Data Tutorials

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Acknowledgments
Director: Erick Vera
Project Management: Julee Burdekin, Erick Vera
Writing: Jay Armstrong, Jody Bleyle, Mary Burger, Francis Cheng, Jen deHaan, Stephanie Gowin, Phillip Heinz, Shimul Rahim,
Samuel R. Neff
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Editing: Mary Ferguson, Mary Kraemer, Noreen Maher, Antonio Padial, Lisa Stanziano, Anne Szabla
Production Management: Patrice O’Neill
Media Design and Production: Adam Barnett, Christopher Basmajian, Aaron Begley, John Francis
Second Edition: June 2004
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CONTENTS
Web Service Tutorial: Macromedia Tips
(Flash Professional Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Connect to a public web service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Create a user interface and bind the components with the web service . . . . . . . . . . 7
XML Tutorial: Timesheet
(Flash Professional Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Create the user interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Edit the data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
XUpdate Tutorial: Update the Timesheet
(Flash Professional Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Update the timesheet. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
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Contents

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Web Service Tutorial: Macromedia Tips
(Flash Professional Only)
In this tutorial, you use the Web Services panel to connect to a web service, which you use to
return a random tip about Macromedia software. You then use components to set up a simple
user interface.
In this tutorial, you will complete the following tasks:
• “Connect to a public web service” on page 5
• “Create a user interface and bind the components with the web service” on page 7
This tutorial uses a public web service and therefore requires that you have an Internet
connection.
If you have trouble downloading or decompressing the files, see TechNote 13686 at
www.macromedia.com/support/general/ts/documents/downfiles.htm.
Note: The use of a public web service in this tutorial in no way implies that you should use one for real-
world applications. In fact, Macromedia does not recommend using public web services directly from
within any client-side application. For more information, see “About data connectivity and security in
Flash Player” in the “Data Integration” chapter in Using Flash (in Flash, select Help > Using Flash). In a
production environment, you should use web services that are placed on your own web server.
The finished FLA file for this tutorial installs with Flash. The following list provides typical paths
to this directory.
• Windows: \Program Files\Macromedia\Flash MX 2004\Samples\HelpExamples\tips
• Macintosh: HD/Applications/Macromedia Flash MX 2004/Samples/HelpExamples/tips
Connect to a public web service
Define a web service in Flash that will connect to a public web service.
1. Create a new Flash document using Flash MX Professional 2004. Make sure your computer is
connected to the Internet.
2. Open the Web Services panel (Window > Development Panels > Web Services), and click the
Define Web Services button.
3. In the Define Web Services dialog box that appears, click the Add Web Service (+) button, then
click the highlighted line to edit it.
5

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4. Enter the URL http://www.flash-mx.com/mm/tips/tips.cfc?WSDL and click OK.
5. In the Web Services panel, inspect the methods, parameters, and results of the Macromedia Tips
web service.
The web service has one method, called getTipByProduct. This method accepts a single
parameter called product. The parameter is a string that tells the web service what
Macromedia product you want to see a tip for. In the next step, you bind this parameter with a
ComboBox instance in your application.
6. Right-click the getTipByProduct method, and select Add Method Call from the context
menu.
An instance of the WebServiceConnector component is added to the Stage.
6
Web Service Tutorial: Macromedia Tips (Flash Professional Only)

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7. In the Property inspector, enter the instance name tips_wsc.
The component is now configured and on the Stage. You can place the component anywhere
on or off the Stage—it is invisible when you run the application.
Create a user interface and bind the components with the web
service
Next, you use components to create a simple user interface that you can use to select a product,
click a button, and see a random tip about the product. You create this application by binding
the user interface components on the Stage to the parameter and results in the Macromedia Tips
web service.
1. In the Components panel, select UI components > ComboBox. Drag a ComboBox component
to the Stage. In the Property inspector, enter the instance name products_cb.
2. In the Components panel, select UI components > Button. Drag a Button component to the
Stage. In the Property inspector, enter the instance name submit_button and for the label
property type Get Tip, as follows:
3. In the Components panel, select UI Components > TextArea. Drag the component onto the
Stage. In the Property inspector, enter the instance name tip_ta.
4. In the Components panel, select UI Components > Label and drag a Label component onto the
Stage. Place it above the ComboBox component.
5. In the Property inspector, in the Instance name field type products_lbl and for the text property
type Select a Product, as follows:
The Property inspector showing the instance name products_lbl and the text Select a Product.
Create a user interface and bind the components with the web service
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6. Drag another Label component above the tip_ta TextArea component. In the Property
inspector, give it the Instance name tip_lbl and in the text field type Tips.
Now add a binding for the WebService connector component from the Macromedia Tip
service to ComboBox component that allows the user to choose a product and return a tip
about the product.
7. Select the WebServiceConnector component on the Stage. Open the Component inspector,
and click the Bindings tab. Click the Add Binding (+) button. In the Add Binding dialog box,
select product:String (under params:Object), and then click OK.
8
Web Service Tutorial: Macromedia Tips (Flash Professional Only)

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8. In the Component inspector, double-click the empty value in the Bound To field. In the Bound
To dialog box, select ComboBox, <products_cb> for the component path and value:String
for the schema location. Then click OK.
Bound To field in the Component inspector
Selecting the component path and schema location in the Bound To dialog box
Next, you will bind the results parameter in the web service connector to the TextArea
component on the Stage.
9. In the Component inspector, click the Add Binding (+) button again. In the Add Binding
dialog box, select results:String, then click OK. In the Component inspector, double-click
the empty value in the Bound To field, and in the Bound To dialog box, select TextArea,
<tip_ta> as the component path and text:String as the schema location. Then click OK.
Finally, you will use a Button component and the trigger() method to trigger the service.
You use the trigger method to attempt to retrieve a tip whenever you click the button.
Create a user interface and bind the components with the web service
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10. Open the Actions panel and add the following ActionScript on Frame 1 of the Timeline:
submit_button.onRelease = function(){
tips_wsc.trigger();
};
11. Next, add the following ActionScript after the code from step 10. The code uses the
dataProvider property to set the items in the ComboBox instance to the contents of the array.
products_cb.dataProvider = ["Flash", "Dreamweaver"];
Note: If necessary, you can use the setStyle method to change the color of the Label instance
text to white using products_lbl.setStyle("color", 0xFFFFFF);
12. Save your file.
13. Test the application (Control > Test Movie). Select Flash from the ComboBox instance and
click the Get Tip button. The results should look similar to the following graphic:
Select Dreamweaver and click the Get Tip button again to view another tip.
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Web Service Tutorial: Macromedia Tips (Flash Professional Only)

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Document Outline

• Contents
• Web Service Tutorial: Macromedia Tips (Flash Professional Only)
  • Connect to a public web service
  • Create a user interface and bind the components with the web service
• XML Tutorial: Timesheet (Flash Professional Only)
  • Create the user interface
  • Edit the data
• XUpdate Tutorial: Update the Timesheet (Flash Professional Only)
  • Update the timesheet

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