GridBuilder

Kind of class:public class
Package:com.trycatch.utils
Inherits from:Object
Version:1.2
Author:JP DeVries, Nemo Design
Classpath:com.trycatch.utils.GridBuilder
File last modified:Thursday, 14 May 2009, 17:53:33
The GridBuilder is a display utility that a group of display objects of the same width and height, and lays them out in a grid format.
Instantiate a new GridBuilder, call the createGrid method, and add the returned Sprite to whatever DisplayList you wish.

public function GridBuilderExample() {
    // create an Array to hold some squares
    var _squares:Array = new Array();

    // create the squares
    for (var i:int = 0; i < 10; i++) {
        var _square:Sprite = _createSquare();
        _squares.push(_square);
    }

    // create a GridBuilder instance
    var _gridBuilder:GridBuilder = new GridBuilder("square-grid");

    // create the grid
    var _grid:Sprite = _gridBuilder.createGrid(_squares, 254, 50, 50, 1, 1);

    // add the grid to the display list
    addChild(_grid);

    // no longer needed, handles garbage collection
    _gridBuilder.destroy();
}

// creates a 50px square
private function _createSquare() : Sprite {
    var _square:Sprite = new Sprite();
    _square.graphics.beginFill(0xd7d7cf, 1);
    _square.graphics.drawRect(0, 0, 50, 50);

    return _square;
}

Below is an example swf of what the above code generates.




See also:

Summary


Constructor
  • GridBuilder (_id:String = "default-grid")
    • When instantiating a new GridBuilder instance, passing in a unique id will allow you fetch that instance later from a static getInstance method.
Instance properties
  • gridWidth : Number
    • The width of the grid.
  • gridItems : Array
    • An Array of individual DisplayObjects to be laid out as a grid.
  • gridItemWidth : Number
    • The width of the individual grid items.
  • gridItemHeight : Number
    • The height of the individual grid items.
  • gutterHorizontal : Number
    • The amount of horizontal space between each grid item.
  • gutterVertical : Number
    • The amount of vertical space between each grid item.
  • grid : Sprite
    • The grid created by createGrid.
  • colCount : Number
    • The number of columns built.
  • rowCount : Number
    • The number of rows built.
  • numGridItems : int
    • The number of grid items built.
  • gridPoints : Array
    • An Array that holds Point objects.
Class methods
Instance methods
  • createGrid (__gridItems:Array, __gridWidth:Number, __gridItemWidth:Number, __gridItemHeight:Number, __gutterHorizontal:Number = 1, __gutterVertical:Number = 1) : Sprite
    • Takes an Array of DisplayObjects, each to be used as an individual grid item, along with width, height, and gutter properites.
  • destroy : void
    • Destroys gridItems, gridPoints, and grid properties.

Constructor

GridBuilder

public function GridBuilder (
_id:String = "default-grid")

When instantiating a new GridBuilder instance, passing in a unique id will allow you fetch that instance later from a static getInstance method.

Instance properties

colCount

public colCount:Number
(read)

The number of columns built.

grid

public grid:Sprite
(read)

The grid created by createGrid.

gridItemHeight

public gridItemHeight:Number
(read)

The height of the individual grid items. All grid items must have the same height.

gridItems

public gridItems:Array
(read)

An Array of individual DisplayObjects to be laid out as a grid.

gridItemWidth

public gridItemWidth:Number
(read)

The width of the individual grid items. All grid items must have the same width.

gridPoints

public gridPoints:Array
(read)

An Array that holds Point objects. Each Point represents the x,y coordinates of its associative grid item.

gridWidth

public gridWidth:Number
(read)

The width of the grid. The height of the grid is calculated automatically. Your gridWidth should follow this algorithm.
gridWidth = (colCount * gridItemWidth) + ((colCount-1) * gutterVertical)

gutterHorizontal

public gutterHorizontal:Number
(read)

The amount of horizontal space between each grid item.

gutterVertical

public gutterVertical:Number
(read)

The amount of vertical space between each grid item.

numGridItems

public numGridItems:int
(read)

The number of grid items built. This is the length of gridItems.

rowCount

public rowCount:Number
(read)

The number of rows built.

Class methods

destroyAll

public static function destroyAll (
) : void

Invokes destroy method on all GridBuilder instances.
See also:

getInstance

public static function getInstance (
_id:String) : GridBuilder

Returns the requested GridBuilder instance.
Parameters:
_id:
The id of the requested instance.

Instance methods

createGrid

public function createGrid (
__gridItems:Array, __gridWidth:Number, __gridItemWidth:Number, __gridItemHeight:Number, __gutterHorizontal:Number = 1, __gutterVertical:Number = 1) : Sprite

Takes an Array of DisplayObjects, each to be used as an individual grid item, along with width, height, and gutter properites.
Parameters:
_gridItems :
An Array of DisplayObjects to be laid out in a grid format.
_gridWidth :
The width of the grid.
_gridItemWidth :
The width of the individual grid item.
_gridItemHeight :
The height of the individual grid item.
_gutterHorizontal:
The amount of horizontal space between each grid item.
_gutterVertical :
The amount of vertical space between each grid item.
See also:

destroy

public function destroy (
) : void

Destroys gridItems, gridPoints, and grid properties. This method handles garbage collection for this class.
See also: