Skinning the Flash MX 2004 Components

The Macromedia Flash MX 2004 components have come a long way in functionality from previous versions. One of the areas that have been completely re-thought is the possible skinning mechanisms. Although the new components offer many options and are more flexible than in previous versions, it hasn’t been easy to realize the benefits.
In this article I explore skinning components using the many skinning options available. I cover skinning using the library and themes, and through code I explore skinning using the prototype method, subclassing a component class, and the initObject method. Armed with this, you will be able to take better control of your application's look and feel and have a good understanding of how flexible the new skinning architecture is in Flash MX 2004.