Flash CS3 Documentation

Learning ActionScript 2.0 in Adobe Flash > Working with External Data

Working with External Data

In Flash CS3 Professional, you can use ActionScript to load data from external sources to a SWF file. You can also send data, which could be provided by the user or the server, from a SWF file to an application server (such as ColdFusion or JRun) or another type of server-side script, such as PHP or Perl. Flash Player can send and load data over HTTP or HTTPS or load from a local text file. You can also create persistent TCP/IP socket connections for applications that require low latency--for example, chat applications or stock quote services. With Flash Player 8 and later, you can upload files from the user's computer to a server and download files from a server to the user's computer.

Data that you load into or send from a SWF file can be formatted as XML (Extensible Markup Language) or as name-value pairs.

Flash Player can also send data to and receive data from its host environment--a web browser, for example--or another instance of Flash Player on the same computer or web page.

By default, a SWF file can access only data that resides in exactly the same domain (for example, www.adobe.com). (For more information, see Restricting networking APIs.)

For more information on working with external data, see the following topics:

Flash CS3