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How can you create dynamic Macromedia Flash movies that share their content with other software applications and people? How can you store your data so that is simple to use but also adheres to web standards? The answer to both of these questions is to use Extensible Markup Language (XML) with your Flash movies. Storing your data in XML documents provides you with a flexible, platform-independent solution that is simple to implement in Flash.
This book is about using Flash with XML documents. Although its not a substitute for an XML reference book, youll learn the important points about working with XML. Youll also learn where and how to use XML documents within your Flash applications.
If youre new to XML, this book helps you to make your Flash movies more dynamic and interactive. Flash developers whove worked with dynamic content benefit by learning more about data binding with XML and Flash web services. Whatever your level, this book provides you with some new insights and ideas about Flash and XML.
Before we learn more about XML and its role within Flash, its important to understand a little of the history of both areas. In this chapter, I look briefly at this history as well as the reasons why Flash can be a useful tool for working with XML information. I also show you some Flash applications that use XML to provide their data. Chapters 2 and 3 provide you with more detail about XML.
When you develop interactive websites , Flash provides many advantages over HTML web pages. Couple Flash with an external XML data source and you have a flexible and powerful solution for both web and stand-alone applications.
Some of the reasons you might choose Flash to work with XML documents are
The multimedia capabilities of Flash
The ability of Flash to visualize and interact with complicated information
The ability of Flash to simplify the display of information
The separation of content from presentation that is possible within Flash