I'm not throwing a recommendation for anything in particular, but I believe a UI design tool for Apache Flex is critical to its future. Yes, you can edit .CSS and .MXML/.AS files, build, deploy and view your changes. But that round trip takes time and professional graphic designers are generally not used to working like that. Further, it encourages merging design and business logic when ideally you want them separated.
Apple now uses something it calls "Storyboards" (more advanced nibs) which makes it very easy to separate the design from the function. Apple's UI Designer plugin to Xcode needs more work to allow for complete styling, but it does provide this separation where the description of the UI is independent of the code. An iOS universal app can be a single executable with multiple Storyboards using the same classes for iPhone and iPad but uses them in different ways depending on which Storyboard is loaded. I point this out because I feel mobile computing is really where Flex's strength lies. You can write a Flex app to run on both Android and iOS devices. I'm betting Windows 8 mobile won't be far behind. Imagine just having one App that runs on all those devices. But each device has its own look and feel. It would be better, and easier, for designers to create those styles and themes independently from the app code and just bundle them for each target device. Doing this requires a UI design tool graphic designers can use that doesn't require compilation, code changes, etc. While Apache isn't the place to develop such a tool, a company, group, or individual could do that and provide the product - either commercially or contribute it to Apache. Adobe could do it, sure (not saying they will), but if this is something you want and if you believe Flex can be great on mobile, than go for it. Peter Ent Flex SDK Team Adobe Systems On 10/3/12 10:38 AM, "christofer.d...@c-ware.de" <christofer.d...@c-ware.de> wrote: >Oh ... let me thow in a little more weight for the Catalyst ;-) > >I invested quite some time in setting up a project structure that allowed >me to concentrate on developing (Using an ugly but functional developer >Skin) and having professional Designers use Catalyst to Skin the >application. Unfortunately it seemed that the designers available on the >market were all even less "finished" than the Catalyst project, but as >soon as the designers got the hang of it, the results were pretty >sattisfying and I had what I was allways dreaming about: Being able to >concentrate on the functionality and have a designer do all the stuff >that sells the application (cool buttons, even greater effects and >animated transitions, ...) :-) > >I would be really happy if Adobe didn't entirely drop this tool, and if >they did, If they would somehow open-source it. > >Chris > > > > >-----Ursprüngliche Nachricht----- >Von: Michael Schmalle [mailto:apa...@teotigraphix.com] >Gesendet: Mittwoch, 3. Oktober 2012 11:30 >An: flex-dev@incubator.apache.org >Betreff: Re: Financing the Design View AIR App (Was: Re: Design View AIR >App) > >Sebastian, > >No offense but sometimes I think you over think problems. Apache is not >an enterprise in respect to each project. > >Having the same perspective about a project like FlashCatalyst and >expecting that from Apache Flex is going to keep you up at night. This >project would be iterative. > > From the looks of it I can count more than 3 people that seem to be >interested in this project and we have only talked about it for a day. > >IMO I think you should just give the FC thing a rest and save your energy >for things that actually could manifest. > > >Mike > > >Quoting Sebastian Mohr <masul...@gmail.com>: > >> Thanks, Om, for taking the initiative on this matter! >> >> I still doubt, though, that this designing and skinning tool, you are >> proposing, can be created by one person alone. If the Adobe Catalyst >> team couldn't finish Flash Catalyst within 4 years of development, how >> could you possibly do that just on your own? >> >> The way I see it: The Flash Catalyst development should be reopened >> and splited up into an open source project and into a commercial >> project. The open source project should be hosted on Github and >> codenamed Adobe Thermo again [1] - just like Adobe Brackets [2]. >> Further, the commercial product, called Flash Catalyst again, should >> reenter the Adobe Creative Suite product line in CS7. >> >> In case that Adobe blocks those affords then, maybe, the Spoon project >> would have some financial resources left to start this initiative. >> Thoughts? >> >> >> Sincerely Yours, >> >> Sebastian Mohr >> Apache Flex Developer (PPMC), >> Interaction Designer & Musician >> http://www.linkedin.com/in/masuland >> >> [1] https://github.com/adobe/thermo >> [2] https://github.com/adobe/brackets >> >> >> -- >Michael Schmalle - Teoti Graphix, LLC >http://www.teotigraphix.com >http://blog.teotigraphix.com >
