Spry - Prerelease 1.6.1
The Spry framework for Ajax is a JavaScript library for web designers that provides functionality that allows designers to build pages that provide a richer experience for their users. It is designed to bring Ajax to the web design community who can benefit from Ajax, but are not well served by other frameworks. The first release of the Spry framework was a preview of the data capabilities that enable designers to incorporate XML data into their HTML documents using HTML, CSS, and a minimal amount of JavaScript, without the need for refreshing the entire page. The Spry framework is HTML-centric, and easy to implement for users with basic knowledge of HTML, CSS and JavaScript. The framework was designed such that the markup is simple and the JavaScript is minimal. The Spry framework can be used by anyone who is authoring for the web in their tool of choice.
Spry 1.6.1 is a small update that ensures Spry is compatible with Adobe AIR.
Before you get started, please take a moment to review the following important information.
Disclaimer
We want to remind you that this is PRE-RELEASE code. We are making it available to get your feedback and help us figure out where to take it. We expect to make changes to the framework as we go forward. We want you to build on this and let us know what you think, but please understand that we will make changes. We can't guarantee that something you build today will work in the next release.
What is included in Prerelease 1.6.1
Articles - Documentation that describe the Spry framework. Bold means new to this release.
Some PDFs are also available in the online samples directory.
Data - The XML data files used in all our sample files.
Demos - More complex samples that show the Spry framework in action.
- Effects - A demo of all our Spry Effects. Rewritten in 1.5.
- Form Validation - A demo of the Form Validation widgets.
- Photo Gallery—An XML-based photo gallery.
- Product Table—An interactive data grid displaying XML-based data.
- RSS Reader—An RSS reader showing how multiple XML files can be used to build a rich interface.
- Periodic Table - A demo of the HTML data set and advanced CSS techniques.
Please note: These demos are a proof of concept for the data capabilities of the Spry framework. They are not keyboard or screen reader accessible. Please review the FAQ for more information.
Includes - Core JavaScript files that implement the data framework.
- SpryCSVDataSet.js - Enables CSV files as a data source.
- SpryData.js - Contains the code that defines XML data sets and dynamic regions.
- SpryDataExtensions.js - Contains helper functions such as advanced filtering.
- SpryDataShell.js - A placeholder data set that regions can bind to, which allows data sets of same/different formats to be swapped in and out.
- SpryDebug.js - A file that provides advanced debugging information for Spry pages.
- SpryDOMUtils.js - Our Element Selector. Manipulate the page using CSS Selectors.
- SpryEffects.js - The Spry Effects framework file.
- SpryHTMLDataSet.js - Enables the HTML data set functionality.
- SpryJSONDataSet.js - Enables JSON as a data source.
- SpryNestedJSONDataSet.js - Allows the use of complex JSON as a data source.
- SpryNestedXMLDataSet.js - Allows the use of complex XML as a data source.
- SpryPagedView.js - Enabled users to easily set up paging in data sets.
- SpryTSVDataSet.js - Enables TSV files as a data source. Users can also specify a different field delimiter other than tab.
- Spry URLUtils.js - Get URL parameters and hashes to be used with Spry pages.
- SpryUtils.js - Contains helper functions, mostly form submission code.
- SpryXML.js - Function file for handling XML formatting. Only required for certain sample files.
- xpath.js - Google's JavaScript implementation of the XPath 1.0 standard. You can get more information about it by visiting their open source google-ajaxslt project page.
includes_minified - Minified copies of all our javascript files..
includes_packed - Packed copies of all our javascript files.
Samples - A series of simple files (located within the /samples/ directory in the ZIP) that show basic functionality of Spry . These provide working code samples of specific features of spry or common techniques used on Spry pages. One of the more useful samples is the Data Set Explorer page.
Widgets - Contains our released widget js, css and reference files. Widget Map.
License—Spry is licensed under a BSD license.
Spry change log—Log of what changed between Prerelease 1 and Prerelease 1.6.1.
Where can I get more information?
FAQ - Frequently asked questions (and answers!) about the Spry framework.
Spry Dev Center - Articles and tutorials about Spry.
Creating a Web Photo Album with Spry -Walk through the steps to create a dynamic and flexible page using the Spry framework with remarkably few lines of code.
Adobe Labs Spry Forum - Post any questions or feedback on the Spry framework to the forums available on the Adobe Labs site.
Adobe Labs Wiki - The Adobe Labs wiki allows editing of pages and content by the community, but only within specific sections of the site. For resources that provide group edit access, you will be required to log in with your Adobe Labs/Adobe.com username.
Spry Blog- The Spry Team posts to the blog periodically, with Spry news and information.
We do ask that you only contribute to a page or resource if you feel you can improve it. Please do not add comments or feedback to the author to the pages directly; there is a 'Discussion' tab available for most all areas of the site that you can use to submit your feedback within, if you so desire. Use this tab to comment on or discuss a particular page or resource, so we can keep the content focused and on-topic.
Adobe Labs RSS Feeds - Please subscribe to the RSS feeds on Adobe Labs to be notified when new releases of Spry become available.
How You Can Help Us
While we want to hear about bugs that you find in this prerelease, we are especially interested in what you think about our approach. We are making this available so that we have a better opportunity to address your feedback. Please let us know:
Are there things that miss the mark?
Are there things that make you think "This would be great if they just changed/added..."?
Are there things that don't work the way you think they should?Feedback
Post any questions or feedback on the Spry framework to the forums available on the Adobe site.
We look forward to seeing what you think!