Re: FLASH: Flash and Databases: LONG

[Wayne Townsend]

Hi Matt,


Tell your client this:  The real beauty of using Flash for the front 

end to a data base over html is that you don't have to redraw a page 

when replying to the client, and you only transmit the needed data 

back and forth, not html code, which makes it faster.  It's also a 

better GUI for the client, because you're not redrawing "pages" all 

the time.  They can look through lots of data and yet have the 

feeling of staying in the same place, which they like since it's less 

confusing.


The number of records is a matter for the CGI/database engine, not 

the Flash client.


We're involved with a client who's needs are *very* similar to what 

you describe. It's an extremely popular site, so they were looking 

for a high-performance custom solution.


We use Mac G4/500s  with WebTen (Unix Apache).  The performance is 

outstanding, and they are secure, and easy to set up and administrate.


For the CGI engine / Database, we use FlameThrower, 

(http://www.incwell.com) which is a high-level language capable of 

building just about any web app you can imagine.  It has it's own 

internal database structure, which makes it very fast when you have a 

lot of database actions to perform.  IOW, you don't have to go 

outside the CGI to retrieve data.  This is good to about 100,000 

records in a single data set, but you can have multiple data sets. 

Beyond that, you can link it to external databases, including an NT 

SQL database if you were so inclined.  Flame has an english-like 

syntax, which makes it easy to learn and quick to develop with.  It's 

a mature development tool, based on SuperCard, and the SuperTalk 

language, which has been in use since '88, building commercial- 

quality standalone double-click desktop applications.  Oh by the way, 

the SuperTalk language is *ahem*, very similar to Director's *Lingo*. 

Except of course that it was on the scene first and is quite a bit 

more powerful today.  And just to stop any flames right here, I 

should point out that to those old enough to remember, our beloved 

Jon Gay, the Father of Flash, has roots in Silicon Beach, the 

original company that developed Supercard/ SuperTalk.  So it's not 

like we really come from different camps or anything.



At any rate, the Flash client can retrieve the data easily enough 

from Flamethrower in real-time, and if needed, the Flame CGI can 

write out text files that the Flash client can access.


If you use Flamethrower as your CGI engine, you won't have to know 

much about how servers work in order to build very powerful server 

apps.  Flame takes care of the dirty work for you, like html headers 

and such.  And you won't have to spend weeks learing a cryptic 

language.


Oh yeah, Flame is a multi-threaded language, which means that it 

processes multiple calls at the same time.



Now, here's how easy this is to do...


For example, lets say you have a situation where you need to pull up 

an individual's contact info.


In your Flash client, you have text fields for the data, say, city, 

phone number, and email address. (using this for simplicity's sake)


You will have named your fields in flash appropriately, city, phone, email.


You key for the lookup is "username".  And you have a field for that. 

And a "get it" button (with a play action).


You are going to make flash send the call to the Flame CGI, and then 

put it into a loop to wait for a response before moving on.  You can 

use a simple variable to check for a response.  For example:


Set variable status = 0


As you'll see below, when Flame replies, it will set status to 1, and 

that's what you're waiting for.


In the next frame you do a cgi call.  ie. A Load Variables action 

that looks like this:


Load variables(theURL,"",vars=post)


Don't worry.  You don't have to do anything else.  Flash will send 

all the variable on this timeline to the server.  This doen't get any 

easier, does it?  ;)


In the next frame you set a looping label like "waitloop". Whatever.


In the next frame you do your conditional check:


If staus = 0 then goto and play "waitloop"



On the server side, you have Flame running with a handler that looks like this:


on cgiEvent

--first you parse out your lookup key:

	put cgiParamValue("username") into username


--then you go get that person's info:

	put card field "city"  of card username into city

	put card field "phone"  of card username into phone

	put card field "email"  of card username into email


--then you send it all back to flash with the status variable updated to 1

	cgiReply "status=1&city=" & city & "&phone=" & phone & 

"&email=" & email


end cgiEvent


In about 2 seconds from the call, (depending on traffic), the 

variables will pop into your Flash's fields, without you doing 

*anything* else and the movie will go on, possibly back to your main 

query point with a stop action.


I'm not kidding you, it's that straightforward and simple.  Voila, 

you are now a server app programmer.  And you thought you were just a 

"Flash Artist".  ;)


Seriously, without even cracking a book, if you just typed that 

script into your project script in Flamethrower, it would work.  It 

would take you about 30 minutes to do this whole project, Flash and 

all.



For the photos/images, you can create individual flash movies and 

load them with a "Load Movie" command on top of your main Flash page 

background.  The advantage of setting it up this way from the 

beginning is that it becomes very extensible.  IOW, you can add all 

kinds of stuff to what originally is just an image.  ie. more images, 

etc, and you can even stream quality voice with the folks pictures at 

28.8 with no download.  If you build it this way, you won't be locked 

in, and the project can easily grow.



There you go, Matt.  Hope this helps.


And for the other Flash Artists out there who think it would be 

profitable for them to be able to easily write server apps that will 

work exceptionally well with Flash; but they're not *programmers*, 

and also don't want to dirty their hands with cryptic codeing stuff, 

then Flame is for you.  This is a big-boy language, that's 

human-friendly, ie. it's *english language* talking to a computer. 

But it sacrifices nothing in regards to performance in the process. 

Best of both worlds.


G4s / Unix Apache / FlameThrower.  Nothing better.


That's how our multi-user, real-time web games came to life.


ATB,


/w




>Hiya

>

>I need some help in determining the best direction to go with a forthcoming

>site. The site's functionality will include a searchable database of between

>2000 and 3000 individuals, various fields + image.

>

>From a design perspective Flash will give me the ability to create a dynamic

>looking interface for the company. However, Flash and Databases are two

>words I have not put together in one sentence before!

>

>Can anyone give me guidance as to what direction to take, what resources are

>out there etc. I have had a brief glance at Macromedia Generator and Swift

>Generator. Are these the only methods of delivery? The database exists as we

>speak in FileMaker, would this make a difference? ASP, ColdFusion. These are

>all terms I have heard but know virtually nothing about. Would people

>suggest outsourcing, or can it be learnt off my own back [everything else

>has been].

>

>I am not averse to doing this 'outside' of Flash if the advice is that Flash

>could not handle the amount of data and be reliable/fast in it's delivery.

>

>I will stop babbling now. Any response would be appreciated even if it is to

>point me in the right direction.

>

>TIA

>

>matt

>

>

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Wayne Townsend,

Founder, CEO, Accesson: www.AccessOn.com

Millennium Entertainment Technologies: METgames.com, LLC

waynetaccesson [dot] net

, Alt:

waynetabsolute [dot] net

, Studio: 760.329.9990 

(US), Toll Free: 800..399.4969, Mobile: 760.902.5299 (US), WEB: 

AccessOn.Net  http://www.accesson.com / .net   & 

http://www.Metgames.com


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