Flash Remoting with Java and .NET BLOG

Java: Article: Flash Remoting for J2EE Developers

Thu, 27 Feb 2003 02:27:01 GMT

O'Reilly's OnJava.com has a new article on Flash Remoting.

Java: Article: Enhance your J2EE presentation layer

Sat, 18 Jan 2003 02:10:20 GMT

An introductory article on using FR with Java, including a simple example of creating XML in Java, passing it via FR, and parsing it in Flash.

Java: ASTranslator Aids in Converting Between Java Objects and AS Objects

Fri, 17 Jan 2003 15:36:28 GMT

A new open source project called ASTranslator solves some problems in Flash Remoting's default behavior when translating Java objects into ActionScript objects. Briefly, FR exposes private properties, breaking encapsulation. ASTranslator prevents this. More info here.

Java: Problems Connecting to EJBs from Single-Frame Movies

Mon, 18 Nov 2002 00:35:31 GMT

The simple summary: If you're having problems maintaining a connection to an EJB from a single-frame movie, add a few extra frames.

The technical explanation: Due to some glitch, this allows you to call methods on the NetServiceProxy object that acts as a client-side reference to your EJB. (The NetServiceProxy object is the result of the call to the EJBHome's create method.)

.NET: Problems Converting From Developer Version

Mon, 18 Nov 2002 00:34:27 GMT

If you develop apps using the trial version, get downgraded to the developer version after 30 days, then buy a license, you may find that your apps still only work with one IP address. Here's the fix: Update your apps' license files (/bin/frconfig.txt) so that the license number matches the one found in Macromedia's sample apps' frconfig.txt file. Each app must have a valid license file. For some reason, the installer updates the samples' licenses only.

Java: Problems with Passing JDBC ResultSets from Server to Flash.

Mon, 18 Nov 2002 00:33:03 GMT

It appears that if you're not using the JRun version of Flash Remoting, passing RecordSets to a Flash client fails unless the ResultSet is still connected to the Database. As leaving ResultSets connected to a database is a truly bad practice, passing Java RecordSets via FR (without JRun) isn't practical.

Our Slideshow Demo's Java code shows one possible workaround using CachedRowSet instead. This returns non-fatal errors but seems to work otherwise.

Another workaround is to translate your RecordSet into Arrays, pass the Arrays, then translate them back into Flash RecordSets once they arrive at the client.

Rumor has it that Macromedia will be releasing a patch that supports RowSets and fails more gracefully for ResultSets sometime soon.

If you have information on other possible workarounds, please send us a post.

Java & .NET: RecordSet Paging Doesn't Work

Mon, 11 Nov 2002 13:54:03 GMT

Apparently RecordSet paging is currently a ColdFusion-only feature. This leaves a fairly big hole in the Java/.NET implementation of Flash Remoting (including JRun). Many components, such as ListBoxes, that require a RecordSet DataProvider won't work properly. (For more details on RecordSet DataProviders, see RecordSet.as and RsDataProviderClass.as in your FlashMX:Include folder)

The following workaround has been suggested, but we haven't implemented it ourselves: Build the functionality yourself as another Flash Remoting service and set the ActionScript RecordSet instance's "serviceName" property to the name of the service that can supply subsequent pages of ResultSet data.

If you implement something like this, we'd love to post some sample code.

We hear rumors that Macromedia's next patch will correct this.

Upcoming Book: Flash.NET

Mon, 07 Oct 2002 00:23:22 GMT

Coming in November from Friends of Ed. The blurb says "Flash Remoting is not the only way to combine [Flash MX and .NET] however, so this book will fully cover Flash/.NET integration using ASP.NET."

Tutorial: Flash Email Client using Java to access the IEmailService web service

Sat, 05 Oct 2002 04:30:56 GMT

...by Mick Robinson of MapCloud. Focuses on Flash and JRun, but much or all of the materal is applicable to other J2EE platforms.

Macromedia Releases Flash Remoting for Java & .NET

Tue, 24 Sep 2002 05:04:05 GMT

Macromedia has just released Flash Remoting for .NET and Java, previously code-named Salsa. This will allow us to connect our Flash movies to .NET and J2EE platforms other than JRun.

Cost: $1000 per CPU

General info can be found here, technical specs here.

Douglas

Slideshow Demo - Flash Remoting with ColdFusion, Java & .NET

Tue, 24 Sep 2002 04:03:57 GMT

Untitled Document

MMBUG Slideshow Demo - Flash Remoting with Java & .NET

Why Flash Remoting Matters

Macromedia's MX product line makes it possible to create Rich Internet Applications (RIAs) using Flash. We won't attempt to go into detail about why RIAs are important here - Macromedia has a fair amount of information on the subject. Suffice to say that Flash is maturing into a true application development platform, with substantially better ease-of-use than standard web pages, and a larger installed base than Windows, Java, or any other platform (Flash has 98% penetration).

Flash Remoting is a key MX feature because it makes it easy for Flash applications to access and interact with server-side data. Using Flash Remoting, your application can do all of the following:

Easily access web services. If you aren't already familiar with web services, and define yourself as a geek, you need to learn about them. They're becoming the standard technology for sharing information between applications over the internet. This article at Web Services Architect provides a good general overview.
Easily access server-side databases. As this article is targeted at geeks, we'll assume that you already understand the myriad of ways in which this can make your applications more useful.
Pass complex objects from server to client, and vice versa. Yes, you too can take a complex Java or .NET object and pass it into Flash with all its properties intact. (Methods are another matter, but let's ignore that for now.)

In short, Flash Remoting will make it much easier for you to create powerful, useful applications.

Goals Of The Demo

Our primary goal in creating this demo is to help you start creating Flash Remoting applications. Macromedia offers lots of resources that will help you to do this with ColdFusion on the server, so we're focusing on Java and .NET. We also provide ColdFusion code so that you can compare it.

We provide a sample application that will run with all three server-side platforms. The application demonstrates accessing a server-side database and accessing a web service. In both cases we keep the functionality quite simple and leave it to you to imagine more complex applications. You should be able to get it up and running on your platform of choice, then play with it and extend it.

After that it's up to you. As you make exciting discoveries please consider submitting them to this blog at FRJNblog@mmbug.org.

More info...

The Blackboard Example

Fri, 20 Sep 2002 01:24:31 GMT

Macromedia's Blackboard case study is a goldmine of information on implementing Flash Remoting with Java. I particularly like John Bennett's Designing Java Applications for Macromedia Flash Remoting article, which includes:

Great diagrams detailing Flash Remoting's architecture
A lovely debugger's-eye-view of an object's arrival from the server, with all its properties intact

...but there's a lot of other material, and source code.

Blackboard Inc. provides Java based e-Education infrastructure to educational institutions. The demo details how they converted a group management tool consisting of several HTML pages into a user-friendlier Flash application.

Douglas

Online Flash Remoting Docs

Thu, 19 Sep 2002 14:20:44 GMT

The online Flash Remoting documentation appears to be a more recent and more complete version than that contained in the PDF version, and has a lot of useful information on Java and .NET.

Douglas

Video Demo - Flash Remoting with JRun

Thu, 19 Sep 2002 04:04:43 GMT

Macromedia's current tip-of-the-week video gives a good quick overview of:

Connecting UI components to Java data
The Netconnection Debugger

http://www.macromedia.com/desdev/tip/027.html

Douglas

ColdFusion for J2EE Announced

Wed, 18 Sep 2002 02:25:28 GMT

Macromedia has announced "ColdFusion for J2EE". While not a Java development environment, it may still be of interest to Java developers. The standard version of ColdFusion is built around a JRun core (Macromedia's J2EE container). In contrast, ColdFusion for J2EE can be installed on top of other J2EE containers - specifially Sun ONE and IBM Websphere - which opens the door to deploying ColdFusion in these environs.

Developers in Sun and IBM shops can now create Rich Internet Applications using Flash Remoting. ColdFusion easily uses Java assets, and Flash Remoting simplifies the connection between ColdFusion and Flash. You can get more information on the advantages of this arrangement in this article by James Hurff and Sun's article on Macromedia's Pet Market.

Douglas

Welcome!

Tue, 17 Sep 2002 12:43:58 GMT

Hi,

This blog is a project of the Macromedia Boston User Group. Our goal is to serve as a resource for developers who use Flash Remoting with Java or .NET.

We invite you to submit posts to this blog. For details, follow the Welcome link on the right.

Douglas McCarroll
Charles Linskey

MMBUG Co-Chairs