The following example shows how you can extend the default Spark Application container in Flex 4 and add an ApplicationControlBar by setting the skinClass style. The custom Spark Application skin also adds some default padding, support for horizontal and vertical scroll bars, sets the default layout to a VerticalLayout object, and adds some default padding.

Full code after the jump.

A huge thanks to my co-worker, Ryan Frishberg, for helping me with the solution.

The following example(s) require Flash Player 10 and the Adobe Flex 4 SDK. To download the Adobe Flash Builder 4 trial, see http://www.adobe.com/products/flex/. To download the latest nightly build of the Flex 4 SDK, see http://opensource.adobe.com/wiki/display/flexsdk/Download+Flex+4.
For more information on getting started with Flex 4 and Flash Builder 4, see the official Adobe Flex Team blog.

View MXML

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<!-- http://blog.flexexamples.com/2009/06/08/adding-a-control-bar-to-a-custom-spark-application-component-in-flex-4/ -->
<comps:FancyApplication name="Spark_Application_skinClass_test"
        xmlns:fx="http://ns.adobe.com/mxml/2009"
        xmlns:s="library://ns.adobe.com/flex/spark"
        xmlns:mx="library://ns.adobe.com/flex/halo"
        xmlns:comps="comps.*"
        skinClass="skins.FancyApplicationSkin">
    <comps:headerContent>
        <mx:Form styleName="plain">
            <mx:FormItem label="width:">
                <s:HSlider id="sliderW"
                        minimum="100"
                        maximum="1000"
                        liveDragging="true" />
            </mx:FormItem>
            <mx:FormItem label="height:">
                <s:HSlider id="sliderH"
                        minimum="100"
                        maximum="1000"
                        liveDragging="true" />
            </mx:FormItem>
        </mx:Form>
    </comps:headerContent>
 
    <s:Rect id="rect"
            width="{sliderW.value}"
            height="{sliderH.value}">
        <s:fill>
            <s:LinearGradient rotation="45">
                <s:GradientEntry color="red" />
                <s:GradientEntry color="yellow" />
                <s:GradientEntry color="haloBlue" />
            </s:LinearGradient>
        </s:fill>
    </s:Rect>
 
</comps:FancyApplication>

The custom Spark Application class, FancyApplication.as, is as follows:

View /comps/FancyApplication.as

/** http://blog.flexexamples.com/2009/06/08/adding-a-control-bar-to-a-custom-spark-application-component-in-flex-4/ */
package comps {
    import spark.components.Application;
    import spark.components.Group;
 
    public class FancyApplication extends Application {
 
        [SkinPart(required="true")]
        public var headerGroup:Group;
 
        public function FancyApplication() {
            super();
        }
 
        private var _headerContent:Array;
 
        [ArrayElementType("mx.core.IVisualElement")]
        public function get headerContent():Array {
            return _headerContent;
        }
 
        public function set headerContent(value:Array):void {
            _headerContent = value;
 
            if (headerGroup) {
                headerGroup.removeAllElements();
 
                var idx:int;
                var len:int = value.length;
                for (idx = 0; idx < len; idx++) {
                    headerGroup.addElement(value[idx]);
                }
            }
        }
 
        override protected function partAdded(partName:String, instance:Object):void {
            super.partAdded(partName, instance);
 
            if (instance == headerGroup) {
                if (headerGroup) {
                    headerGroup.removeAllElements();
 
                    var idx:int;
                    var len:int = _headerContent.length;
                    for (idx = 0; idx < len; idx++) {
                        headerGroup.addElement(_headerContent[idx]);
                    }
                }
            }
        }
 
        override protected function partRemoved(partName:String, instance:Object):void {
            super.partRemoved(partName, instance);
 
            if (instance == headerGroup) {
                if (headerGroup) {
                    headerGroup.removeAllElements();
                }
            }
        }
    }
}

And the custom skin class, FancyApplicationSkin.mxml, is as follows:

View /skins/FancyApplicationSkin.mxml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<!-- http://blog.flexexamples.com/2009/06/08/adding-a-control-bar-to-a-custom-spark-application-component-in-flex-4/ -->
<s:Skin name="FancyApplicationSkin"
        xmlns:fx="http://ns.adobe.com/mxml/2009"
        xmlns:s="library://ns.adobe.com/flex/spark"
        xmlns:mx="library://ns.adobe.com/flex/halo"
        alpha.disabled="0.5" >
 
    <fx:Metadata>
        <![CDATA[
            [HostComponent("spark.components.Application")]
        ]]>
    </fx:Metadata>
 
    <s:states>
        <s:State name="normal" />
        <s:State name="disabled" />
    </s:states>
 
    <!-- fill -->
    <s:Rect id="backgroundRect" left="0" right="0" top="0" bottom="0"  >
        <s:fill>
            <s:SolidColor color="{hostComponent.backgroundColor as uint}" />
        </s:fill>
    </s:Rect>
 
    <mx:ApplicationControlBar id="appControlBar" width="100%" cornerRadius="0">
        <s:Group id="headerGroup" left="0" right="0" top="0" />
    </mx:ApplicationControlBar>
 
    <s:Scroller id="scroller" left="0" right="0" top="{appControlBar.height+4}" bottom="0" minWidth="0" minHeight="0">
        <s:Group id="contentGroup" width="100%" height="100%" minWidth="0" minHeight="0">
            <s:layout>
                <s:VerticalLayout paddingLeft="10" paddingRight="10" paddingTop="10" paddingBottom="10" />
            </s:layout>
        </s:Group>
    </s:Scroller>
 
</s:Skin>

View source is enabled in the following example.

This entry is based on a beta version of the Flex 4 SDK and therefore is very likely to change as development of the Flex SDK continues. The API can (and will) change causing examples to possibly not compile in newer versions of the Flex 4 SDK.

 
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About The Author

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.

4 Responses to Adding a control bar to a custom Spark Application component in Flex 4

  1. Bill says:

    Why would I extend the Spark Application class for this functionality when the Halo Application class provides it?

  2. Peter deHaan says:

    Bill,

    Oh, because you can, of course!
    But seriously, currently the Halo <mx:Application/> tag doesn’t allow you to add graphic primitives (SimpleText, RichText, Rect, Ellipse, etc) as direct children, so you’d have to wrap those controls in a <s:Graphic/> tag. Of course, that could all change in the future (maybe), but generally I always try and use the Spark version of the controls as much as possible and rely less on the Halo versions. Just my $0.02.

    Peter

  3. Bill says:

    So, you either write around 50 lines of code to support ApplicationControlBar-like functionality, or you may be forced to add two lines here or there when using the Halo Application class? Still seems like an execise along the lines of “because you can,” not that you should.

  4. Beau says:

    Bill -

    I understand that writing 50 lines of code seems pointless, but there are pros and cons to everything. I would spend more time trying to understand why numerous minds far greater than ours (or mine at least) decided that this is the best direction for Flex. I’m sure there is a reason.

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