Professional LAMP: Linux®, Apache, MySQL®, and PHP5 Web Development

10.3. Ming

Ming is a third-party extension to PHP that allows a user to create Shockwave Flash files without actually having to use Macromedia's Flash studio. The functionality that Ming provides isn't always the same as what is available in Macromedia's Flash, because of the nature of how the Flash files are created using PHP and Ming. Ming does provide a method to create Flash files that is low cost and allows for content to be dynamically created when it is needed.

10.3.1. About Ming

The usefulness of dynamically created Flash files can sometimes be lost for some people, especially because you will not have the precise visual control over the content layout that people who use Macromedia's Flash Studio employ. Also, the feature set of Ming is limited to that of Flash version 4, which is several versions behind the latest available. But being able to script the creation and add dynamic content to the application is something that you can't do using Macromedia's Flash Studio. This can be helpful in distributing content to users where you need the features of Flash but also want to personalize the content for the user.

Ming itself is actually a third-party extension that has had PHP wrapper extensions written for it, so it needs to be compiled into the PHP binary when the binary is built. Instructions for Ming installation with PHP can be found on PHP's website (http://www.php.net/ming). More information about Ming itself can be found at Ming's site on SourceForge.Net (http://ming.sourceforge.net ...