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Mark Piller
mark@themidnightcoders.com
themidnightcoders.com
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- Developing a .NET class
- Setting up a Flex Builder project
- Adding client code: The MXML markup
- Adding invocation logic
- Putting everything together
Invoking .NET objects using the Flex RemoteObject API
Note: This article was created based on Flex 2. Minor changes in the description and code may be necessary before it can be applied to Flex 3.
There are several well-known approaches for integrating Adobe Flex and .NET. Primarily the approaches center around REST and XML web services. The Flex remoting approach of using the RemoteObject MXML or API is the least known and understood, however. The benefits of remoting over other alternatives are tremendous. They include significant performance improvements, reduced development costs, and a more natural client/server integration.
This article gives an overview of integrating a Flex client application with a remote .NET class. Additionally, it reviews sample .NET code that you can deploy in an ASP.NET application and expose as a Flex remoting service. Finally, the article demonstrates how to create a Flex client application and invoke a remote method on the deployed .NET class using the RemoteObject MXML/ActionScript API.
The solution demonstrated in this article uses WebORB for .NET, a product by Midnight Coders, which facilitates connectivity between Flex and .NET. WebORB functions as a gateway between Flex clients and .NET objects. Using WebORB, your Flex applications can use the standard remoting API to communicate with .NET.
Requirements
Adobe Flex Builder 2.0.1
Microsoft Internet Information Services Server (version 5.x or later)
Microsoft .NET version 2.0 or later (installed on the system and integrated into IIS)
Visual Studio 2003 or 2005
WebORB for .NET version 3.1 or later
Sample files:
- flex_net_integration (ZIP, 2K) – Contains TickerInfo.as and SampleFlexToDotNetProject.mxml
- Visual Studio project (C#) (ZIP, 26K)
- Visual Studio project (VB.NET) (ZIP, 32K)
About the author
Mark Piller is the founder and Chief Architect of Midnight Coders, an innovative and forward-thinking company specializing in RIA integration technologies, professional services and training. Mark has over 15 years of software development experience. For the past five years he has been specializing in building software infrastructure products designed to integrate Flex, Flash, and AJAX applications with a variety of backend systems, including .NET, Java, PHP, and Ruby on Rails. Mark is very passionate about ease-of-use of software and prides himself in creating technologies that clearly demonstrate that quality.
