AS3 Data Coercion Problem
From PHP server RemoteObject AMF3 serialization, I receive a
photo object per below into my Flex client:
package WPhoto {
[Bindable]
[RemoteClass(alias="WPhoto.PhotoObj")]
public class PhotoObj {
public var photo:*;
public var photoWidth:int;
public var photoHeight:int;
}
}
The above 'photo' property String of a one-byte (UTF-8)
'.jpg' photo data. Due to PHP's rather limited set of primitive
data types this is the best I can do per returning photo data to
the Flex client. (Extreme tries at PHP data structure chicanery
hasn't worked for me.)
I need photo property in a DisplayObject format such that I
can render photo as a child of my App's DisplayObject. The AS3
Loader class performs this task, when sourced from an AS3
ByteArray.
o Loader.loadBytes(bytes:ByteArray, context:LoaderContext =
null):void
Loads from binary data stored in a ByteArray object.
My dilemma is "how to" convert a UTF-8 string of photo data
into a ByteArray. I've been through the ByteArray.writeXXX() class
methods without finding anything close to meeting my requirements.
AS3 String readers expect UTF-16 data, so reading AS3 string
reading is not a solution. AS3 has no Byte data type, accordingly
reading my photo data UTF-8 string with a "for loop" into a AS3
UTF-16 string, or whatever, is not viable. Is there a single-byte
reader to 'whatever' writer I'm not aware of?
If I was sourcing photos from a Java based server, my photo
rendering dilemma would be over. The server to client packets would
be "java.lang.Byte[]" => flash.utils.ByteArray and voilà we
could easily and directly render photos via the Loader.loadBytes()
method.
I can tentatively extend one of the AS3 ByteArray class write
methods if I thought there was a way to read UTF-8 streams. Before
digging down into the ByteArray class on a feasibility basis, I
thought it first best to ask around the experts per 1) can
ByteArray be extended for my requirement, or 2) is there a better
way to approach this, which I have not thought of?
Pete Mackie
Seaquest Software
Adobe Community Expert - Flex
