XML Handling in Flash 5

[Daryn Nakhuda]

> 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.


you don't actually have to move each thing from the xml file into variables

per se.


data = new XML();

data.load("thefile.xml");


which gives you an XML object containing the xml from the file.


items=xmldoc.childNodes

is the array of the xml child nodes


attribs=items[i].attributes

is the array of the fields(author,title,etc..) for that particular item.


I then have functions to sort, display, scroll, filter etc using those

arrays.


currentlist = buildList(items);

currentlist.sortList(field);

currentlist.filter(field,filter);

etc...


and if i want to add another field from the display stuff, I just have to

tweak an array I have of the fieldnames, modify my row mc to have a text

field of that name, and add a couple buttons w/ function calls, and that's

it.


true, you could loop through the variables

author1,artist1,title1,author2,artist2,title2 like you suggested, and read

them into arrays and do the same thing, but I think the above works pretty

nice.


You're absolutely right, it won't work with flash 4.. In my example, that's

okay; the site is not a commerce site or anything that needs to be 100%

accessible, so I'd rather be technologically interesting, and if they don't

want to install the new plugin, they don't get to see the work :(


oh, one other thing:

about the file size being smaller if you don't use xml: you can do a

preloader while loading the xml using the loaded() function; which you can't

really do with loading variables.


-daryn