AnyChart Team has found in Flash Player 11.0.1.152 a very weird bug that doesn’t manifest itself in the Debug version of Flash Player, but ruins math in the regular version, so we had to debug it in the non-debug version: using ExternalInterface and JavaScript console.

Bug description

In the regular version of Flash Player 11.0.1.152 the following expression:

1/Math.abs(0)

is evaluated as -Infinity, but in the Debug version it is (as anyone expects): Infinity

Reproduce

Here is a sample code you can use to reproduce this issue:

package {
    import flash.display.Sprite;
    import flash.external.ExternalInterface;

    public class MagicWorld extends Sprite {
        public function MagicWorld() {
            ExternalInterface.call("alert", "1/Math.abs(0) = " + (1/Math.abs(0)).toString());
        }
    }
}

As soon as you have done this — compile and run the sample in the Debug and Regular versions, and you will see the difference.

The bug has been reported to Adobe: Bug#3011557
The test sample: http://anychart.com/temp/bug301157/index.html

Flash and Firefox have always had a lot of compatibility problems - for instance, Flash content can’t be printed in Firefox.

A long time ago we found a workaround and published it as a free library. Three years have passed, but the bug still exists, and the fix is still relevant.

So here it is – a small library that allows to achieve correct Flash content printing in Firefox:
http://code.google.com/p/flash-print-fix/

For example, that’s how a Flex application is printed in Firefox:

And that’s how it looks like with the fix applied:

The idea is very simple:

1. Get a PNG screenshot.
2. Encode the PNG file in base64 string.
3. Add a picture with src=”data:img/png;base64,…” mce_src=”data:img/png;base64,…” to the page.
4. In CSS, specify to hide Flash while printing and to show the picture:

@media screen.flashScreenshot { display: none; }
@media print.printableFlashObj { display: none; };
.flashScreenshot { display: block; border: 0; outline: none; }

During AnyGantt development, we have discovered a bug in the latest builds of Flash Player (existing since August 2010).

Here is a Flex example from the Adobe Help Resource Center:
http://livedocs.adobe.com/flex/3/html/help.html?content=printing_5.html

That’s how everything looks like in the original:

And that’s what happens to it after printing:

A long and persistent debugging has led us to isolating and reproducing the bug. In the simplest view, everything comes down to the following pictures:

(an original)

(the same after printing)

The source code of the example can be downloaded from:
https://bugs.adobe.com/jira/secure/attachment/68017/test_02_project_src.zip

The cause of the problem is the following: if the text in the Visual Objects tree has a parent object with “scrollRect”, there will be problems when printing to a bitmap.

The bug appeared supposedly in the version 10.1.82.76 of Adobe Flash Player, and it is also found in the current version (10.2).

We have submitted a bug report and now are waiting for the response:
https://bugs.adobe.com/jira/browse/FP-6167

Robin Wauters from TechCrunch writes:

Last March, Adobe and Google jointly announced that Flash Player would soon come built in to the latter’s Chrome browser, eliminating the need for users to download, install and update it separately.

On Thursday evening, Google released Chrome 5.0.375.86 to the Stable channel on Linux, Mac, and Windows, with a fix for a number of security issues. More importantly, the integrated Flash Player has now been enabled by default.

As Stephen Shankland over at CNET points out, built-in Flash was previously only available in the developer and beta releases of the speedy WebKit-based browser, and the release to the Stable channel means the integrated plug-in is now available in its mainstream version.

The update comes a mere two days after Google re-enabled the integrated Flash Player plug-in by default in the Beta channel after disabling it for some time.

Not only is Google giving Adobe’s Flash technology another vote of confidence (Flash Player 10.1 for Mobile, which was announced earlier this week, will be rolled out on Android 2.2 phones first), but the integration also means any updates to Flash Player will be delivered directly via Google Chrome’s updating system, ultimately minimizing security risks that tend to surface when one uses outdated software and components.

New version of Oracle APEX is available. A lot of new features >>

And… Improved Charting with Gantts and Maps

“The underlying charting engine has been upgraded to AnyChart 5.1 which is faster, provides better graphics, and decreases rendering time. Developers can take advantage of the many additional attributes to readily customize the appearance of their charts. Declarative support for project and resource Gantt charts together with flash Maps has also been incorporated.”

To view the new features in action, run the demonstration application.

Just in 10 days after the previous release - new 5.1.1 version has arrived. We’re happy to introduce several new features. “We’ve added feature-rich CSV support,” said Alex Batsuev, lead developer of AnyChart product.  “This feature began as a customer request.” It allows to make data file smaller and decrease loading time.  It is possible to reuse CSV tables in different series and dashboard views. Read more about CSV Data>>

Other AnyChart version 5.1.1 new features

• Adobe Flash Integration 
  New Feature - A set of samples making possible the use of AnyChart Charts, Maps and Gauges in Flash CS3.
  Read more Flash CS3 Integration >>
• Drag Ability for Scrollable Charts
  New Feature - Drag Ability for Scrollable Charts. You can configure chart to make it draggable when the chart area is zoomed.

Read more about AnyChart version history and plans for new upcoming releases. Feel free to contact us with your comments, ideas and suggestions.

We’re happy to announce the production release of AnyChart 5.1 - the most advanced flash charting component. Version 5.1 builds on the success of the earlier 5.0 offering by adding several new chart types, new features, significant performance improvements plus new advanced dashboard features and Adobe AIR support.

New chart types: TreeMaps, HeatMaps, Funnel Charts both in 2D and 3D, Accumulation Pyramid (also known as Pyramidal Funnel) both 2D/3D, 3D Pie and  Doughnut charts.

New features: Scrolling support,  Multiple X Axes both for Categorized and Scatter plots, Markers in Legend, Interactive Labels, Multiple Data Labels Support, Multiple Data Tooltips Support, Multiple Data Markers, Context Menu Localization, Axis Markers Styling Support.

Another exciting news - Now AnyChart is fully compatible with Adobe Air ™. Build your RIA or Desktop Application utilizing the power of AnyChart Flash Charting engine. Also all chart types can now be combined within interactive dashboard: all charts, gauges, maps, funnels.

And the last, but not the least - Significant Performance Improvements. (more…)

Sometimes it is necessary to create custom preview of the component in the Flex Builder “Design” view.
It is undocumented feature
I’ve found very interesting class in the Flex SDK 3: mx.core.UIComponentGlobals.

This class contains static field designMode:Boolean.

Just check that field in your component code.
You can download example component with the source code from here:
http://anychart.com/tips_and_tricks/designMode/DesignModeComponent.zip

Also you can download the usage sample:
http://anychart.com/tips_and_tricks/designMode/DesignModeComponentSample.zip

Running in the Flex Builder “Design” mode it shows AnyChart image. But when it runs in the flash player it shows only gray rectangle.

We have found a nice bug in mxmlc compiller

var a:Number = 10;
var b:Number = 20;
var c:Number = a - - b;
trace (c);

It’s correct! Result is 30. But mxmlc ant task doesn’t compile this code sometimes…

It’s very surprising bug.

Interesting in URLLoader and URLRequest.

If you are trying to load file using relative URL, that contains colon (”:”) and dot(”.”) in param values, you receive security error:

e.g.:
var request:URLRequest = new URLRequest("/test.flash?p=smth::else");
or
var request:URLRequest = new URLRequest("./test.flash?p=smth::else");

are not valid URL’s for Flash Player because flash player doesn’t escape “:” in urls.

You should use absolute URL’s for it:

e.g.:

var request:URLRequest = new
URLRequest("http://localhost:8080/test.flash?p=smth::else");