Summary

1. Overview
2. Conventions
3. Nodes and Attributes list
4. Nodes details
5. Examples

Overview

You will find below the various types of nodes allowed inside the file defining the context ( applicationContext.xml ) for LowRA IoC.

Conventions :

• <foo> : A node of type foo such as :

  <foo>
  	Some content in the node
  </foo>

• <%custom%> : A node where %custom% is the user defined node name. It means that the node name is only significant for the user, the assembler will use attributes of the node instead of the node name.

  Example, the two following declarations produce the same result :

  <plugin id="somePlugin" type="MyPluginClass" />

  <object id="somePlugin" type="MyPluginClass" />

• @foo : A node attribute called foo such as :

  <node foo="some value" />

  The @ prefix only means that the name refer to a node attribute.
• #foo : Refer to the id foo such as :

  <node id="foo" />

  The # prefix only means that the name refer to the value of the id attribute of a node.
• Foo : Refer to class name Foo.

Defines the loader view used to display the assembler process (only one occurence). The <applicationloader> allow designer and developer to simply add and handle loading and assembling states to display the progress. The *.swf file specified in the @url is loaded and callbacks methods are then called directly on the root of the file. This file could be a simple file with timeline function and all graphics directly on stage or a full AS3 file. All the process performed by the assembler will be send to the provided method in the node attributes. Only events defined by an attribute are dispatched to the loader instance.

<beans>

No

0 - 1

	built-callback	Name of the function to call on the application loader when the build is completed.
	init-callback	Name of the function to call on the application loader when all loading are finished.
	name-callback	Name of the function to call on the application loader when a new process start (loading, parsing, assembling, etc...).
	progress-callback	Name of the function to call on the application loader during the process. A number, which represent the current progression, is passed to the function.
	timeout-callback	Name of the function to call on the application loader when a loading fail due to a timeout.
	url	URL of the *.swf file.

Creates a new argument for a function call or a class constructor. An argument could be a simple value or a reference to another entity defined in the assembler context file.

<%custom%>, <method-call>

When used directly inside a <%custom%> node, arguments are passed to the constructor of the class specified in @type.

No

0 - *

	ref	The @id of an entity in the assembler context file. When setting @ref, the assembler will ignore all other attributes.
	type	The type of the value contained in this <argument>. If omitted the value is casted to String.
	value	The value of this <argument> node.

Required root node for the application context file (only one occurence). The <beans> node contains the whole application context. Included context must also defines the <beans> root node.

Note : <beans> node doesn't accept any attributes.

XML file root node

<application-loader>, <%custom%>, <dll>, <include>, <root>

There is no restriction in the order of the children, order of node execution is defined by the assembler while parsing is completed :

1. <application-loader> is created (if set)
2. <include> nodes are loaded
3. <dll> nodes are loaded
4. <root> children are loaded or created and added on the stage
5. <%custom%> children of the <beans> are created
6. <method-call> nodes are processed for each entity

1 for each context file

No

The node name has no meaning in this case, it creates an new entity of the specified @type and identified with the specified @id. When child of the <root> node it will be considered as part of the display list, nested <%custom%> children are also allowed.

<beans>, <%custom%>, <root>

For details on nested <%custom%> see the Children part.

<argument>, <%custom%>, <item>, <listen>, <method-call>, <property>

<%custom%> nodes can be nested only when they are children of the <root> node. In that context each child will be added to the display list as a child of their parent node.

0 - *

	deserializer-class	When @type is XML only. Defines the concret deserializer class to use for parse the node content. The @deserializer-class must implements the Deserializer interface of the com.bourre.encoding package.
	factory	Defines the factory method to call when creating the object defined by this <%custom%> node. The @factory attribute is optional, when omitted, the object is created using the classical new construct.
	id	Defines the identifier of this node in the beans namespace. You can use the @id of the object in all nodes which provide a @ref, it will return a reference to the object identified by @id. More formally if you create an object such : <plugin id="somePlugin" type="MyPluginClass"/> You can get a reference to #somePlugin such : <argument ref="somePlugin"/>
	singleton-access	Defines the name of the function which return the singleton instance of a class. Used when @factory is defined. If set the creation of the object will correspond to : MyClass.singletonAccess().factoryMethod( arguments );
	type	Classpath which defines the type of the entity. The specified class must exist in the assembler applicationDomain.
	url	When the current <%custom%> is a child of the <root> node, the @url will represent a swf file to load in place of the node. The @url content must be a valid *.swf file.
	value	The @value is used only when the @type point to a primitive type, such Number, int, uint, String or Boolean.

Loads the specified *.swf file as a Dynamically Loaded Library (dll). All dlls files are loaded in the same ApplicationDomain object. More formally, the <dll> behave as the import statement, it allow developers to includes classes compiled in a swf file in the current assembler, and then instanciate them later.

<beans>

No

0 - *

url

URL of the *.swf file to load.

Loads a context file and add its content to the current application context. Included context files must defines a <beans> node. When including a context file which also define a <root> node, the <include> may define @root-ref to prevent conflicts with the parent file <root> node.

<beans>

No

0 - *

	url	URL of the *.xml context file to load.
	root-ref	An entity of the parent assembler context file which will be the display object used to represent the <root> node of the included file.

Defines an entry in a Dictionary. The <item> node don't accept any attributes, but require two child :

• One occurence of a <key> node
• One occurence of a <value> node

<%custom% type="Dictionary">

The <item> node is only available for <%custom%> nodes whose @type is Dictionary.

<key>, <value>

0 - *

No

Defines the key of the <item> parent note.

<item>

No

1 for each <item>

	ref	The @id of an entity in the assembler context file. When setting @ref, the assembler will ignore all other attributes.
	type	The type of the value contained in this <key>. If omitted the value is casted to String.
	value	The value of this <key> node.

Sets the <%custom%> parent node listening to the specified @ref.

<%custom%>

No

0 - 1 for each <%custom%>

id

The @id of an entity in the assembler context file.

Calls a method of the <%custom%> parent node. The method must be a member of the instance and not a member of the class.

<%custom%>

<argument>

0 - *

	delay	Delay the call of the method with the amount of the attribute value in milliseconds.
	name	The name of the method to call on the parent object.

Sets the initial value of the specified property of the <%custom%> parent node.

<%custom%>

No

0 - *

	name	The name of the property to set on the parent object.
	ref	The @id of an entity in the assembler context file. When setting @ref, the assembler will ignore all other attributes.
	type	The type of the value contained in this <property>. If omitted the value is casted to String.
	value	The value of this property.

Defines the root node for the graphics structures (only one occurence). All children of the <root> node will be considered as part of the display list. When dealing with multiple context files, each included context which also define a <root> will be included with the @root-ref attribute defined.

<beans>

<%custom%>

0 - 1

No

Defines the value of the <item> parent note.

<item>

No

1 for each <item>

	ref	The @id of an entity in the assembler context file. When setting @ref, the assembler will ignore all other attributes.
	type	The type of the value contained in this <value>. If omitted the value is casted to String.
	value	The value of this <value> node.

Examples

Below a concret example of a context file which use the whole features set of the LowRA assembler.

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<!DOCTYPE beans SYSTEM "http://lowra.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/tools/assembler.dtd">

<beans>

	<!-- 	You can insert here all the compiled classes you need 
			to make your application working. -->

	<dll url="dll/FakePluginListenerDLL2.swf"/>	



	<!-- That's your application loader config (if you need one) -->

	<!--<application-loader url="swf/loader.swf" 
						progress-callback="onProgress" 
						built-callback="onBuild"/>-->



	<!-- 	That's the visual tree of your application. 
			If you need a graphical structure, root node is mandatory. -->

	<root>

		<container id="container">
			
			<property name="x" type="int" value="50"/>
			<property name="y" type="int" value="50"/>

			<swf id="background" url="swf/background.swf" visible="false"/>

			<swf id="coffee" url="swf/coffee.jpg">
				<property name="x" type="int" value="100"/>
				<property name="y" type="int" value="100"/>
				<property name="alpha" type="Number" value="0.1"/>
			</swf>
			
			<txt id="txt" type="flash.text.TextField">
				<property name="text" value="Hello world!"/>
				<property name="y" type="int" value="250"/>
				<property name="autoSize" value="center"/>
				
				<method-call name="setTextFormat">
					<argument ref="tf"/>
				</method-call>
			</txt>
			
			<square id="square" type="com.prizee.ui.Square">
				<property name="alpha" type="Number" value="0.5"/>
				<property name="x" type="int" value="150"/>
			</square>

		</container>

	</root>



	<!--	Objects instanciation begins here.
			Methods call happen when all objects have been built. -->

	<tf id="tf" type="flash.text.TextFormat">
		<argument type="" value="Arial"/>
		<argument type="Number" value="30"/>
		<argument type="Number" value="0XFF"/>
	</tf>



	<array id="collection" type="Array">
		<argument ref="dimensionClass"/>
		<argument method="range1.clone"/>
		<argument ref="obj"/>
		<argument ref="config"/>
		<argument ref="coffee"/>
	</array>



	<dll url="dll/RangeDLL.swf"/>

	<range id="range1" type="com.bourre.structures.Range">
		<argument ref="min"/>
		<argument type="Number" value="5"/>
	</range>

	<range id="range2" type="com.bourre.structures.Range">
		<argument type="Number" value="5"/>
		<argument ref="max"/>
	</range>



	<dll url="dll/DimensionDLL.swf"/>

	<dimension id="dimension1" type="com.bourre.structures.Dimension">
		<argument type="Number" value="800"/>
		<argument type="Number" value="600"/>
	</dimension>

	<dimension id="dimension2" type="com.bourre.structures.Dimension">
		<argument type="Number" value="1024"/>
		<argument type="Number" value="768"/>
		
		<method-call name="setSize">
			<argument ref="dimension1"/>
		</method-call>
	</dimension>



	<dll url="dll/FakePluginDLL.swf"/>

	<fake id="fake" type="FakePlugin">
		<argument value="Hello world!"/>
		<argument ref="background"/>
		
		<method-call name="testPlugin"/>
	</fake>



	<min id="min" type="Number" value="1"/>
	<max id="max" type="Number" value="10"/>



	<dll url="dll/FakePluginListenerDLL.swf"/>

	<fake id="fakeListener" type="com.prizee.plugin.FakePluginListener">
		<argument ref="dimension1"/>

		<listen ref="fake" />
	</fake>



	<dictionary id="dictionary" type="Dictionary">
		<item> <key ref="dimension2"/> <value ref="dimension1"/> </item>
		<item> <key ref="dimension1"/> <value ref="dimension2"/> </item>
		<item> <key type="Number" value="13"/> <value type="Class" value="com.bourre.structures.Dimension"/> </item>
	</dictionary>



	<class id="dimensionClass" type="Class">
		<argument value="com.bourre.structures.Dimension"/>
	</class>



	<dll url="dll/UIDLL.swf"/>

	<dictionary id="displayObjectDictionary" type="Dictionary">
		<item> <key value="com.prizee.ui.Square"/> <value type="Class" value="com.prizee.ui.Square"/> </item>
	</dictionary>



	<dictionary id="dico" type="Dictionary">
		<item> <key value="o"/> <value ref="obj"/> </item>
	</dictionary>



	<dll url="dll/TypedFactoryLocatorDLL.swf"/>

	<factory id="displayOjectFactory" type="com.bourre.core.TypedFactoryLocator">
		<argument type="Class" value="flash.display.MovieClip"/>
		<method-call name="add"><argument ref="displayObjectDictionary"/></method-call>
	</factory>



	<dll url="dll/XMLToObjectDeserializerDLL.swf"/>

	<xml id="config" type="XML" deserializer-class="com.bourre.encoding.XMLToObjectDeserializer">
		<root>
			<node>1</node>
			<node>2</node>
			<node>
				<childNode>childNodeValue</childNode>
			</node>
			<node>4</node>
		</root>
	</xml>



	<object id="obj" type="Object">
		<property name="p1" value="hello1"/>
		<property name="p2" value="hello2"/>
	</object>



</beans>