I purchased a Western Digital Elements 2 TB hard drive to use as my local network hard drive. The hard drive comes preformatted for windows. My pre reading indicated I would need to format the hard drive for apple in HFS+ format to work with all machines via Time Capsule. The Time capsule provides AFP protocols to apple based machines and SMB protocols to windows based machines to interface with the hard drive. This was based on the apple site reference page about USB storage device supported formats and protocols USB storage device supported formats and protocols.

The instructions that came with the hard drive pointed Macintosh users to support.wdc.com and to look up knowledge based question id#287. Doing a knowledge based search on the id brought up this link:
How to partition and format a WD drive on Windows(7,Vista,XP) and Mac OSX.
I then selected my OS which was MAC OSX 10.5 or 10.6. This brought up a step by step instruction on how to format the external hard drive in the MAC OS EXtended (Journaled) format. The only deviation from the directions was in step 4 where I selected GUID Partition table partition scheme rather than the Apple Partition Map choice. These directions were also presented at this site Things You Must Know When Connecting a USB Hard Drive to Airport Extreme.

After reformatting the hard drive, I plugged it into my Time Capsule. I then used my Airport Utility which I have installed on my windows machine to configure the Time Capsule per the instructions on How to Add An External Hard Drive To Time Capsule. The fact that I had the Airport Utility installed on my windows machine may be why I had no trouble seeing the hard drive on my windows HP machine.

Ironically, on my apple mac pro laptop the network drive was visible but when I clicked on the drive I got the following error message:
“The operation cannot be completed because the original item for “drive” (the name of my drive) cannot be found”

I did some googling but thought I would try an old Windows trick and just rebooted my laptop. That did the trick and the laptop recognized the hard drive on the Time Capsule and allowed me to view the test photos I had placed there. I think the reboot forced the time capsule settings to be refreshed on the laptop which is rather windowy behavior.

I created a document class for a fla file which has

• font embedded
• traces the font info when the class is instantiated
• creates a text field to display embedded font

Here is the document class EmbedFontTest.as which is in the same directory as the Font Classes which it references(ArialEmbedder and MsRefEmbedder):

package {
	
	import flash.display.Sprite;
	import flash.text.TextField;
	import flash.text.TextFieldAutoSize;
	import flash.text.Font;
	
	import flash.text.TextFormat;
	import flash.text.AntiAliasType;
	
	public class EmbedFontTest extends Sprite {
		//page 740 Essential Actionscript 3.0
		//Force _ArialEmbedder and its fonts to be compiled into the swf
		ArialEmbedder;
		//MsRefEmbedder;
		
		private var _text_fmt:TextFormat;
		private var _text_txt:TextField;
		
		public function EmbedFontTest() {
			// constructor code
			super();
			var fonts:Array = Font.enumerateFonts();
			fonts.sortOn("fontName", Array.CASEINSENSITIVE);
			for (var i:int = 0; i< fonts.length; i++)
			{
				trace(fonts[i].fontName + "," + fonts[i].fontStyle + "," + fonts[i].fontType);
			}
			this.initEmbedFontTest();
		}
		
		 private function initEmbedFontTest():void
		{
			this._text_fmt = new TextFormat();
			//this._text_fmt.font = MsRefEmbedder.FONT_NAME;
			this._text_fmt.font = ArialEmbedder.FONT_NAME;
			this._text_fmt.size = 40;
			this._text_fmt.bold = true;
			this._text_fmt.italic = true;
			
			
			this._text_txt = new TextField();
			this._text_txt.embedFonts = true;
			this._text_txt.autoSize = TextFieldAutoSize.LEFT;
			this._text_txt.defaultTextFormat = this._text_fmt;
			this._text_txt.text = "Test Text Format µ ≥";
			
			this.addChild(this._text_txt);
		}

	}
	
}

Using the code above I was able to eliminate the font conflict I was running into when incorporating Flash CS5 swc component within a flex based project.

My next approach was to read up on embedding fonts programmatically. So I broke out my Essential Actionscript 3.0 book and on page 740 read up on embedding fonts and going through the exercises in that chapter.

The following is an example of embedding font in a class which can then be used in a class to control the rendering of text in a TextField.

package {
	
	//-------------------------------------------------------------------------
	// Class
	//-------------------------------------------------------------------------
	/**
	 *
	 * Class used to embed Arial Regular font 
     * ONLY in a font library
	 * for use by Flash 5 Pro generated swc libraries
	 *
	 **/ 
	public class ArialEmbedder {
		
		public static const FONT_NAME:String = "_arial";
		
		//these are the elements of the font family 
		//we want to embed using direct path location 
        //to Font directory on Windows XP
		[Embed(source='C:/Windows/Fonts/ARIAL.TTF', 
			   fontFamily='_arial',
			   fontWeight='regular',
			   fontStyle='regular',
			   embedAsCFF='false')]
		public static var _arial:Class;
		
	}
}

Note that this increases the file size dramatically since it includes all characters in the font set. We just want to restrict ourselves to a subset of the characters. So this class is modified in the following manner:

package {
	
	//-------------------------------------------------------------------------
	// Class
	//-------------------------------------------------------------------------
	/**
	 *
	 * Class used to embed Arial Regular font 
	 * ONLY in a font library
	 * for use by Flash 5 Pro generated swc libraries
	 * 
	 *
	 * Commonly used ranges
	 * Uppercase : U+0020,U+0041-U+005A
     * Lowercase : U+0020,U+0061-U+007A
     * Numerals : U+0030-U+0039,U+002E
     * Punctuation : U+0020-U+002F,U+003A-U+0040,U+005B-U+0060,U+007B-U+007E
     * Basic Latin : U+0020-U+002F, U+0030-U+0039, U+003A-U+0040, U+0041-U+005A, U+005B-U+0060, U+0061-U+007A, U+007B-U+007E
	 * Special Chars: U+00B5 for µ,U+2265 for ≥
	 * alt+230,alt+242
	 * 
	 * 
	 **/ 
	public class ArialEmbedder {
		
		public static const FONT_NAME:String = "_arial";

		//these are the elements of the font family 
		//we want to embed using direct path location 		
		//to Font directory on Windows XP
		//
		[Embed(source='C:/Windows/Fonts/ARIAL.TTF', 
			   fontFamily='_arial',
			   fontWeight='regular',
			   fontStyle='regular',
			   unicodeRange='U+00B5,U+2265,U+0041-U+005A,U+0061-U+007A,U+0030-U+0039,U+002E,U+0020-U+002F,U+003A-U+0040,U+005B-U+0060,U+007B-U+007E',
			   embedAsCFF='false')]
		public static var _arial:Class;
		
	}
}

Final step is to note this class only contains font for Arial regular font. If you have a flash file that uses more than just regular arial font – perhaps you need bold font, italic font, and bolditalic font, then you should create a class which contains all of these but note that the inclusion increases the file size of the font class which will be embedded in the flash file. The following is an example of embedding multiple fonts in a single class:

package {
	
	//-------------------------------------------------------------------------
	// Class
	//-------------------------------------------------------------------------
	/**
	 * Class used to embed Ms Reference Sans Serif 
	 * font in a font library for use by Flash 5 Pro 
	 * generated swc libraries
	 *
	 * Commonly used ranges
	 * Uppercase : U+0020,U+0041-U+005A
     * Lowercase : U+0020,U+0061-U+007A
     * Numerals : U+0030-U+0039,U+002E
     * Punctuation : U+0020-U+002F,U+003A-U+0040,U+005B-U+0060,U+007B-U+007E
     * Basic Latin : U+0020-U+002F, U+0030-U+0039, U+003A-U+0040, U+0041-U+005A, U+005B-U+0060, U+0061-U+007A, U+007B-U+007E
	 * Special Chars: U+00B5 for µ,U+2265 for ≥
	 * alt+230,alt+242
	 * @author Margo Powell
	 * @version $Id$
	 **/ 
	public class MsRefEmbedder {
		
		public static const FONT_NAME:String = "_msRef";

		//these are the elements of the font family 
		//we want to embed using direct path location 		
		//to Font directory on Windows XP
		[Embed(source='C:/Windows/Fonts/REFSAN.TTF', 
			   fontFamily='_msRef',
			   fontWeight='regular',
			   fontStyle='regular',
			   unicodeRange='U+00B5,U+2265,U+0041-U+005A,U+0061-U+007A,U+0030-U+0039,U+002E,U+0020-U+002F,U+003A-U+0040,U+005B-U+0060,U+007B-U+007E',
			   embedAsCFF='false')]
		public static var _msRef:Class;

		//note we are using complete fontWeight and fontStyle attributes
		[Embed(source='C:/Windows/Fonts/MS Reference Sans Serif Bold.ttf', 
			   fontFamily='_msRef', 
			   fontWeight='bold',
			   fontStyle='regular',
			   unicodeRange='U+00B5,U+2265,U+0041-U+005A,U+0061-U+007A,U+0030-U+0039,U+002E,U+0020-U+002F,U+003A-U+0040,U+005B-U+0060,U+007B-U+007E',
			   embedAsCFF='false' )]
		public static var _msRefBold:Class;

		//note we are using embedAsCFF set to false, since using DefineFont3 for TextFields
		//if left to true, would useDefineFont4 and not render in the TextField
		[Embed(source='C:/Windows/Fonts/MS Reference Sans Serif Bold Italic.ttf', 
			   fontFamily='_msRef', 
			   fontWeight='bold', 
			   fontStyle='italic',
			   unicodeRange='U+00B5,U+2265,U+0041-U+005A,U+0061-U+007A,U+0030-U+0039,U+002E,U+0020-U+002F,U+003A-U+0040,U+005B-U+0060,U+007B-U+007E',
			   embedAsCFF='false')]
		public static var _msRefBoldItalic:Class;

		[Embed(source='C:/Windows/Fonts/MS Reference Sans Serif Italic.ttf', 
			   fontFamily='_msRef', 
			   fontWeight='regular', 
			   fontStyle='italic',
			   unicodeRange='U+00B5,U+2265,U+0041-U+005A,U+0061-U+007A,U+0030-U+0039,U+002E,U+0020-U+002F,U+003A-U+0040,U+005B-U+0060,U+007B-U+007E',
			   embedAsCFF='false')]
		public static var _msRefItalic:Class;
	}
}

Next in Series Part 5

We created some Flex based component views using Flash CS5 by following the instructions in the Adobe Article Combining animation and ActionScript using Flash Professional CS5 and Flash Builder 4 which we used inside our course player. These View components had text fields which would dynamically resize when the player was resized on the fly(Only for firefox and safari, IE and chrome do not allow resizing). These views also had images which would scale appropriately as well.

I initially just embedded the fonts like I did in Part 1 and Part 2 but ran into font conflicts. When I created a Flex component using Flash CS5 (which was placed in a swc library for use in Flex), I was getting font warnings along the line of :

Warning incompatible embedded font “Arial specified for spark components::Label (Label27) requires embedded font be declared with embedAsCff=true”

Based on the information in the following blog on Flex 4 SDK – the Halo namespace and embedded fonts , it appears the
classic text fields I used in flash CS5 had non-CFF based embedding fonts. The Flex spark components in the player used CFF embedded font formats. The generated swc library from Flash CS5 caused a conflict which was discussed in detail in Fix Disappearing Fonts Caused by SWC’s. One embedded font version would override the other ( would either have a CFF embedded font or a non-CFF embedded font with a specific font name).

This conflict required that I rename the fonts in the Flash CS5 generated swc for use within the Flex based player. The process involved required that:

• embed the font in a class with a different name for Flash CS5 component
• use that font class in the document class of the Flash CS5 view

Next in series Part 4

• create a new TextField with the desired font to be used
• embed the font in the TextField
• Set the font to be exported for actionscript*

* see the instructions at this site: AS3: Text Fields and Formats to set the linkage properties for the font in the IDE.

In my linkage Properties dialog, I set the class name of my desired font(and text format) to MsRefItalic.
In the code below, I access the new embedded font using this linkage class name. I then create a new TextFormat which will utilize the new font and also change a few of the text formatting attributes:

//create a reference to the font in the library which has
//been exported for actionscript with the class name 
//used to create the font
var italicFont:Font = new MsRefItalic();

//use this font to create an italic text format 
//for glossary terms
var italicTextFormat:TextFormat = new TextFormat();
italicTextFormat.font = italicFont.fontName;

//set the text italic
italicTextFormat.italic = true;

//make the text blue
italicTextFormat.color = 0x0756a3;

Now I want to modify some text within the paragraph and will start from the Part1 example:

//set movie clip text field value
choice_txt.text = "New Text to be displayed in the text field";
			
//apply text formatting to ALL new text to display
choice_txt.setTextFormat(choiceTextFormat);
			
//set the string to italicize and make blue
var italicBlueText:String = "displayed";

//hard coded above but could be dynamic, so
//make sure that there is a string
if (italicBlueText.length != 0){
	//get the string characters currently being
   //displayed in the text field
	var temp:String = choice_txt.text;
	
    //find the beginning index of word within string
	var beginIndex:int = temp.indexOf(italicBlueText);
						
	//set the end index based on the character lenght
	var endIndex:int=beginIndex + italicBlueText.length;
						
	//update the corresponding characters 
    //within the text field
	choice_txt.setTextFormat(this._italicTextFormat,beginIndex,endIndex);
}

Next in series, Part 3

This post is going to cover how to retrieve TextFormat settings when I would like to change the text in dynamic text fields on the fly. I typically layout flash pages with TextFields placed in the desired location on the stage. When an interaction has been setup and the values of the text fields needs to change dynamically, I always struggle to remember exactly what I did each time.

Simple approach Part 1:

• Embed the font in the dynamic TextField with desired attributes set in property tab
• TextField paragraph setting set to Justify*
• Programmatically retrieve the TextFields text format properties to be used later

* – this seems to prevent cropping of characters in the text field when values are changed. When I tried to set this attribute programmatically, the text characters would get cropped when I mixed font attributes within a text field vs setting the whole TextField from the stage (so just set this item globally on the stage properties tab view for the designated TextField).

The code below illustrates the retrieval of the TextFormat settings for a TextField named choice_txt:

//store initial text format for choice textField
//used when I need to modify text later
choiceTextFormat = choice_txt.getTextFormat();

The format setting for the text field can then be reapplied when the text is modified:

//set new movie clip text field value
choice_txt.text = "New text to be displayed or appended";
			
//apply text formatting to maintain current look and feel
choice_txt.setTextFormat(choiceTextFormat);

Next in series, Part 2

While uploading our new course player which loaded swf files that had corresponding audio files to be played (audio files which had been named but not created yet), I noticed that random audio files were being played with each page. Rather a disconnect between what was being visually seen and what you were hearing from some random audio file. This was unexpected since it was not happening on my local testbed server.

I then noticed in my error_log on Modwest that when a file could not be found that a message in the following basic format was output:

“Spelling fix: /”missing filename here ” [info] Audio file requested but does not exist 20 candidates from http://mysite/callingPage.swf

and then some random file would be selected that was considered a best match.

I had a difficult time trying to find out how to turn off this feature but finally my googling skills found this information about the Apache http server having a mod_speling extension:

http://httpd.apache.org/docs/current/mod/mod_speling.html

I really like how it is spelled mod_speling with a single L in spelling:)

I then was able to find the appropriate link on Modwest by searching for checkspelling(which is the apache directive to enable/disable the spelling module) at the support site(support.modwest.com) to find this link:
http://support.modwest.com/content/1/176/en/how-do-i-stop-the-server-from-automatically-correcting-spelling-mistakes-in-urls-or-offering-multiple-choices-for-documents.html?highlight=checkspelling

So I created an .htaccess file in my www directory which had the following in it:
CheckSpelling Off

This directive then holds for all subdirectories as well. Random files were no longer being selected. Done.

1. Installed the certificate in my browser following the directions from GlobalSign
2. Saved the certificate to a backup file(used for backup and also for Air Application release builds)
3. Tested the certificate file by creating a release build of an Air Application

1) Installed the certificate in my browser
I received an email from GlobalSign that my certificate had been approved. I selected the email link to start the certificate installation process and the following web page was rendered:

I selected the top button and was told my certificate was successfully installed.(Which meant that the certificate was installed into the current browser).

I subsequently selected the buttons for the intermediate certificates and was told that the intermediate certificates had already been installed as a certificate authority. This was probably done last year when I installed my first Adobe Air Code Signing Certificate.

2) Export the certificate for Backup and usage within the Flex Builder program
Now that the certificate was installed in the browser successfully, I found the following page on the GlobalSign site which helped to jog my memory of what I needed to do next.

I followed the instructions to backup the certificate from the firefox browser (With the exception that I did not have to set up a Master Password). So..

Firefox Menu Bar > Selected Tools > Options > Advanced
The Options popup for firefox 3.5.7 appears and is displayed below:

Select View Certificates Button
The Certificate Manager Popup Menu appers:

Select Desired Certificate and select Backup button

This will open a window to create a filename. Select a directory and filename to save the backup file to and then select the Save button.

The certificate password menu popup appears as a result:

Enter a password and record it in a safe place for future reference (This password will be used by Flex when generating a release build for an Air application). Then select the Ok Button.

The following Alert dialog should appear to let you know you have successfully saved the certificate.

3) Use the backup file to create a release build of an Air Application
When the Air project is ready for prime time:

Select Export option for the project.
Select Release Build from the options Presented
Release Build Popup allows you to select Code signing Certificate

Drill down to location of Code Signing certicate file

Enter password you had saved for the backup and then proceed to publish Air Application

1. Downloaded the zip file for phpMyAdmin from www.phpmyadmin.net
2. unzip the downloaded fie
3. rename phpMyAdmin…3.2.5 to phpMyAdmin
4. copy the directory to the apache server location(/Library/Webserver/Documents)
5. FAQS stated – you need to create your own config.inc.php. I started from config.sample.inc.php
6. Go to http://localhost/phpMyAdmin which should show you the login view

My config.inc.php is displayed below


<?php
/* vim: set expandtab sw=4 ts=4 sts=4: */
/**
* phpMyAdmin sample configuration, you can use it as base for
* manual configuration. For easier setup you can use setup/
*
* All directives are explained in Documentation.html and on phpMyAdmin
* wiki .
*
* @version $Id: config.sample.inc.php 13111 2009-11-09 15:02:21Z lem9 $
* @package phpMyAdmin
*/

I ran into an issue when I did step 6 because the default apache/php configuration on the mac does not include the mcrypt module. There was a message on the login page for phpMyAdmin that mcrypt was missing.

I was afraid I was going to have to do a recompilation of apache with php but I found the following site which has instructions for plugging the mcrypt module into php on Snow Leopard:
Plugging mcrypt into PHP, on Mac OS X Snow Leopard 10.6.1 which was a godsend. It worked out of the box for me. I believe it makes(compiles) the mcrypt.so modular library. This library extension can then be dynamically loaded for php to use by adding the extension to the php.ini file.

After adding mycrypt library I was up and running with phpMyAdmin.