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August 22, 2006
Open Source Flex 2 Calendar Component
A regular discussion on Flex forums such as FlexCoders is the availability, or otherwise, of a good Calendar component for Flex 2.
So, it is with great pleasure that I can announce that the Adobe Consulting team in EMEA will be releasing an open source Calendar framework to the community within the coming weeks.
This is a framework the team here have been working on for a while and Alex Uhlmann is putting the finishing touches to.
Below is a screenshot of a simple Calendar built on top of the framework, which uses the default renderers for the calendar entries and timeline.
Don't be deceived by the basic look of this example calendar and its surrounding controls - the calendar is built on top of an extremely powerful framework which can be used to build very complicated scheduling components and we've spending the majority of our time working on that rather than this example. However, we do plan to ship some better examples with the framework.
Some of the features of the Calendar framework are:
- Display and manipulate 1000s of calendar entries without losing performance.
- Define how entries are laid out using the predefined layout manager or by providing your own customized layout manager.
- Assign custom renderers that can dictate the complete look and feel of your calendar entries.
- Provide renderers in MXML or ActionScript.
- "Live" zoom support using zoom API.
- Use framework effects such as Zoom and Move to make best use of the expressiveness of a Flex RIA in order to achieve the best user experience possible while navigating the component.
- Efficiently add, remove and update entries at runtime.
- Assign customized background areas to show office hours, lunch time etc
- Fully stylable
- Ability to select calendar entries with visual highlighting
- Consistent in usage with the Flex Framework, eg. dataProvider driven
- Broadcasts events to help interaction development
- Can be used in MXML or Actionscript
- And more...
To give a glimpse of the API of the calendar, here's the MXML used to create the above example. However, please note that we are still defining the API, so it may change in the final version.
<scheduling:CalendarViewer
id="calendar"
width="600" height="400"
dataProvider="{ appointments }"
startDate="{ new Date() }"
duration="{ DateUtil.DAY_IN_MILLISECONDS }"
zoom="{ zoom }"
itemRenderer="com.adobe.scheduling.AppointmentEntryRenderer"
itemLayoutManager="com.adobe.calendarClasses.BestFitLayoutManager" />
We're very excited about this contribution to the Flex community and, in time, look forward to seeing it used within your Flex applications.
Finally, in expectation of the being asked the obvious question, and following in the footsteps of all good delivery teams, the answer is "It'll be ready when its ready" ;)
Posted by amcleod at August 22, 2006 07:06 PM
Comments
Bravo guys. This is going to be great, and it will be a huge boon to the community.
Posted by: Ryan Stewart at August 22, 2006 09:52 PM
Very nice!
Posted by: Mike at August 22, 2006 10:53 PM
Awesome stuff. well done!
Posted by: phil at August 23, 2006 02:03 AM
Ohhhhh Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaa..... SWEET!
Posted by: Tariq Ahmed at August 23, 2006 05:34 AM
I can't wait!!
Posted by: Shigeru at August 23, 2006 01:14 PM
That's really cool!
I wonder whether the live share and calendar data push is within the scope of design.
Cannot wait to see it...
Posted by: William Cui at August 23, 2006 02:39 PM
Sweet! Can't wait to add this to my toolset! Keep up the good work.
Posted by: Demian at August 23, 2006 03:20 PM
Hey, that looks really great. Can't wait to testdrive it. I'm really interested in your approach of building these multicolored blocks because next week I've got a similar task on my desk (graphical display of cuepoint-blocks on a videostream timeline - similar to the adobe premiere interface).
Especially the combination with the zoom functionality looks brilliant..
Posted by: Marcel Fahle at August 23, 2006 10:45 PM
Can we expect this to come with a liberal source license?
Posted by: Erki Esken at August 24, 2006 12:58 PM
Sounds great to me too, thanks, but what's the data source format? Can you easily port your calendar data among different interfaces? Or would this be a function of your serverside database, with which the Flex UI speaks exclusively, no integration of arbitrary remote calendar data in "standard" formats possible?
What's the data model? Thanks! :)
Posted by: John Dowdell at August 24, 2006 05:05 PM
Folks ... the details will follow, but the intention of this intiative from Adobe Consulting has always been to build the most generic, reusable, stylable, skinnable, portable calendar component that the community will be free to use in the most unrestrictive manner in your personal and commercial projects. We want you to leverage this component as best and as ingeniously as you can in your own applications - it's our job to help you build great projects with Flex.
The team have built this component from the ground-up on the Flex component framework, so it has all the customisation you'd hope for and expect, to drop this seamlessly into your own user-experiences and to use it in as many ways as you can see fit.
We're sneaking this because so many of you want to know whether you should embark upon such a build yourself. I can promise you this component *flys* - I was watching Alex render calendars with 10s of 1000s of entries on it, with video-game smooth scrolling around the calendar.
Hold your breath - I can't wait to see what you guys are able to do with this component once it's ready for release !
The team are working hard on getting this to you as soon as possible, with everything you need to be able to pick it up and drop it into your own applications.
Best,
Steven
Posted by: Steven Webster at August 24, 2006 10:58 PM
Way to Flex!
Posted by: John Farrar at August 25, 2006 12:10 AM
Steven / Alistair, we need calendar component urgently. Can you provide a beta release atleast ?
BTW: Laszlo has built this long back.
http://www.laszlosystems.com/lps/sample-apps/calendar/calendar.lzo?lzt=html
Posted by: Manohar Joshi at August 31, 2006 08:05 AM
Any idea of a release date?
I too am working on a project that could use this component.
We've been trying to get the company to buy into Flex for a while but thus far its been perceived as a solution looking for a problem.
We can do all the UI for our boring business apps in HTML. However the new Flex Data Services and data sync/record locking features are something I can use to lever open the cashbox as we have to write tons of this stuff in CF at present but the nice presentation bits just don't make them jump up and down.
The demo of a replacement appointment scheduling app which'd like to use Flex for (and this component) would however be a different story. I suspect my managers and the bean counters they employ as BA's would actually see the point this time.
So looking forward to getting my hands on this one.
Posted by: Steve Powell at September 7, 2006 01:29 PM
any link or update on this component i cant seem to find any other info about it
thanks
Posted by: bill` at September 11, 2006 06:06 PM
Any news on a release date yet? Is there a list we can add our names to so that we can be notified? Or is there a beta testers list?
Posted by: Brian Radford at September 22, 2006 06:35 PM
What about a BLOG that runs on FLEX???
The Calendar looks great!! Cant wait :-(((
Posted by: Kazi at October 2, 2006 06:10 PM
Please sign me up as well... Could really use this now...
Thanks.
Posted by: Paul at October 4, 2006 08:49 PM
This is so very nice, I like the pastel color it likes like the google logo. BTW, doesn't use flex instead of funky ajax javascript.
It looks like iCal kinda.
Posted by: Patrick at October 5, 2006 05:20 AM
I'd like to just +1 all the calls for this, I'll need something like this shortly, and was hating the idea of having to write one.
Can't wait (even for a beta) !
Posted by: Tom Chiverton at October 5, 2006 11:48 AM
Can you inform us please of the progress. i can not wait anymore.
Posted by: Max at October 6, 2006 08:54 AM
I know everybody asked it, but is the release date is near? if so - how near?
Posted by: Flashmattic at October 10, 2006 11:52 AM
Hi there, any idea when this component will be released? I would really love to use it as there is nothing else out there and I'm sure there are loads of people wanting a pre-built calendar component.
Posted by: Alex Kenney at October 11, 2006 12:32 PM
I mean no disrespect, but has this project been scrapped? If not, is there a projected date for release? Thanks for all you guys do for the fledgling Flex community.
Posted by: Mark Fuqua at October 13, 2006 02:03 PM
Has it been released or not yet? thanks
Posted by: alessandra at October 16, 2006 03:30 PM
It seems everybody is waiting for the release. It would be nice if we can have a release date, to know if it makes sense to for wait or not.Thanks.
Posted by: Othman Saadi at October 23, 2006 04:20 PM
Somebody please respond, we want to see this. oh and thanks
Posted by: Annoymous at November 5, 2006 05:38 AM
within the coming weeks:) they are making fun
Posted by: Michael at November 9, 2006 12:01 PM
Just what we are looking for! Please put me on the list as well once it is released.....
We are willing to beta test along with the other 100 people in this blog.
Great work!
Posted by: cpozen at January 25, 2007 11:49 PM
Very nice stuff! Waiting for release!
Posted by: pablo4d at February 7, 2007 12:18 PM
Um, a few weeks? this was a few months ago :(
Posted by: Andrew at February 16, 2007 08:46 PM
any link or update on this component i cant seem to find any other info about it
thanks
Posted by: esans at May 15, 2007 10:05 PM
Hi, the component is over on Adobe Labs (http://labs.adobe.com) and has been for some months now.
Alistair
Posted by: Alistair McLeod at May 17, 2007 05:56 PM
any link or update on this component i cant seem to find any other info about it
Posted by: estetik at June 5, 2007 05:18 PM
Hi,
Its on Adobe Labs:
http://labs.adobe.com/wiki/index.php/Flex_Scheduling_Framework
Alistair
Posted by: Alistair McLeod at June 5, 2007 05:36 PM
i cant wait :( i cant see to find any companent :(
Posted by: yehhu at June 8, 2007 02:04 AM
Though this topic is one year old i could not find the components told to be here ..Sorry :(
Posted by: nakliyat at July 1, 2007 02:21 PM
Can we expect this to come with a liberal source license?
Posted by: sohbet odaları at July 14, 2007 02:14 PM
Nice component.
Posted by: rüya tabirleri at July 17, 2007 11:04 AM
Hey... I followed the labs link but the code only contains errors looking for TimeLine and DateUtil there is some place that have all de source code?? Great work guys...
Posted by: Rafael Ochoa at July 27, 2007 01:59 PM
The project is now located on Google Code as part of the flexlib project
http://code.google.com/p/flexlib/
Posted by: TJ Downes at September 3, 2007 11:28 PM
Um, a few weeks? this was a few months ago :(
Posted by: Nature Sports at October 29, 2007 02:45 AM
This is so very nice, I like the pastel color it likes like the google logo. BTW, doesn't use flex instead of funky ajax javascript.
Posted by: mirc at November 20, 2007 10:35 PM
Hey... I followed the labs link but the code only contains errors looking for TimeLine and DateUtil there is some place that have all de source code?? Great work guys...
Posted by: evden eve nakliyat at December 1, 2007 10:09 PM
any link or update on this component i cant seem to find
Posted by: muhabbet at January 6, 2008 12:23 PM
That's really cool!
I wonder whether the live share and calendar data push is within the scope of design.
Cannot wait to see it...
Posted by: Bodrum at January 8, 2008 02:53 PM
Where is this calendar component ?
Q
Posted by: Q at February 1, 2008 08:32 PM
Nice component. Thanks a lot.
Posted by: Sohbet sitesi at February 4, 2008 05:41 PM
Fading on the moment...
Posted by: müzik, siyaset, magazin, okul, spor at February 5, 2008 09:24 PM
Um, a few days? this was a few weeks ago :(
Posted by: kadin at February 11, 2008 10:56 PM
Does this go any further? Since Flex 3 is out it'd be nice if chances were made. And what about a real documentation?
Posted by: Steff at July 27, 2008 02:07 PM