Total newbie havent a clue about xml with flash?

[longy]

Hi guys, right ihave noticed all this talk l8ly about how well xml works with flash and xml the next best big thing blah blah and so on, but i havent even looked into dont know nothing about, havenbt got a clue, but this is where u guys come in

1. Oviously i dont even know XML, so any sites u can recommened for me to learn it from scratch, and where i can learn all about it?

2. how much xml do i need to know to start practicing it with flash?

3. whats the story betwen flash and xml, what kind of stuff can be done with using xml with flash?

4. any examples wpould be great, starting off with simple ways of using xml with flash?

basically just need a some good reads and tuts chucked at me, as i dont want to be left behind in the flash game, and it sounds as if xml is gonna be a big part of it, from this board

cheers lads

Grant

[tupps]

Answers to Questions:

1) You don't need a lot of XML experience. My guess is that if you are used to html you will pick it up pretty quick. Chances are if you play with some tutorials you will be right to start with. When you start creating your own XML you will probably need to look at some XML resources. I can't really speak on this subject as I have a lot of XML experience before I started using flash.

2) I would recommend trying to get a basic understanding of the XML. This tutorial:

http://www.flashkit.com/tutorials/3r...13/index.shtml

has a pretty good explanation.

3) XML is becoming a standard way for people to export and import data from different systems. Its simplified mark up language make it easy for different systems to read data in, without knowing the exact structure of the data. If the XML data description has been properly created it is possible to add additional information to your XML data files without affecting system that are already using the information.


If you load XML data into flash, an object model will be created that will allow you to easily manipulate and extract that data. The same object model is available to create XML data, and export it to an extenal system. c) Why can't I simply load the information from a simple file?


For retrieving information external to the flash file loadvariables might work when loading simple or small amounts of information. Once you have to retreive information where the amount of information changes, or is being created by an external source, you should use XML.

(That last little bit just came from the XML-Flash FAQ which I am working on at the moment http://www.tupps.com/flash/faq/xml.html)

4) See the tutorial above, I also have a tutorial located at:

http://www.tupps.com/flash/latestNewsTutorial.html

My tutorial is aimed as a basic explanation of flash and XML. One thing to note on the tutorial above is that if you want to pull the XML data from the web server once you have published your Flash application you will need to publish the XML on your web server. See some notes in the FAQ about Flash and security for reference.

Thanks

Luke

[longy]

Tupps man thanks for taking ya time, i really appreciate the wealth of information u have supplied me, and i am going to go trough all the links u have given, cheers again man

anyone else wanna contribute to my questions please do

[richp]

ive just started learning xml, i found a really good site that explains it...
http://www.w3schools.com

good luck

[aqeel]

thanx people