SWX: SWF Data Format

SWX is so simple that instructions for getting data into Flash using it easily fit on to a Moo card (ask me for one if you see me around!)

To get a list of the most recent 100 photos from Flickr into Flash, do the following:

• Open up the SWX Data Analyzer
• In Flash, create a new FLA and create a movie clip on the Stage. Give it the instance name loader.
• Write the following code on to the frame that the loader movie clip is on:

loader.serviceClass = "Flickr";
loader.method = "swxPhotosGetRecent";
loader.debug = true;
 
loader.loadMovie("http://swxformat.org/php/swx.php", "GET");

That’s it! Test your movie and look in the SWX Data Analyzer to see the results being loaded in to Flash from Flickr. That’s how simple SWX is.

If you want to display the results from within Flash, create a long, single-line dynamic text field on stage and give it the instance name status. Add the following code to the timeline:

function onEnterFrame()
{
    status.text = loader.result.photo[0].src;
}

Initially, the status text field will display undefined until the data is loaded and then it will display the URL of the first photo from the list of recent photos that is loaded from Flickr. Notice how you can access the results as native Flash objects the moment they’re loaded. No deserialization or massaging of the data is necessary!

In this example, you used the SWX Public Gateway (http://swxformat.org/php/swx.php) which you're welcome to use in your own applications to create mashups with the supported APIs (Flickr, Twitter, etc.) without having to host or write any back-end code yourself.