I just noticed that there is a new Central community site this morning. CentralApps.com just starting to ramp up, but has already listed a couple of apps.

You can view the site here.

We have added a new category dedicated to Macromedia Central to the Macromedia XML News Aggregator.

There are already quite a few feeds there, and with the release of the SDK beta today, you can expect there to be a lot of posts over the next couple of weeks.

You can view the Central section here.

I have put together a quick, step by step guide to getting started with application development for Central.

Note that all page numbers refer to the Developing Central Applications pdf included on the SDK.

1. Download and install Macromedia Central.
2. Download the Central beta SDK
3. Install the Central Components from the SDK (components/) (page 12)
4. Install the Central Debug Panel from the SDK (Utilities/DebugPanel) (page 17)
5. Create a new FLA (you can use the Authoring Templates on the SDK (Utilities/AuthoringTemplates)) (page 13)
6. If you didn’t use the Authoring templates, set the FPS to 21 (that is what Central runs at).
7. Open File > Publish Settings > Flash. Set to publish as “Flash 6”. If you are using Flash MX 2004, set it to optimize for “Flash Player 6,0,65,0”.
8. Make sure “Omit Trace Actions” is not checked.
9. Add the following functions to your Application onActivate (page 103), onDeactivate (page 104), Central.initApplication() (page 144). (If you use the template, these are already added) (page 14)
10. Add initialization code to onActivate and clean up code to onDeactivate.
11. Add a graphic to the stage so you can tell whether or not it loads into Central.
12. Publish your movie to create a SWF file.
13. Get a development product id from http://www.macromedia.com/go/central_productid (page 15)
14. Create a product.xml file (you can use the one from the product id page). Make sure it includes your product id and the application tag (page 15).
15. Copy the product.xml file and your swf file into a separate directory.
16. Copy the install badge from the SDK (Utilities/InstallBadge/installer.swf) into the same directory as the product.xml and SWF files (page 15).
17. Copy the directory to a web server (local or remote).
18. Load the installer.swf file into a web browser via the web server.
19. Install your application from the badge.
20. Once it is installed into Central, you can then publish directly from Flash into Central (page 16).
21. Find the location where you application files were installed by Central. On Windows this will be similar to: C:\Documents and Settings\USERNAME\Application Data\Macromedia\Central\DOMAINNAME\APPNAME . On Mac, this will be similar to: Hard Drive/Users/USERNAME/Library/Application Support/Macromedia/Central/DOMAINNAME/APPNAME/
22. Open the Publish Settings Dialog (File > Publish Settings).
23. Set the file to Publish into the directory located above. Make sure that the file is published with the same file name that was installed by Central.
24. Save the settings, by clicking OK.
25. To test your application, you must publish it (File > Publish). This will compile the SWF into its application directory within Central. You can then view the updated application file by switching to Central and reloading the application by switching to another application within Central and then switching back. If you are testing a Pod, you must close the pod and reopen it. If you are testing an Agent, you must restart Central.
26. You can now use trace statements in your app to debug apps running within Central (page 17)
27. Open the debug panel in the Flash Authoring Environment. In Flash MX it is located in the Windows > Central Debug Panel menu. In Flash MX 2004 it can be located in the Windows> Other Panels > Central Debug Panel.
28. Make sure that “Omit trace actions” is not checked in the public settings (File > Publish Settings > Flash).
29. Add debug.enabled = true to your application. This will enabled debugging.
30. Add trace statements to your application. You can pass in various data types including strings, objects and arrays.
31. Test your application within Central. Any trace statements encounter during the applicationÂ’s runtime will be printed out into the Debug Panel within the Flash Authoring Environment. If they don’t appear, close the debug panel and re-open it.

You can find more info on Macromedia Central here.

We have released the public developers beta . This beta includes a beta version of the Software Development Kit (SDK). It does not include a new version of Central.

Here are the relevant URLs:

• SDK Beta
• Feedback on SDK

Couple of Notes:

The release notes are included within the SDK. One item that was omitted
from the release notes is that the MDialogComponent is not included in the
SDK, although it is documented. It will be available in the final version of
Central and the SDK.

The releases notes for the Central SDK beta are included within the SDK zip file. I am posting them here for easier reference.

This document lists known issues that may arise when using the contents of the SDK.

Component and API Help documents for the Flash Authoring Environment

The SDK beta does not contain Central component and API documentation and code hinting for Flash MX or Flash MX 2004. The final version of the SDK will contain full documentation and code hinting for the authoring environments.

I have put together a FAQ for the Central Developer (SDK) Beta. This will eventually be posted on our website, but I am posting this here to get the info out as quickly as possible.

General

What is the Macromedia Central Public Developer Beta?

The Macromedia Central Public Developer Beta is a public beta of the Macromedia Central Software Development Kit (SDK). It is intended to give developers a chance to begin learning about developing applications within Macromedia Central.

Wow. Lots of stuff going on in the Central community the past couple of days. First of all, a new Central community site has launched. CentralMX.com already has a ton of information and news, and has plans for tutorials and forums.

Geoffrey Williams released a beta of his Amazon application. This is a very advanced app and you should definitely check it out. You can see screenshots here and here.

Finally, Mike Lyda release a Central application called FiRe, which is a find and replace utility. Check out the page as he has some good information on how he developed the app.

I have created a new mailing list for discussing the ins and outs of developing applications for Macromedia Central.

You can find more info about the list, as well as subscribe to it here.

We are going to have a chat today in the Central Developer Chat application. It will be today at 11:30 am pst (I think that is -8 utc). It will be around 30 minutes, with the first 20 minutes focused on feedback on Central, and the last 20 minutes general QA.

You can find more information on the chat here. You can install it from the Install Badge on the right.

I just noticed that Vera Fleischer (Macromedia’s own Flash Goddess) has posted a very thorough tutorial on data binding in Flash MX 2004.

You can read the entire tutorial here.