MACROMEDIA FLASH MX 2004-DATA, Tutorials Manual

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5
Web Service Tutorial: Macromedia Tips
(Flash Professional Only)
In this tutorial, you use the Web Services panel to connect to a web service, which you use to
return a random tip about Macromedia software. You then use components to set up a simple
user interface.
In this tutorial, you will complete the following tasks:
•
“Connect to a public web service” on page 5
•
“Create a user interface and bind the components with the web service” on page 7
This tutorial uses a public web service and therefore requires that you have an Internet
connection.
If you have trouble downloading or decompressing the files, see TechNote 13686 at
www.macromedia.com/support/general/ts/documents/downfiles.htm.
Note: The use of a public web service in this tutorial in no way implies that you should use one for real-
world applications. In fact, Macromedia does not recommend using public web services directly from
within any client-side application. For more information, see “About data connectivity and security in
Flash Player” in the “Data Integration” chapter in
Using Flash (in Flash, select Help > Using Flash). In a
production environment, you should use web services that are placed on your own web server.
The finished FLA file for this tutorial installs with Flash. The following list provides typical paths
to this directory.
•
Windows: \Program Files\Macromedia\Flash MX 2004\Samples\HelpExamples\tips
•
Macintosh: HD/Applications/Macromedia Flash MX 2004/Samples/HelpExamples/tips
Connect to a public web service
Define a web service in Flash that will connect to a public web service.
1.
Create a new Flash document using Flash MX Professional 2004. Make sure your computer is
connected to the Internet.
2.
Open the Web Services panel (Window > Development Panels > Web Services), and click the
Define Web Services button.
3.
In the Define Web Services dialog box that appears, click the Add Web Service (+) button, then
click the highlighted line to edit it.