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Webmaster Forum / Flash / Flash Remoting / July 2004Flash Remoting for desktop apps?
Does anyone know if Macromedia has plans to ever release a version of Flash Remoting that works outside of a web server? I'm working on a desktop app that uses Flash for the UI, and had to purchase Flash Studio Pro because it seems like the only means to access .NET classes locally without a web server. MM seems to be missing a huge market here (and Central is just the wrong approach for people who want to distribute a self-branded, self-contained application) that would easily be filled if the Remoting DLL could be installed outside of IIS, as part of a separate application. Does anyone know about plans of this sort, or will Remoting continue to be a server-based product? > Does anyone know if Macromedia has plans to ever release a version of > Flash [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > seems > like the only means to access .NET classes locally without a web server. It sounds like you are trying to avoid learning new APIs. From what I've seen, Flash Studio Pro is certainly the right choice for developing desktop applications for Windows. It simply means that for any OS interaction, you'll have to learn new API's. Chris Hi Chris-- Flash Studio Pro does work, but main limitation is it won't work with custom DLLs written in .NET (only works with C++, etc.), so I'm looking at ways to pass values between processes using XML Sockets...If Flash Remoting came in a flavor that worked outside of a server environment, this would be so much easier! :) . You might want to check out 'Cassini' - an open source webserver from Microsoft you can use with the ASP.NET flash remoting gateway on Win200/XP. It's very lightweight and entirely portable so long as you have the the .NET framework installed on your target machines. http://asp.net/Projects/Cassini/Download/Default.aspx?tabindex=0&tabid=1 I doubt you'll be able to distribute the flash remoting DLL with your application though. You'll have to ask MM directly about this. It would brilliant if MM changed their licensing on flash remoting so that we can use this great technology for something useful on the desktop - even if 3rd party flash tools (like Flash Studio Pro)were given licences to include it in the .exe files they output. Aaaah the possibilities....... There was another remoting-a-like product I looked into briefly that used a XML to transfer data between a .NET tier and Flash. It was pretty slow for large amounts of data though since it used overly verbose WDDX style XML. http://www.simeda.com/flashrc/ Also, flashORB have just released their .NET implementation which has more favourable licensing thatn MMs solution. Not sure about redistribution of their DLLs either though. http://www.flashorb.com Let us all know how you decide to proceed. I for one am very interested in finding a suitable way of using Flash Remoting in desktop apps. Stephen > Hi Chris-- > [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > easier! :) > . Hi Stephen-- I agree with you completely! Flash Remoting would be so cool if it came in a "royalty-free" version that allowed distributing the dll with apps, and didn't require a webserver to function. I've been using Flash Studio Pro and XMLSocket to connect a Flash GUI to .NET backend, but direct access to .NET classes through Flash Remoting would have made things so much easier! I'll definitely check out options you mentioned. Thanks! If Flash Studio Pro only works with C++, isn't it just simply a matter of writing a C++ wrapper to call the custom .NET DLL? If Flash Studio Pro only works with C++, isn't it just simply a matter of writing a C++ wrapper to call the custom .NET DLL? Yes, creating a wrapper was one option suggested by the manufacturer. Unfortunately, I only know VB.NET and some basic C#, and wouldn't know where to begin in writing a wrapper. Two workarounds that I've tried involve either sharing data through text/XML files (using a .NET Watchfolder process to detect changes written to those files from Flash) and exchanging XML data through sockets (the solution I decided to use for this project). The sockets approach seems to be working pretty well, although I'm not sure what impact this will ultimately have on performance, as I leave the .NET socket server/listener running in the background and use this to run other processes as needed. Not a great solution, but Macromedia doesn't offer anything that fits the bill for this (FR would have been great!) and I'd slide further behind trying to come up with a wrapper. I hope the folks at Macromedia monitor these forums so they can get an idea how they can better meet the needs of developers! :) Im not sure how much info you have flowing around, but an easy solution is to embed the Flash movie into a Windows Form. More info on how to do this can be found here: http://weblogs.asp.net/twalters/archive/2003/12/29/46265.aspx http://www.sitepoint.com/article/1087 http://weblogs.asp.net/twalters/archive/2003/12/29/46265.aspx http://www.flashfanatiker.de/blog/archives/000032.html#more http://centralmx.com/archives/000241.html Good Luck Josh Hi Josh-- Thanks for the links...I'd run across a couple of these before, but you had a great collection of links related to this subject. I guess the main drawback to the embedding approach is that AFAIK, FSCommand doesn't get executed until the rest of AS on the page has been executed, so would require setInterval for things like DB calls, etc. I'll take a closer look at the links you posted and see if I can find any info on getting around this problem! Of course, the best solution would be for MM to hit a larger market by making Flash Remoting suitable for desktop development outside of the web server (and at a price individual developers like me can actually afford!--I love the things FR can do, but am still trying to recoup my initial investment...) :) |
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