephen Gilson, and Vince Genovese. I also need to thank Akshay Madan, Mark Nichoson, Laura Kersell, Helen Whelan, and Tanya Knoop for all the work they put into the Adobe Community Help client and the Labs Beta release.

Regards,
Randy Nielsen

We've generated a new set of docs for the Beta release of Flex 4 and Flash Builder 4.

When checking out the Beta documentation, notice that the TOC of the docs has been reorganized to make it easier to find topics. Of course, your feedback on the organization and content of the docs is always welcome.

The Flex 4 Beta Language Reference is also available online.

If you want to refresh the docs in your installation of Flash Builder, download flex4_beta_help_refresh.zip (26MB). In the Flash Builder help plugin directory, replace the html folder and toc.xml file with the contents in this file.

Here is the path to the Flash Builder help plugin directory:

<InstallDir>/Flash Builder Beta/plugins/com.adobe.flexbuilder.help_4.0.0.235740/

I want to tell you about Blueprint, which we released on Adobe Labs last week and just last night updated to include support for Mac, Windows, Flex Builder 3, and Flash Builder 4.

Blueprint is an innovative code-centric search application, initially delivered as an Eclipse plug-in. It is a custom search tool that searches only for code (for now, it searches just for MXML and ActionScript). So, for example, if you search for DataGrid, it returns a set of code examples that use the Flex DataGrid control. But what's really cool is that you can easily highlight, copy, and paste chunks of code right into your application, all without leaving Flex/Flash Builder.

For more information, see the Blueprint page on Adobe Labs

Here is new documentation on Flex Gumbo view states, including the new syntax for defining states in Gumbo.

Download the PDF: Using States

Here is new documentation on Flex Gumbo effects. You can use these effects with all Flex components.

Download the PDF:Using Spark Effects