Sending and loading variables to and from a remote source 179
For more information, see “Using the XML class” on page 181 and “Using the XMLSocket class”
on page 184.
Using HTTP to connect to server-side scripts
The
loadVariables(), loadVariablesNum(), getURL(), loadMovie(), and loadMovieNum()
functions and the
MovieClip.loadVariables(), MovieClip.loadMovie(), and
MovieClip.getURL() methods can all communicate with server-side scripts over HTTP or
HTTPS protocols. These functions send all the variables from the Timeline to which the
function is attached. When used as methods of the MovieClip object,
loadVariables(),
getURL(), and loadMovie() send all the variables of the specified movie clip; each function (or
method) handles its response as follows:
• getURL() returns any information to a browser window, not to Flash Player.
• loadVariables() loads variables into a specified Timeline or level in Flash Player.
• loadMovie() loads a SWF file into a specified level or movie clip in Flash Player.
When you use
loadVariables(), getURL(), or loadMovie(), you can specify
several parameters:
• URL is the file in which the remote variables reside.
• Location is the level or target in the SWF file that receives the variables. (The getURL()
function does not take this parameter.)
For more information about levels and targets, see “About multiple Timelines and levels” in
Using Flash Help.
• Variables sets the HTTP method, either GET or POST, by which the variables will be sent.
When omitted, Flash Player defaults to
GET, but no variables are sent.
For example, if you wanted to track the high scores for a game, you could store the scores on a
server and use
loadVariables() to load them into the SWF file each time someone played the
game. The function call might look like this:
loadVariables("http://www.mySite.com/scripts/high_score.php", _root.scoreClip,
GET);
This loads variables from the PHP script called high_score.php into the movie clip instance
scoreClip using the GET HTTP method.
Any variables loaded with the
loadVariables() function must be in the standard MIME format
application/x-www-form-urlencoded (a standard format used by CGI scripts). The file you specify
in the
URL parameter of loadVariables() must write out the variable and value pairs in this
format so that Flash can read them.This file can specify any number of variables; variable and
value pairs must be separated with an ampersand (
&), and words within a value must be separated
with a plus (
+). For example, this phrase defines several variables:
highScore1=54000&playerName1=rockin+good&highScore2=53455&playerName2=
bonehelmet&highScore3=42885&playerName3=soda+pop
For more information, see loadVariables() on page 422, getURL() on page 394,
loadMovie() on page 420, and the LoadVars class entry in Chapter 12, “ActionScript
Dictionary,” on page 205.
To Next Page
Loading...