#project management 3

[sharonjordan]

Project review

I have had a very frustrating day today working on the php files to update user points in the database, and on the local memory.

I expected the PHP to be difficult, so the majority of the frustration came from the local memory example, which I thought I would be able to implement quickly. I resorted to asking Ian for help again and the problem lay with silly errors - file references to redsquare_png and bluesquare_png instead of redsquare.png and bluesquare.png, and a path error 'collections' instead of './collections/'.

I can take comfort in the fact I did the hard parts and reflect on how I can try to not let this happen again. I think some of this is due to tiredness as I am usually fairly good at checking the detail and these really are silly mistakes.

I am now working implementing the local memory functionality into my site now that the test is working, and am then going to populate more of the blast off app. Main priorities for the remaining time I have left are as follows (in order of priority):

add points to database (need more help from Ian to fix the PHP)

local memory - add functionality so that objects are earned around the site, saved to local memory, then drawn from local memory on the play area screen. Make sure object can only be earned once (check if that name is in local memory, if not add it).

object placement - functionality to remember where objects were last placed in play area for next time (addition to local memory functionality).

amend images and data placement in add1 so that + lines up on both

populate blast off app with more data

bug list - go through and prioritise then work through. 

Seminar on Tuesday - I have done the prep for the seminar, with 2 posts ready to go and a list of 4 evaluative criteria.

Forefront blogs - most of this should be covered in my blog posts already, but I need to revisit specifically to make sure that it is. I may need to add more and be more explicit about identifying the relationship to the forefront.

Presentation and file collation - I have a few days at the end of August to work on this.

[sharonjordan]

Project review

Time for a project review...it's been a while.

At this point I have put the gantt chart to one side in favour of task lists because there are only a couple of weeks left for me to complete all the work.

Current Status:

Artefact coming together well. Overall structure in place. One book and one level of blast off working. Log in working.

Essential elements to complete:

interface for login, home and achievements section

points adding to central score

sound in blast off app

bug fixes throughout

blog - at the forefront x10

final artefact site map with indication of working paths

Nice to have's:

additional sections for blast off

animated/interactive caterpillars

flash cards app (though realistically I am not expecting this to happen).

Timing:

Excluding today, I have 8 working days left to complete everything other than my presentation, which I will do when I return from holiday at the beginning of September.

My intention is to work through the above list, prioritising as I go along to try to complete as much as possible in that time.

[sharonjordan]

mySQL, PHP and AS3.0

I have had a frustrating couple of days trying to get my database up and running, mainly because my skills in PHP and mySQL are minimal. 

I used the sever integration and network communicator examples that I completed in Practice 1 as a basis, but the original files that worked last year failed to work on execution due to a change in access permissions.

I amended the .htaccess file in the public_html folder to change the access rights, which enabled the original example to run smoothly.

The next step was to change this from using Ian's database to my own database - this is where I needed guidance from Ian to help me figure out what changes I needed to make to the php file to access my database. I managed to create a replica quotes database in my student store using phpmyadmin, but had problems connecting to it because of issues with the php files I was using to extract the data and link to the flash client.

Once the original example was working, running off a database on my area rather than Ian's, I created a new user database based on the user database table I defined in my sketch book (see next post - database tables), and duplicated then amended the php files and flash script. Ian helped to resolve some errors in the PHP code again and the data from the users database loaded successfully.

To enable an associated image to load with each user, I added the file name to a field in the table, then uploaded 3 images to the server in the same file as the php files.

After several more frustrating attempts to get the images to load, (bizarrely it wouldn't load the data when I places the loader up front, but was happy to process it at the point of need) I finally managed to successfully load the image by placing the image loader within the nextQuoteResponseListener function at the point of need and the images loaded successfully. I also implemented the dynamic placeholder as outlined in the previous post link. Here is the code I used inside the nextQuoteResponseListener function:

var rectangle:Shape = new Shape();     rectangle.graphics.beginFill(0xFFFFFF);     rectangle.graphics.drawRect(0, 0, 200, 300);     rectangle.graphics.endFill();     addChild(rectangle);         var imageLoader:Loader = new Loader();     imageLoader.mask = rectangle;         var urlReq:URLRequest = new URLRequest("http://homepages.stca.herts.ac.uk/~sj09abp/users/images/"+db.getValue("file_name"));     imageLoader.load(urlReq);     addChild(imageLoader);

Next steps:

load three users at one time into three placeholders

copy files into portal area and create interface

create user Custom Data type and add to global hooks to enable the user details to be accessed from any of the files.

[sharonjordan]

Creating the quiz

I have spent some time working on the quiz, basing the coding on a mixture of the two examples I identified in earlier posts. I have also added additional functionality in order to create the experience that I want my app to offer.

For example, the end of the quiz is triggered by getting a particular number of answers correct, rather than by answering all the questions in the xml file:

Code used to finish quiz when all questions have been answered:

if (qno==questions.length)     {     gotoAndPlay("score");     }

Replaced by code to finish after 5 correct answers:

if (right_answers==5)     {         gotoAndPlay("score");     }

In addition there are elements that I have altered from the specification in the original wireframes, such as the way the child sees whether they have chosen the right answer or not.

I have used a timer function to delay the next question loading so that the child has the opportunity to digest the information on the screen.

I have decided to build the quiz module as a separate swf to load, which will enable me to use the same template for each section and level of the quiz and will keep the file size small.

I also took Ian's advice to think about when data needs to be loaded. It would not make sense to load the xml for every level of every section at the beginning of the game, and makes more sense to load it at the beginning of the specific section. For this reason I have decided not to put the xml through the classes I used for ebooks.

Still to do on the quiz module:

load the image for each question

add the rocket bit on the side - rocket outline with pieces added every time a correct answer is achieved.

change the final page.

[sharonjordan]

Getting ebooks to work

I have started to build my apps with the new structure, and decided to first get the work I have done already working within the new structure. This required modification of the original code.

Loading books menu separately

The first step was to detach the books menu page from the actual book chosen. This is because if this work were to be expanded, each book should be a separate standalone swf. Importing the separate menu file wasn't an issue, and I manage to get it to load in the new structure fairly easily.

Loading ebook swf

However, trying to get the ebooks swf to load has been more difficult. By importing the database directly I was able to get the app working as a standalone book, but there were conflicts when I tried to import it with lots of null object references. I tried to insert an if statement to control whether the app would load its own database or use the one loaded into the portal based on whether it was running within the main timeline or not. However this caused lots of errors and I was unable to get the app to load. I decided to work on loading the app with just one database, so replaced the code for importing the database with a reference to the database imported into the portal file.

var sys:GlobalHooks = GlobalHooks.getInstance(); var db:PagesDB = sys.getProp("pagesDatabase"); trace("global hooks database loading");

This means that the ebook file falls over at frame 17 when played as a standalone app because it can't reference the database, but when played within the portal it works.

Buttons

The next challenge was to get the navigation to work. The ebook file uses a single Event Listener on the stage with a switch statement to control all the navigation throughout, including through the dynamic pages. For some reason that I tried but failed to understand, when the ebook is played as a child of the portal, the switch statement simply didn't work. As a test I added a specific listener for one button and a relevant function at the frame required and it worked perfectly. Therefore I have decided for the moment to add specific listeners and functions for each interactive element on the stage as my priority at the moment it to get it to work. I can go back at a later stage to tidy up bits of the code once it is working.

[sharonjordan]

Singleton and Global Hooks

I have looked that the information about Singleton Design Patterns and subsequently at the GlobalHooks class Ian gave to me, with a little help from a Java-Programmer friend to explain how the Singleton works in principle.

From what I can gather, the GlobalHooks class that Ian has written, is basically a kind of wrapper. By adding the PagesDB to the GlobalHooks as a global property it enables me to then call the database via GlobalHooks, and ensures there is only one database.

However, in the current file structure it is not a true singleton because it doesn't prevent PagesDB from being called directly from elsewhere. If the PagesDB class was implemented as a Singleton, this would prevent it being called from anywhere else, and it could only ever exist as one instance.

I thought I would first try to implement the PagesDB as a Singleton, however, this led to numerous errors, one after another, some of which related to the current file structure and the fact that there is a circular reference between PagesDB and PagesXMLProcessor. It started to become very complex and so I reverted to using the GlobalHooks class as the singleton, and importing the database via the GlobalHooks class.

I added the following code to the main timeline in ebooks to make PagesDB a property of the GlobalHooks class.

//import the database as before to the main timeline var db:PagesDB = new PagesDB();

//get it to load data db.loadData(xmlMan.getRoot());

//store database in as property of GlobalHooks var sys:GlobalHooks = GlobalHooks.getInstance(); sys.addProp("pagesDatabase", db);

Then I added the following code into the pageviewer timeline to call the database stored in the global hooks instance:

var sys:GlobalHooks = GlobalHooks.getInstance(); var db:PagesDB = sys.getProp("pagesDatabase");

I also added a trace to make sure the correct database was loading.

Eureka....it worked!!

The only negative at the moment is that I removed other code so that the separate swfs don't work on their own because they need to reference the main timeline of the framework. However, I should be able to overcome this with an if statment to direct the db to load directly if it is being played outside the main timeline, but to load global hooks if played from within.

Next steps...modular application design framework, then begin construction all over again.

[sharonjordan]

Technical restructure needed

Earlier in the week I was having some issues with my script because the way it was structured was resulting in my database being created twice. In addition, I had also realised that I had approached the build 'backwards' - by starting at the application and then trying to add the framework around it - and that this was not going to work effectively to produce the full solution.

I need to restructure the technical architecture, starting with the portal and then loading all the assets into the framework. Ian suggested I plan this out by doing a modular application design to figure out where all the bits of functionality will sit.

Ian nalso suggested that I needed to start using more advanced application design techniques in order to centralise important application components, such as the database. The suggested I look at using a static class as part of a Singleton design pattern to do this, and then to use a GlobalHooks class that he had written to manage the process.

[sharonjordan]

missing caterpillars...

Today has been very productive and the ebook app is working well. The main things still to add now are:

The caterpillars

Ambient sounds

Points/scores