GhostWire SlideMenu
This Flash component allows you to create horizontal menus.
Example
The following is an example of the SlideMenu component (filesize 8KB)
Features Autosize
If there are more top level menu items than the original width (specified during authoring time) can accomodate, the component will expand itself to fit all the top level menu items. For submenu items, a 'next' and 'prev' buttons will appear as necessary (see above example).
Submenu Direction/Speed
Specify which direction the submenu should appear, and configure the speed via the Properties Panel.
Menu Item Icons
Each menu item can be assigned its own icon. The icon can be defined in the Properties Panel during authoring. During runtime, each element in the dataArray defining a menu item can have an 'icon' property defining the icon to use. You can note in the above examples, we have specified an icon for the 'Home' menu item.
onSelect Events
The component has an onSelect event, which you can use to specify the action that should be executed when a menu item is selected by the mouse. Alternatively, the component also has some preset triggers - when the Action property of the component is set to 'GetURL', the 'data' property associated with a menu item is assumed to represent an URL and when the item is selected (clicked on), the URL will be loaded. When the Action is set to 'GotoAndPlay' or 'GotoAndStop', the 'data' property is assumed to be a frame number/label.
Easy Menu Definitions
The component uses an easy and intuitive way to define the menu - each menu item is prefixed with a '@', and submenu items without the '@'.
The data for each menu item can also be specified via the Properties Panel:
During runtime, the menu can be changed or set up using the setDataProvider() method.
HINT: If you only want a horizontal menu without submenus, you can do so by specifying all the items with the '@' prefix.
XML
Alternatively, you can also populate the component using an external XML file. The XML file should look like this. During authoring time, you may specify the XML file to load in the component parameter 'xmlPath'. During runtime, you can use the loadXML(xmlPath) method to populate the component.
Align Menu Left/Right
Specify whether the menu items should align to the left (default) or to the right. In this example, alignRight has been set to 'true':
Snap to Pixel
The component snaps to pixel when published, ensuring that it looks crisp and sharp when the movie plays. Usually to achieve this, you need to ensure that you place your movieclips at integer coordinates (no decimal place) during authoring time. This is not necessary with GhostWire components, which will automatically snap to pixel when published. For example, if the component was placed at x coordinate 20.2, when published it will be placed at x coordinate 20.0 instead. In addition, the component also resizes itself to integer widths and heights.
Truly Skinnable
Based on the GhostWire Component Architecture, the SlideMenu component is truly skinnable. The visual assets are properly packed away from the behavioral code, making it really easy to create horizontal menus that look exactly the way you want.
