Sean Voisen: Jabber

A New Home

Media Insites, Inc., my company, has finally set up its own dedicated server graciously hosted by the folks over at Rackspace. This means that I will soon be running a "Jabber" server on my own domain and that Eat Orange will soon be moving permanently to eatorange.com. Once my "Jabber" server is up and running I can embed Jabber-enabled Flash chat programs and games directly into the pages here and not worry about the Flash security sandbox. I'll also post the source to an "easy-bake" chat program using Flash JabberConf at this time.

Announcing: Flash JabberConf

I finally finished it. Flash JabberConf (FJC) is an API for Flash MX that I wrote. It should allow anyone familiar with MX and the new event model to quickly create chat and messaging applications in Flash. FJC was written to allow communication with a "Jabber" server running the Jabber conferencing component (also known as group chat). It is essentially an "MX-erized," light-weight version of JabberFlash with the necessary extensions that allow it to easily support conferencing and group chat. FJC is available here in zip format. I'm always looking for ways to make it better, so take a look at the code, try it out, and let me know what you think! There is plenty of accompanying documentation to get you started.

More Fun Flash Ideas

It's a great time to be a member of the Flash community. With such amazing projects as Philter Design's Flash RSS Reader and The Feasible Impossibilities Talking Blog we are really beginning to see the power behind MX. I came up with few ideas that would incorporate both "Jabber" and these new technologies. In the good-natured spirit of sharing, here they are:

A scrolling Flash blog news ticker. This ticker would use a Jabber RSS component (similar to the example in DJ Adams' book Programming Jabber) to push feed data to a Flash-based ticker application.
A talking chat room using the Feasibile Impossibilities technology and my <plug type="shameless"> soon to be released Flash JabberConf API </plug>.

If you have any other ideas, I'd love to hear them.

Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch . . .

I spent the last six days or so back at home in San Diego with my parents. It was definitely a welcome escape from the smog-ridden Los Angeles scenery and mayhem on highway 405. My parents' new spa was installed just as I was leaving. I guess I'll just have to head down there again as soon as possible. On the Flash front, I made quite a bit of progress on Flash JabberConf (FJC), an API for quickly programming jabber "chat" or conferencing programs in Flash. It is based largely on Yannick Connan's JabberFlash but I've added the necessary conferencing additions and removed anything unnecessary for conferencing. It should be nice and light weight. I've also "MX-erized" it using the new event model (ASBroadcaster, etc.), and used Branden Hall's SHA1 implementation for the server authentication. Expect this one to be released by Monday.

SVG and SWF: Have Your Cake and Eat It Too!

Recently, there has been a bit of a buzz around two different articles at O'Reilly that focus on the merits of SWF and SVG, respectively. Both of these articles very effectively illustrate the strengths and weaknesses of each vector graphics standard. Yet, they also seem to hint that there is no possiblility of peaceful coexistence between the two. (If you haven't read the articles, I highly recommend you do so. The first, entitled "SWF Is Not Flash" is available here. The second, "SVG On the Rise," is here.) After working with "Jabber" for a while, I've quickly come to realize the strengths of XML representation. SVG is a very powerful tool. The problem is harnessing the power of SVG inside of Flash. It would open a whole new world of potential if Flash could export/communicate using SVG, but unfortunately this is not the case. After taking a look at the JabberZilla whiteboarding client, I realized that the power of SVG could easily be used inside of a Flash MX application. Using "Jabber" as the transport, whiteboard clients could transmit data back and forth in SVG form. If I draw a circle on the Flash client, this client would call a function that creates the SVG representation of this circle and sends it on its merry way. This would allow a Flash/Jabber whiteboard client to seamlessly communicate with, say, a Java/Jabber whiteboard client. There are limitations, of course. This is mainly because Flash does not natively "speak" SVG. Circles and squares would be easy to implement, for instance, but a series of hand drawn squiggles might be more difficult. This is just an idea, mind you. But I plan on actively pursuing it in the future. If you have any thoughts/ideas on SVG and Flash, I'd enjoy hearing them.

JabberCheckers Update

I took some time out last night to finish up the game engine for JabberCheckers. Fixes include:

Disabling of pieces on other player's turn (using my GameModerator class)
Forced jumping: If a jump is available, you must take it.
Square highlighting: If a jump is forced then the available squares are highlighted. This is also used to enable multiple jumps.
Red moves first ("Fire before smoke.")

As always, the latest version is available here. Flash Player 6 required.

Jabber and Radio

It was brought to my attention by Jarle Bergersen over at JDB Cyberspace that there has been work underfoot to integrate "Jabber" with Radio. I had absolutely no clue, but I guess it is not too much of a suprise considering DJ Adams uses Radio for his own blog. Check out RadioJabber and jerf.org for more. Now all I need to do is find a way to integrate Flash, Jabber and Radio all into one. Correction: DJ Adams does not use Radio for his blog. He uses Blosxom. Sorry for the mixup.

Chatting on Jabber With Flash

I've had some early interest (mainly from "Jabber" developers) in my Flash MX/Jabber Groupchat client. As such I've posted what I have for download here. Please note that this version is very alpha, and currently serves only as an illustration that chat on Jabber with Flash is very real and very possible. Jabber.org does not accept Flash socket connections. Create an account at theoretic.com or myjabber.net or perhaps your own local server to use this. Currently it only connects to the groupchat on jabber.org. Try joining the jdev room and chatting with some of the Jabber folks in there. Have fun! Update: This program uses the JabberFlash API as developed by Yannick Connan, with a few modifications that I made. I plan on writing a pure Jabber Groupchat/Conference API that will probably be a little lighter in wieght than this one.

JabberCheckers Update

Well, it's beginning to look a lot like finals over here at UCLA. This means that work on some of my projects will halt for a couple of days. As for JabberCheckers, I'm completely prepared to take this one all the way through. I hope it serves as a great illustration of the power of Jabber/Flash integration. As far as sending move information between the Flash MX clients, I'm probably going to use the "Jabber" x namespace to send the piece location in grid coordinates. I would send it just in a plain message, but I thought it would be nice for players to chat back and forth. As always, you can play the current single player version (no turn tracking enabled) here.

Flash Checkers: Now With 100% More MX

As you may or may not know, I've been working on Flash mutliplayer games that use Jabber as the communications protocol. My first attempt at a full game is checkers. (I thought about chess. Really, I did. It crossed my mind for a whole 0.01 seconds.) Most of the game engine is complete, and now begins the work on implementing the Jabber code. Click here to launch the current working game engine. Note: Turn tracking is not implemented. As of now players can move twice. Don't cheat!

Flash and Jabber Integration: A Working Demo

For the curious, here is a link to a demo of a Flash client I developed that interacts with Jabber's groupchat capabilities. I developed this using the JabberFlash API. Download the .swf and run it locally, as the Flash security model will NOT allow socket connections to hosts other than this one if you run the .swf from your browser.

Note: jabber.org does not seem to be accepting flash socket connections. Try using your own server or another public server like myjabber.net

Jabber + Flash = Fun For the Whole Family

Here it is. This is the first in a series of articles/tutorials on integrating Jabber with Flash. This short little number introduces Jabber to the Flash developer and whets the appetite with a couple of intriguing possibilites. The next article will dive into the fun-filled world of implementation. Enjoy.