Learning Flex 4

Chapter 16. Making Data Dynamic: Linking Flex to the Server

IN THIS CHAPTER

Some Background Information

The ContactManager Application

Linking ContactManager to the Server Using the HTTPService Class

Summary

In this chapter, we build an Adobe AIR application called ContactManager that integrates Flex with server technologies to handle three basic data management tasks, specifically retrieving, inserting, and editing data. We introduce you to a few “extras” along the way—such as “getters” and “setters” and the inline conditional—but this chapter strives to answer the following two questions:

“How can I load database information into a Flex application?”

“How can I send inputs collected in a Flex application to a database?”

Some Background Information

Before now, each chapter in this book has been wholly dedicated to some aspect of Flex development. In this chapter, though, we’re asking you to split your attention between some potentially unfamiliar concepts, including server technologies and Adobe AIR development. To properly set the stage, we want to take a moment to address a few expectations we have regarding your understanding of server technologies as well as some background information concerning Adobe AIR.

Our Choice of Server Technologies: PHP and MySQL

When it comes to server technologies, there’s no shortage of options available to you, and that fact made it difficult for us to decide which platforms to discuss. We believe a significant portion of our readership will be hobbyists ...