Digital Classroom Resources

Actionscript 3 Tutorials

by Doug Ensley, Barbara Kaskosz

Overview

ActionScript 3.0 is new; it is exciting, fast, and fully object-oriented. Flash CS3 authoring environment and ActionScript 3.0 provide a great tool for educators in mathematics and sciences to create their own, custmized web-based learning aids. Most of available samples, books, and articles on ActionScript 3.0 (AS3) are not written with mathematical applications in mind and Flash's great potential in that respect is only now being realized. This is where our MathDL Flash Forum and this collection of tutorials come in. You will find here a collection of ActionScript 3.0 and Flash CS3 tutorials prepared with a mathematics educator in mind. We will help you learn AS3 through creating mathematical objects and applets.

This collection comes from the Flash at the Beach workshop run through the MAA PREP program in June of 2007. It is posted in its entirety at http://www.flashandmath.com

Basic Constructs and Interactions

Each of the links below opens a new window in which you can download a complete tutorial guide (pdf) along with all supporting source code (zip) referenced by the guide. Clicking on the screen shot on the right opens the actual applet in a new window so you can explore its functionality.

Making Custom Buttons   An introductory tutorial. We will show you how to make your own button and explain Flash's authoring environment.
Using Textboxes in an Arithmetic Quiz   In this tutorial we walk you step-by-step through creating an arithemtic quiz. The tutorial demonstrates dynamic and input text fields, buttons, and the random number generator. It also explains "Publish Settings".
Simple Line Segment: Creating Sprites and Shapes from Mouse Clicks   We guide you through creating a simple applet in which line segments are dynamically drawn as the user clicks on a board. The fla files are provided for enhancements and making vertices draggable.
Using the Combo Box Component for Matching Problems  A simple applet that may prove very effective when teaching proofs. The applet is created using a built-in component, combo box.
Using the Radio Button Component for a Multiple Choice Question  Another simple applet and another component: the radio button.

Intermediate Techniques

Each of the links below opens a new window in which you can download a complete tutorial guide (pdf) along with all supporting source code (zip) referenced by the guide. Clicking on the screen shot on the right opens the actual applet in a new window so you can explore its functionality.

A Simple Function Grapher   In four steps, we explain how to built a simple function grapher in AS3. The user can choose the x and y ranges as well as the function being graphed.
Creating a Histogram with Runtime Drawing   A step-by-step tutorial that reinforces the ideas of dynamic drawing and shows a method of parsing the user's comma-delimited input.
Animation Using the "Enter Frame" Event  The tutorial explains in detail how to animate a bouncing ball programmatically.
An Animated Family of Functions   We use the same technique as in the previous tutorial to animate a family of trigonometric functions.
Drawing in a Window at Runtime  The user clicks on two points in a graphing board. The points and the line between them are dynamically drawn.
Flash Forum Custom Classes: Modifying Appearance  We show how to easily modify the appearance of a parametric grapher from our Flash Forum article "Flash Tools for Developers (AS3): Graphing Curves in the Plane".
Creating Textboxes at Runtime  A simple matrix multiplication applet. However, the user is allowed to choose the dimensions as well as the elements of matrices. Hence, all textboxes have to be created at runtime.

Advanced Techniques

Each of the links below opens a new window in which you can download a complete tutorial guide (pdf) along with all supporting source code (zip) referenced by the guide. Clicking on the screen shot on the right opens the actual applet in a new window so you can explore its functionality.

Proof Scrambler with Drag and Drop Interface  Drag and drop techniques, hit test, and depth management. Shows how to create a simple class.
Using an External XML File  In this tutorial, we show how to use an external XML file to load data into a Flash movie at runtime. The advantage of this approach is that an XML file can be easily edited without recompiling the swf file. As an example, we built a gallery of polar curves by combining the XML technique with our parametric curves grapher.
Flash Forum Custom Classes: Modifying Functionality  We use a function grapher template and the custom classes from our Flash Forum article, "Flash Tools For Developers (AS3): Graphing Curves in the Plane", to build a grapher that graphs a user-defined function as well as its derivative.
Clip Loading for a Dynamic Presentation  The applet animates a proof of the Pythagorean Theorem. It shows how to load and unload clips at runtime to create a dynamic presentation.

Flash at the Beach Participants' Gallery

Many of the participants at the Flash on the Beach workshop have graciously allowed us to post the applications they completed at the end of the one-week workshop. Most are still in progress to become more polished & better documented. We include them here as examples of what can be done using the tutorial material on this site.

Open the Workshop Gallery in a new window