Gaia Framework 2.0 - AS3/AS2 Front-End Flash Framework

[ultimante]

:book: :cons:

Gaia Framework - AS3/AS2 Front-End Flash Framework
Main Page (http://www.gaiaflashframework.com/) | Wiki (http://www.gaiaflashframework.com/wiki/) | Download (http://www.gaiaflashframework.com/downloads/update.html) | Screencast (http://www.gaiaflashframework.com/screencasts/lesson1/) | Forum (http://www.gaiaflashframework.com/index.php/action,forum.html) | FAQ (http://www.gaiaflashframework.com/wiki/index.php?title=FAQ) | License (http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php) | Authors Site (http://www.stevensacks.net)

Current Version: 2.4.5 - Released 09.01.08

Binding Expression Support is now available in Gaia!

SWFObject 2 plus a whole lot more is now available in Gaia!

SEO Scaffolding is available in Gaia! This powerful feature makes SEO for Flash a snap, and, like many things in Gaia, requires only one button press. Read more about SEO Scaffolding in the Wiki (http://www.gaiaflashframework.com/wiki/index.php?title=SEO).


What is Gaia?
Gaia is an open-source front-end Flash Framework for AS3 and AS2 designed to dramatically reduce development time.

Gaia is targeted at anyone who develops Flash sites. It provides solutions to the challenges and repeated tasks we all face with front-end Flash site development, such as navigation, transitions, preloading, asset management, site structure and deep linking. It provides speed and flexibility in your workflow and a simple API that gives you access to its powerful features.

Gaia's revolutionary scaffolding engine generates all your Flash files and classes for you and gets you up and running with a fully functional site in less than 10 minutes without writing a single line of code!

Gaia enables you to develop feature-rich websites with significantly less code, and comes with built-in best practices including seamless integration with SWFObject 2 (http://blog.deconcept.com/swfobject/) and SWFAddress 2.1 (http://www.asual.com/swfaddress/).

Most Flash frameworks are back-end frameworks, or require senior level coding experience to use. Gaia stands out because it focuses on front-end development. It is easy enough for novice Flash developers, yet powerful enough that advanced coders can use it without feeling limited.

Gaia uses a pragmatic and agile approach, and is focused on helping you do your job without getting in your way. And, it is flexible enough to enable you to work the way you like to work without forcing you to change your style. Whether you write everything in strictly-typed AS3 or AS2 classes, hack AS1 on the timeline or anywhere in between, Gaia helps you get the job done.


A Few Interesting Facts - from the FAQ page (http://www.gaiaflashframework.com/wiki/index.php?title=FAQ)

Q. How does Gaia save me time, exactly?
A. Gaia comes with a panel that you use in Flash, like your Align, Transform and Library panels. The Gaia Framework panel does what is known as "Scaffolding (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scaffold_%28programming%29)" (popularized by Ruby On Rails) which builds a fully functional version of your site in seconds without writing a single line of code!

The Gaia scaffolding engine and framework saves you not just hours, but days of development time!

Q. How big is Gaia?
A. The current AS3 release compiles to 37.7k, and AS2 is 30k. The AS3 page files are ~ 3k and the AS2 pages are ~2k.

Q. What version of Flash is Gaia for?
A. Gaia is written in AS3 and AS2 and designed for Flash CS3 and Flash 8 and works on both Windows and OSX. Flash 7 is not supported.

Q. How much does Gaia cost?
A. Gaia is absolutely free and is distributed under the MIT License (http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php)

Q. Is Gaia MXMLC/MTASC compliant?
A. Absolutely!

:thumb2:

[ultimante]

Gaia 2.0.2 update is now available. Click the download link above to get it.

[ultimante]

I've posted a new how-to guide that covers how to leverage SWFAddress 2 and Gaia's deeplink event to manage complex navigation very easily in Gaia.

http://www.gaiaflashframework.com/forum/index.php?topic=186.0

[prg9]

Previous Thread: Gaia Framework - Front-end Flash Framework
http://www.kirupa.com/forum/showthread.php?t=279461

Try not to make anymore threads (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=+site%3Awww.kirupa.com+gaia&btnG=Search) ultimante, it gets confusiong for people trying to follow the progress on this!

[prg9]

^ prg9, nice. Now why hasn't a mod banned this guy yet?

??

@ Esherido, I am by no means saying that this user should be banned, in fact I think the framework he has developed is quite nice and an asset to the Flash community. What I was saying however is, if there are to many posts for the same exact topic then its hard for others to follow and which thread to follow, especially if they have subscribed to the thread etc., and are then unaware of the new ones that took its place.

Again I think the Gaia Framework is a worthy contribution and should definitely be included here in Source/Experiments for users to be aware of, that was not my point and I am sorry if it was somehow perceived otherwise. I appreciate the developers efforts and continuing efforts on this project. My only gripe was too many threads in the forum being used.

@ ultimante

Suggestion: The thread SHOULD just be titled (with no version info, ie: 2.0 etc...) Gaia Framework - AS3/AS2 Front-End Flash Framework Like the post I had made, which you could have just updated with posts about updates(!?) Instead of starting a new thread here (!?)

Then for any and all updates you can just modify your first post in THIS thread regarding updates as well as make any needed comments in THIS same thread as you make updates, versions etc... and then there would be NO NEED for making new threads for every update etc... and it would help everyone keep track of the progress concerning your project.

Maybe one of the MODERATORS can sort this all out and make it less confusing for people :puzzle:

Keep up the good work ultimante on your framework. Thanks for sharing! I hope it makes sense regarding the concern of multiple threads etc.. it will only help everyone and make it less confusing.

:thumb:

[fenrost]

awesome.. thanks for sharing.

just one recommendation tho... hopefully compile all the documentation into 1 pdf.. that will be great.

[trilec]

Very interesting framework, Im going to test it out.

Im not sure on how it will fit into a dialog box (popping up, aka, web2.0) style app.
It seems to be more page centric.
But I do like the pre building aspect, deep linking and pre loader support.

cheers

[ultimante]

@ prg9

Unfortunately, I couldn't modify the compilation post you had made and I didn't want to burden you with the maintenance of it every time I made an update, so I decided to make this one and only thread that I could modify the first post on from here on out, based entirely on the one you made (copied and pasted). I apologize for the extra posts, this thread is intended to fix that. This is the only thread about Gaia I have been using since the 2.0 launch, and I will be using only this one from now on, which I hoped would be implied by the way I copied yours. :)

In fact, if you want to delete the other threads, and leave only this one, I'm all for it.

That said, Gaia 2.0.4 is out now! It includes some bug fixes, code cleanup and optimizations.

[ultimante]

Gaia 2.0.6 is out, with some new features, bug fixes and the addition of TweenFilterLite and SWFAddress 2.1.

[ultimante]

Gaia 2.0.8 is available now, and contains many improvements including scaffolding transition template options, byte accurate preloading and the latest versions of TweenLite and TweenFilterLite.

[Digitalosophy]

How much further are you going to take this? I'm very impressed with what you've done so far.

*Note I haven't tried this but looking at your video tutorial it's pretty amazing.

For example I'm wondering if you planned on implementing functionality to make the inside of the site work. Maybe a mini slide show, maybe a contact form builder, etc.

I think it's great. I mean to be honest if you know your way around Flash I can't see using this but for new jacks I think your saving lives.

[prg9]

Nice work ultimante!

At this post you may wish to consider some of the following:

1.) Further Screen Casts / Video Tutorials
2.) Sample Sites / Files for download - AS2 / AS3 (like SWFAddress samples etc..)
3.) Downloadable Documentation / HTML Files (like FuseKit, SWFaddress etc...)

Jusy some thoughts for further maturation of this project and helping new comers get onboard more easily. Keep up the nice work ultimante.

[ultimante]

I just released a new screencast that introduces Gaia using version 2.0.8 (the last one was version 1.0.0 - a lot has changed since then, heh).

I'm trying to find time to build a sample site. It's a matter of free time. Between work, adding new features to Gaia, supporting current users of Gaia, and, you know, trying to have some kind of life away from the computer *wink*, I'm doing as much as I can. I'm just one person, after all. :)

I have a buddy who is helping me set up a Wiki style documentation section, which will be a lot better than the forum version. I'm constantly improving the docs. I used to provide a download of them, but keeping two versions updated was far too time consuming.

As far as it not being for advanced devs, I think you haven't fully explored its event based architecture, yet. Between event hijacking, the onDeeplink event, and the flow control, you can do some really amazing stuff with very little effort. I'm an advanced Flash developer, and I use Gaia. ;)

[dail]

Pretty amazing work here ultimante. I think I'll give the framework a go on a future project. It certainly will help some of my friends who are less Flash savvy.

[ultimante]

Thanks! My name is Steven, btw. :)

I just released version 2.0.9, which contains a new API method and some bug fixes. SEO Scaffolding is coming soon. Keep your eyes peeled for that.

[Glidias]

Request:

../ and _ underscores should be allowed within src and classes field.

[ultimante]

The Gaia Flash Framework Wiki is now in beta.

http://www.gaiaflashframework.com/wiki/

[ultimante]

The Gaia Flash Framework version 2.1 is here with SEO Scaffolding. Read more about this amazing new feature here:

http://www.stevensacks.net/2008/04/16/gaia-flash-framework-21-seo-scaffolding/

[prg9]

The Gaia Flash Framework version 2.1 is here with SEO Scaffolding. Read more about this amazing new feature here: http://www.stevensacks.net/2008/04/16/gaia-flash-framework-21-seo-scaffolding/

Very cool stuff Steven, you continue to impress! :thumb2:


But that's not all!
Wait! We're not done, yet!
Hold up. There's still more.
One more thing!

More, go man go! :thumb2:

[ultimante]

Gaia 2.1.9 is here and contains a variety of improvements and updates, including a new flow called CrossFlow, and ApplicationDomain support for AS3. Gaia is now distributed under the MIT License.

You can download the latest version of Gaia and read the release notes here:
http://www.gaiaflashframework.com/forum/index.php/topic,534.msg2253.html

[ultimante]

Gaia 2.2.0 is a major update and contains many awesome improvements and upgrades!

First off, SWFObject 2 + SWFAddress 2.1 are now fully supported. Updating older Gaia projects will automatically convert all your html pages, including your SEO Scaffolding ones, all while keeping any custom params and FlashVars you have in the old syntax. One click and your project is up-to-date with the latest SWF embedding technology. It doesn't get much easier than that!

Another cool new feature is queued on-demand asset loading. Gaia will now only open a maximum of two HTTP requests at a time, which means your Gaia site is more stable (people have reported AS3 becomes unstable when you have too many pending HTTP requests) and more responsive.

External pages now have a window attribute which enables you to target which window you want to open your link in right in the site.xml.

The panel now has Site XML and Class Path validation so you don't accidentally scaffold invalid class folder names (no spaces, no number at the start, alphanumeric), or invalid page ids. Additionally, the panel tells you exactly which nodes are invalid so you don't have to waste time trying to determine which ones they are.

Gaia now has AS3 Event Metadata for auto-completion when using Flex Builder 3.

Separate page templates for Actionscript and Timeline are now available for easy customization (and to solve a nasty JSFL bug with removeFrames).

Plus, some important bug fixes were made in both the framework and the panel.
And to top it all off, the latest version of the TweenMax family (v 1.17) is also included (released June 10th).

If you haven't tried Gaia yet, what are you waiting for?

http://www.gaiaflashframework.com/forum/index.php/topic,542.0.html

[ultimante]

Gaia 2.3 is here with lots of great new features and a new look for the site! Check it out!

[ultimante]

Gaia 2.3.8 is out with new features and bug fixes.

[ultimante]

Gaia 2.4.5 has been released and includes the latest SWFAddress 2.2, custom initialization, ASDocs, and more!