Re: [flasher] XML Handling in Flash 5.

[flasher]

You still have to move the contents of the 'nice xml file'

into variables for Flash to use them right? If I'm wrong

tell me the alternative, but I will work with this assumption.

Given that I don't see the benefit of:


<item title="In Your Absence" author="Torrence, Heather J." artist="Vatne,

Kjetil" genre="Poetry" year="1999" url="projects/absence" />

<item title="In Your Absence" author="Torrence, Heather J." artist="Vatne,

Kjetil" genre="Poetry" year="1999" url="projects/absence" />

<item title="In Your Absence" author="Torrence, Heather J." artist="Vatne,

Kjetil" genre="Poetry" year="1999" url="projects/absence" />


over


title1="In Your Absence"

author1="Torrence, Heather J."

artist1="Vatne, Kjetil"

genre1="Poetry"

year1="1999"

url1="projects/absence"

title2="In Your Absence"

author2="Torrence, Heather J."

artist2="Vatne, Kjetil"

genre2="Poetry"

year2="1999"

url2="projects/absence"

title3="In Your Absence"

author3="Torrence, Heather J."

artist3="Vatne, Kjetil"

genre3="Poetry"

year3="1999"

url3="projects/absence"


(stored as title1="In Your Absence"&author1="Torrence, Heather

J."&artist1="Vatne, Kjetil"&genre1="Poetry"&...)


This file could easily be created by a real XML processor

with XSLT capabilities and stored in a text file for burn

to CD or access over the net.


In your example it could then be set up so clicking the

arrow increments and decrements one number and the on

screen variables are updated based on that number:


projtit1 = Eval("title" & (number - 2))

projurl1 = Eval("url" & (number - 2))

...

projtit2 = Eval("title" & (number - 1))

projurl2 = Eval("url" & (number - 2))

... 

projtit3 = Eval("title" & number)

projurl3 = Eval("url" & (number - 2))

...


and so on. The only  code I left out is the little

bit which limits the number to (2 > number < entries).


This requires less text to be loaded into Flash (entries *

9, which is the number of characters to open and close each

XML entry). It also has the very great advantage of being

Flash 4 compatible, instead locking out an estimated 50%

of web users.


Granted the XML file is much more satisfying to the human

eye, but no human eye will be looking at it. Flash is much

better suited to processing the not so satisfying looking

name/value pair string. I appreciate your well thought out

and specific example and look forward to your rebuttal.


Cheers,

John Andrew Morrison



> I disagree with your argument that the same things can be accomplished on

> the server side with some sort of backend as with XML & Flash. the beauty

> of xml as I see it, is that it allows you to pull in much more satisfying

> data structures than you can with simple key/value pairs in a url encoded

> string.