MEETING: Mar 10 1:15 p.m.

Back to Austin Adobe Website.
Meetings are held monthly at The Department of Assistive and Rehabilitative Services (DARS), 4800 North Lamar & Sunshine (that's between Guadalupe & 45th). 1:00 - 4:00 p.m. See ammug.nhive.com for driving instructions how to get there OR see map at: http://www.dars.state.tx.us/contact/visitor.shtml Please park in the state garage. Enter at the front entrance of building which faces Sunshine Drive and corner of North Lamar. You will need to check in with the security guard.

All speakers and volunteers receive a free gift! Interested in leading an event Email Sue Tedford (Austin Adobe Users Group Coordinator)to make your reservations.

Meetings are free and open to ALL Adobe (and the stars formerly known as Macromedia) Enthusiasts. Please join us on the second Friday of every month from 1:15 p.m. to 4 p.m. A different topic is offered each month by a variety of local and visiting experts. Adobe vendors offer free gifts. Check this Meetings topic for specific details.

Building Flex Applications with Java Web Services,
by Carson Hager, Cynergy Systems, Inc., a Macromedia Flex Alliance Solutions Partner

[Official Press Release] During this session, the presenter (I wonder if this is Carson?) will cover the details of data enabling Flex applications using Java-based XML streams and Web Services. During the session, the presenter will develop a number of applications illustrating the various uses of the WebService and HTTPService MXML tags and how the data from these tags is asynchrnously bound to other MXML controls. Particular attention will be paid to best practices around the use of data caching and the Flex proxy as well as details of running Flex applications within both secure and authenticated contexts. The entire presentation will be a coding demonstration with little to no powerpoint whatsoever. If you're interested in lots of pretty graphics and slides, this presentation is not for you. If you're interested in how Flex really works with data services, we'll see you there. Adobe's Press Release Definition: The complete solution for building cross-platform rich Internet applications within the enterprise and across the web. Adobe Flex 2.0 delivers an integrated set of tools and technology enabling developers to build and deploy scalable rich Internet applications. Flex provides a modern, standards-based language supporting common design patterns and includes a client runtime, programming model, development environment, and advanced data services.

[Here's the Editor's Unofficial Press Release' "Hey, Carson what' s Flex?". Carson cooly replied with: " If text publishing is your business, I honestly don't think Flex will be that valuable for you but I could be wrong. Flex is basically Flash on steroids minus much of the complexity of flash of old. Does that help at all? " "Well, hmmm, let me think....Flash on steroids...guess I shouldn't miss that. Does that mean he looks like the "Rock!". If so, I'm so there!]

Other Agenda Items:

• Jackie is doing a "Photoshop Book Review."

• Sue, is giving away one Adobe Certification FEE Waiver. ["Oh, Lord, won't you please let me win this__ my friends are much smarter____I must have an edge. Prove that you love me, and please don't let me down...."]

MZ Adobe: Framemaker Ha! Ha! Help Desk

Back to http://ammug.nhive.com

This little question came in from a new funny IrishMan client I met in January. He lives all the way up there in a Ft. Worth area code. It was so funny, I wanted to share...

Q. Help! My images keep disappearing from within my anchored frames. What's happening? Or How do you GET RID OF FRAMEMAKER GREMLINS?

A. Make sure they are imported by reference, and if they came from a MAC operator, you might want to resave them in PC format. Just to be safe. Otherwise, I'd just burn the FM User's Guide as well. [well, this didn't help him. Several hours later Keith sent me his quick-fix].

{Keith: I needed to place some graphics in a user manual I'm creating. I first created anchored frames and then imported the graphics. As soon as I imported them, half of the borders surrounding the image and anchored frames disappeared. When I tried to print the page (on which Frame showed the graphics), the graphics didn't print. I also tried to create a PDF of the page with the same result. The original graphics were bitmaps. I then tried JPEGs, TIFs and PDF objects all with the same results. I tried to import them "by reference" and also by "copy into document", but to no avail.

I then tried creating an object box in which to place the graphics. No luck there either.

I tried to copy/paste them into the doc trying both "paste" and "paste special". Again no luck.

A couple of cigarettes and many curse words later, I decided to start with a new blank template based upon my user guides.

[MZ Adobe: This is where MZ Adobe totally lost her professional bearing. Of course, when all else fails. Start over with a clean slate! Uh, duh...dude. It never fails!]

I copied and pasted all of my text and then created anchored frames. Eureka half success!

I say half because now I had borders surrounding my image and anchored Frame, but when I went to print, only half of the graphic would print.

And now in addition, there were printed lines that corresponded with the image borders. [hmmm...BTDT. I bet that nicotine is really helping your problem-solving skill level by now.]

More cigs and cuss words later, I decided to import/copy-paste the graphics into a blank Frame doc, then copy paste them into my user manual. Eureka, 3/4 success!

My graphics would print, but I still had printed lines that corresponded with the image borders. I finally resolved that matter by making the image borders large and shrinking the anchored frame borders until they were much smaller than the image ones.

Finally, no lines and my graphics printed. However, when I view the doc in PDF form, I still see the lines but they don't print. Most of my manuals will be printed, but it's going to suck when I have to use a PDF on CDs and online.

I burned my original user guide doc, [yippee! FM bonfire material] with the associated quirks and have told everyone at my office not to touch the ones that "work" on pain of death.

Maybe someone out there can tell me where I've gone wrong. I've never had these problems before and have only had them this week.}

How about it you FM Pros, can you help out a cuzzed-up, nicotine drenched FM tech writer-bro out?

How to Captivate Me?

Back to http://ammug.nhive.com

Q. What's the quickest way to make a Captivate presentation?
A.Well, now that you asked. Let me ask you why you didn't just come and hear what Sue Tedford had to present. She show&told it a lot better than I will. But here goes:

1. You could take an existing PPT file (ya know a MS PowerPoint presentation) and import into an open Captivate Session | Blank Movie.
2. Select Insert to display the Open dialog box.
   
3. Select the slides you want to convert to Captivate. Ya, know in the background Captivate is converting the slides to XML. But who cares?
   
4. Voila! All the PPT/XML slides are now in the CAPTIVATE timeline. Looked just like my friend, FLASH.
   
5. Now, you can do some fun stuff.---. Insert a Questionaire so user's can imput responses to your sleuthy little questions.
6. You can record your screen movements, add some voice instructions, (but you better get a sound room. CAPTIVATE MASTER Larry Lutz, said recording has an echo. And it would be wise to purchase a 3d party sound editor, like SoundForge. )
   
7. You can make TEXT ENTRY Boxes, so the user can simulate entering information into the fields that the SW has.
   
8. PUBLISH. WhooHoo! You got a sweet, little .swf file that will CAPTIVATE your audience.
   

Too Ez. Too Groovy!