# Service Browser

The Service Browser provides Flash MX developers with a tool to discover Flash Remoting services in ColdFusion MX. To use the Service Browser, you must know the URL of the Flash Remoting service and the address of a ColdFusion page or ColdFusion component Flash service. The Service Browser stores a persistent list of requested Flash services and lets you add or remove services.

The following information is available for ColdFusion components:

- Function name and descriptive text*
- Function argument name, data type, and descriptive text*
- Value data type returned by each function

* Descriptive text must be provided by the ColdFusion developer in the component definition.

ColdFusion pages provide the function name.

## Service Browser user interface

The following figure shows the Service Browser user interface (UI):

The following table describes the principal Service Browser UI elements:

Element | Description
--- | ---
Gateway/Service/Function list | Using a hierarchical tree, the Gateway/Service/Function list shows the following information: URL of each gateway that you added to the Service Browser's list Address of each service you added to the list for each service Function name(s) that the service provides Each item in the list can be open, which means that the contained items are also visible, or closed, which means the contained items are not visible. You can click on the icon beside each tree item to switch between the open and closed states. To select an item, click the text. Selecting an item displays detailed information about the item and enables the applicable menu items.
Item Summary | The Item Summary box displays the following information, if applicable, about items selected in the Gateway/Service/Function list: Gateway – Gateway URL Service – Service address Function – Function name and parameters If function parameters are unknown, a question mark (?) is displayed. You can select the contents of Item Summary box and copy them to the Windows clipboard.

### Service Browser menu

The Service Browser menu lets you add and remove Flash gateways and services. Also, you can refresh the Service Browser content and add Flash services to the Actions Panel.

The following figure shows the Service Browser menu:

The following table describes the principal elements of the Service Browser menu:

Element | Description
--- | ---
Add gateway | You must enter the fully qualified URL of the Flash gateway, such as `http://localhost:8100/flashservices/gateway`. No interaction with the server takes place as a result of adding a gateway URL to the list.
Add service | If a gateway is selected, you can add a service by entering the service address, such as `cfdocs.exampleapps.gateway.store`. The gateway is immediately contacted to fetch information about the service.
Refresh all service description | If a service is selected, you can refresh the service information by selecting `Refresh service description`. If errors occur, such as the gateway that does not respond, the Service Browser shows an error with descriptive text.
Add service to Actions Panel | If a service is selected, you can add the appropriate information to the Flash MX Actions Panel. In the Actions Panel, the information appears under the Services category.