Use the TileList component

The TileList component consists of a list that is made up of rows and columns that are supplied with data by a data provider. An item refers to a unit of data that is stored in a cell in the TileList. An item, which originates in the data provider, typically has a label property and a source property. The label property identifies the content to display in a cell and the source provides a value for it.

You can create an Array instance or retrieve one from a server. The TileList component has methods that proxy to its data provider, for example, the addItem() and removeItem() methods. If no external data provider is provided to the list, these methods create a data provider instance automatically, which is exposed through List.dataProvider .

User interaction with the TileList component

A TileList renders each cell using a Sprite that implements the ICellRenderer interface. You can specify this renderer with the TileList cellRenderer property. The TileList component’s default CellRenderer is the ImageCell, which displays an image (class, bitmap, instance, or URL), and an optional label. The label is a single line that always aligns to the bottom of the cell. You can scroll a TileList in only one direction.

When a TileList instance has focus, you can also use the following keys to access the items within it:

Key

Description

Up Arrow and Down Arrow

Allow you to move up and down through a column. If the allowMultipleSelection property is true , you can use these keys in combination with the Shift key to select multiple cells.

Left Arrow and Right Arrow

Allow you to move to the left or right in a row. If the allowMultipleSelection property is true , you can use these keys in combination with the Shift key to select multiple cells.

Home

Selects the first cell in a TileList. If the allowMultipleSelection property is true , holding Shift and pressing Home will select all the cells from your current selection to the first cell.

End

Selects the last cell in a TileList. If the allowMultipleSelection property is true , holding Shift and pressing End will select all the cells from your current selection to the last cell.

Ctrl

If the allowMultipleSelection property is set to true , allows you to select multiple cells, in no specific order.

When you add the TileList component to an application, you can make it accessible to a screen reader by adding the following lines of ActionScript code:. 

import fl.accessibility.TileListAccImpl; 
 
TileListAccImpl.enableAccessibility();

You enable accessibility for a component only once, regardless of how many instances the component has. For more information, see Chapter 18, “Creating Accessible Content,” in Using Flash .

TileList component parameters

You can set the following authoring parameters in the Property inspector or in the Component inspector for each TileList component instance: allowMultipleSelection , columnCount , columnWidth , dataProvider , direction , horizontalScrollLineSize , horizontalScrollPageSize , labels , rowCount , rowHeight , ScrollPolicy, verticalScrollLineSize, and verticalScrollPageSize . Each of these parameters has a corresponding ActionScript property of the same name. For information on using the dataProvider parameter, see Use the dataProvider parameter .

You can write ActionScript to set additional options for TileList instances using its methods, properties, and events. For more information, see the TileList class in the ActionScript 3.0 Reference for the Adobe Flash Platform .

Create an application with the TileList component

This example uses MovieClips to fill a TileList with an array of paint colors.

  1. Create a new Flash (ActionScript 3.0) document.

  2. Drag a TileList component to the Stage and give it an instance name of aTl .

  3. Open the Actions panel, select Frame 1 in the main Timeline, and enter the following ActionScript code: 

    import fl.data.DataProvider; 
import flash.display.DisplayObject; 
 
var aBoxes:Array = new Array(); 
var i:uint = 0; 
var colors:Array = new Array(0x00000, 0xFF0000, 0x0000CC, 0x00CC00, 0xFFFF00); 
var colorNames:Array = new Array("Midnight", "Cranberry", "Sky", "Forest", "July"); 
var dp:DataProvider = new DataProvider(); 
for(i=0; i < colors.length; i++) { 
    aBoxes[i] = new MovieClip(); 
    drawBox(aBoxes[i], colors[i]);    // draw box w next color in array 
    dp.addItem( {label:colorNames[i], source:aBoxes[i]} ); 
} 
aTl.dataProvider = dp; 
aTl.columnWidth = 110; 
aTl.rowHeight = 130; 
aTl.setSize(280,150); 
aTl.move(150, 150); 
aTl.setStyle("contentPadding", 5); 
 
function drawBox(box:MovieClip,color:uint):void { 
            box.graphics.beginFill(color, 1.0); 
            box.graphics.drawRect(0, 0, 100, 100); 
            box.graphics.endFill();         
}

  4. Select Control > Test Movie to test the application.

Create a TileList component using ActionScript

This example dynamically creates a TileList instance and adds instances of the ColorPicker, ComboBox, NumericStepper, and CheckBox components to it. It creates an Array that contains labels and the names of the component to display and assigns the Array ( dp ) to the TileList’s dataProvider property. It uses the columnWidth and rowHeight properties and the setSize() method to lay out the TileList, the move() method to position it on the Stage, and the contentPadding style to put space between the TileList instance’s borders and its content, and the sortItemsOn() method to sort the content by its labels.

  1. Create a new Flash (ActionScript 3.0) document.

  2. Drag the following components from the Components panel to the Library panel: ColorPicker, ComboBox, NumericStepper, CheckBox, and TileList.

  3. Open the Actions panel, select Frame 1 in the main Timeline, and enter the following ActionScript code: 

    import fl.controls.CheckBox; 
import fl.controls.ColorPicker; 
import fl.controls.ComboBox; 
import fl.controls.NumericStepper; 
import fl.controls.TileList; 
import fl.data.DataProvider; 
 
var aCp:ColorPicker = new ColorPicker(); 
var aCb:ComboBox = new ComboBox(); 
var aNs:NumericStepper = new NumericStepper(); 
var aCh:CheckBox = new CheckBox(); 
var aTl:TileList = new TileList(); 
 
var dp:Array = [ 
{label:"ColorPicker", source:aCp}, 
{label:"ComboBox", source:aCb}, 
{label:"NumericStepper", source:aNs}, 
{label:"CheckBox", source:aCh}, 
]; 
aTl.dataProvider = new DataProvider(dp); 
aTl.columnWidth = 110; 
aTl.rowHeight = 100; 
aTl.setSize(280,130); 
aTl.move(150, 150); 
aTl.setStyle("contentPadding", 5); 
aTl.sortItemsOn("label"); 
addChild(aTl);

  4. Select Test > Control Movie to test the application.

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