Jun 29th 11
Posted by Remus Stratulat in Tools
And is from Adobe.
Yes, there is a new product just around the corner called Adobe Edge.
Quoting from Adobe Labs:
an upcoming tool for creating smooth motion and transitions for screens of all sizes, utilizing the latest web standards like HTML/HTML5, JavaScript and CSS. Highlights include:
- Visually create motion content in an easy to use, timeline-based interface
- Create new compositions from scratch, import and energize web graphics, or add motion to existing CSS-based HTML layouts.
- Trust that your content works reliably on desktops as well as devices.
There is also a video preview of the tool on the preview page and is does look impressive.
Dec 17th 10
Posted by Remus Stratulat in RIA, Tools
The latest version (1.2) of Adobe SiteCatalyst extension for Flash Pro was just released. The first major change that can be seen form the beginning is a new screen just after the login.
Simple Tracking
This first screen will present two options: Simple Tracking and Custom Tracking. The Custom Tracking is the previously available way to track Flash applications. This version of the extension, adds a new simpler way for those that just want to track something fast and do not need customization.
This Simple Tracking will allow for three simple tagging workflows.
1. Tagging the widget
Track widget view
Just after logging in and selecting Simple Tracking from the previous screen all that needs to be done to track every displaying of a SWF is to select the report suite you need your data to be sent and check the “Track widget views” checkbox. If you enable debugging (conveniently placed on the left bottom side of the panel) you can see the following call being made by the SWF just at the beginning.
AppMeasurement Debug: http://a……m.112.2o7.net/b/ss/acralexqe/0/FAS-3.1.2-AS3C/s31989403446204?AQB=1&ndh=1&t=17/11/2010%2011%3A36%3A55%205%20-120&ce=ASCII&ns=a……m&cdp=2&pageName=Simple%20application&g=file%3A///C%7C/demo/Simple%2520application.swf&cc=USD&s=1680×1050&AQE=1
http://a……m.112.2o7.net/b/ss/acralexqe/0/FAS-3.1.2-AS3C/s31989403446204?AQB=1
ndh=1
t=17/11/2010 11:36:55 5 -120
ce=ASCII
ns=a……m
cdp=2
pageName=Simple application
g=file:///C|/demo/Simple%20application.swf
cc=USD
s=1680×1050
AQE=1
So, this was very easy. I have now a way to be notified each time somebody views my application. And of course not only this. SiteCatalyst infers a lot of other useful information out of this request.
As it can be seen, the pageName parameter is automatically filled with the widget name.
2. Tagging a frame
Tagging a frame
Two steps are required to tag a frame view: select the frame from the timeline and click the “Add tracking” button. To have more relevant information in the SiteCatalyst reports, you can specify a label for that tag and you will know how many users reached that frame. The generated call looks like this:
AppMeasurement Debug: http://a……m.112.2o7.net/b/ss/acralexqe/0/FAS-3.1.2-AS3C/s36277548735961?AQB=1&ndh=1&t=17/11/2010%2011%3A48%3A32%205%20-120&ce=ASCII&ns=a……m&cdp=2&pageName=Simple%20application%3A%3Ashow%20model&g=file%3A///C%7C/demo/Simple%2520application.swf&cc=USD&s=1680×1050&AQE=1
http://a……m.112.2o7.net/b/ss/acralexqe/0/FAS-3.1.2-AS3C/s36277548735961?AQB=1
ndh=1
t=17/11/2010 11:48:32 5 -120
ce=ASCII
ns=a……m
cdp=2
pageName=Simple application::show model
g=file:///C|/demo/Simple%20application.swf
cc=USD
s=1680×1050
AQE=1
You may notice that the pageName parameter now contains both the widget name and the frame name.
3. Tagging and object
Tagging an object
Tagging an object is as simple as tagging a frame. There are however two differences. For an object, it’s instance name (in this case Cancel) will be used to identify the tag. Also for objects, a trigger event can be selected. By default the click event is selected.
Running the application and pressing the Cancel button that becomes visible on frame 31 will generate the following call to SiteCatalyst.
AppMeasurement Debug: http://a……m.112.2o7.net/b/ss/acralexqe/0/FAS-3.1.2-AS3C/s38168986542150?AQB=1&ndh=1&t=17/11/2010%2011%3A56%3A21%205%20-120&ce=ASCII&ns=a……m&cdp=2&pageName=Simple%20application%3A%3ACancel&cc=USD&pe=lnk_o&pev1=Simple%20application%3A%3ACancel&pev2=Simple%20application%3A%3ACancel&s=1680×1050&AQE=1
http://a……m.112.2o7.net/b/ss/acralexqe/0/FAS-3.1.2-AS3C/s38168986542150?AQB=1
ndh=1
t=17/11/2010 11:56:21 5 -120
ce=ASCII
ns=a……m
cdp=2
pageName=Simple application::Cancel
cc=USD
pe=lnk_o
pev1=Simple application::Cancel
pev2=Simple application::Cancel
s=1680×1050
AQE=1
The pageName parameter now contains a combination of the widget name and the button name. Also two other parameters are sent now: pev1 and pev2. This are the URL and the URL Name that are sent because this object related calls are sent as Custom Links.
This simple way of tagging a SWF will be most of the time sufficient. If this is not the case, you can always go to the Custom Tracking to benefit from the full power of SiteCatalyst customizations.
Nov 10th 10
Posted by Remus Stratulat in Tools
And the last piece of the puzzle:
In this tutorial, you’ll learn how to add SiteCatalyst tracking to a SWF file using the features provided by the Adobe SiteCatalyst extension for Adobe Flash Professional CS5. SiteCatalyst is one of the most powerful web analytics tools on the market. It offers the ability to track visitor behavior and gather various data in meaningful reports, organized in report suites. Among these reports, statistics such as client conversion funnels, user activity, and product sales are broken down by events, such as shopping cart additions or checkouts, movie viewing statistics, and many more….
Read the full article on Flash Developer Center.
Oct 5th 10
Posted by Remus Stratulat in Tools
A colleague of mine has written the second article about the extensions we are creating. This one is about how a Flash developer can instrument an asset with Adobe Test&Target.
You can read the article here: http://www.adobe.com/devnet/flash/articles/fl_tnt_overview.html
Sep 13th 10
Posted by Remus Stratulat in Tools
My article with the same title has become public on the Adobe Developer Connection site. So if you are interested in how to enable A/B testing for your site using Adobe Test&Target you can find all the details in that article.
You can read the article here: http://www.adobe.com/devnet/dreamweaver/articles/dw_tnt_overview.html
Aug 11th 10
Posted by Remus Stratulat in RIA, Tools
I have written lately only about SiteCatalyst and Test&Target, specifically about the extensions created to help a Flash Pro user to easily instrument a Flash project.
There is another project that is kind of related to these ones, but is all about data: Adobe SiteCatalyst NetAverages.
SiteCatalyst NetAverages
So, what is this good for?
First of all, in my opinion, you can use it to optimize your web site or web application to have a best look on the most popular browsers or platforms. It’s a 20-80 kind of thing. Use 20% of your energy to support 80% of your market. And what better way to know what are your 80′s?
NetAverages offers a wide range of properties you can drill down into, like: JavaScript version, screen resolution, operating system or flash player version. It has properties for both the desktop world and mobile.
However, by far the coolest feature for me is the ability to set up alerts. Do you what to know when Google Chrome reaches 10% of the market? It’s just one click away:
Setting up an alert in NetAverages
Sep 25th 09
Posted by Remus Stratulat in Programming, Tools
Adobe has rolled out the next generation of it’s development recipes portal: Adobe Cookbooks
There are two major stories delivered with this new version:
- Contributing has become a lot easier.
- The prominence and recognition for community members who actively participate in Cookbooks was increased.
In detail, there is a set of new features that are making the experience more enjoyable and productive.
- Support for “topics” and “tags”.
- 17 technologies & products, including non-Adobe ones: AIR, Flash Professional, ColdFusion, LiveCycle, Dreamweaver, Flash Catalyst, ActionScript, Mobile and Devices, Video, PHP and more.
- Improved content discoverability:
- Search engine optimization
- Ability to drill-down by tag, or do a full-text search
- “data visualizer” – the Flash widget you see on the homepage, which is a fun way to explore the content and the community behind it.
- Related articles recommended for each recipe.
- Leader board featuring the most active and the most recent contributors, including integration with Community Help profiles.
- A new way to pull in new recipes, called “recipe requests”: users can ask for a help on a task or topic, and receive solutions from the other members of the community.
- Slicker design, improved performance, etc.
Jan 13th 09
Posted by Remus Stratulat in Tools
VS 
Both of this images represent my vCard – pretty much the same information. In order to read them you would need specialized programs. For the first one I found out that QuickMark v3.6R is a great tool to use (there are other tools out there as well) as for the second one the only possible tool is Microsoft Tag.
There are other differences also in the way the information is stored. The 2d barcode has the information stored in those black dots and the Microsoft Tag is just a graphical representation of an URL in my opinion. I say that because when I scan the Microsoft Tag an internet connection is required in order to retrieve the information from my vCard.
Aside from this, I think I will create a sticker with my barcode 2d for my cars window so when I block somebody in the parking lot they will have a way to find out my phone 
.
Jan 12th 09
Posted by Remus Stratulat in Flex, Programming, Tools
Some time ago I have created a Flex regular expressions tester. When I have moved my site to ICE I have decided to improve a little bit this tester and right now there is a new small Flex application that can be used to play around with some neat symbols
http://www.stratulat.com/Regular_Expressions_Flex.html
