Technology Lesson: 9

Showing posts with label 9. Show all posts

Tuesday, March 10, 2015

What I learned about agile teams from 8 9 year old girls basketball

I am a very fortunate daddy. I am one of the coaches for my eldest daughters basketball team. The community league she plays in has a rule designed to promote team work that at first glance may seem counter intuitive - "No double teaming". This means that in most circumstances when playing defense each girl must cover her own check and can not help out her teammate. To explain this a little more, Ill give you two examples.

Example 1 - double teaming:

Mary is new to basketball and is tentatively dribbling the ball over half court. Ann is playing defense on Mary and is doing a pretty good job of limiting where Mary can go and who she can pass to. Laura is a very strong player on Anns team and notices that Mary is struggling and that she has an opportunity to make a play. Laura leaves her own check, runs over to Mary (who is now double teamed), steals the ball and races to her own basket where she scores an easy two points. Her team cheers loudly.

Example 2 - helping:

Amber is an experienced basketball player and is dribbling the ball over half court. Kari is playing defense on Amber but is having trouble limiting where Amber can go and who she can pass to. Deanna is a very strong player on Karis team, but because she is not allowed to double team, she does not immediately race over to help Kari. Amber makes a quick move that allows her to get past Kari and race towards the basket. At this point, Kari knows she is in trouble and yells help. Deanna races over and gets in front of Amber to slow her down just enough so that Kari can catch up. Once Kari has caught up, Deanna races back to her own check and Kari resumes playing defense on Amber. No baskets are scored and mild applause is heard.

The nature of community led basketball leagues is that there is a combination of inexperienced but willing coaches and inexperienced but willing referees. This means that most times example 1 occurs without the ref or the coach interfering. While our team has been mostly executing as example 2, many of the teams we play against have been executing mostly as example 1.

Over the course of the season, the result has been interesting. Teams that were beating us at the beginning of the season by taking full advantage of the skills of their best player through double teaming are now struggling to even have a chance to score against our girls. The girls on those teams are trying just as hard, but the double teaming strategy that worked so well early in the season is no longer effective.

We have a team of 10 girls who have each improved. Some of the girls are more skilled than others, but each girl has improved noticably from the beginning of the season. The net effect is that our team has also improved noticably from the beginning of the season. Maybe more importantly, this team supports each other, learns from each other, and trusts each other.

Note: It would be easy to credit our brilliant coaching strategy, but that would clearly discount the effort, teamwork, and skill of the girls on our team. They are a wonderful group.

The parallels for agile teams are pretty clear to me. If you expect your team to perform at a high level, you need to let them improve at every role and reinforce team ownership of the project.

If you are the PM, dont take sole responsibility of the budget, tasks, project goals etc. Make these visible to your team and help your team own them and make decisions about tasks and priorities together.
If you are the DBA, dont get upset when the database design is insufficient, teach the team how to improve their design the first time. Work with them rather than fixing their work later.
If you are a tester, dont assume full responsibility for testing, teach your team how to be better testers by testing every day and pair testing with the developers.
If you are the UI expert, involve your team when designing the UI. Lead the exercise, but dont steal the design for yourself.

Of course, the converse of all of these is also true:

If you are a developer, take responsibility for the budget and priorities
If you are a tester, learn how to code a little
etc.

There are other lessons to be learned from 8/9 year old girls basketball, like how to ask for help when you need it, but those are for another day.

Occasionally I meet former co-workers who inevitably ask me what Im doing. When I announce my agile and lean passions and talk even briefly about the differences between traditional teams and agile teams, I often am greeted with a response something like "But someone still has to manage the team and the budget right?" My answer is usually "Yes, but it doesnt need to be you anymore. It should be the whole team."

As the African proverb says, "If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together."

KirSizer Flex AIR Image Sizer app Part 9

In this tutorial we will calculate the new width and height of pictures after resizing and log them.

Before we do that, lets add 2 buttons to the last NavigatorObject first. The buttons labels are "Save error log" and "Return". Well only give functionality for the second button first, and that is redirect the user to the first view state:

<s:NavigatorContent width="100%" height="100%" hideEffect="fadeOut" showEffect="fadeIn">
<s:VGroup width="280" height="440" top="10" left="10">
<s:Label width="100%" color="0xff3333" fontWeight="bold">Do not add, remove or rename selected files.</s:Label>
<mx:ProgressBar id="progressBar" width="100%" mode="manual" label="Resizing %1/%2" color="0xffffff" />
<s:TextArea id="logArea" editable="false" width="100%" height="100%" />
<s:HGroup>
<s:Button id="buttonError" label="Save error log" width="136" />
<s:Button id="buttonReturn" label="Return" click="contentStack.selectedIndex = 0;" width="136" />
</s:HGroup>
</s:VGroup>
</s:NavigatorContent>

You can see that I have given the buttons ids buttonError and buttonReturn. I set their enabled properties to false in beginResize() function in the if (canProceed) statement:

if (canProceed) {
contentStack.selectedIndex = 3;
var timer:Timer = new Timer(400, 1);
timer.addEventListener(TimerEvent.TIMER_COMPLETE, onTimer);
timer.start();
function onTimer(evt:TimerEvent):void {
buttonError.enabled = false;
buttonReturn.enabled = false;
logArea.text = "";
logArea.appendText("Beginning resizing of " + totalFiles + " files...
");
currentNum = 0;
totalErrors = 0;
resizeNext();
}
}

And to false in nextAction() if it was the last file:

private function nextAction():void {
if (currentNum < totalFiles) {
resizeNext();
}else {
logArea.appendText("Operation complete!");
buttonError.enabled = true;
buttonReturn.enabled = true;
}
}

Now lets go to resizeNext function and edit what we have right now. At the moment, in the if (canProceed) statement we create a timer and start it. Lets instead create a Loader object and load the current image. When the image is loaded, we start the timer:

if (canProceed) {
loader = new Loader();
loader.contentLoaderInfo.addEventListener(Event.COMPLETE, onLoadComplete);
loader.load(new URLRequest(file.url));
}

function onLoadComplete(evt:Event):void {
var timer:Timer = new Timer(500, 1);
timer.addEventListener(TimerEvent.TIMER_COMPLETE, onTimer);
timer.start();
}

In the onTimer() function, lets add the code that will be responsible for changing sizes of the images. We check the actionCombos selectedIndex to find out how exactly we are going to resize the images. We need to keep in mind that the user can choose to use pixels or percentages.

If its the first action thats selected, we simply and strictly apply the sizes. If its the second action, we create a ratio variable that stores the proportions values and after setting width strictly, we calculate height. If its the third action, we do it the other way around - set height and calculate width. If the last action option is chosen, we first set width to the limit, then apply new height value with proportions kept, and then we check if the height is greater than the limit. If it is, we set height to the limit value and set new width value using proportions.

function onTimer(evt:TimerEvent):void {
// new name
var newName:String = nameInput.text.replace("%initialName%", file.name.substr(0, file.name.lastIndexOf(.)));
newName = newName.replace("%num%", currentNum);

// new extension
var newExtension:String;
if (formatCombo.selectedIndex == 0) newExtension = file.extension;
if (formatCombo.selectedIndex == 1) newExtension = "jpg";
if (formatCombo.selectedIndex == 2) newExtension = "png";

// new size
var currentW:int = loader.content.width;
var currentH:int = loader.content.height;
var newW:int;
var newH:int;
var ratio:Number;

if (actionCombo.selectedIndex == 0) {
if (widthMeasure.selectedIndex == 0) newW = newWidth.value/100 * currentW;
if (widthMeasure.selectedIndex == 1) newW = newWidth.value;
if (heightMeasure.selectedIndex == 0) newH = newHeight.value/100 * currentH;
if (heightMeasure.selectedIndex == 1) newH = newHeight.value;
}

if (actionCombo.selectedIndex == 1) {
ratio = currentW / currentH;
if (widthMeasure.selectedIndex == 0) newW = newWidth.value/100 * currentW;
if (widthMeasure.selectedIndex == 1) newW = newWidth.value;
newH = newW / ratio;
}

if (actionCombo.selectedIndex == 2) {
ratio = currentW / currentH;
if (heightMeasure.selectedIndex == 0) newH = newHeight.value/100 * currentH;
if (heightMeasure.selectedIndex == 1) newH = newHeight.value;
newW = newH * ratio;
}

if (actionCombo.selectedIndex == 3) {
ratio = currentW / currentH;
newW = newWidth.value;
newH = newW / ratio;
if (newH > newHeight.value) {
newH = newHeight.value;
newW = ratio * newH;
}
}

// log
logArea.appendText("Resized from " + currentW + "x" + currentH + " to " + newW + "x" + newH + "
");
logArea.appendText("Renamed to " + newName + "." + newExtension + "
");

nextAction();
}

Now lets also go to actionChange() function, which is called when an action option is chosen in the combo box, and add a separate "case" block for the third selected index and here we will set the newWidth and newHeight combo boxes enabled properties to false. We also set their selectedIndex to 1. This way the fourth action option will only work with pixel values, and thats exactly what we need.

private function actionChange():void{
switch (actionCombo.selectedIndex) {
case 0:
newWidth.enabled = true;
widthMeasure.enabled = true;
newHeight.enabled = true;
heightMeasure.enabled = true;
break;
case 1:
newWidth.enabled = true;
widthMeasure.enabled = true;
newHeight.enabled = false;
heightMeasure.enabled = false;
break;
case 2:
newWidth.enabled = false;
widthMeasure.enabled = false;
newHeight.enabled = true;
heightMeasure.enabled = true;
break;
case 3:
newWidth.enabled = true;
widthMeasure.enabled = false;
newHeight.enabled = true;
heightMeasure.enabled = false;
widthMeasure.selectedIndex = 1;
heightMeasure.selectedIndex = 1;
}
}

Full code:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<s:WindowedApplication xmlns:fx="http://ns.adobe.com/mxml/2009"
xmlns:s="library://ns.adobe.com/flex/spark"
xmlns:mx="library://ns.adobe.com/flex/mx"
width="300" height="460" 
showStatusBar="false" title="KirSizer" creationComplete="init();">
   
<fx:Declarations>
<mx:ArrayCollection id="measures">
<fx:String>%</fx:String>
<fx:String>px</fx:String>
</mx:ArrayCollection>
<mx:ArrayCollection id="actions">
<fx:String>Fixed width, fixed height</fx:String>
<fx:String>Fixed width, proportional height</fx:String>
<fx:String>Proportional width, fixed height</fx:String>
<fx:String>Proportional sizes to fit specified sizes</fx:String>
</mx:ArrayCollection>
<mx:ArrayCollection id="formats">
<fx:String>Same format as initial file</fx:String>
<fx:String>Convert all to JPG</fx:String>
<fx:String>Convert all to PNG</fx:String>
</mx:ArrayCollection>
<mx:Fade id="fadeIn" alphaFrom="0" alphaTo="1" duration="300"/>
<mx:Fade id="fadeOut" alphaFrom="1" alphaTo="0" duration="300"/>
<mx:TitleWindow id="waitWindow" title="Please wait" width="240" height="70" showCloseButton="false">
<s:Group width="100%" height="100%">
<s:Label top="10" left="10" id="waitLabel" width="220" color="0x000000" />
</s:Group>
</mx:TitleWindow>
</fx:Declarations>

<fx:Style>
@namespace s "library://ns.adobe.com/flex/spark";
@namespace mx "library://ns.adobe.com/flex/mx";

#contentStack{
backgroundColor: #313131;
}

s|Label{
color: #fcfcfc;
}

s|Button{
chromeColor: #636363;
}

mx|ComboBox{
chromeColor: #636363;
color: #fcfcfc;
contentBackgroundColor: #000000;
rollOverColor: #aaaaaa;
selectionColor: #ffffff;
}

#logArea{
contentBackgroundColor: #111111;
focusedTextSelectionColor: #0000ff;
fontFamily: "Courier New";
color: #aaaaaa;
}
</fx:Style>

<fx:Script>
<![CDATA[
import flash.display.Loader;
import flash.events.Event;
import flash.events.FileListEvent;
import flash.events.KeyboardEvent;
import flash.events.TimerEvent;
import flash.filesystem.File;
import flash.net.FileFilter;
import flash.net.URLRequest;
import flash.utils.Timer;
import mx.collections.ArrayCollection;
import mx.effects.easing.Linear;
import mx.controls.Alert;
import mx.events.CloseEvent;
import mx.events.FlexEvent;
import mx.events.StateChangeEvent;
import mx.managers.PopUpManager;

[Bindable]
private var selectedFiles:ArrayCollection = new ArrayCollection([]);
private var totalFiles:int;
private var currentNum:int;
private var totalErrors:int;

private function init():void {
addEventListener(KeyboardEvent.KEY_DOWN, keybDown);
}

private function keybDown(evt:KeyboardEvent):void {
if (evt.ctrlKey && evt.keyCode == 65) {
var arr:Array = [];
for (var i:int = 0; i < selectedFiles.length; i++) {
arr.push(i);
}
tileList.selectedIndices = arr;
}
}

private function actionChange():void{
switch (actionCombo.selectedIndex) {
case 0:
newWidth.enabled = true;
widthMeasure.enabled = true;
newHeight.enabled = true;
heightMeasure.enabled = true;
break;
case 1:
newWidth.enabled = true;
widthMeasure.enabled = true;
newHeight.enabled = false;
heightMeasure.enabled = false;
break;
case 2:
newWidth.enabled = false;
widthMeasure.enabled = false;
newHeight.enabled = true;
heightMeasure.enabled = true;
break;
case 3:
newWidth.enabled = true;
widthMeasure.enabled = false;
newHeight.enabled = true;
heightMeasure.enabled = false;
widthMeasure.selectedIndex = 1;
heightMeasure.selectedIndex = 1;
}
}

private function addFiles():void {
var file:File = new File();
file.browseForOpenMultiple("Select JPG or PNG files", [new FileFilter("Pictures", "*.jpg;*.jpeg;*.png")]);
file.addEventListener(FileListEvent.SELECT_MULTIPLE, filesSelected);
}

private function filesSelected(evt:FileListEvent):void {
PopUpManager.addPopUp(waitWindow, this);
PopUpManager.centerPopUp(waitWindow);
waitLabel.text = "Selecting files...";
var timer:Timer = new Timer(100, 1);
timer.addEventListener(TimerEvent.TIMER_COMPLETE, onWait);
timer.start();
function onWait(ev:TimerEvent):void {
doFiles(evt.files);
PopUpManager.removePopUp(waitWindow);
}
}

private function addFolder():void {
var file:File = new File();
file.browseForDirectory("Select a directory");
file.addEventListener(Event.SELECT, folderSelected);
}

private function folderSelected(evt:Event):void {
var file:File = evt.currentTarget as File;
Alert.show("Do you want to select subfolders too?", "Recursive selection?", Alert.YES | Alert.NO, null, warningClose);

function warningClose(ev:CloseEvent):void {
if (ev.detail == Alert.YES) {
startFolder(file, true);
}
if (ev.detail == Alert.NO) {
startFolder(file, false);
}
}
}

private function startFolder(file:File, recurs:Boolean):void {
PopUpManager.addPopUp(waitWindow, this);
PopUpManager.centerPopUp(waitWindow);
waitLabel.text = "Selecting folders...";
var timer:Timer = new Timer(100, 1);
timer.addEventListener(TimerEvent.TIMER_COMPLETE, onWait);
timer.start();
function onWait(ev:TimerEvent):void {
doFolder(file, recurs);
PopUpManager.removePopUp(waitWindow);
}
}

private function doFiles(files:Array):void {
for (var i:int = 0; i < files.length; i++) {
var alreadySelected:Boolean = false;
for (var u:int = 0; u < selectedFiles.length; u++) {
if (selectedFiles[u].type == 0 && selectedFiles[u].path == files[i].nativePath) {
alreadySelected = true;
}
}
if (!alreadySelected) selectedFiles.addItem({type:0, path:files[i].nativePath});
}
updateTotalFiles();
}

private function doFolder(file:File, isRecursive:Boolean):void {
var picturesInFolder:int = 0;
var childFiles:Array = file.getDirectoryListing();
for (var i:int = 0; i < childFiles.length; i++) {
if (childFiles[i].extension == "png" || childFiles[i].extension == "jpg" || childFiles[i].extension == "jpeg") {
picturesInFolder++;
}
if (childFiles[i].isDirectory && isRecursive) {
doFolder(childFiles[i], true);
}
}
if (picturesInFolder > 0) {
var alreadySelected:Boolean = false;
for (var a:int = 0; a < selectedFiles.length; a++) {
if (selectedFiles[a].type == 1 && selectedFiles[a].path == file.nativePath) {
alreadySelected = true;
}
}
if (!alreadySelected) selectedFiles.addItem( { type:1, path:file.nativePath, name:file.name, num:picturesInFolder } );
updateTotalFiles();
}
}

private function updateTotalFiles():void {
totalFiles = 0;
for (var i:int = 0; i < selectedFiles.length; i++) {
if (selectedFiles[i].type==1) {
totalFiles += selectedFiles[i].num;
}else {
totalFiles++;
}
}
labelSelected.text = totalFiles + " files selected";
}

private function removeSelected():void {
while (tileList.selectedItems.length > 0) {
selectedFiles.removeItemAt(tileList.selectedIndices[0]);
}
updateTotalFiles();
}

private function beginResize():void {
var canProceed:Boolean = true;
if (selectedFiles.length == 0) {
canProceed = false;
Alert.show("No files or folders are selected.", "Cant start resizing!");
}
if (nameInput.text.indexOf(%initialName%) < 0 && nameInput.text.indexOf(%num%) < 0) {
canProceed = false;
Alert.show("No wildcards were used in the name field! They are essential for each output file to have an unique name.", "Cant start resizing!");
}
var testName:String = nameInput.text.replace("%initialName%", "");
testName = testName.replace("%num%", "");
if(testName.indexOf(/)>=0 || testName.indexOf("\")>=0 || testName.indexOf(?)>=0 || testName.indexOf(%)>=0 ||
testName.indexOf(*)>=0 || testName.indexOf(:)>=0 || testName.indexOf(|)>=0 || testName.indexOf(")>=0 ||
testName.indexOf(<) >= 0 || testName.indexOf(>) >= 0 || testName.indexOf(.) >= 0) {
canProceed = false;
Alert.show("Illegal characters in the name field! Make sure file name field does not contain these characters: /  ? % * : | " < > . ", "Cant start resizing!");
}
if (canProceed) {
contentStack.selectedIndex = 3;
var timer:Timer = new Timer(400, 1);
timer.addEventListener(TimerEvent.TIMER_COMPLETE, onTimer);
timer.start();
function onTimer(evt:TimerEvent):void {
buttonError.enabled = false;
buttonReturn.enabled = false;
logArea.text = "";
logArea.appendText("Beginning resizing of " + totalFiles + " files...
");
currentNum = 0;
totalErrors = 0;
resizeNext();
}
}
}

private function resizeNext():void {
currentNum++;
progressBar.setProgress(currentNum, totalFiles);
var file:File = new File(selectedFiles[currentNum - 1].path);
logArea.appendText("#" + currentNum + " (" + file.name + ")
");
var canProceed:Boolean = true;
var loader:Loader;

if (!file.exists) {
canProceed = false;
logArea.appendText("ERROR: File not found
");
totalErrors++;
nextAction();
}

if (file.exists && file.extension.toLowerCase() != "png" && file.extension.toLowerCase() != "jpg" && file.extension.toLowerCase() != "jpeg") {
canProceed = false;
logArea.appendText("ERROR: Incorrect extension
");
totalErrors++;
nextAction();
}

if (canProceed) {
loader = new Loader();
loader.contentLoaderInfo.addEventListener(Event.COMPLETE, onLoadComplete);
loader.load(new URLRequest(file.url));
}

function onLoadComplete(evt:Event):void {
var timer:Timer = new Timer(500, 1);
timer.addEventListener(TimerEvent.TIMER_COMPLETE, onTimer);
timer.start();
}

function onTimer(evt:TimerEvent):void {
// new name
var newName:String = nameInput.text.replace("%initialName%", file.name.substr(0, file.name.lastIndexOf(.)));
newName = newName.replace("%num%", currentNum);

// new extension
var newExtension:String;
if (formatCombo.selectedIndex == 0) newExtension = file.extension;
if (formatCombo.selectedIndex == 1) newExtension = "jpg";
if (formatCombo.selectedIndex == 2) newExtension = "png";

// new size
var currentW:int = loader.content.width;
var currentH:int = loader.content.height;
var newW:int;
var newH:int;
var ratio:Number;

if (actionCombo.selectedIndex == 0) {
if (widthMeasure.selectedIndex == 0) newW = newWidth.value/100 * currentW;
if (widthMeasure.selectedIndex == 1) newW = newWidth.value;
if (heightMeasure.selectedIndex == 0) newH = newHeight.value/100 * currentH;
if (heightMeasure.selectedIndex == 1) newH = newHeight.value;
}

if (actionCombo.selectedIndex == 1) {
ratio = currentW / currentH;
if (widthMeasure.selectedIndex == 0) newW = newWidth.value/100 * currentW;
if (widthMeasure.selectedIndex == 1) newW = newWidth.value;
newH = newW / ratio;
}

if (actionCombo.selectedIndex == 2) {
ratio = currentW / currentH;
if (heightMeasure.selectedIndex == 0) newH = newHeight.value/100 * currentH;
if (heightMeasure.selectedIndex == 1) newH = newHeight.value;
newW = newH * ratio;
}

if (actionCombo.selectedIndex == 3) {
ratio = currentW / currentH;
newW = newWidth.value;
newH = newW / ratio;
if (newH > newHeight.value) {
newH = newHeight.value;
newW = ratio * newH;
}
}

// log
logArea.appendText("Resized from " + currentW + "x" + currentH + " to " + newW + "x" + newH + "
");
logArea.appendText("Renamed to " + newName + "." + newExtension + "
");

nextAction();
}

}

private function nextAction():void {
if (currentNum < totalFiles) {
resizeNext();
}else {
logArea.appendText("Operation complete!");
buttonError.enabled = true;
buttonReturn.enabled = true;
}
}
]]>
</fx:Script>
   
<mx:ViewStack id="contentStack" width="100%" height="100%" >
<s:NavigatorContent width="100%" height="100%" hideEffect="fadeOut" showEffect="fadeIn">
<s:VGroup width="100%" height="100%" paddingLeft="10" paddingTop="10" paddingRight="10" paddingBottom="10">
<s:Label id="labelSelected">0 files selected</s:Label>
<mx:TileList id="tileList" width="282" height="100%" dataProvider="{selectedFiles}" itemRenderer="TileRenderer" columnWidth="60" rowHeight="60" columnCount="4" allowMultipleSelection="true" selectionColor="0xff0000" rollOverColor="0xff8888" />
<s:Button label="Add folder" width="100%" click="addFolder();" />
<s:Button label="Add files" width="100%" click="addFiles();" />
<s:Button label="{Remove  + tileList.selectedItems.length +  items}" width="100%" enabled="{tileList.selectedItems.length>0}" click="removeSelected();" />
<s:Button label="Continue" width="100%" click="contentStack.selectedIndex = 1;" />
</s:VGroup>
</s:NavigatorContent>
<s:NavigatorContent width="100%" height="100%" hideEffect="fadeOut" showEffect="fadeIn">
<s:VGroup width="100%" height="100%" paddingLeft="10" paddingTop="10" paddingRight="10" paddingBottom="10">
<s:Button label="Return to file selection" width="100%" click="contentStack.selectedIndex = 0;" />

<s:Label>Resize options:</s:Label>

<mx:ComboBox width="100%" id="actionCombo" height="22" dataProvider="{actions}" selectedIndex="0" editable="false" change="actionChange();"
openEasingFunction="Linear.easeOut" closeEasingFunction="Linear.easeIn" openDuration="300" closeDuration="300"/>
<s:HGroup verticalAlign="middle">
<s:Label width="50">Width:</s:Label>
<s:NumericStepper id="newWidth" height="22" width="150" minimum="1" value="100" maximum="{(widthMeasure.selectedIndex==0)?(100):(4000)}" />
<mx:ComboBox id="widthMeasure" height="22" width="50" dataProvider="{measures}" selectedIndex="0" editable="false" 
openEasingFunction="Linear.easeOut" closeEasingFunction="Linear.easeIn" openDuration="300" closeDuration="300"/>
</s:HGroup>

<s:HGroup verticalAlign="middle">
<s:Label width="50">Height:</s:Label>
<s:NumericStepper id="newHeight" height="22" width="150" minimum="1" value="100" maximum="{(heightMeasure.selectedIndex==0)?(100):(4000)}"/>
<mx:ComboBox id="heightMeasure" height="22" width="50" dataProvider="{measures}" selectedIndex="0" editable="false" 
openEasingFunction="Linear.easeOut" closeEasingFunction="Linear.easeIn" openDuration="300" closeDuration="300"/>
</s:HGroup>

<s:Label/>

<s:Label>Output file names:</s:Label>
<s:HGroup verticalAlign="middle">
<s:TextInput id="nameInput" width="240" text="%initialName%" />
<s:Button width="35" label="?" click="contentStack.selectedIndex = 2;" />
</s:HGroup>

<s:Label/>

<s:Label>Output destination:</s:Label>
<s:HGroup verticalAlign="middle">
<s:RadioButton id="oldDestination" label="Same directory" groupName="destinationGroup" selected="true" />
<s:RadioButton id="newDestination" label="Specified directory" groupName="destinationGroup" />
</s:HGroup>
<s:HGroup verticalAlign="middle" width="100%">
<s:TextInput width="100%" enabled="{newDestination.selected}" text="Select destination..." editable="false" />
<s:Button width="80" label="Browse" enabled="{newDestination.selected}"/>
</s:HGroup>

<s:Label/>

<s:Label>Output format:</s:Label>
<mx:ComboBox width="100%" height="22" id="formatCombo" dataProvider="{formats}" selectedIndex="0" editable="false" 
openEasingFunction="Linear.easeOut" closeEasingFunction="Linear.easeIn" openDuration="300" closeDuration="300"/>

<s:Label/>

<s:Label>Output JPG quality:</s:Label>
<s:HSlider width="100%" minimum="1" maximum="100" value="100" />

<s:Label/>

<s:Button label="Resize" width="100%" click="beginResize();" />
</s:VGroup>
</s:NavigatorContent>
<s:NavigatorContent width="100%" height="100%" hideEffect="fadeOut" showEffect="fadeIn">
<s:VGroup width="280" top="10" left="10">
<s:VGroup width="100%" height="410" gap="20">
<s:Label fontSize="20" width="100%" fontWeight="bold">Output file names</s:Label>
<s:Label width="100%">You can build names for output files using provided wildcards and combining them with text.</s:Label>
<s:Label width="100%">For example, "%initialName%_new" will generate names like "pic_new.jpg", "img_new.png", etc.</s:Label>
<s:Label width="100%">Available wildcards are:</s:Label>
<s:Label fontSize="18" width="100%" fontWeight="bold">%initialName%</s:Label>
<s:Label width="100%">Puts the initial name of the file thats being resized.</s:Label>
<s:Label fontSize="18" width="100%" fontWeight="bold">%num%</s:Label>
<s:Label width="100%">Gives each file a unique id number starting from 1.</s:Label>
</s:VGroup>
<s:Button label="Back" width="100%" click="contentStack.selectedIndex = 1;" />
</s:VGroup>
</s:NavigatorContent>
<s:NavigatorContent width="100%" height="100%" hideEffect="fadeOut" showEffect="fadeIn">
<s:VGroup width="280" height="440" top="10" left="10">
<s:Label width="100%" color="0xff3333" fontWeight="bold">Do not add, remove or rename selected files.</s:Label>
<mx:ProgressBar id="progressBar" width="100%" mode="manual" label="Resizing %1/%2" color="0xffffff" />
<s:TextArea id="logArea" editable="false" width="100%" height="100%" />
<s:HGroup>
<s:Button id="buttonError" label="Save error log" width="136" />
<s:Button id="buttonReturn" label="Return" click="contentStack.selectedIndex = 0;" width="136" />
</s:HGroup>
</s:VGroup>
</s:NavigatorContent>
</mx:ViewStack>
</s:WindowedApplication>

Thanks for reading!

Creating a Pentomino game using AS3 Part 9

Today well improve our shape placing code, as well as make all shapes available for placing.

First of all, well create a function that draws a preview of where the shape will be placed exactly. We need to declare a new Sprite object for this - canPutShape:

private var canPutShape:Sprite = new Sprite();

And add it to the stage after creating the grid:

// can put shape
addChild(canPutShape);
canPutShape.x = gridStartX;
canPutShape.y = gridStartY;

The function uses some of the already used code in the script, slightly modified. We simply loop through the currentValues and draw each cell:

private function drawCanPut():void {
canPutShape.graphics.clear();
var mousePos:Point = new Point(Math.floor((mouseX - gridStartX) / gridCellWidth), Math.floor((mouseY - gridStartY) / gridCellWidth));
for (var i:int = 0; i < currentValues.length; i++) {
var cellX:int = (currentValues[i][0] + mousePos.x) * gridCellWidth;
var cellY:int = (currentValues[i][1] + mousePos.y) * gridCellWidth;
canPutShape.graphics.beginFill(0x00ff00, 0.1);
canPutShape.graphics.drawRect(cellX, cellY, gridCellWidth, gridCellWidth);
}
}

Now go to mouseMove() and instead of the selectedShape if statement call a function called checkPut():

private function mouseMove(evt:MouseEvent):void {
cursor.x = mouseX;
cursor.y = mouseY;
checkPut();
}

The functions code is the same, but has a few modifications. We check if canPutHere is tru or false and set the cursors alpha to represent whether its possible or not to place the selected shape here. We also clear canPutShapes graphics if canPutHere is false.

private function checkPut():void {
if (selectedShape > 0) {
var mousePos:Point = new Point(Math.floor((mouseX - gridStartX) / gridCellWidth), Math.floor((mouseY - gridStartY) / gridCellWidth));
canPutHere = true;
updateCurrentValues();
for (var i:int = 0; i < currentValues.length; i++) {
var cellX:int = currentValues[i][0] + mousePos.x;
var cellY:int = currentValues[i][1] + mousePos.y;
if (cellX < 0 || cellY < 0 || cellX >= mapGrid[0].length || cellY >= mapGrid.length || mapGrid[cellY][cellX]!=1) {
canPutHere = false;
}
}
if (canPutHere) {
cursor.alpha = 0.8;
}
if (!canPutHere) {
canPutShape.graphics.clear();
cursor.alpha = 0.4;
}
}
}

Where is drawCanPut() called if not in checkPut(), you ask? Thats in updateCurrentValues(), but only after weve added a few modifications to the code inside updateCurrentValues(). These bugs were found after I implemented the "shadow" feature thats drawn by drawCanPut(), and you can see the updated code below:

private function updateCurrentValues():void {
currentValues = clone(shapeValues[selectedShape-1]);
for (var i:int = 0; i < 5; i++) {
if (cursor.rotation == 90) {
currentValues[i].reverse();
currentValues[i][0] *= -1;
}
if (cursor.rotation == 180 || cursor.rotation == -180) {
currentValues[i][0] *= -1;
currentValues[i][1] *= -1;
}
if (cursor.rotation == -90) {
currentValues[i].reverse();
currentValues[i][1] *= -1;
}
if (cursor.scaleX < 0 && (cursor.rotation != -90 || cursor.rotation != 90)) {
currentValues[i][0] *= -1;
}
if (cursor.scaleX < 0 && (cursor.rotation == -90 || cursor.rotation == 90)) {
currentValues[i][0] *= -1;
currentValues[i][1] *= -1;
}
}
drawCanPut();
}

Call checkPut() instead of updateCurrentValues() in mouseWheel() and keyDown():

private function mouseWheel(evt:MouseEvent):void {
if (evt.delta > 0) cursor.rotation += 90;
if (evt.delta < 0) cursor.rotation -= 90;
if (selectedShape > 0) checkPut();
}

private function keyDown(evt:KeyboardEvent):void {
if (evt.keyCode == 68) cursor.rotation += 90;
if (evt.keyCode == 65) cursor.rotation -= 90;
if (evt.keyCode == 32) cursor.scaleX *= -1;
if (selectedShape > 0) checkPut();
}

Now we can update the shapeValues() array. Simply add each shape cells relative coordinates:

shapeValues = [
[[0, 0], [0, 1], [0, 2], [0, -1], [0, -2]],
[[0, 0], [0, -1], [0, 1], [1, 0], [1, -1]],
[[0, 0], [0, 1], [0, 2], [0, -1], [ -1, -1]],
[[0, 0], [0, 1], [0, -1], [ -1, 0], [1, -1]],
[[0, 0], [ -1, 0], [ -2, 0], [0, -1], [1, -1]],
[[0, 0], [0, 1], [0, -1], [1, -1], [ -1, -1]],
[[0, 0], [1, 0], [ -1, 0], [1, -1], [ -1, -1]],
[[0, 0], [ -1, 0], [ -2, 0], [0, -1], [0, -2]],
[[0, 0], [0, 1], [ -1, 1], [1, 0], [1, -1]],
[[0, 0], [0, 1], [0, -1], [1, 0], [ -1, 0]],
[[0, 0], [ -1, 0], [ -2, 0], [1, 0], [0, -1]],
[[0, 0], [0, 1], [1, 1], [0, -1], [-1, -1]]
];

And full code so far:

package  
{
import flash.display.MovieClip;
import flash.display.Sprite;
import flash.events.Event;
import flash.events.KeyboardEvent;
import flash.events.MouseEvent;
import flash.geom.Point;
import flash.utils.ByteArray;

/**
 * Open-source pentomino game engine
 * @author Kirill Poletaev
 */

public class pentomino_game extends MovieClip
{
private var mapGrid:Array = [];
private var availableShapes:Array = [];
private var shapeButtons:Array = [];
private var shapeValues:Array = [];
private var placedShapes:Array = [];

private var gridShape:Sprite = new Sprite();
private var canPutShape:Sprite = new Sprite();
private var gridStartX:int;
private var gridStartY:int;
private var gridCellWidth:int;

private var cursor:MovieClip;
private var rolledShape:MovieClip;
private var selectedShape:int = 0;
private var canPutHere:Boolean = false;
private var currentValues:Array = [];

public function pentomino_game() 
{
// default map
mapGrid = [
[1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1],
[1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1],
[1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1],
[1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1],
[1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1],
[1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1]
];

availableShapes = [2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2];

shapeValues = [
[[0, 0], [0, 1], [0, 2], [0, -1], [0, -2]],
[[0, 0], [0, -1], [0, 1], [1, 0], [1, -1]],
[[0, 0], [0, 1], [0, 2], [0, -1], [ -1, -1]],
[[0, 0], [0, 1], [0, -1], [ -1, 0], [1, -1]],
[[0, 0], [ -1, 0], [ -2, 0], [0, -1], [1, -1]],
[[0, 0], [0, 1], [0, -1], [1, -1], [ -1, -1]],
[[0, 0], [1, 0], [ -1, 0], [1, -1], [ -1, -1]],
[[0, 0], [ -1, 0], [ -2, 0], [0, -1], [0, -2]],
[[0, 0], [0, 1], [ -1, 1], [1, 0], [1, -1]],
[[0, 0], [0, 1], [0, -1], [1, 0], [ -1, 0]],
[[0, 0], [ -1, 0], [ -2, 0], [1, 0], [0, -1]],
[[0, 0], [0, 1], [1, 1], [0, -1], [-1, -1]]
];

// grid settings
calculateGrid();
addChild(gridShape);
gridShape.x = gridStartX;
gridShape.y = gridStartY;

// draw tiles
drawGrid();

// can put shape
addChild(canPutShape);
canPutShape.x = gridStartX;
canPutShape.y = gridStartY;

// add shape buttons
for (var i:int = 0; i < 4; i++) {
for (var u:int = 0; u < 3; u++) {
var shapeButton:MovieClip = new select_shape();
shapeButton.x = 528 + u * 62;
shapeButton.y = 55 + i * 62;
addChild(shapeButton);
shapeButton.bg.alpha = 0.3;
shapeButton.count.text = String(availableShapes[3 * i + u]);
shapeButton.shape.gotoAndStop(3 * i + u + 1);
shapeButtons.push(shapeButton);
shapeButton.addEventListener(MouseEvent.ROLL_OVER, buttonOver);
shapeButton.addEventListener(MouseEvent.ROLL_OUT, buttonOut);
shapeButton.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_DOWN, buttonDown);
}
}

// cursor
cursor = new game_shape();
addChild(cursor);
cursor.mouseEnabled = false;
cursor.mouseChildren = false;
cursor.visible = false;
addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_MOVE, mouseMove);
addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_WHEEL, mouseWheel);
stage.addEventListener(KeyboardEvent.KEY_DOWN, keyDown);
addEventListener(Event.ENTER_FRAME, everyFrame);
addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_UP, mouseUp);
}

private function calculateGrid():void {
var columns:int = mapGrid[0].length;
var rows:int = mapGrid.length;

// free size: 520x460
// fit in: 510x450

// calculate width of a cell:
gridCellWidth = Math.round(510 / columns);

var width:int = columns * gridCellWidth;
var height:int = rows * gridCellWidth;

// calculate side margin
gridStartX = (520 - width) / 2;

if (height < 450) {
gridStartY = (450 - height) / 2;
}
if (height >= 450) {
gridCellWidth = Math.round(450 / rows);
height = rows * gridCellWidth;
width = columns * gridCellWidth;
gridStartY = (460 - height) / 2;
gridStartX = (520 - width) / 2;
}
}

private function drawGrid():void {
gridShape.graphics.clear();
var width:int = mapGrid[0].length;
var height:int = mapGrid.length;

var i:int;
var u:int;

// draw background
for (i = 0; i < height; i++) {
for (u = 0; u < width; u++) {
if (mapGrid[i][u] == 1) drawCell(u, i, 0xffffff, 1, 0x999999);
}
}
}

private function drawCell(width:int, height:int, fill:uint, thick:Number, line:uint):void {
gridShape.graphics.beginFill(fill);
gridShape.graphics.lineStyle(thick, line);
gridShape.graphics.drawRect(width * gridCellWidth, height * gridCellWidth, gridCellWidth, gridCellWidth);
}

private function mouseMove(evt:MouseEvent):void {
cursor.x = mouseX;
cursor.y = mouseY;
checkPut();
}

private function checkPut():void {
if (selectedShape > 0) {
var mousePos:Point = new Point(Math.floor((mouseX - gridStartX) / gridCellWidth), Math.floor((mouseY - gridStartY) / gridCellWidth));
canPutHere = true;
updateCurrentValues();
for (var i:int = 0; i < currentValues.length; i++) {
var cellX:int = currentValues[i][0] + mousePos.x;
var cellY:int = currentValues[i][1] + mousePos.y;
if (cellX < 0 || cellY < 0 || cellX >= mapGrid[0].length || cellY >= mapGrid.length || mapGrid[cellY][cellX]!=1) {
canPutHere = false;
}
}
if (canPutHere) {
cursor.alpha = 0.8;
}
if (!canPutHere) {
canPutShape.graphics.clear();
cursor.alpha = 0.4;
}
}
}

private function drawCanPut():void {
canPutShape.graphics.clear();
var mousePos:Point = new Point(Math.floor((mouseX - gridStartX) / gridCellWidth), Math.floor((mouseY - gridStartY) / gridCellWidth));
for (var i:int = 0; i < currentValues.length; i++) {
var cellX:int = (currentValues[i][0] + mousePos.x) * gridCellWidth;
var cellY:int = (currentValues[i][1] + mousePos.y) * gridCellWidth;
canPutShape.graphics.beginFill(0x00ff00, 0.1);
canPutShape.graphics.drawRect(cellX, cellY, gridCellWidth, gridCellWidth);
}
}

private function mouseWheel(evt:MouseEvent):void {
if (evt.delta > 0) cursor.rotation += 90;
if (evt.delta < 0) cursor.rotation -= 90;
if (selectedShape > 0) checkPut();
}

private function keyDown(evt:KeyboardEvent):void {
if (evt.keyCode == 68) cursor.rotation += 90;
if (evt.keyCode == 65) cursor.rotation -= 90;
if (evt.keyCode == 32) cursor.scaleX *= -1;
if (selectedShape > 0) checkPut();
}

private function updateCurrentValues():void {
currentValues = clone(shapeValues[selectedShape-1]);
for (var i:int = 0; i < 5; i++) {
if (cursor.rotation == 90) {
currentValues[i].reverse();
currentValues[i][0] *= -1;
}
if (cursor.rotation == 180 || cursor.rotation == -180) {
currentValues[i][0] *= -1;
currentValues[i][1] *= -1;
}
if (cursor.rotation == -90) {
currentValues[i].reverse();
currentValues[i][1] *= -1;
}
if (cursor.scaleX < 0 && (cursor.rotation != -90 || cursor.rotation != 90)) {
currentValues[i][0] *= -1;
}
if (cursor.scaleX < 0 && (cursor.rotation == -90 || cursor.rotation == 90)) {
currentValues[i][0] *= -1;
currentValues[i][1] *= -1;
}
}
drawCanPut();
}

private function clone(source:Object):*{
var myBA:ByteArray = new ByteArray();
myBA.writeObject(source);
myBA.position = 0;
return(myBA.readObject());
}

private function startDragShape(shapeType:int):void {
cursor.rotation = 0;
cursor.scaleX = gridCellWidth / 100;
cursor.scaleY = gridCellWidth / 100;
cursor.alpha = 0.75;
cursor.visible = true;
cursor.gotoAndStop(shapeType);
}

private function stopDragShape():void {
canPutShape.graphics.clear();
cursor.alpha = 0;
cursor.visible = false;
}

private function everyFrame(evt:Event):void {
if (rolledShape != null) {
rolledShape.rotation += 4;
}
}

private function buttonOver(evt:MouseEvent):void {
if(selectedShape==0){
evt.currentTarget.bg.alpha = 1;
rolledShape = evt.target.shape;
}
}

private function buttonOut(evt:MouseEvent):void {
evt.currentTarget.bg.alpha = 0.3;
rolledShape = null;
}

private function buttonDown(evt:MouseEvent):void {
selectedShape = evt.currentTarget.shape.currentFrame;
if(availableShapes[selectedShape-1]>0){
startDragShape(selectedShape);
availableShapes[selectedShape-1]--;
evt.currentTarget.count.text = availableShapes[selectedShape-1];
evt.currentTarget.bg.alpha = 0.3;
rolledShape = null;
}else {
selectedShape = 0;
}
}

private function mouseUp(evt:MouseEvent):void {
stopDragShape();
if (selectedShape > 0) {
if (!canPutHere) {
availableShapes[selectedShape-1]++;
shapeButtons[selectedShape-1].count.text = availableShapes[selectedShape-1];
selectedShape = 0;
}
if (canPutHere) {
var mousePos:Point = new Point(Math.floor((mouseX - gridStartX) / gridCellWidth), Math.floor((mouseY - gridStartY) / gridCellWidth));
var newShape:MovieClip = new game_shape();
addChild(newShape);
newShape.x = gridStartX + (mousePos.x+1) * gridCellWidth - gridCellWidth / 2;
newShape.y = gridStartY + (mousePos.y + 1) * gridCellWidth - gridCellWidth / 2;
newShape.rotation = cursor.rotation;
newShape.scaleX = cursor.scaleX;
newShape.scaleY = cursor.scaleY;
newShape.gotoAndStop(selectedShape);
for (var i:int = 0; i < currentValues.length; i++) {
var cellX:int = currentValues[i][0] + mousePos.x;
var cellY:int = currentValues[i][1] + mousePos.y;
mapGrid[cellY][cellX] = 2;
}
cursor.parent.setChildIndex(cursor, cursor.parent.numChildren - 1);
selectedShape = 0;
}
}
}
}

}

Thanks for reading!

The results:

Technology Lesson

Tuesday, March 10, 2015

What I learned about agile teams from 8 9 year old girls basketball

Friday, January 30, 2015

KirSizer Flex AIR Image Sizer app Part 9

Thursday, January 29, 2015

Creating a Pentomino game using AS3 Part 9