Add-Ons for Feathers 0.1.0

by Kevin Foley

The very cleverly named "Add-Ons For Feathers" library contains a variety of controls, helpers, and utility classes that are useful in nearly any app that uses the open-source Feathers UI library for AS3/Starling.

Features

Helpers

ButtonLCHelper

Are you sick of typing new ListCollection([ { label: "Ok" } ]) every time you create an Alert? I know I am! ButtonLCHelper (short for 'ButtonListCollectionHelper' provides convenient methods to define ButtonGroup data providers with less boilerplate!

Alert.show("Please fill out all fields", "Form incomplete", ButtonLCHelper.ok());

Alert.show("Connection attempt failed", "Network error", ButtonLCHelper.retryCancel(retry_handler));

Standard English labels are used by default, but you can override the button labels by replacing the default StringMap.

ButtonLCHelper.stringMap = spanishStrings;

New controls

All of the new controls can be styled in a Feathers theme.

TextInputAlert

As you might guess from the name, TextInputAlert is an Alert with a TextInput, useful for things like save dialogs. Wrapper methods let you style the TextInput and access its text.

function showSaveDialog():void {
    saveDialog = TextInputAlert.show("Please enter a file name", "Save file", ButtonLCHelper.saveCancel(save_handler));
    saveDialog.prompt = "Enter a file name";
}

function save_handler(e:Event):void {
    var fileName:String = saveDialog.text;
    if (fileName.length > 0) {
        saveFile(fileName);
    }
}

CheckboxAlert

CheckboxAlert is an Alert with a Check(box), useful for dialogs where you want to have a "Don't ask again" checkbox. Wrapper methods let you style the Check and access its isSelected value.

function askToDelete():void {
    deleteDialog = CheckboxAlert.show("Are you sure?", "Delete file", ButtonLCHelper.okCancel(confirmDelete_handler));
    deleteDialog.checkLabel = "Don't ask again";
}

function confirmDelete_handler(e:Event):void {
    if (deleteDialog.isSelected) {
        UserPreferences.askBeforeDeletingFiles = false;
    }
}

Localization

StringMap

You've got plenty of options for string localization; why not add one more? StringMap wraps a dictionary to provide a convenient place for storing and retrieving strings by key. Missing a string? You can either return a placeholder, or throw an error.

var stringMap:StringMap = new StringMap();
stringMap.add("welcome-message", "Welcome to our app!");
stringMap.add("error-title", "Error");
stringMap.retrieve("error-title"); //returns "Error"
stringMap.retrieve("error-title", true); //returns "ERROR"
stringMap.placeholder = "{{missing string}}";
stringMap.retrieve("nonexistent-key", false, false); //returns "{{missing string}}";
stringMap.retrieve("nonexistent-key", false, true); //throws an error

Links

"Add-Ons For Feathers" is not affiliated with or endorsed by Bowler Hat LLC, the author of the Feathers UI library.

kevinfoley/add-ons-for-feathers