MACROMEDIA FLASH MEDIA SERVER 2-SERVER-SIDE ACTIONSCRIPT... Service manual

Server-Side ActionScript Language
Reference

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Acknowledgments
Project Management: Suzanne Smith
Writing: Jody Bleyle
Editing: Geta Carlson, Mary Ferguson, Mary Kraemer
Production and Editing Management: Patrice O’Neill, Rosana Francescato
Media Design and Production: Adam Barnett, Aaron Begley, Paul Benkman, John Francis, Mario Reynoso
Special thanks to Erick Vera and the Flash Media Server engineering and QA teams.
First Edition: October 2005
Macromedia, Inc.
601 Townsend St.
San Francisco, CA 94103

3
Contents
Chapter 1: Server-Side ActionScript Language Reference . . . . . . 5
Using server-side ActionScript . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5
Using naming conventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
ActionScript classes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Global functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9
ActionScript elements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Application class. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
clearInterval(). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Client class. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .47
File class. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
getGlobal() . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
load() . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .87
LoadVars class . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .87
Log class . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
NetConnection class . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .102
protectObject() . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
setAttributes() . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
setInterval() . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
SharedObject class . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
SOAPCall class. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .140
SOAPFault class . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .142
Stream class . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .144
trace() . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
WebService class. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .162
XML class. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .166
XMLSocket class . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .218
XMLStreams class. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227
Appendix A: Server-Side Information Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
Application information objects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230
NetConnection information objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .231
Stream information objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232

4Contents

5
1
CHAPTER 1
Server-Side ActionScript
Language Reference
Server-side ActionScript is a scripting language on the server that lets you develop efficient
and flexible client-server Macromedia Flash Media Server applications. For example, you can
use server-side ActionScript to control log-in procedures, control events in connected
Macromedia Flash applications, determine what users see in their Flash applications, and
communicate with other servers. You can also use server-side scripting to allow and disallow
users access to various server-side application resources and to allow users to update and share
information.
Server-side ActionScript is based on the ECMA-262 specification (ECMAScript 1.5), which
is derived from JavaScript and lets you access the core JavaScript server object model. Server-
side ActionScript provides global methods and classes and exposes a rich object model for
developing media applications. You can also create classes, properties, and methods. This
dictionary provides detailed information about the classes and their properties, methods, and
events.
Client-side ActionScript is based on the ECMA-262 specification but deviates from the
specification in several places. Server-side ActionScript does not deviate from the ECMA-262
specification. For information about the relationship between server-side ActionScript and
client-side ActionScript, see Developing Media Applications.
Using server-side ActionScript
To use server-side ActionScript with a Flash Media Server application, you write the code, add
the script file to the appropriate server directory, and run the SWF file that connects to the
server. To understand the architecture of Flash Media Server and its applications, see
Developing Media Applications.

6 Server-Side ActionScript Language Reference
Create the server-side ActionScript file and name it main.asc. All ActionScript code that is
embedded in the script file and not in a function body executes once when the application is
loaded but before the application.onAppStart event handler is called.
To install and test the server-side ActionScript file:
1. Locate the Macromedia Flash Media Server /applications directory.
The default location of the /applications directory is in the Macromedia Flash Media
Server product installation directory.
2. Your server-side script file must be named main.asc, main.js, registered_app_name.asc, or
registered_app_name.js.
3. Create a subdirectory in the /applications directory called appName, where appName is a
name you choose as the filename of your Flash Media Server application. You must pass
this name as a parameter to the NetConnection.connect() method in the client-side
ActionScript.
NOTE
You can name your server-side ActionScript file app_name, where app_name is the
name of your application’s directory, and save it with a file extension of .asc or .js. Also,
any double-byte characters (including characters of all Asian languages) in the server-
side ActionScript file must be UTF-8-encoded. For more information on server-side
script files, see
Developing Media Applications .
NOTE
For large-scale applications, you may need to use multiple server-side script files. You
can use the Flash Media Server archive compiler utility to deploy those files as a
package from a single location. For more information, see “
Archiving and compiling
server-side script files
” in Developing Media Applications .
NOTE
Server-side scripts also have a secure loading phase, during which critical code can be
loaded before the main application loading phase. Server-side scripts also let you create
protected objects ; these are objects whose methods and data cannot be inspected or
manipulated. These two features allow you to implement
system calls that protect critical
data and functions. For more information, see
“Implementing secure system objects” in
Developing Media Applications .
NOTE
If you did not accept the default installation settings and you aren’t sure where the
/application directory is located, the location is specified in the AppsDir tag of the
Vhost.xml file, which is located at /Flash Media Server /conf/defaultRoot/
defaultVhost. For information about configuring a different application directory, see
Managing Flash Media Server. Although your SWF and HTML files should be
published under a web server directory, your server-side ASC files, your audio/video
FLV files, and your ActionScript FLA source files should not be accessible to a user
browsing your website.

Using naming conventions 7
4. Place the main.asc file in the appName directory or in a subdirectory called scripts in the
appName directory.
5. Open the Flash application (the SWF file) in a browser or in the stand-alone Flash Player.
The SWF file must contain ActionScript code that passes appName to the connect
method of the NetConnection class, as shown in the following example:
nc = new NetConnection();
nc.connect("rtmp://flashcomsvr.mydomain.com/myFlashComAppName");
Using naming conventions
When you write server-side ActionScript code, there are certain naming conventions that you
must use to name your applications, methods, properties, and variables. These rules let you
logically identify objects so your code executes properly.
Naming applications
Flash Media Server application names must follow the Uniform Resource Identifier (URI)
RFC 2396 convention. This convention supports a hierarchical naming system where a
forward slash (/) separates the elements in the hierarchy. The first element specifies the
application name. The element following the application name specifies the application
instance name. Each instance of the application has its own script environment.
Specifying instances
By specifying a unique application instance name after an application name, you can run
multiple instances of a single application. For example, rtmp:/support/session215 specifies a
customer support application named “support” and refers to a specific session of that
application named “session215”. All users who connect to the same instance name can
communicate with each other by referencing the same streams or shared objects.
Using JavaScript syntax
You must follow all syntax rules of JavaScript. For example, JavaScript is case-sensitive and
does not allow punctuation other than underscores (_) and dollar signs ($) in names. You can
use numbers in names, but names cannot begin with a number.
NOTE
You can use the management console to check if the application loaded
successfully.

8 Server-Side ActionScript Language Reference
Avoiding reserved commands
Flash Media Server has reserved commands that you cannot use in a script. These commands
are either methods that belong to the client-side NetConnection class or methods that belong
to the server-side Client class. This means that if you have a NetConnection object on the
client (player), you cannot make the following call:
nc.call("reservedCmd", ...);
In this call, "reservedCmd" is any of the following commands: closeStream, connect,
createStream, deleteStream, onStatus, pause, play, publish, receiveAudio,
receiveVideo, or seek. It also cannot be any of the server-side Client class methods:
getBandwidthLimit, setBandwidthLimit, getStats, and ping.
ActionScript classes
The following table lists all the classes in the Server-Side ActionScript Language Reference.
ActionScript class Description
Application class The Application class contains information about a Flash Media
Server application instance that lasts until the application instance
is unloaded.
Client class The Client class lets you handle each user, or
client , connection to
a Flash Media Server application instance.
File class The File class lets applications write to the server’s file system.
LoadVars class The LoadVars class lets you load variables into a server-side script
from a remote or local location.
Log class The Log class lets you create a Log object that can be passed as
an optional argument to the Constructor for the WebService class.
NetConnection class The server-side NetConnection class lets you create a two-way
connection between a Flash Media Server application instance
and an application server, another Flash Media Server, or another
Flash Media Server application instance on the same server.
SharedObject class The Shared Object class lets you share data between multiple
client applications in real time.
SOAPCall class The SOAPCall class is the object type that is returned from all web
service calls.
SOAPFault class The SOAPFault class is the object type of the error object returned
to WebService.onFault and SOAPCall.onFault functions.

Global functions 9
Global functions
The following table lists all the global functions in the Server-Side ActionScript Language
Reference.
Stream class The Stream class lets you handle each stream in a Flash Media
Server application.
WebService class The WebServices class lets you create and access a WSDL/
SOAP web service.
XML class The XML class lets you load, parse, send, build, and manipulate
XML document trees.
XMLSocket class The XMLSocket class implements client sockets that let Flash
Media Server communicate with a server identified by an IP
address or domain name.
XMLStreams class The XMLStreams class is a variation of the XMLSocket class. It
has all the same methods, properties, and events, but it transmits
and receives data in fragments.
Global function Description
clearInterval() Cancels a time-out that was set with a call to the setInterval()
method.
getGlobal() Provides access to the global object while the secure.asc file is
loading.
load() Loads an ActionScript file in the main.asc file.
protectObject() Protects user-defined or built-in objects behind a C wrapper
object.
setAttributes() Lets you prevent certain methods and properties from being
enumerated, written, and deleted.
setInterval() Continually calls a function or method at a specified time interval
until the clearInterval() method is called.
trace() Evaluates an expression and displays the value.
ActionScript class Description

10 Server-Side ActionScript Language Reference
ActionScript elements
Entries in this document are alphabetical by class name and then by method, property, or
event handler name. The following table lists all classes, methods, properties, and event
handlers individually in alphabetical order.
ActionScript element See entry
acceptConnection Application.acceptConnection()
addHeader NetConnection.addHeader()
addRequestHeader LoadVars.addRequestHeader(), XML.addRequestHeader()
agent Client.agent
allowDebug Application.allowDebug
appendChild XML.appendChild()
attributes XML.attributes
autoCommit SharedObject.autoCommit
broadcastMsg Application.broadcastMsg()
bufferTime Stream.bufferTime
call Client.call(), NetConnection.call()
canAppend File.canAppend
canRead File.canRead
canReplace File.canReplace
canWrite File.canWrite
childNodes XML.childNodes
clear SharedObject.clear(), Stream.clear()
clearInterval clearInterval()
clearSharedObject Application.clearSharedObjects()
clearStreams Application.clearStreams()
clients Application.clients
cloneNode XML.cloneNode()
close NetConnection.close(), File.close(),
SharedObject.close(), XMLSocket.close()
"commandName" Client."commandName"
commit SharedObject.commit()