XML (eXtensible Markup Language) has gained in popularity over the last few years, largely on account of its simplicity and interoperability. Most databases and many other programs can read and write in XML, making it a useful format for deploying information across multiple applications. The key is that XML divorces content from presentation.

Since version 5, Flash has been leveraging XML with increasing deftness. This month, the Salon will look at XML parsing, how we can apply this technology to build simpler, more powerful websites, and of course some of the common difficulties developers encounter when wrestling the Whomping Willow that is the XML tree.

As part of this demonstration, we’ll build a slideshow similar to the Remoting slideshow last month, but this time placing our data into an XML flat-file database.

This Salon is rated: Advanced

Rating Key
• Beginner: basic understanding of fundamental concepts, button control, handlers, properties, variables, etc.
• Intermediate: complex math operations, arrays, objects, functions, bitwise operations, debugging, dynamic movieclip control.
• Advanced: XML, server-side integration, remoting, multi-dimensional arrays, AI.

Marc Tanenbaum is the NBMA Web SIG leader. He is a writer, designer and Flash developer. He hangs out at flashmxfiles.com, flashgoddess.com and bit-101.com forums where he dispenses Flash and Actionscript advice to the unwary.

The Actionscript Salons are presented with the support of The Arts Institute of California – San Francisco.