Setting the symbol color on the Spark DropDownList control in Flex 4

The following example shows how you can set the symbol color on a Spark DropDownList control in Flex 4 by setting the symbolColor style.

Full code after the jump.

The following example(s) require Flash Player 10 and the Adobe Flex 4 SDK. To download the Adobe Flash Builder 4 beta, check out the Adobe Flash Builder 4 page on the Adobe Labs site. To download the latest build of the Flex 4 SDK, see http://opensource.adobe.com/wiki/display/flexsdk/Download+Flex+4. For instructions on using the beta Flex 4 SDK in Flex Builder 3, see "Using the beta Flex 4 SDK in Flex Builder 3".

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<!-- http://blog.flexexamples.com/2009/06/22/setting-the-symbol-color-on-the-spark-dropdownlist-control-in-flex-4/ -->
<s:Application name="Spark_DropDownList_symbolColor_test"
        xmlns:fx="http://ns.adobe.com/mxml/2009"
        xmlns:mx="library://ns.adobe.com/flex/halo"
        xmlns:s="library://ns.adobe.com/flex/spark">

    <mx:ApplicationControlBar width="100%" cornerRadius="0">
        <mx:Form styleName="plain">
            <mx:FormItem label="symbolColor:">
                <mx:ColorPicker id="colorPicker" />
            </mx:FormItem>
        </mx:Form>
    </mx:ApplicationControlBar>

    <s:DropDownList id="dropDownList"
            symbolColor="{colorPicker.selectedColor}"
            requireSelection="true"
            horizontalCenter="0"
            top="50">
        <s:dataProvider>
            <s:ArrayList>
                <fx:String>(1) The Quick Brown Fox Jumps Over the Lazy Dog</fx:String>
                <fx:String>(2) The Quick Brown Fox Jumps Over the Lazy Dog</fx:String>
                <fx:String>(3) The Quick Brown Fox Jumps Over the Lazy Dog</fx:String>
                <fx:String>(4) The Quick Brown Fox Jumps Over the Lazy Dog</fx:String>
                <fx:String>(5) The Quick Brown Fox Jumps Over the Lazy Dog</fx:String>
                <fx:String>(6) The Quick Brown Fox Jumps Over the Lazy Dog</fx:String>
                <fx:String>(7) The Quick Brown Fox Jumps Over the Lazy Dog</fx:String>
                <fx:String>(8) The Quick Brown Fox Jumps Over the Lazy Dog</fx:String>
                <fx:String>(9) The Quick Brown Fox Jumps Over the Lazy Dog</fx:String>
            </s:ArrayList>
        </s:dataProvider>
    </s:DropDownList>

</s:Application>

You can also set the symbolColor style in an external .CSS file or <Style/> block, as seen in the following example:

View MXML

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<!-- http://blog.flexexamples.com/2009/06/22/setting-the-symbol-color-on-the-spark-dropdownlist-control-in-flex-4/ -->
<s:Application name="Spark_DropDownList_symbolColor_test"
        xmlns:fx="http://ns.adobe.com/mxml/2009"
        xmlns:mx="library://ns.adobe.com/flex/halo"
        xmlns:s="library://ns.adobe.com/flex/spark">

    <fx:Style>
        @namespace mx "library://ns.adobe.com/flex/halo";
        @namespace s "library://ns.adobe.com/flex/spark";

        s|DropDownList {
            symbolColor: red;
        }
    </fx:Style>

    <s:DropDownList id="dropDownList"
            requireSelection="true"
            horizontalCenter="0"
            top="50">
        <s:dataProvider>
            <s:ArrayList>
                <fx:String>(1) The Quick Brown Fox Jumps Over the Lazy Dog</fx:String>
                <fx:String>(2) The Quick Brown Fox Jumps Over the Lazy Dog</fx:String>
                <fx:String>(3) The Quick Brown Fox Jumps Over the Lazy Dog</fx:String>
                <fx:String>(4) The Quick Brown Fox Jumps Over the Lazy Dog</fx:String>
                <fx:String>(5) The Quick Brown Fox Jumps Over the Lazy Dog</fx:String>
                <fx:String>(6) The Quick Brown Fox Jumps Over the Lazy Dog</fx:String>
                <fx:String>(7) The Quick Brown Fox Jumps Over the Lazy Dog</fx:String>
                <fx:String>(8) The Quick Brown Fox Jumps Over the Lazy Dog</fx:String>
                <fx:String>(9) The Quick Brown Fox Jumps Over the Lazy Dog</fx:String>
            </s:ArrayList>
        </s:dataProvider>
    </s:DropDownList>

</s:Application>

Or, you can also set the symbolColor style using ActionScript, as seen in the following example:

View MXML

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<!-- http://blog.flexexamples.com/2009/06/22/setting-the-symbol-color-on-the-spark-dropdownlist-control-in-flex-4/ -->
<s:Application name="Spark_DropDownList_symbolColor_test"
        xmlns:fx="http://ns.adobe.com/mxml/2009"
        xmlns:mx="library://ns.adobe.com/flex/halo"
        xmlns:s="library://ns.adobe.com/flex/spark">

    <fx:Script>
        <![CDATA[
            import mx.events.ColorPickerEvent;

            private function colorPicker_change(evt:ColorPickerEvent):void {
                dropDownList.setStyle("symbolColor", evt.color);
            }
        ]]>
    </fx:Script>

    <mx:ApplicationControlBar width="100%" cornerRadius="0">
        <mx:Form styleName="plain">
            <mx:FormItem label="symbolColor:">
                <mx:ColorPicker id="colorPicker"
                        change="colorPicker_change(event);" />
            </mx:FormItem>
        </mx:Form>
    </mx:ApplicationControlBar>

    <s:DropDownList id="dropDownList"
            requireSelection="true"
            horizontalCenter="0"
            top="50">
        <s:dataProvider>
            <s:ArrayList>
                <fx:String>(1) The Quick Brown Fox Jumps Over the Lazy Dog</fx:String>
                <fx:String>(2) The Quick Brown Fox Jumps Over the Lazy Dog</fx:String>
                <fx:String>(3) The Quick Brown Fox Jumps Over the Lazy Dog</fx:String>
                <fx:String>(4) The Quick Brown Fox Jumps Over the Lazy Dog</fx:String>
                <fx:String>(5) The Quick Brown Fox Jumps Over the Lazy Dog</fx:String>
                <fx:String>(6) The Quick Brown Fox Jumps Over the Lazy Dog</fx:String>
                <fx:String>(7) The Quick Brown Fox Jumps Over the Lazy Dog</fx:String>
                <fx:String>(8) The Quick Brown Fox Jumps Over the Lazy Dog</fx:String>
                <fx:String>(9) The Quick Brown Fox Jumps Over the Lazy Dog</fx:String>
            </s:ArrayList>
        </s:dataProvider>
    </s:DropDownList>

</s:Application>

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.

Tagged as: Gumbo, symbolColor