Why use XMLRPC with Flash

So you want to use Flash to display dynamic content on your Zope/Plone site. In the past you have written server-side scripts to create XML and then ActionScript to parse the XML because this is the method you are used to and comfortable with (as was I) - or you have used the horrid text&file&get&string&format.

So, Maybe you've heard of XMLRPC but wasn't sure how to implement it or thought you might have to first write a whole XMLRPC compliant library for Flash! Well there's great news - the Library has already been written in ActionScript 2.0 and it is a piece of cake to use. But lets first compare our traditional method to using XMLRPC.

Steps for the traditional method:
1. Write server-side query to pull data from portal_catalog
2. Write server-side script to format data (XML, csv, etc) (ugh)
3. Write ActionScript to load data
4. Write ActionScript to parse data
5. Perform desired task with data


Steps for XMLRPC method:
1. Write ActionScript to load data
2. Perform desired task with data


Wow! With XMLRPC the biggest PITA's (steps 1,2,4) are no longer needed because they are taken care of by Zope and the Flash XMLRPC library.

Just to show I am not lying about how simple it is, check out the sample below



As you can see, I didn't have to write any server-side scripts or ActionScript to parse data files. All I had to do was call the 'contentIds' method on my Member folder. I was then returned the ids in an Array. Magic!

Start using XMLRPC with Flash now: http://xmlrpcflash.sf.net
E-Mail Me: xmlrpc AT dopelogik.com