Everyone gets a turn
Posted by: Keith H in Components, Flex, tags: dial, knob, NiceKnob, spinIf everyone got a turn, would you take your turn the same as the others or be different?
I've seen lots of really great knobs, dials, and gauge components. The intended way a person would build their app to use one would most likely be varied . That makes each of these kinds of controls special because its difficult to make a control that fits a very broad range of functionality/look-n-feel, and probably why I have yet to see "one knob to rule them all". Sliders, and Buttons are pretty straight forward, but not the "Knob" type of control.
Knobs can be just like a glass of tea. Some like a twist of lemon in it, or twist of lime etc. Just like others who have made their own controls tailor made to their needs, I have done with my knob. The good thing about that is there's always more than one person who share the same preference on how a knob should function. I've made many custom knobs that were built for small and simple duties. I'd like to make a knob to share here that is more reusable and cover wider ranges of functionality than the older ones I've built. The knob displayed here is configurable but not skinnable, I've chosen to draw my knob dynamically with ActionScript's drawing API. I hope to release this one after fixing some problems in my spare time.
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Keith – I just rolled my own dials utilizing Degrapha, but it doesn’t even come close to your dials. Too bad the release date for the project was a couple of weeks ago. Are you releasing a swc?
Michael,
I plan to release a swc. If there is any complicated/dynamic user interaction needed for a knob/dial I think it’s best to roll out a custom one specifically for a project. User interaction is one thing, then there is look-n-feel that can be just as complicated. Just for ticks itself, there are so many crazy ways a person could want there ticks markings arranged. I’ve only covered the functionality and look-n-feel I needed. Building a knob with overridable methods and being skinnable would help in some of those areas I think.
I did not use Degrafa but If a person was aiming to make a “knob of all knobs”, Degrafa is probably the best utility for making all the dynamic styling and drawing possible while keeping your script organized and clean.
[...] knob, right click the flash player to see the source. It uses a button component, png, and rotate. Keith Hair does a great job on a knob [...]