Adobe 38039481 User Guide - Page 481

FLASH CS3 475 User Guide Send data LoadVars.send and LoadVars.sendAndLoad XML.send and XML.sendAndLoad getURL Flash Remoting Web services Description Sends name-value pairs to a server-side script for processing. LoadVars.send sends variables to a remote script and ignores any response. LoadVar.sendAndLoad sends name-value pairs to a server and loads or parses the response into a target LoadVars object. Similar to LoadVars, but XML.send and XML.sendAndLoad send XML packets instead of name-value pairs. Using the getURL() function or MovieClip.getURL method, you can send variables from Flash to a frame or pop-up window. Lets you easily exchange complex information between Flash and ColdFusion, ASP.NET, Java, and more. You can also use Flash Remoting to consume web services. Adobe® Flash® CS3 Professional includes the WebServiceConnector component that lets you connect to remote web services, send and receive data, and bind results to components. This lets Flash developers quickly create Rich Internet Applications without having to write a single line of ActionScript. You can consume remote web services by using WebServiceClasses, which can require writing complex ActionScript. Adding data loading and validation Validate any information you retrieve before you send that data to a server. This reduces strain on the remote server, because it does not handle as many requests when users do not fill in required fields. Never rely solely on client-side validation in any application; server-side validation must also occur. Even if you build a simple registration or login form, check that the user has entered their name and password. Perform this validation before sending the request to the remote server-side script and waiting for a result. Do not rely only on server-side validation. If a user enters only a username, the server-side script must receive the request, validate the data being sent, and return an error message to the Flash application, stating that it requires both the username and password. Likewise, if validation is performed only on the client side (within the SWF file), a user might hack the SWF file, bypass the validation, and send data to your server in an attempt to post the bad data. Client-side validation can be as simple as making sure that a form field is at least one character long, or that the user entered a numeric value and not a string. To validate an e-mail address, for example, check that the text field in Flash isn't empty and contains at least the at sign (@) and dot (.) characters. For the server-side validation, add more complex validation and check that the e-mail address belongs to a valid domain. You must write ActionScript to handle the data that loads into the SWF file from the server. After you finish loading data into a SWF file, the data can be accessed from that location. Use ActionScript to check whether the data is fully loaded. You can use callback functions or listeners to send a signal that the data is loaded into the document. When you load data, it can be formatted in several ways: • You might load XML, in which case you use the XML class methods and properties to parse the data and use it. If you use name-value pairs, the pairs turn into variables and you can manipulate them as variables. • You might receive data from a web service or from Flash Remoting.