FLEX : The way to install all the things that you need (Flash->Flex)

"Oke, so going further with trying to find out how to make plugin components for Xcelsius, you actually need alot of stuff. Since I'm going all out with making new buttons, charts, etc with Flash, then you gotta install Adobe Flash, Flex, and Xcelsius itself."

This part talks about the step from Flash to Flex, how to create custom components in Flex using Flash components."

Finally got the installations correct!

First you have the Adobe Extension Manager. If you don’t have it, then download it.
You can download it here :
http://www.adobe.com/go/flex3_cs3_swfkit

Second you download the Flash Component Kit.
Install the .mxp Flash Component Kit file using Adobe Extension Manager. Afterwards, your Flash can make Flex components! Yay! But you gotta remember that those files need to be compatible with the version of your Adobe Flash.
For example, if you have Adobe Flash CS3, then you gotta install the Adobe Extension Manager CS3/1.8.

This is a good website to read to install all those things I’ve talked about :
http://blog.flexexamples.com/2007/09/02/installing-the-flex-component-kit-for-flash-cs3/

FLEX : Reality Check!

Honestly, it’s been a life ago since I’ve seen such coding which I actually understood. Can you imagine looking at the writings below without any understanding whatsoever???

package com.businessobjects.xcelsius.sdk.samples
{
 import mx.controls.HSlider;
 public class BasicHorizontalSlider extends HSlider
   {
    public function BasicHorizontalSlider()
    {
         super();
      }
   }
}

Hwaaa! What the hell is making a constructor automatically, what a constructor does, and why is it called a constructor??? Gone are the days when I understood all such nonsense.

So forgive me Flash and Flex, I’ll start by reading Adobe Flex 3.0 for Dummies since that’s what I am now. Hehe.

XCELSIUS : First step towards making an Xcelsius plugin component from Flex

I’m really curious on how to make my own Xcelsius dashboard component using Flash by importing the .swf file. What are the procedures to create a dashboard component?

I found out other things on the net. One particular thing that attracts my attention is connecting Xcelsius directly to BI. But as I create the connections through LiveOffice, I’m finding out that it’s more convenient for me to connect it to LiveOffice. Why? Well, currently, since the design of BI infocubes are not fully up to me (comprises of more than 1 person in a BI team), I cannot design an infocube to comply with the design of the dashboard design. Therefore, to make up the missing links of what information to display and what not to display on dashboard, you do all that on the excel file that LiveOffice connects to. I also currently think that it’s much more efficient that way, distributing the processing power to other things rather than just relying on the SAP BI machine.

The blog on connection of Xcelsius directly to BI is :
http://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/scn/weblogs?blog=/pub/wlg/16745

Another blog which catches my attention is “Greater Speed & Flexibility for Xcelsius Dashboard Components” which says that if I build a dashboard containing Xcelsius components, I can use Crystal Reports as a container for the component for greater speed and flexibility. I gotta spare some time to read this later :
http://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/scn/weblogs?blog=/pub/wlg/16893
also this :
http://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/scn/weblogs?blog=/pub/wlg/15995

Finally after searching through some lot of info, I think I’m on the right track with this link :
http://ryangoodman.net/blog/index.php/Xcelsius/Components/

After hours of searching, all I know is that this Ryan Goodman guy works for Centigon and knows how to make plugin components for Xcelsius and that you use Xcelsius Plugin Components to import/install those components in Xcelsius. But I still don’t know how to make a plugin component.

Now this you gotta read some time from now. I think it’s a great blog but it doesn’t say anything about creating plugin components :
http://www.alteksolutions.com/wp/index.php/2009/09/how-to-implement-the-xcelsius-publishing-plugin/

Oke! I found it finally here! Search for more info and dig down from this link :
http://www.mail-archive.com/flexcoders@yahoogroups.com/msg124149.html

I did a search in sdn.sap and found this :
http://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/scn/index?rid=/library/uuid/8019913f-51cc-2c10-138c-b8b963119123

This thread explains how to create flex file :
https://forums.sdn.sap.com/thread.jspa?threadID=990006

Huakakak… and this is the funny part. There’s a post saying this :

“…Have you found and tried the tutorials?
There are 4 tutorials that get installed with the Xcelsius 2008 Component SDK.
Here is where they get installed to:
C:\Program Files\Business Objects\Xcelsius\SDK\documentation\tutorials
There are also some samples:
C:\Program Files\Business Objects\Xcelsius\SDK\samples …”

So all this time, the solution is all pointing to 4 pdf files that I have in my own laptop all this time. Hwaaaaa!