> I don't really know much about Flex other than the few articles I have
> read and the little bit of sample code I have seen. The problems I
> have
> with going the Flex route are as follows:
>
> 1) this project is extremely time sensitive.
>
> - thus the web service route seems more feasible. I already know how
> to
> program a web service using CF (CFCs) and consuming a web service with
> Flash is supposed to be pretty straight forward. Learning Flex (the
> way
> I take it) and integrating CF would be quite a bit more time consuming
> than simply using AS to handle data returned by CF.
You can do it almost exactly the same with FlexFlash -- you have action
script and remoting
But, on a time sensitive project, you are wise to go with familiar,
established approaches -- rather than trying to learn & implement a
release 1.0 product.
> 2) the interfaces that the design team has come up with for this
> project
> are VERY detailed and do have quite a bit of animation
Flash may be preferable for this reason too!
>
> I guess the biggest challenge at the moment is making these decisions.
> At the moment the choice seems pretty simple as I stated above. Web
> Services + Flash, as I already know how to develop Web Services so all
> that would be needed it so learn how to consume said web services with
> Flash. However, the last thing I want to do is head down the wrong
> path.
> Id like to explore all the options out there and I agree, Flex seems
> like a very viable option if this application had been designed to
> harness it from the get go.
>
>
It does sound as if web services are in order for this project, at this
time.
You should be able to get all you need for interfacing Flash with web
services from Chapter 9 of the server geek book.
At some later time, when the pressure's off, you may wish to
investigate the alternative of Flash Remoting -- binary data
interchange rather than XML -- possible better performance & lower
bandwidth.
HTH
Dick
>
> -chris.alvarado
>
> [ application developer ]
>
> 4 Guys Interactive, Inc.
>
> 281.807.4344 x1716
>
>
>
> _____
>
> From: Dick Applebaum [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Sent: Tuesday, April 13, 2004 3:06 PM
> To: CF-Talk
> Subject: Re: SOT: Flash Remoting vs Web Services vs XML
>
> Have you considered Flex (or as I like to call it FlexFlash)
>
> In my very limited experience Flex programming of RIAs is much easier
> than Flash programming unless you are into heavy animation, visual
> effects, etc.
>
> You can get all you need for development with the Flex evaluation CD.
>
> Then you can install flex to run in conjunction with CFMX -- which is
> the best of both worlds (server-side power and client-side RIA)
>
> The big barrier may be the price of Flex.... but I understand that
> this
> may be negotiable.
>
> Your timeframe may also be a consideration -- there have been hints
> that the next release of CFMX (BlackGuard, BlackHart, BlackMagic,
> BlackBeauty, BlackStone, whatever) will include Flex capabilities.
>
> The way it (current CFMX Flex) appears to work is this:
>
> 1) You create CF templates with imbedded (or included) Flex source
> containing special XML (MXXML) and ActionScript (similar to
> _javascript_).
>
> The CF template gets compiled to Java Byte code
>
> The Flash portion of the template gets compiled to a SWF
>
> Both are served to the requestor;
>
> Here are the headers for a very simple CFMX Flex program (a Menu Tree)
>
> "GET /cfusion/flex/CFFlexTree.cfm HTTP/1.1" 200 1753
> "GET /cfusion/flex/CFFlexTree.cfm HTTP/1.1" 200 1753
> "GET /cfusion/flex-internal?action="" HTTP/1.1" 200 1244
> "GET /cfusion/flex-internal?action="" HTTP/1.1" 200 1244
> "GET /cfusion/flex-internal/history/history.html HTTP/1.1" 200 1257
> "GET /cfusion/flex-internal/history/history.html HTTP/1.1" 200 1257
> "GET /cfusion/Flex/244813253.mxml.swf HTTP/1.1" 200 116528
> "GET /cfusion/Flex/244813253.mxml.swf HTTP/1.1" 200 116528
> "GET /cfusion/flex-internal?action="" HTTP/1.1" 200 2656
> "GET /cfusion/flex-internal?action="" HTTP/1.1" 200 2656
>
> It appears as if there are separate requests generated for:
>
> 1) the cf template
> 2) flex js
> 3) flex history
> 4) a swf containing the Flex portion of the CF template (mxml.swf)
> 5) a generic swf
>
> This is quite a fewf connections for a simple program, but I am told
> that as complexity increases, there should be fewer connections than
> with a typical html page.
>
> FlexFlash and Flash remoting tend to change the way you program -- not
> always for the better
>
> 1) rather then populate the initial page with initial data as with
> CF/HTML it is cleaner to do the following with FR:
> --download the RIA client
> --the client, when loaded, makes the request for initial data.
> 2) from a programming standpoint it is easy to ignore the overhead of
> exchanging large XML packets between host and client
> 3) if you give a lot of capability to the client (updating records on
> the client with out contacting the host) you can add orders of
> magnitude of complexity to the host (lockouts, deadlocks,
> synchronization) and to the RIA client -- what happens if the browser
> crashes after you've made 20 minutes of updates?
> 4) Multiple browser windows with a Flash RIA clients, each consume
> client resources even when inactive. They compete with each other and
> other desktop apps.
>
> So, everything you've learned with CF still applies -- Flash can
> improve the UI, and the UE (User Experience) --
>
> but, better to be a little skeptical
>
> HTH
>
> Dick
>
> On Apr 13, 2004, at 12:06 PM, Chris Alvarado wrote:)
> > Hello all,
> >
> > I am starting a new project that will require some fairly heavy
> Flash
>
> > /
> > CF integration including but not limited to: visual display of data
> > stored in a database, insertion of data into a database supplied in
> > Flash forms, a complete security model that requires not only
> > authentication but user level access restrictions (role based
> model).
>
> > I
> > just ready the article on Macromedia DevNet about the various
> options
> > for developing RIAs (Remoting, Web Services, XML) and am having a
> bit
>
> > of
> > a hard time deciding which route to pursue. Are there any RIA
> specific
> > mailing lists etc that anyone can recommend. Additionally can
> anyone
> > here point me in the right direction? I am a complete rookie when
> it
> > comes to Flash but have nearly 7years of CF experience so the CF
> > concepts are easy to grasp for me, im just sort of a bit inundated
> > with
> > the Flash portion. If anyone has any suggestions on where to get
> > started
> > they would be greatly appreciated. I picked up "Macromedia Flash MX
> > Profession 2004 for Server Geeks" and it seems like an excellent
> book,
> > but if anyone has any other suggestions that would fit well within
> the
> > project described above I would really appreciate it.
> >
> > Thanks everyone,
> >
> > Looking forward to seeing any feedback.
> >
> > -chris.alvarado
> >
> > [ application developer ]
> >
> > 4 Guys Interactive, Inc.
> >
> > 281.807.4344 x1716
> >
>
> _____
>
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