Patrick -
> Here's where I'm coming from. I've been wanting to create a web based
> application to run my small construction company for some time now.
> Right now I'm using Filemaker, but I really want something with more
> capability, and for it to be web based.
yes, i think flash (and/or generator) is what you are looking for if
you are going web-based.
> I've been trying to figure out how to accomplish this in my spare
> time. I played with WebObjects for a while, so I've pretty much
> decided on Cayenne because of its familiarity. (I've played with
> Modeler, but haven't actually deployed anything yet.) So now I need to
> decide the best way to go for the front end. If feasible, I would
> rather use a Flash (or similar) front end over HTML.
you can always prototype w/html ... get your site up and running, and
then put your flash face on it. there is considerably more work
involved building a >robust< flash client than html (imho).
> I recently purchased Macromedia Studio MX 2004 Professional. From what
> I've read, it seems as though the version of Flash included might have
> enough capability to act as the front end of a web app. I was hoping
> there was some introductory information for integrating Flash and
> Cayenne somewhere. Just enough to send me in the right direction.
on the cayenne side ... there's nothing you need to know really. it's
all encapsulated away from your web presentation. what you'll need to
work out is the flash <-> http <-> servlet communication.
for flash it goes something vaguely like ...
warning warning warning - definitely, absolutely no guarantee on this
uncompiled, unchecked code.
var obj = new XML();
obj.ignoreWhite = true;
obj.onLoad = function(resultFlag) {
if (resultFlag == false) {
// restart your fetch
} else {
// do your magic
}
};
obj.load("http://yourserver/cgi-bin/fooapp?arg1=cheezy&arg2=pie");
definitely check the flash docs and follow their example.
on the servlet side use tapestry or whatever to receive/parse the url,
perform the cayenne query, and generate an xml response.
> Elia, you mentioned Director. I looked at Macromedia's web site, and
> it looks interesting. Does it seem like this would be more appropriate
> for what I want to accomplish? Do the capabilities of Director and
> Flash MX 2004 Pro overlap, or are they really quite different (from
> the aspect of internet deployment)?
you are not alone - i find the descriptions of the macromedia products
very similar, and have a hard time differentiating what tool for what
... :-/
but overall i think it's flash for web-based ui (+/- generator -- which
i haven't touched)
and director for standalone apps.
cheers - matt
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.0.0 : Mon Jun 21 2004 - 11:36:25 EDT