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Flash XML StudioLab [ILLUSTRATED] (Paperback)

by Ian Tindale (Author), James Rowley (Author), Paul McDonald (Author)

2.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
An intriguing part of the Flash scripting language is the XML object, and Flash XML StudioLab shows how to use it to build powerful dynamic Web applications. To enjoy this book you need to know Flash, but the XML aspect is explained from scratch. In fact, the first four chapters offer a general introduction to XML, which is useful or irritating depending on how well you know the subject already. Chapter 5 gets into the real story, introducing ActionScript's XML object. The following chapter gives an example, using XML to manage a set of tarot cards. The same example is continued in the subsequent chapters, showing how to search and examine the XML data, and how to upload and download XML content. Next comes an event-handling example. The scene changes for a look at a Flash chat client using XML along with Perl on the server, and then comes a chapter on integrating an online database using PHP, MySQL, Flash, and XML. The final chapter shows how to draw on XML news feeds in Flash. Two appendices offer a general look at advanced XML, including DTDs, Schemas, and XSL, and a short Perl primer to help with Web server programming.

A book on Flash and XML is a great idea, and this title will undoubtedly get you started and inspire some creative thinking. It is spoiled by an uneven style and the space given to general XML background that can easily be found elsewhere. Even so, it's a good read for Flash developers who want to use dynamic XML content in their Web designs. --Tim Anderson, Amazon.co.uk

Product Description
XML is everywhere at the moment. It provides a versatile, cross-platform way of describing data. It is the way in which the information of the future will be stored. However, by itself, XML looks dull. It needs dressing up in diamonds and pearls to bring it to life. And how?

Flash is a visual feast, providing a fantastic way of interacting with web sites. It's the optimum format for presentation over the web. XML is the best way of storing the data that drives the Internet, for delivering a main feature and not just a sideshow. Mix them together and they create dynamite results.

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Product Details

Paperback: 500 pages
Publisher: Friends of Ed; illustrated edition edition (September 2001)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 190345039X
ISBN-13: 978-1903450390
Product Dimensions: 9 x 7.4 x 1.3 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds

Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)

Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,409,839 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

8 Reviews

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

Average Customer Review

2.9 out of 5 stars (8 customer reviews)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Pretty much useless, July 25, 2003

By	Ryan Schenk (Buzzards Bay, MA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book is a waste of money. I would suggest you check out XML in Flash by Craig Swann and Gregg Caines instead.

The introduction, which admittedly is quite good, lasts over half the book. After the lengthy introduction, the authors spend little or no time explaining the actual meat of dealing with XML in Flash. Most of the latter chapters will state that a certain task can be done with XML in Flash, but provide no insight on how to accomplish this task. Maybe I'm just weird, but I already knew that XML was useful for Flash applications, and the reason I bought the book was to learn how to do it, not to be told that it is possible!

For instance, the "XML Download/Upload" chapter is particularly frustrating. The early pages of the chapter tell the reader that Tomcat can be used to link Flash to a server via XML. However, after this statement, the authors offer absolutely no information as to how one might use Tomcat to serve XML to Flash, what servlets are available to accomplish this task, or how one goes about connecting to a Tomcat servlet from Flash. In my opinion, this is like telling a novice driver that "a car can take you places," and then turning them loose on the highway.

If you want to learn how to use XML applications with Flash, don't waste your money with this book, purchase the book XML In Flash instead -- it's more in-depth, more concise, and best of all, cheaper.

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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars what on earth, April 22, 2002

By A Customer

am I supposed to do with a fony Tarot application. I toatlly agree with the previous reviews. TO much hassel. I am getting into some flash application development, for which I got the taste after working my way through Friends of Ed's Dynamic Content Studion, which, by the way, is an EXCELLENT book....

but this....c'mon

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2.0 out of 5 stars Experiencing your Porsche in the dark of a garage, May 17, 2002

By	Rene Baron - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

As Flash might finally emerge from experimental eye-catching gimmick to become the next generation front end for high commercial, dynamic web applications, this book really sets the wrong tone (explaining more about Tarot than XML does not match the book's title, right?).

Although writing the first four chapters must have been fun for the authors - for us, the readers, its just painful. Long and rather vague, XML is described from many angles without getting on a level where you really would know where to start in a practical sense. So when you really have to know about XML, or just need some reference, this book is most probably not for you.

Chapter 5, trying to compensate for the lengthy introduction, finally presents the XML object in warp speed. (If you are new to the subject, statements like "it would be so much easier if objects could be made directly from objects instead of having to remember its class" are more confusing than helpful, reflect bad style and do not really sell the idea behind object oriented programming).

Chapters 6 to 10 are not that bad when showing how XML shuffles the tarot cards. Still it might be too cloudy for beginners as the authors just lack focus.

The Rest of the book (XML Sockets, Perl Scripting, mySQL, PHP) gives you some ideas for the next books to buy, but definitively offer nothing you can start to do real business with.

In a nutshell: When having read this book you will know what XML is on a high level and how you deal with it once it sits within your flash movie. But this is not what XML was primarily made for.
When having read this book you still will not have much of a clue from where you will get interesting, business relevant XML data and how to make your flash application talk to the professional world of high end, high paid real world applications. Neither is there much help about dealing with end to end responsibilities. (test, debug, tune end to end transactions from Flash front-end, via web- and application servers down to databases and vice versa).

For my taste this book still remains with the classic, design oriented flash programmer rather than to finally extend Flash's scope into the realm of serious application development. The book's focus is ways too much on how XML is used internally within flash, rather than to make XML do what it was designed for: standardized communication across new and existing systems and new (web) services. Otherwise you might really ask yourself, what all the fuzz about XML really is.

As I have already said: do not polish your Porsch in your garage, take it out , learn to drive and experience the real world!

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Good
last week I bought the book , and till now it looks SO gerat

Published on May 3, 2002 by majidfn

3.0 out of 5 stars Wordy
The book is too wordy, I think the reader donot want to read a story book, also it is better to put notes under screen shots and pictures. Read more

Published on March 31, 2002 by Daniel Pu

3.0 out of 5 stars Wordy
The book is too wordy, I think the reader donot want to read a story book, also it is better to put notes under screen shots and pictures. Read more

Published on March 31, 2002 by Daniel Pu

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book as a reference !
Excellent for XML and Flash!!

Published on January 24, 2002

3.0 out of 5 stars Graphic noise, turn it off.
The reason I bought this book is to learn about Flash and XML. I did not buy it to read long winded passages, with cute word play. Read more

Published on November 10, 2001 by Flash user

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