Actionscript Cookbook

Developing the MP3 Selectors

In the following sections, we create both the local and server MP3 selectors. These are the parts of the jukebox application that enable a user to select MP3s from both her own hard drive and from the server by using a graphical user interface instead of having to type in a URL or path to the file.

Creating a Local MP3 Selector

For a user to be able to add an MP3 to her jukebox playlist from her local hard drive, she needs to know the path to that file. This process can be simplified for the user if we can provide her with a way of browsing her hard drive graphically and selecting a file with her mouse. This is the idea behind the local MP3 selector feature.

HTML allows you to create forms with elements of type “file”. File form fields include a Browse button that opens a dialog box so that users can select files from their local hard drives. Flash does not natively support a local browse feature; however, we can devise a workaround using HTML, JavaScript, and a Flash movie with a local connection. There are three files necessary for the local MP3 selector functionality—two HTML pages and one Flash movie. Let’s look at each of these files individually.

Making the Form page

We will use a standard HTML file form field in a small pop-up browser window to allow the user to select a file from her hard drive. Create a new HTML document named localFileForm.html and add the following code to it:

<!-- Create a form (must be multipart/form-data in order for the ...