Coldfusion Article

When Macromedia and Allaire merged in 2001, I knew that good things were on their way for both Macromedia Flash and Macromedia ColdFusion. The need for a robust server-side companion to Macromedia Flash was obvious. Until now, developers who needed a visually rich user interface used Macromedia Flash. With so many devices supporting Macromedia Flash Player technology, suddenly developers (ColdFusion developers, specifically) can leverage existing development resources to publish anywhere. Consider, for a moment, if you could deliver a rich interface to your users that would manage data in your database. Imagine replacing a cumbersome HTML/DHTML/Javascript interface with a simple and elegant cross-platform solution. Combine the power and simplicity of ColdFusion MX with the Macromedia Flash MX authoring environment, and your application suddenly has a more fluid interface. While this was possible before, the new Macromedia Flash MX User Interface (UI) Components and Macromedia Flash Remoting provide a much more cost effective way to provide an enhanced end-user experience.

Using Macromedia Flash MX and Macromedia Flash Remoting, your applications now have native connectivity to the new world of web services. You can use both ColdFusion MX and JRun 4 development languages to publish web services for your Macromedia Flash applications. Macromedia also plans to support Flash Remoting for Microsoft ASP.NET and other web application server platforms.

You'll be able to leverage server-side power through Macromedia Flash MX in two ways: 1) server-side ActionScript (SSAS) and 2) web services (using ColdFusion components or CFCs). The Macromedia Flash 6 player makes the connection between these services using NetConnect functions in Flash Remoting.

In this article I will demonstrate some of the new ways to connect Macromedia Flash to your ColdFusion server using Flash Remoting, and in turn, show you how easy it is to leverage this technology. No more data transformations. Faster and more robust applications. I'll explain some of the new Macromedia Flash MX user interface components and how they will affect your approach to Macromedia Flash as a legitimate data management solution.

In the exercise, you will create a drill-down application that will call the ColdFusion server several times. I hope you enjoy reading this article as much as I have enjoyed writing it.

To follow along with the examples, download the dev_center_remoting.zip (220 KB) file on the last page of the tutorial, which contains full working example code for the exercise. Instructions for installing the example code are on the last page.

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About the author

Kevin Towes of the New Toronto Group (www.NewYYZ.com) is an established consultant, trainer, and author for Macromedia Server and Flash technologies. Throughout his long career in the New Media Industry, Kevin has played a leadership role in developing the Macromedia community. He has authored numerous articles and training material that focus on the integration of Macromedia technologies. Kevin's expertise comes from the experience of designing and developing many show case, leading edge solutions. He has written a book and course for Flash Communication Server MX and taught New Media at Toronto's Ryerson University

At the New Toronto Group, Kevin focuses on helping customers learn, develop and deploy solutions that integrate persistent and stored communications and data using the Flash player. Kevin holds a Bachelor of Photographic Arts degree from Ryerson University. Kevin is an avid ski instructor, rower and kayaker. He can be reached at ktowes@newYYZ.com.