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Subject: Re: Flex PDF support
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From: Michael Montoya <montoyland@gmail.com>
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Date: Tue, 8 May 2012 23:03:43 -0400
To: "flex-dev@incubator.apache.org" <flex-dev@incubator.apache.org>
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PDF support is just one thing I would like to see... :)

Another feature I think would be quite useful is to support a reasonable num=
ber of configurable 3D primitives and be able to instantiate them via MXML u=
tilizing a syntax such as:=20

<mx:Stage3D type=3D"sphere" radius=3D"12" horzDiv=3D"16" vertDiv=3D"16" etc .=
.. />

This would automatically add these shapes to the Stage3D layer. Additionally=
, I could see using the Embed[] metadata to import a 3D model in say, OBJ fo=
rmat.=20

I feel this would bring Flex more in sync with the recent features to versio=
n 11 of the Flash player. Additionally, a decent offering of widgets would g=
ive Powerpoint a run for it's money with respect to all the 3D presentation w=
idgets it provides, conspicuously lacking in Flash (available only through A=
way3D, Papervision, and some voodoo magic - i.e. not for the faint of heart)=
.

On May 8, 2012, at 10:31 PM, "Guthmann, Scott" <sguthmann@on3solutions.com> w=
rote:

> Welcome, Michael!
>=20
> The feature that you described sounds fantastic. I would love to see the c=
ode. We are all volunteers and we each work on what we want to. Kudos to you=
 for telling us what you would like to see so nobody duplicates the effort. W=
hat help do you need from us?
>=20
> Sent from my MOTOROLA ATRIX=E2=84=A2 2 on AT&T
>=20
>=20
> -----Original message-----
> From: Michael Montoya <montoyland@gmail.com>
> To: "flex-dev@incubator.apache.org" <flex-dev@incubator.apache.org>
> Sent: Wed, May 9, 2012 02:07:25 GMT+00:00
> Subject: Flex PDF support
>=20
> Hello community,
>=20
> I'm a fellow JavaEE / Flex developer in NYC excited by the possibility of h=
aving a hand in shaping the future of Flex.
>=20
> After looking through Vaadin's documentation in preparation to port my com=
pany's current portfolio of Flex web apps, I got this sinking feeling as I f=
essed up to myself - despite all the clamoring around me to the contrary - t=
hat no amount of HTML5 can ever hope to replace the breadth, depth and richn=
ess currently possible with Flex.
>=20
> I don't want Flex to go the way of the Dodo. So I have resolved to help ke=
ep it relevant and help innovate any way I can. As a total noob to open sour=
ce collaboration, however, I'm still trying to get my footing and figure out=
 how best to contribute.
>=20
> One very general thought is that it would be wonderful if we could develop=
 a native means for viewing PDF documents in Flex. In my experience this has=
 been the Achille's heel of our Flex apps and has led to very kludgy work-ar=
ounds using server-side Image Magick to convert the document to images (late=
ly we've been exploring swftools). This is less than ideal for all the obvio=
us reasons... I'm surprised Adobe never addressed this, but it would be wond=
erful if we could.
>=20
> My other question/concern is this - while Adobe has ceded Flex to the comm=
unity, isn't Flex virtually useless without the Flash Player to run the comp=
iled bitecode?
>=20
> Am I the only troubled by the fact that Adobe has given us the keys to a Fe=
rrari with no engine. While I applaud their latest features as of Molehill -=
 particularly access to the GPU through AGAL, what's to stop them from pulli=
ng the plug on Flash Player development altogether thereby rendering the fru=
its of our labor utterly useless?
>=20
> While I can certainly envision new and exciting capabilities for Apache Fl=
ex, doesn't true innovation require coordination with the Flash VM and hence=
, player development - not to mention Actionscript?
>=20
> What little time is left over between work and family is very precious to m=
e and I hate to think that my efforts may be in vain. The current dependency=
 to Adobe makes me feel rather exposed. Anyone feel the same or can someone a=
llay my concerns?
>=20
> Sincerely,
> Michael
>=20
> On May 8, 2012, at 9:25 PM, Alex Harui <aharui@adobe.com> wrote:
>=20
>>=20
>>=20
>>=20
>> On 5/8/12 5:21 PM, "Justin Mclean" <justin@classsoftware.com> wrote:
>>=20
>>> Hi,
>>>=20
>>>> I'm not familiar with any of these technologies.  They don't allow for
>>>> manual configuration?
>>> Yes the environment variables can be set up so that's not a big issue.
>>> Downloading the required extra bits would require an extra script (or ta=
rget
>>> in extra ant script) to do so.
>>>=20
>> Is that because you think the CI server will need to download the
>> prerequisites more than once?
>>=20
>> --
>> Alex Harui
>> Flex SDK Team
>> Adobe Systems, Inc.
>> http://blogs.adobe.com/aharui
>>=20