"SPARK" is now "EVOLV" (without the "E")

It has been a longtime since I planned a refresh of "Spark". The files sat there in one of my old backup DVDs till they saw the hard disk laser lights last Friday. Besides adding new capabilities and making it all OOP all the way, I was seriously considering making it an offline version. These thoughts were encouraged when Adobe launched the CS3 AIR extension recently. The success of my experiments with AIR kind of got me excited when I saw the extension available for download from Adobe Labs. Then, I thought like a gardner who wanted to replant the whole garden - the whole process would be starting from scratch and would take a longer time than what I had planned for the refresh.

Cutting the chase, one thing led to another and I settled with not having it Offline for now. However, I haven't totally ruled out an offline version in the near future. Back to the table, I fired up Flash CS3 and started with the whole design of the plug n' play modules and associating them with classes, which provided them with the functionality and power (basically, woke up the dead beans..getting them to jump!). I have completed two simple modules - the Editor and the Uploader (without complete file management). The File Management console is the next and it needs to perfectly wind into the Uploader and Page Editor when done, so, this is taking me some figuring out. I have put off doing the Database module till I start on the Analysis module.

Looking at the whole episode, at this point, it looks and feels like a whole new product, hence, my decision was to retire the old one back to the old DVD and give it a whole new wardrobe..and.. a name. So, what would have been "Spark v4.0" is now "Evolv" (Evolve without the "E" and a version number!)

Still wondering what "Spark" is? In a nutshell, it is a Website Management Application. The application is tied to a Website and allows users to manage files, edit content etc. Originally, I had built the whole thing using Flash MX and ASP.NET and then upgraded a few sections to MX 2004. And then, it lay there with the others waiting to hear the sound of the cylinders spinning.
Evolv shares its logic/sense between Flash and ASP.NET too, but, unlike its fore-father, Evolv is a lot cleaner and better organized in every sense. At times, I've had my battles with AS3, especially with case-sensitivity and stuff, and, I am learning it a lot better this way. Long ago, I had sworn not to use AS3 and switch to .NET completely. Thanks to my curiousity I gave into temptation and fell into the well (smiles..the tongue thing!).

May the force be with you!