Chapter 16. Browser Communication
In many cases, you may find it necessary to communicate with the
browser that contains your application. Browser communication enables you to
build applications that go beyond Flex itself; you can link to existing
sites, communicate with other applications via JavaScript, and interact with
the browser’s history, as a start. The ExternalInterface class lets you call out to the
browser in which the application is running, get information about the
containing HTML page, and call JavaScript methods, as well as letting
JavaScript methods call into the Flex application. This chapter focuses on
the functionality contained within the core Flex Framework, though there are
other tools to assist with integration of the browser and the Flash
Player.
16.1. Link to an External URL
Problem
You need to navigate to a separate URL.
Solution
Use the navigateToURL() method
to navigate the browser to the new URL.
Discussion
The navigateToURL() method
enables you to navigate the browser to a new URL in either the same
window, a new window, or a specific window frame. This is one of the
most common communications with the browser from a Flex application. To
invoke the navigateToURL() method
from within your Flex 4 application, use this approach:
<s:Application xmlns:fx="http://ns.adobe.com/mxml/2009" xmlns:s="library://ns.adobe.com/flex/spark" xmlns:mx="library://ns.adobe.com/flex/halo"> <mx:Script> <
