The design goal of any web service is to allow both developers and companies to share data easily. What makes this possible is the ability to output information in standard XML format so that programs written in different languages can communicate with the same service. You can also use your favorite language and platform to interface with Macromedia Flash Media Server 2 from Adobe.

Web services on the server side allow you to interact with your production servers without ever exposing the connection. By being free to develop in the language you want and still communicate with Flash Media Server, all you need to do is create a web service.

Flash Media Server 2 has some limitations on how web services handle complex data (objects) or an array returned by a web service. After some serious head scratching, I have attempted to draw out some of these limitations and describe to what extent you can still manipulate complex data types.

By way of example—a web service providing a weather forecast using the Web Service Description Language (WSDL)—this article attempts to explain not only how web services work in Flash Media Server 2 but detail some of the challenges you face when dealing with complex data types.

Requirements

To complete this tutorial you will need to install the following software:

Flash Professional 8

• Try
• Buy

Flash Media Server 2

• Try
• Buy

Sample files:

• fms_web_services.zip (ZIP, 364K)

Prerequisite Knowledge

You should be familiar with Macromedia Flash from Adobe and understand the basics of ActionScript in both Flash and Flash Media Server 2. It would also help to have a basic understanding of XML.

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