Data Management (Flash Professional Only) - MACROMEDIA FLASH MX 2004-USING FLASH Use Manual

Many of the SOAP-based applications that you build will use private web services hosted on your
server. After you determine the best way to implement and expose your own web services, it is
easy to make public web services available to your client application. When you are in control of
the server, you can offer a complete solution. The server is the ideal place for business logic that
can determine the best way to respond to requests for data and the results that should be sent back
to the client. This is also the most secure way to build an application. The server can provide
additional processing to make sure that users have access only to certain services as well as protect
the client from making calls to malicious services that can return bad data.
For more information, see the DevNet article "Getting a Handle on Web Services" at
www.macromedia.com/devnet/mx/flash/articles/flmxpro_webservices.html.

Data management (Flash Professional only)

You use the DataSet component for applications that handle managed data. The term managed
data refers to the ability to perform advanced operations on a local cache of data, including
multiple sorts, filters, finds, and offline caching. A managed data solution requires more setup but
gives you greater control over your data. In general, you should use a managed data approach for
the following scenarios:
•
You need to apply multifield sorts, filters, or ranges to your data.
•
You are building an application that provides the ability to work offline (changes to the data
are cached offline and can be applied at a later time).
•
You want to receive changes from the server and apply them to your local cache of data.
•
You want to create a custom transfer object implementation to complement a business class on
the server.
•
You plan to send updates back to an external data source using the built-in features of the
DataSet and resolver components (such as automated tracking of changes to your data that can
be converted into multiple formats).
For more information, see
only)" on page 281.
If your application displays dynamic read-only data, you can use a simpler approach that does not
use the DataSet component. You would instead bind the results of a connector component
directly to UI components within your Flash document.
The DataSet component uses functionality in the DataBinding classes. If you intend to work
with the DataSet component in ActionScript only, without using the Binding and Schema tabs in
the Component inspector to set properties, you'll need to import the DataBinding classes into
your FLA file and set schema properties in your code. For more information, see "Making data
binding classes available at runtime (Flash Professional only)" in Using Components.
For a tutorial that uses the DataSet component, see the DevNet article "Flash Data Integration
Using Microsoft Active Server Pages (ASP)" at
flashpro_asp.html.
The DataSet component works only with Flash Player 7.
280 Chapter 14: Data Integration (Flash Professional Only)
"Managing data with the DataSet component (Flash Professional
www.macromedia.com/devnet/mx/flash/articles/