Chapter 11: Component Extras

Overview

Now that you've made a component of your own, you might start to see a few things that you'd like to customize. For example, the user interface Macromedia provides to change the parameters of a component is quite drab and counterproductive. Fortunately, Flash allows you to create an SWF that you can use to replace the default UI.

In this chapter, we'll explore of few of the extras that you can use with an already existing component-things that will give it a professional flair. These include custom user interfaces, custom component icons, live previews, and component packaging for Macromedia's Extension Manager. The idea is to make using components as intuitive as possible, and to take away a few of the confusing aspects of working with components.

This chapter wraps up most of the knowledge you will need for component creation. Although all features we discuss here are purely optional, you should carefully consider adding some elements to any component you create. Anything you can do to ease working with your component will be very useful in the long run.

• Understanding custom user interfaces

• Designing a custom UI

• Creating a custom icon

• Component live previews

• Packaging components for release