Hi there, because, it is probably easier for us to have something on the table, rather then just to talk about it, I have created a small prototype with Flash Catalyst CS5.5 and Flash Builder 4.6. This proposed Design Tool [1] - codenamed Thermo MK2 - should be seen as a hybrid of Flash Catalyst CS5.5, the "Design View" of Flash Builder 4.6 and the Eclipse IDE.
Things you can do with Thermo MK2 so far: - Switching Perspectives (see top-right) - Switching between Source- and Design-Mode (see text editor in the middle) Things that Thermo MK2 should do: - Thermo MK2 should detect [SkinParts] and [SkinStates] of SkinnableComponents. - Thermo MK2 should be able to draw graphics in a FXG 2.0 [2] compliant way. - Thermo MK2 should be able to import FXG files, Photoshop and Illustrator files. - Thermo MK2 should be able to communicate via a certain API with Flash Builder 4.7 or other IDEs. - Thermo MK2 should be able to visually manage and edit CSS files. - Thermo MK2 should be able to visually link SkinnableComponents with their Skins inside CSS. - Thermo MK2 should be clever about screen sizes (compare with Adobe Edge Reflow [2]). The Data-Centric features are not necessarily needed because other IDEs would be more appropriate for that. That being said: These are the questions I have: - Who could finance Thermo MK2? - How many people are needed to build Thermo MK2? - Which expertise is required to build Thermo MK2? - When could Thermo MK2 be released (and sold) in its first version? Hopefully, this leads the discussion into something more concrete then it was before. Sincerely Yours, Sebastian Mohr Apache Flex Developer (PPMC), Interaction Designer & Musician http://www.linkedin.com/in/masuland [1] http://code.google.com/p/masuland/wiki/ThermoMK2 [2] http://sourceforge.net/adobe/flexsdk/wiki/FXG%202.0%20Specification/ [3] http://html.adobe.com/edge/reflow/
