Creating a resizing ToolBar in Flex
The following example shows how you can create a toolbar in Flex by using the ToolBar container which automatically wraps and re-lays out its children when the toolbar is resized. According to the documentation in the class file (see [SDK Directory]\frameworks\projects\framework\src\mx\controls\richTextEditorClasses\ToolBar.as):
The ToolBar container lays out its children in a single horizontal row. If the width of the container is less than the measured width, the children wrap to the next line.
While wrapping, any VRule controls (separators) at the end of a row or the beginning of a row are not drawn.
Full code after the jump.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<!-- http://blog.flexexamples.com/2008/01/06/creating-a-resizing-toolbar-in-flex/ -->
<mx:Application xmlns:mx="http://www.adobe.com/2006/mxml"
layout="vertical"
verticalAlign="top"
backgroundColor="white">
<mx:Array id="images">
<mx:Object label="Button" />
<mx:Object label="ButtonBar" />
<mx:Object label="CheckBox" />
<mx:Object label="ColorPicker" />
<mx:Object label="ComboBox" />
<mx:Object label="DataGrid" />
<mx:Object label="DateChooser" />
<mx:Object label="DateField" />
<mx:Object label="HorizontalList" />
<mx:Object label="HRule" />
<mx:Object label="HSlider" />
<mx:Object label="Image" />
<mx:Object label="Label" />
<mx:Object label="LinkBar" />
<mx:Object label="LinkButton" />
<mx:Object label="List" />
<mx:Object label="Menu" />
<mx:Object label="MenuBar" />
<mx:Object label="NumericStepper" />
<mx:Object label="ProgressBar" />
<mx:Object label="RadioButton" />
<mx:Object label="RadioButtonGroup" />
<mx:Object label="RichTextEditor" />
<mx:Object label="Spacer" />
<mx:Object label="SWFLoader" />
<mx:Object label="TabBar" />
<mx:Object label="Text" />
<mx:Object label="TextArea" />
<mx:Object label="TextInput" />
<mx:Object label="TileList" />
<mx:Object label="Tree" />
<mx:Object label="VideoDisplay" />
<mx:Object label="VRule" />
<mx:Object label="VScrollBar" />
<mx:Object label="VSlider" />
</mx:Array>
<mx:ApplicationControlBar dock="true">
<mx:Form styleName="plain">
<mx:FormItem label="percentWidth:">
<mx:HSlider id="slider"
minimum="0"
maximum="100"
value="35"
liveDragging="true"
snapInterval="1"
tickInterval="10"
dataTipPrecision="0" />
</mx:FormItem>
</mx:Form>
</mx:ApplicationControlBar>
<mx:VBox id="vBox"
verticalAlign="middle"
horizontalAlign="center"
backgroundColor="black"
backgroundAlpha="0.1"
width="100%"
height="200">
<mx:ToolBar id="toolBar"
percentWidth="{slider.value}"
backgroundColor="haloSilver"
minWidth="18">
<mx:Repeater id="imgRepeater"
dataProvider="{images}">
<mx:Image id="img"
source="assets/{imgRepeater.currentItem.label}.png"
toolTip="{imgRepeater.currentItem.label}" />
</mx:Repeater>
</mx:ToolBar>
</mx:VBox>
</mx:Application>
View source is enabled in the following example.
Peter deHaan
Peter deHaan currently works for Adobe on the Flex SDK QA team. While not working on Flex, Flash, and ColdFusion applications, Peter enjoys making up bios and writing in 3rd person. Peter's rarely updated blog can be found at blogs.adobe.com/pdehaan/, actionscriptexamples.com, airexamples.com, and coldfusionexamples.com.
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Add Widgets (Content Sidebar)
This is your Content Sidebar. Edit this content that appears here in the widgets panel by adding or removing widgets in the Content Sidebar area.
9 Responses to Creating a resizing ToolBar in Flex
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It seems that the ToolBar class is now marked as [ExcludeClass], so it cannot be directly accessed through MXML interface. A simple workaround would be creating a class that inherits ToolBar class, then use the new class as the control.
hi peter
thats really a nice example…
can we resize the shape with mouse i mean like transform tool?
Any idea on how to make an ApplicationControlBar accomplish the same thing? I have an ApplicationControlBar that when my window is resized, the content does not wrap to the next line. thoughts? any help would be appreciated
Ryan Stawarz,
Does something like the following work?
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> <mx:Application xmlns:mx="http://www.adobe.com/2006/mxml"> <mx:ApplicationControlBar dock="true"> <mx:ToolBar width="100%"> <mx:Button width="300" /> <mx:Button width="300" /> <mx:Button width="300" /> <mx:Button width="300" /> <mx:Button width="300" /> <mx:Button width="300" /> </mx:ToolBar> </mx:ApplicationControlBar> </mx:Application>Peter
yes… turns out that my applicationcontrol bar was given a height of 50 via a style, and hence it didn’t work so well.
One thing that scares me though is the lack of Documentation of the mx:ToolBar component… where does this component live? I can’t find it in the AS3 documentation (http://livedocs.adobe.com/flex/3/langref/index.html)… is ToolBar something I should be using – or is Adobe going to yank it from me just when I need it most?
Ryan Stawarz,
I’m not sure if the ToolBar container is officially supported or not. It is currently used by the RichTextEditor control to handle the button layouts. You could file a bug/enhancement request at http://bugs.adobe.com/flex/ and post the bug number here so a few people can vote/subscribe to the issue.
Peter
Hi,
The ToolBar is not an officially support component, but I don’t see it changing much if at all in the next release.
Matt
Adobe
Adobe seems to have completely buried this in FB3, here’s a link to the source if you want to see how it works:
http://opensource.adobe.com/svn/opensource/flex/sdk/trunk/frameworks/projects/framework/src/mx/controls/richTextEditorClasses/ToolBar.as
This is perfect. I’ve been screwing around with the mx:Tile and flexlib:FlowLayout containers, which don’t resize properly. Your solution saved me. Thank you!