XML and flash MX

[jinath]

Will there be more functionality or support to XML and ASP in flash MX?
[Edited by jinath on 03-05-2002 at 03:48 AM]

[Leo@gravisphere.com]

There is talk about Flash MX....
However,I don't know but I think so.

[OMEGA]

Well, its Flash MX not XP

And secondly I think there will be more XML support, but I doubt there will be any real ASP support.

[gerbick]

it'll, so far, has shown marked performance upgrades when it comes down to parsing XML. we're talking about leaps and bounds.

read it somewhere in the XML forum here at FK. Vaykent started the thread.

[OMEGA]

What about creating drop down menus with XML and Flash? I have done this with XML, XSL, JavaScript, and CSS for a site of mine. Will Flash be able to do this using XML?

[gerbick]

that can be done now, in flash 5.

[MikeDowney]

Originally posted by jinath
Will there be more functionality or support to XML and ASP in flash MX?
[Edited by jinath on 03-05-2002 at 03:48 AM]

What, specifically, are you looking for?

XML performance has been greatly enhanced in Flash MX.

MD

[jinath]

What i mean is flash MX has support to ASP and ,SQl ,access database (like XML)

[MikeDowney]

Originally posted by jinath
What i mean is flash MX has support to ASP and ,SQl ,access database (like XML)

Okay. So, I guess you're wondering if Flash MX has any added capabilities for database connectivity? And you'd like to use Active Server Pages as the middleware? This is very much possible in Flash 5. Flash MX, among many other things, has introduced some new objects to ActionScript such as the LoadVars object. In addition, performance in the Flash player has been enhanced in many areas.

If you'd like to learn more about connecting a database to a Flash movie, I'd suggest looking through the tutorials on these forums as well as visiting the "Designer - Developer Center" at http://www.macromedia.com. We have a collection of new tutorials that help describe this type of development. You can expect many more to come within the next several weeks.

I'd also recommend reading about the future of Macromedia ColdFusion as it promises to include greater integration with Flash within future releases of the server.
View the press release here: http://www.macromedia.com/macromedia...h_mx_apps.html

Regards,
MD

[MikeDowney]

Originally posted by OMEGA
Well, its Flash MX not XP

And secondly I think there will be more XML support, but I doubt there will be any real ASP support.

I'm curious. What do you mean, specifically, by ASP support? An ASP page can be used to output name/value pairs and loaded into Flash using the loadVariables command. Many developers have documented some very impressive examples of this. Are you looking for something more specific? Flash MX will definitely give you enhanced performance on the client with this type of application.

Regards,
MD

[aashu.com]

hi mike,

he is asking about making menu from xml file. not much more ... i think its supported by flash 5 too. and as you saying xml performance now good. so obviously its nice!

and yes ... what else he is asking .. connect backend like mysql etc., from direct flash ... as there is facility like in ultradev .. hope this is what he thinks ...

[jinath]

YES
Is There any direct connection to ASP in flashMX as there is in ultradev .AND NEW ONE any 3D designs.?

[MikeDowney]

Originally posted by jinath
YES
Is There any direct connection to ASP in flashMX as there is in ultradev .AND NEW ONE any 3D designs.?

Okay. I think I understand what you mean, "Can Flash MX work in a similar way to UltraDev?" This takes a little bit of explanation before I can answer directly, but I'll try and keep it short.

First, you don't really "connect" to ASP, even with UltraDev. UltraDev allows you to visually develop ASP (as well as CFML and JSP) pages, which act like the "glue" between the browser and the database. ASP acts as a middle layer between presentation and data. So if you look at the technology, with UltraDev, HTML is the presentation layer, ASP is the middle or application layer, and the database is the data or content layer.

If you'd like to use Flash in this process, consider Flash to be the <i>Presentation</i> layer, combined with - or instead of - HTML.

So, in order for Flash to function like UltraDev, ie visually connect to a database and see the table structure while writing queries and such, it would need to write - in addition to Flash SWF files - a server-side application or script such as ASP, JSP or ColdFusion.

It would be rather complicated and somewhat limiting to enable the Flash player to connect directly to a database and run queries for data. Some of this functionality can be achieved using the XMLSocket object, but it has it's own recommended uses. Ideally, application developers prefer to keep complex server-side logic and database interactivity on the server - instead of relying on a client-side player and a user's bandwidth to interact directly with the data. This is primarily a high-traffic performance issue.

However, Macromedia has been slowly unveiling our future server strategy which, among other things, includes making it easier and more powerful to use ColdFusion to make your Flash content dynamic and data-driven. Also, our user community can expect future versions of our other authoring tools to include enhancements that will make it easier to connect your Flash applications with server-side applications.

Regarding 3D, this is really a feature that is best implemented with Macromedia Director 8.5 and our new Shockwave player, which includes a full 3D engine with real 3D rendering capabilities. I can't really think of any new features in Flash MX that will change the way people do 3D in Flash (though there may be some that I don't know about), with the exception of the new drawing API in ActionScript. It is now possible to draw shapes via ActionScript.

I hope that helps you out.

Regards,
MD

[jinath]

yes thank you

[midntrdr]

I have a question regarding this new server technology, I assume that you are talking about Coldfusion MX. I understand that you can't give out any details, but I was wondering if this new server will be compitable with other technologies than JUST Coldfusion as a means of using flash as a presentation layer for data-driven sites. I thought I read something about J2EE compatability, althought it was just a blurb. I would really hate to see MM try to make Coldfusion and Flash the only choice for Data-driven solutions. Logic would tell me that since you guys now have JRUN (which is a GREAT java app server), you would try to marry Flash and Java also. Or at least this is my personal wish. Any comments on the future of Flash and Java?

Thanks,
Mark

[MikeDowney]

Originally posted by midntrdr
...I was wondering if this new server will be compitable with other technologies than JUST Coldfusion as a means of using flash as a presentation layer for data-driven sites.

Mark -

You are correct, I cannot say much about our server strategy, however, please read the following and see my comments that follow.

From a recent press release found at http://www.macromedia.com/macromedia...h_mx_apps.html

Macromedia ColdFusion MX, which can be used in conjunction with Microsoft .NET, Java application servers, and web services, will provide developers with the fastest and easiest way to create rich applications with Macromedia Flash MX. In addition, developers will be able to use a new server gateway technology to build Macromedia Flash applications that work directly with leading application servers and web services.

For communication and collaboration solutions, developers will be able to use a new Macromedia communication server technology that will enable powerful capabilities including two-way audio and video as well as real-time data transfer with Macromedia Flash Player 6.

Among these servers, ColdFusion MX (previously code-named NEO) will be based on a Java platform and will bring together the best of the two technologies - the rapid application development and ease of use of the ColdFusion Markup Language (CFML), and the performance and scalability of Java and Java servlets. With this will come robust integration with .NET and Web Services (XML architecture). In the opinion of a long-time Macromedia faithful, ColdFusion promises to be the uber-application development platform of the future. Oh, and we expect it will get high marks on it's report card under the category "plays well with others." :-)

I can feel the anticipation from here...

Regards,
MD

[midntrdr]

Can't wait!!!!!!
Wish I could have it now!!

I guess it will give me time to learn MX.
Thanks!
Mark

[aashu.com]

all r waiting for it dear ...

now can't pass this few hours!!

[sonwah]

so.
to cap off, and sorry for asking this when it's been partially answered already,
but for peace of mind and final confirmation:

Has the Flash player (the commercial release of the Flash MX player) been significantly enhanced in it's ability to parse XML data?
can you see workarounds such as Branden Halls "nitro" or other hacks still being neccesary?
will we have any white space issues?
will Flash be able to handle large chunks of node heavy XML or will we still have to put as much information as we can into attributes?

any answers muchly appreciated Mike, you're a legend.

[freelance hellraiser]

Was at the MX product launch last night, and they showed a comparison of XML parsing speed between F5 and FMX. Obviously it was a Macromedia doodah, and designed to work beautifully, BUT what I can say is that the difference in parsing speed was of the order of 20 - 50 times(not %) faster in MX than 5.
As far as I know this was not using workarounds like nitro, and I'm sure that for comparison the FFlash 5 version would have been without Nitro.

So I guess the answer is yes - much faster now thanks