New and updated samples are posted: TLFSamples-734110.zip
These samples include the complete source to the TextLayout editor that was posted in on Adobe labs over one year ago. The editor and samples are all updated to the latest TLF version.
The samples include instructions for building them.
Anirudh Sasikumar of the Adobe Flex Evangelism team created an amazing app called “Readefine” that demonstrates the power of the Text Layout Framework. Readefine imports any HTML, RSS feed, or plain text data and displays it as organized multi-column TLF text adjusted for readability.
URL here: http://readefine.anirudhsasikumar.net
Be sure to check it out. Great work, Anirudh!
Introduction
The goal of this post is to give some information on TLF Markup. There is no DTD or other schema available at this time.
TLF Markup is converted to and from TextFlows using the TextConverter class. See the examples.
The attributes for TLF Markup are documented online and in the TextLayoutFormat class page bundled with the Flex 4 documentation. Get the documentation appropriate to the build you downloaded gumbo from here. Select the download from the “Language Reference Download” column.
Elements
The elements in TLF markup are all in the flashx.textLayout.elements package. This table maps elements to TLF classes and lists their allowed children.
| XML Tag | AS3 Class | Allowed Children Elements/Notes |
|---|---|---|
| TextFlow | TextFlow | div, p, tcy, a, img, span, br, tab, format, linkNormalFormat, linkHoverFormat, linkActiveFormat, and raw text |
| div | DivElement | div, p, tcy, a, img, span, br, tab, linkNormalFormat, linkHoverFormat, linkActiveFormat, and raw text |
| p | ParagraphElement | tcy, a, img, span, br, tab, linkNormalFormat, linkHoverFormat, linkActiveFormat, and raw text |
| a | LinkElement | tcy, img, span, br, tab, linkNormalFormat, linkHoverFormat, linkActiveFormat, and raw text |
| linkNormalFormat | TextLayoutFormat | attributes overrides for link in normal state. |
| linkActiveFormat | TextLayoutFormat | attributes overrides for link in active state. |
| linkHoverFormat | TextLayoutFormat | attributes overrides for link in hover state. |
| tcy | TCYElement | a, img, span, br, tab, linkNormalFormat, linkHoverFormat, linkActiveFormat, and raw text |
| img | InlineGraphicElement | none allowed. see docs for additional attributes |
| span | SpanElement | br, tab and raw text |
| br | BreakElement | none allowed. Is normalized into a newline character by importer. |
| tab | TabElement | none allowed. Is normalized into a tab character by importer. |
Today we’re making the announcement that the Text Layout Framework is being released as open source technology. We’re very excited about opening our hard work to the world and can’t wait to see your feedback and contributions!
We’re releasing the source code and accepting new code as part of the Flex bugbase with a specific TLF tag. More information on the Flex bugbase and contributing to TLF can be found on our new open source web page at: http://opensource.adobe.com/wiki/display/tlf/Text+Layout+Framework
Find out more on the announcement from the following sources:
Tom Barclay wrote on the Flash Platform blog about TLF and Open Source Media Framework announcement, including highlighting some of the excellent technology already powered by TLF:
http://blogs.adobe.com/flashplatform/
Dave McAllister describes the Open@Adobe strategy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNzrn8-JFSE
An excellent tutorial on how to use the Text Layout Framwork with MXML tags was written by Elad Elrom on InsideRIA. This is great info for anyone looking to use TLF in Flex! Check it out here:
Adobe just released a preview of Acrobat.com Presentations, a new online service that lets people easily create and collaborate on presentations. The Text Layout Framework is used for all the text objects in the slides. Here is what Norman Stratton of the Presentations team had to say about his experience with TLF:
Be sure to check out the preview on Adobe Labs: http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/presentations
Be sure to check out today’s release of the AIR-based New York Times Reader:
http://www.nytimes.com/timesreader
The NYT Reader was built using Adobe AIR and the Text Layout Framework. It is one of the most innovative uses of TLF we have seen and we’re proud to have it as the largest showcase of TLF and text in Flash Player 10 to date! It is an excellent demonstration of TLF’s reflowing text, multiple columns/containers, and top notch typography features.
Want a peek inside the development of the Reader application? Check out issue #4 of Adobe XD’s Inspire publication: http://xd.adobe.com/
For those wondering why an updated Text Layout Component for Flash Professional CS4 is not being posted with our new weekly builds, here is some info:
We no longer plan on updating the Text Layout Component for Adobe Flash CS4 Professional on Adobe Labs. Instead future versions of Adobe Flash Professional will integrate many of the Text Layout Framework features.
Feel free to comment with any questions on this update!
Our Adobe Labs page has been updated to include weekly builds. A new build will be posted every Friday containing the latest and greatest in Text Layout Framework features and bug fixes. See the new download page here.
Some notes on the builds:
While we will be vetting builds before we post them, please remember that they are development builds. They have not been thoroughly tested and should be regarded as unstable. As these builds are being released separately from Flex Gumbo, they are not guaranteed to integrate correctly with Gumbo.
Enjoy! We look forward to your contributions and feedback in our development process!
Veronique Brossier has posted an article on the Flash Text Engine over on InsideRIA. The Text Layout Framework is built on top of the Flash Text Engine. This is an excellent read for anyone interested in text in Flash Player 10!
Check it out here: http://www.insideria.com/2009/03/flash-text-engine.html
