Load XML and text files from your HD into Flash with AS3 and PHP

In this post I’ll show how to load a file with a file chooser dialog from your local HD into an Internet Flash application in your browser. In another post I’ve explained how to save a file to HD from Flash.

With a little workaround it is possible to load files into Flash in a way that it feels just as if you would do it with a common application: You are being asked with a standard system file dialog, which file you want to load in your application.

However, at first you have to park (i.e. upload) your file on a server in order to make it “publicly” available for your Flash app:

Howto save and load text files with AS3
Figure 1: Howto save and load text files with AS3

But step by step. The procedure goes like this:

  • You open up a file browser in Flash.
  • The user chooses a file from your HD and clicks OK.
  • The file is being uploaded from your HD to the server.
  • Flash loads the file from the server in itself.

This code should do all the file handling in Flash for you:

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private var fileRef:FileReference;
private const FILE_UPLOAD_URL:String = 
        "http://your-server.com/path/to/upload/flashUpload.php";
private const UPLOADED_XML_URL:String = 
        "http://your-server.com/path/to/upload/";
 
private function initializeFileRef():void{
    //FileReference allows you to open up system file chooser dialogs and 
    //to simply upload files on a webserver
    fileRef = new FileReference();
 
    //after a file has been chosen in the file chooser dialog the function 
    //fileSelected will be called.
    fileRef.addEventListener(Event.SELECT, fileSelected);
 
    //after the chosen file has been uploaded to the server the function 
    //uploadCompleted will be called
    fileRef.addEventListener(Event.COMPLETE, uploadCompleted);
}
 
/**
 * upload chosen file from file chooser dialog to server
 */
private function fileSelected(evt:Event):void {
	fileRef.upload(new URLRequest(FILE_UPLOAD_URL), "uploadFile");
}
 
/**
 * load uploaded file from server into flash
 */
private function uploadCompleted(evt:Event):void {
	var uploadedFileUrl:String = UPLOADED_XML_URL + fileRef.name;
	var message:String;
	var loader:URLLoader = new URLLoader();
	loader.addEventListener(Event.COMPLETE, downloadInFlashCompleted);
 
    loader.load(new URLRequest(uploadedFileUrl));
}
 
/**
 * file has been completely loaded into Flash. You can now do with it
 * whatever you want to do.
 */
private function downloadInFlashCompleted(evt:Event):void {
	trace(evt.target.data);
}

The script at http://your-server.com/path/to/upload/flashUpload.php should look like this:

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<?php
move_uploaded_file($_FILES['uploadFile']['tmp_name'], 
    $_FILES['uploadFile']['name']);
#return something to flash. Otherwise the Event.Complete 
#listener will not trigger.
echo "somethingThatFlashGetsAResponseToItsRequest.";
?>

Download the Flash and the PHP example files.

Published by Johannes Luderschmidt

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