(1) Open up your Library.
(2) Select the upper-right corner of the Library panel pop up menu.
(3) Select New Font.
(4) Enter a name for the font in the Name field.
(5) Select a font from the Font menu.
(6) Select your desired font style (Regular, Italic, Bold, or Bold Italic) from the Style drop-down menu.

*Note: The Size setting applies only when you use the Bitmap Text option. You’ll usually set the size of the text in a TextFormat object.

(8) Click the Advanced button
(9) Click Export for ActionScript and enter a class name.

*Note: I usually place my library items in a lib namespace, you don’t have to do that.

(10) Click OK.

The font utility simply creates a TextFormat object and sets its fontFamily property to the name of the embedded font, and applies the TextFormat object to a given TextField.

The following is the example swf:

Here’s the document class which displays examples on how to use the font utility.

/*******************************
* Author: Manuel Gonzalez      *
* www   : www.codingcolor.com  *
* email : design@stheory.com   *
********************************/
package{
   
import com.utils.TextFields.EmbedFontUtil;
import com.lib.Jazz;
import com.lib.Juice;
import com.lib.Banco;
import com.lib.HelveticaBlack;
import flash.display.Sprite;
import flash.text.TextField;
import flash.text.TextFieldAutoSize;
import flash.text.TextFormat;
import flash.text.TextFormatAlign;
import flash.text.Font;
import fl.controls.Button;
import flash.events.MouseEvent;
   
public class DocApp extends Sprite{
       
private var embedUtil       :EmbedFontUtil;
private var exampleString_1 : String = 'A dynamic TextField displaying the Jazz Font';
private var exampleString_2 : String = 'A dynamic TextField with a TextFormat displaying the Juice Font.';
private var exampleString_3 : String = 'The Banco Font, TextFormat and other crap!';
private var exampleString_4 : String = 'Displaying Helvetica Bold in a text field on stage.';
private var exampleString_5 : String = 'Press the button to change my font';
//
private var changeFontButton:Button;
       
       
public function DocApp(){
 embedUtil = EmbedFontUtil.getInstance();

/******** simple example with a dynamic text field *************/
var testField_1:TextField = new TextField();
testField_1.autoSize = TextFieldAutoSize.LEFTtestField_1.x = 25;
testField_1.y = 25;
var JazzFont:Font = new Jazz();//make sure to import your font
embedUtil.embedFont(testField_1,JazzFont);
testField_1.text = exampleString_1;
addChild(testField_1);

/******** simple example with a text field placed manually on stage *********/
var helveticaBlackFont:Font = new HelveticaBlack();//make sure to import your font
embedUtil.embedFont(textFieldOnStage,helveticaBlackFont);
textFieldOnStage.text = exampleString_4;
/****************************************************************************/

/******** example with a dynamic text field & TextFormat object ************/
var testField_2:TextField = new TextField();
testField_2.autoSize = TextFieldAutoSize.LEFT;
testField_2.x = 25;
testField_2.y = 50;
var format_1:TextFormat = new TextFormat();
format_1.color = 0xff00ff;
format_1.align = TextFormatAlign.LEFT;
format_1.size = 14;
var juiceFont:Font = new Juice();//make sure to import your font
embedUtil.embedFont(testField_2,juiceFont,format_1);
testField_2.text =  exampleString_2;
addChild(testField_2);
           
/************************************************************************/
           
           
/******** example with a dynamic textfield & properties including TextFormat**********/
var testField_3:TextField = new TextField();
testField_3.width = 500;
testField_3.height = 22;
testField_3.background = true;
testField_3.backgroundColor = 0x000000;
testField_3.textColor = 0xffffff;
testField_3.x = 25;
testField_3.y = 85;
           
var format_3:TextFormat = new TextFormat();
format_3.size = 16;
format_3.align = TextFormatAlign.CENTER;
format_3.url = "http://codingcolor.com";
format_3.underline = true;
           
var bancoFont:Font = new Banco();//make sure to import your font
embedUtil.embedFont(testField_3,bancoFont,format_3);
testField_3.text =  exampleString_3;
addChild(testField_3);

/*************** example with a textfield on stage preserve format and string change font ****/
createButtonUI();
changeFontField.text = exampleString_5;

}
/*
Method: createButtonUI
Parameters:
Returns:
*/
private function createButtonUI():void
{
changeFontButton = new Button();
changeFontButton.width = 100;
changeFontButton.move(changeFontField.x,changeFontField.y + changeFontField.height+10);
changeFontButton.label = "Change Font";
changeFontButton.setStyle("textFormat", new TextFormat("Helvetica Black"));
changeFontButton.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, changeTheFont,false,0,true);
addChild(changeFontButton);
}

/*
Method: changeTheFont
Parameters:
evt:MouseEvent
Returns:
*/
private function changeTheFont(evt:MouseEvent):void
{
var JazzFont:Font = new Jazz();
embedUtil.embedNewFontPreserveString(changeFontField,JazzFont);
}
}
   
   
   
}

As you can see it’s pretty simple to use:
var helveticaBlackFont:Font = new HelveticaBlack();
embedUtil.embedFont(textFieldOnStage,helveticaBlackFont);
textFieldOnStage.text = exampleString_4;

Download the class and files below.
Enjoy!
Font Embed Util (41)

To state the obvious, flash readily allows a few ways to read the width and height of a TextField display object.
You can use the following properties of the TextField class:

textWidth: The width of the text in pixels.
textHeight: The height of the text in pixels

Or get the width and height using the TextField width and height properties, which will include the invisible frame which surrounds the text field.

TextField.width: The width of the TextField in pixels.
TextField.height: The width of the TextField in pixels.

And last but not least you can use the TextLineMetrics class which will contain information about the text position and pixel measurements of a line of text within a text field.

Anyhow the following example below displays two examples of the the StringUtils.as class in action. The first example takes a string and returns its width and height value which in turn uses the dimensions to display a blue rectangle. The Second examples takes in an array of strings and returns a number which represents the widest string in the array, which in turn uses the width dimension to display a red rectangle.

Here’s the StringUtils.as class in its entirety.

/************************************
* @author : Manuel Gonzalez         *
* @blog   : www.codingcolor.com     *
* @email  : design@stheory.com      *
* @www    : www.stheory.com         *
************************************/
package com.utils
{
    import flash.text.AntiAliasType;
    import flash.text.Font;
    import flash.text.TextField;
    import flash.text.TextFieldAutoSize;
    import flash.text.TextFormat;
    import flash.text.TextFormatAlign;
    import flash.text.TextLineMetrics;

    public class StringUtils
    {
        public function StringUtils(){}
       
        /*
        Method: getTextLineWidth
        Parameters:
        inStr:String
        inFont:Font
        inTextFormat:TextFormat=null
        Returns:
        Number
        */
        public static function getTextLineWidth(inStr:String, inFont:Font,inTextFormat:TextFormat=null):Number
        {
            var tFormat:TextFormat;
           
            if(inTextFormat == null){
            tFormat = new TextFormat();
            tFormat.size = 12;
            tFormat.align = TextFormatAlign.LEFT;
            tFormat.font = inFont.fontName;
            tFormat.rightMargin = 1;

            }else{
           
                tFormat = inTextFormat;
               
            }
           
            var testField:TextField = new TextField();
            testField.autoSize = TextFieldAutoSize.LEFT;
            testField.multiline = false;
            testField.wordWrap = false;
            testField.embedFonts = true;
            testField.antiAliasType = AntiAliasType.ADVANCED;
            testField.defaultTextFormat = tFormat;
            testField.text = inStr;
           
            return Math.floor(testField.width);
        }
        /*
        Method: getTextLineHeight
        Parameters:
        inStr:String
        inFont:Font
        inTextFormat:TextFormat=null
        Returns:
        Number
        */
        public static function getTextLineHeight(inStr:String, inFont:Font,inTextFormat:TextFormat=null):Number
        {
            var tFormat:TextFormat;
           
            if(inTextFormat == null){
            tFormat = new TextFormat();
            tFormat.size = 12;
            tFormat.align = TextFormatAlign.LEFT;
            tFormat.font = inFont.fontName;
            tFormat.rightMargin = 1;

            }else{
           
                tFormat = inTextFormat;
               
            }
           
            var testField:TextField = new TextField();
            testField.autoSize = TextFieldAutoSize.LEFT;
            testField.multiline = false;
            testField.wordWrap = false;
            testField.embedFonts = true;
            testField.antiAliasType = AntiAliasType.ADVANCED;
            testField.defaultTextFormat = tFormat;
            testField.text = inStr;
           
            return Math.floor(testField.height);
        }
        /*
        Method: getTextWidthAndHeight
        Parameters:
        inStr:String
        inFont:Font
        inTextFormat:TextFormat=null
        Returns:
        Object {width:,height:}
        */
        public static function getTextWidthAndHeight(inStr:String, inFont:Font,inTextFormat:TextFormat=null):Object
        {
            var textObj:Object = {};
            var tFormat:TextFormat;
           
            if(inTextFormat == null){
            tFormat = new TextFormat();
            tFormat.size = 12;
            tFormat.align = TextFormatAlign.LEFT;
            tFormat.font = inFont.fontName;
            tFormat.rightMargin = 1;
            }else{
           
                tFormat = inTextFormat;
               
            }
           
            var testField:TextField = new TextField();
            testField.autoSize = TextFieldAutoSize.LEFT;
            testField.multiline = false;
            testField.wordWrap = false;
            testField.embedFonts = true;
            testField.antiAliasType = AntiAliasType.ADVANCED;
            testField.defaultTextFormat = tFormat;
            testField.text = inStr;
           
            textObj.width = Math.floor(testField.width);
            textObj.height = Math.floor(testField.height);
           
            return textObj;
        }
        /*
        Method: getWidthOfLongestStringInArray
        Parameters:
        inArray:Array
        inFont
        inTextFormat=null
        Returns:
        Number
        */
        public static function getWidthOfLongestStringInArray(inArray:Array,inFont:Font,inTextFormat=null):Number
        {
            var wResult:Number = 0;
            var tFormat:TextFormat;
           
            if(inTextFormat == null){
            tFormat = new TextFormat();
            tFormat.size = 12;
            tFormat.align = TextFormatAlign.LEFT;
            tFormat.font = inFont.fontName;
            tFormat.rightMargin = 1;
            }else{
           
                tFormat = inTextFormat;
               
            }
           
            var len:int = inArray.length;
           
            for(var i:int =0; i < len; i++)
            {
                var testField:TextField = new TextField();
                testField.autoSize = TextFieldAutoSize.LEFT;
                testField.multiline = false;
                testField.wordWrap = false;
                testField.embedFonts = true;
                testField.antiAliasType = AntiAliasType.ADVANCED;
                testField.defaultTextFormat = tFormat;
                testField.text = inArray[i] as String;
               
                var stringWidth:Number = Math.floor(testField.width);
               
                if(stringWidth > wResult){
                    wResult = stringWidth;
                }
                 
               
            }
           
            return wResult;
        }
       
       
    }
}

The download provides the above example including the StringUtils.as class.
Enjoy!

The code is quite simple :

/****************************
* Manuel Gonzalez           *
* design@stheory.com        *
* www.stheory.com           *
* www.codingcolor.com       *
*****************************/
package
{

    import flash.display.Sprite;
    import flash.system.Security;
    import flash.system.System;
    import fl.controls.Button;
    import fl.controls.TextArea;
    import fl.controls.RadioButton;
    import fl.controls.RadioButtonGroup;
    import flash.events.Event;
    import flash.events.MouseEvent;
    import flash.net.URLLoader;
    import flash.net.URLRequest;
    import flash.display.Loader;
    import flash.text.TextField;
    import flash.text.TextFieldAutoSize;
    import flash.text.TextFormat;
    import flash.utils.Dictionary;

    public class DocApp extends Sprite
    {
        private var facebookXml:String = "FacebookLocales.xml";
        private var isoXml:String = "iso_3166-1_list_en.xml";
        private var facebookCountryCodes:Array;
        private var isoDataArray:Array;
        private var finalCountriesData:Array;
        private var outputField:TextArea;
        private var printOutputButton:Button;
        private var clipBoardButton:Button;
        private var rbg:RadioButtonGroup;


        public function DocApp()
        {
            Security.loadPolicyFile("your_path_to_cross_domain.xml");
            createUI();
            outputField.text = "loading data";
            loadXML(facebookXml, fbXMLLoaded);

        }
        /*
        Method: loadXML
        Parameters:
        inPath:String
        inCallback:Function
        Returns:
        */
        private function loadXML(inPath:String, inCallback:Function):void
        {
           
            var loader:URLLoader = new URLLoader ();
            var req:URLRequest = new URLRequest(inPath);
            loader.addEventListener(Event.COMPLETE, inCallback, false, 0, true);
            loader.load(req);
        }
        /*
        Method: fbXMLLoaded
        Parameters: evt:Event
        Returns:
        */
        private function fbXMLLoaded(evt:Event):void
        {

            var theXml:XML = new XML(evt.target.data);
            parseFbXml(theXml);
            arrayRemoveDup(facebookCountryCodes);
            //
            loadXML(isoXml, isoXMLLoaded);
        }
        /*
        Method: isoXMLLoaded
        Parameters: evt:Event
        Returns:
        */
        private function isoXMLLoaded(evt:Event):void
        {
            var theXml:XML = new XML(evt.target.data);
            parseIsoXml(theXml);

            buildCountryData();
            outputField.text = "Data Ready";
        }
        /*
        Method: parseIsoXml
        Parameters: inXml:XML
        Returns:
        */
        private function parseIsoXml(inXml:XML):void
        {
            var data:XML = inXml as XML;
            isoDataArray = [];
            var numCountries:int = data.ISO_3166_1_Entry.length();
            for (var i:int = 0; i < numCountries; i++) {
                var current:XML = data.ISO_3166_1_Entry[i];
                var cObj:Object = {};
                cObj.value = current.ISO_3166_1_Alpha_2_Code_element;
                cObj.label = current.ISO_3166_1_Country_name;
                isoDataArray.push(cObj);
            }
        }
        /*
        Method: parseFbXml
        Parameters: inXml:XML
        Returns:
        */
        private function parseFbXml(inXml:XML):void
        {
            var data:XML = inXml as XML;
            facebookCountryCodes = [];
            var numLocales:int = data.locale.length();
            for (var i:int =0; i< numLocales; i++) {
                var current:XML = data.locale[i];
                var rep:String = current.codes[0].code.*.representation;
                var pos:int = rep.indexOf("_");
                var countryCode:String = rep.substr(pos + 1);
                facebookCountryCodes.push(countryCode);
            }
        }
        /*
        Method: buildCountryData
        Parameters:
        Returns:
        */
        private function buildCountryData():void
        {
            var len:int = facebookCountryCodes.length;
            finalCountriesData = [];

            for (var i:int = 0; i < len; i++) {
                var codeStr:String = facebookCountryCodes[i];
                var isolen:int = isoDataArray.length;
                for (var j:int = 0; j < isolen; j++) {
                    if (codeStr.toLowerCase() == isoDataArray[j].value.toLowerCase()) {
                        finalCountriesData.push(isoDataArray[j]);
                        break;
                    }
                }


            }

        }
        /*
        Method: createUI
        Parameters:
        Returns:  
        */
        private function createUI():void
        {

            outputField = new TextArea();
            outputField.setSize(500, 500);
            outputField.move(25, 40);
            addChild(outputField);
            printOutputButton = new Button();
            printOutputButton.width = 75;
            printOutputButton.move(450,10);
            printOutputButton.label = "Print";
            printOutputButton.setStyle("textFormat", new TextFormat("Arial"));
            printOutputButton.toggle = true;
            printOutputButton.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, printToOutputField,false,0,true);
            addChild(printOutputButton);
            //
            clipBoardButton = new Button();
            clipBoardButton.width = 125;
            clipBoardButton.move(225,550);
            clipBoardButton.label = "Copy To Clipboard";
            clipBoardButton.setStyle("textFormat", new TextFormat("Arial"));
            clipBoardButton.toggle = true;
            clipBoardButton.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, copyData,false,0,true);
            addChild(clipBoardButton);
            //
            rbg = new RadioButtonGroup("options");
            createRadioButton("Xml", rbg,225,10);
            createRadioButton("Array of Obj", rbg,325,10);

        }
        /*
        Method: copyData
        Parameters: evt:MouseEvent
        Returns:
        */
        private function copyData(evt:MouseEvent):void
        {
            copyToClipboard(outputField);
        }
        /*
        Method: printToOutputField
        Parameters: evt:MouseEvent
        Returns:
        */
        private function printToOutputField(evt:MouseEvent):void
        {
            if (rbg.selection == null) {
                return;
            }

            outputField.text = "";
            if (rbg.selection.label == "Xml") {
                printXMLToOutput();
            } else {
                printObjArrayToOutput();
            }

        }
        /*
        Method: createRadioButton
        Parameters:
        rbLabel:String
        rbg:RadioButtonGroup
        xpos:Number
        ypos:Number
        Returns:
        */
        private function createRadioButton(rbLabel:String, rbg:RadioButtonGroup,xpos:Number,ypos:Number):void
        {
            var rb:RadioButton = new RadioButton();
            rb.group = rbg;
            rb.label = rbLabel;
            rb.move(xpos, ypos);
            addChild(rb);
        }
        /*
        Method: copyToClipboard
        Parameters: inTf:*
        Returns:
        */
        private function copyToClipboard(inTf:*):void
        {
            System.setClipboard(inTf.text);
        }
        /*
        Method: printObjArrayToOutput
        Parameters:
        Returns:
        */
        private function printObjArrayToOutput():void
        {
            finalCountriesData.sortOn("label");
            var len:int = finalCountriesData.length;
            outputField.text = 'var facebookCountries:Array = [';
            for (var i:int = 0; i < len; i++) {
                if (i == len - 1) {
                    outputField.appendText('{value:'+'"'+finalCountriesData[i].value+'"'+',label:"'+finalCountriesData[i].label+'"}];');
                } else {
                    outputField.appendText('{value:"'+finalCountriesData[i].value+'",label:"'+finalCountriesData[i].label+'"},\n');
                }
            }
        }
        /*
        Method: printXMLToOutput
        Parameters:
        Returns:
        */
        private function printXMLToOutput():void
        {
            outputField.text = '<facebook_countries_en xml:lang="en"> \n';
            finalCountriesData.sortOn("label");
            var len:int = finalCountriesData.length;
            for (var i:int = 0; i < len; i++) {
                outputField.appendText('<country_entry> \n');
                outputField.appendText(' <country_code>'+finalCountriesData[i].value+'</country_code> \n');
                outputField.appendText(' <country_name>'+finalCountriesData[i].label+'</country_code> \n');
                outputField.appendText('</country_entry> \n');
            }
            outputField.appendText('<facebook_countries_en>');
        }
       
        /***************** HELPER METHODS *********************************/
        /*
        Method: arrayRemoveDup
        Parameters: inArry:Array
        Returns:
        */
        private function arrayRemoveDup(inArry:Array):void
        {
            var i,j:int;
            for (i = 0; i < inArry.length - 1; i++) {
                for (j = i + 1; j < inArry.length; j++) {
                    if (inArry[i] === inArry[j]) {
                        inArry.splice(j, 1);
                    }


                }
            }
        }
    }
}

The code loads up FacebookLocale.xml, parses it and creates a facebook country code array. I proceed by removing duplicates in the array. Next, I load up the countries ISO xml , parse it and create a countries ISO data array with objects that contain the country name and country code. Lastly, I build my final country array by taking the Facebook country codes and searching for them in the countries ISO data array. If a country is found the ISO data Object is pushed to the final array. The rest of the code supports the UI. I’ve included everything you need in the download below. To keep the country list up to date you should always download the necessary xml files:

FacebookLocale.xml
iso_3166-1_list_en.zip

Also, Flash does not like the dash’s in the iso_3166-1_list_en.xml. If you download the zip from ISO and compare it with the xml I provided for you in the download, you will notice I replaced the dash with an underscore.
**** NOTE the duplicate function is not efficient, look over your output for doubles. I’ll release the fix when I get around to it. If you solved it, please post it …keep ActionScript open source.
Anyhow, enjoy!

“The issue stemmed from creating dynamic bitmaps using ActionScript and tweening.

Whatever the case, we don’t have to deal with this annoying bug, just download the fix and you will be testing your movies in no time.
http://download.macromedia.com/pub/flash/updates/10_0_3/Flash_10_0_3_A dobeUpdate.dmg

var _username:String;
var _password:String;
var _apiUrl:String;

private var logIn():void
{
var path:String = _apiUrl +"&"+_username + "&" + _password;
var request:URLRequest = new URLRequest(_path);
_loader = new URLLoader();
_loader.load(request);
}

Then proceeded to ask, “What’s wrong with this code?” Well, I looked over the method and pointed out that the code wasn’t complete, but the engineer replied, just assume that the syntax is correct and all variables needed are present. The only thing that came to mind, when dealing with API’s, is that there is usually some type of security measure, usually in the form of a user token or session variable. I felt like I was being tricked, the only other answer I could provide was to encrypt the string to secure the data passing over the network, and in short, that’s the answer they were looking for. They should have asked, “How would you protect the users login data when submitting it to an API?” Thanks for the trick question, guys, but as you know almost every API has a different strategy in handling security.

Creating secure SWF applications is not an easy task. The best way to protect your sensitive data is to leverage the HTTPS protocol for sending encrypted data instead of performing the encryption within ActionScript code. Unfortunately, we cant always hide behind HTTPS and It is not advisable to permit HTTP content to access HTTPS content.

There are several strategies to encrypt data in SWF web applications. The most popular are hashing algorithms and symmetric and asymmetric ciphers. Hashing algorithms is a method for performing non-reversible encryption that transforms the original text into a unique string, or hash. The hash is non-reversible, meaning it can not be decrypted and is usually stored on disk. This method is usually used as password authentication and storage. Symmetric and asymmetric ciphers are useful when you want to create a reversible encryption of data, however, the secret and private keys for these tools are usually stored in the SWF, which can be exposed using a decompiler. You can try to hide the key from a decompiler by using a flash obfuscation software, tho I have never implemented this method, I can not advise doing so.

This post is not about Flash security, because I’m not a security expert, it’s about base64 encoding.

Exactly what is Base64 encoding? Base64 encoding is a scheme that encodes arbitrary binary data as a string composed from a set of 64 characters. The exact character set can be any 64 distinct ASCII characters, but by far the most common set is “A” through “Z,” “a” through “z,” “0″ through “9,” “+,” and “/.” Base64 encoding is used by many applications to “obscure” data when it travels across the network. Base64 encoding does not implement a cryptographic algorithm to protect sensitive information, yet is often used in many networks and end-user applications to my amazement.

I recently developed a sweepstakes micro-site for a client, which prerequisite was to obscure users personal data over the network. Since base encoding visually hides otherwise easily recognized information, It satisfied the prerequisite, with an understanding that it was not a secure method and the client signed off on it.

I scripted up a quick little demo app which shows you how to use Base64 encoding.

The demo gathers the users input, encodes it in a JSON object, encodes the object using base64, and passes it to the server where a php script receives it, decodes the base64 JSON object and then passes it back to the flash app. As you noticed, I may have added a complexity by using JSON. JSON is your friend, the JSON format is often used for serializing and transmitting structured data over a network connection. It is primarily used to transmit data between a server and web application, serving as an alternative to XML. I have become accustomed to using it over the years, so I just left it in my code, just for clarification you can use a simple string.

Lets take a look at the demo. I created this app in CS4 using the UI flash components. As most flash apps start out, I created a Main document class:

Main.as
/****************************
* Manuel Gonzalez           *
* design@stheory.com        *
* www.stheory.com           *
* www.codingcolor.com       *
*****************************/
package {

    import flash.display.Sprite;
    import fl.controls.Button;
    import fl.controls.TextArea;
    import flash.events.Event;
    import flash.events.MouseEvent;
    import flash.text.TextField;
    import flash.text.TextFieldAutoSize;
    import flash.text.TextFormat;
    import com.stheory.view.LoginForm;
    import com.stheory.business.LoginProxy;

    public class Main extends Sprite {



        private var _logInView:LoginForm;
        private var _logInProxy:LoginProxy;
        private var _traceField:TextArea;
        private var _okButton:Button;


        public function Main() {

            showLoginView();
        }
        /*
         Method: showLoginView
         Parameters:
         Returns:  
         */
        private function showLoginView():void {
            _logInView = new LoginForm();
            _logInView.x=20;
            _logInView.y=50;
            _logInView.addEventListener(Event.COMPLETE,submitData);
            addChild(_logInView);
        }
        /*
         Method: removeLoginView
         Parameters:
         Returns:  
         */
        private function removeLoginView():void {
            _logInView.removeEventListener(Event.COMPLETE,submitData);
            _logInView.dispose();
            removeChild(_logInView);
        }
        /*
         Method: submitData
         Parameters:
         event:Event
         Returns:  
         */
        private function submitData(event:Event):void {
            removeLoginView();
            createTraceField();
            var loginObj:Object={username:event.target.username,password:event.target.password,remember:event.target.rememberMe};
            _logInProxy=LoginProxy.getInstance();
            _logInProxy.addEventListener(Event.COMPLETE,logInComplete,false,0,true);
            _logInProxy.addEventListener(Event.CANCEL,logInError,false,0,true);
            _logInProxy.submitFormData(loginObj);
        }
        /*
         Method: logInComplete
         Parameters:
         event:Event
         Returns:  
         */
        private function logInComplete(event:Event):void {
            var results=event.target.scriptResult;
            _traceField.text=results;
            _logInProxy.removeEventListener(Event.COMPLETE,logInComplete);
            _logInProxy.removeEventListener(Event.CANCEL,logInError);
        }
        private function logInError(event:Event):void
        {
            var results= event.target.errorEvent;
            _traceField.text=results;
            _logInProxy.removeEventListener(Event.COMPLETE,logInComplete);
            _logInProxy.removeEventListener(Event.CANCEL,logInError);
        }
        /*
         Method: createTraceField
         Parameters:
         Returns:  
         */
        private function createTraceField():void {

            _traceField = new TextArea();
            _traceField.setSize(350, 100);
            _traceField.move(25, 25);
            addChild(_traceField);
            _okButton = new Button();
            _okButton.width=75;
            _okButton.move(300,135);
            _okButton.label="OK";
            _okButton.setStyle("textFormat", new TextFormat("Arial"));
            _okButton.toggle=true;
            _okButton.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, okClick,false,0,true);
            addChild(_okButton);
        }
        /*
         Method: okClick
         Parameters:
         event:MouseEvent
         Returns:  
         */
        private function okClick(event:MouseEvent):void {
            removeTraceField();
            showLoginView();
        }
        /*
         Method: removeTraceField
         Parameters:
         Returns:  
         */
        private function removeTraceField():void {
            _okButton.removeEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK,okClick);
            removeChild(_traceField);
            removeChild(_okButton);
        }






    }
}

The Main.as class simply instantiates a logIn view, logIn proxy and creates a trace/log view to print out the interactions with the server. I’m going to skip the logIn view, just assume that all it does is set up the login UI and dispatches an event when the Submit button is pressed. The class that we will focus on is the LogInProxy.as. I utilize Steve Websters base64 encoder/decoder class and the AS3CoreLib developed by Mike Chambers, Daniel Dura and Christian Cantrell for the JSON encoding.
LogInProxy.as
/****************************
* Manuel Gonzalez           *
* design@stheory.com        *
* www.stheory.com           *
* www.codingcolor.com       *
*****************************/
package com.stheory.business{
    import flash.display.Sprite;
    import flash.events.EventDispatcher;
    import flash.events.IEventDispatcher;
    import flash.events.Event;
    import flash.events.IOErrorEvent;
    import flash.events.SecurityErrorEvent;
    import flash.net.URLLoader;
    import flash.net.URLLoaderDataFormat;
    import flash.net.URLRequest;
    import flash.net.URLRequestMethod;
    import flash.net.URLVariables;
    import com.adobe.serialization.json.JSON;
    import com.utils.Base64;



    public class LoginProxy extends Sprite {

        private static  var _instance:LoginProxy;
        private var _loader:URLLoader;
        private var _formObj:Object;
        private var _encryption:String;
        private var _path:String = "http://www.stheory.com/stheory/downloads/scripts/securityTest.php";
        private var _errorEvent:*;
        private var _testScriptResult:String;
       

        public function LoginProxy(singletonEnforcer:SingletonEnforcer) {
            super();
        }
        /*
         Method: getInstance
         Returns: AppServices
         */
        public static  function getInstance():LoginProxy {
            if (_instance == null) {
                _instance=new LoginProxy(new SingletonEnforcer  );
               
            }
            return _instance;
        }
        ////////////// Getters ///////////////////////
        public function get scriptResult():String
        {
            return "base64 to server :\n" +_encryption + "\n\nResults from Server :\n" + _testScriptResult;
        }
        public function get errorEvent():*
        {
            return _errorEvent;
        }
        //////////////////////////////////////////
        /*
         Method: submitFormData
         Parameters:
         inObj:Object
         Returns:  
         */
        public function submitFormData(inObj:Object):void
        {
            _formObj = inObj;
            encodeAndEncryptData();
            sendData();
        }
        /*
         Method: encodeAndEncryptData
         Parameters:
         Returns:  
         */
        private function encodeAndEncryptData():void {
           
           
            var jStr:String = JSON.encode(_formObj);
            _encryption  = Base64.encode(jStr);

        }
        /*
         Method: sendData
         Parameters:
         Returns:  
         */
        private function sendData():void {

            var dataVars:URLVariables = new URLVariables();
            dataVars.data =  _encryption;

            var request:URLRequest = new URLRequest(_path);

            request.method = URLRequestMethod.POST;
            request.data = dataVars;

            _loader = new URLLoader();
            configureListeners(_loader);

            try {
                _loader.load(request);

            } catch (error:Error) {
                trace("Unable to load URL");
                _errorEvent = error;
                dispatchEvent(new Event(Event.CANCEL))
            }

        }
        /*
         Method: configureListeners
         Parameters:
         dispatcher:IEventDispatcher
         Returns:  
         */
        private function configureListeners(dispatcher:IEventDispatcher):void {
            dispatcher.addEventListener(Event.COMPLETE, completeHandler);
            dispatcher.addEventListener(SecurityErrorEvent.SECURITY_ERROR, securityErrorHandler);
            dispatcher.addEventListener(IOErrorEvent.IO_ERROR, ioErrorHandler);
        }
        /*
         Method: removeListeners
         Parameters:
         dispatcher:IEventDispatcher
         Returns:  
         */
        private function removeListeners(dispatcher:IEventDispatcher):void {
            dispatcher.addEventListener(Event.COMPLETE, completeHandler);
            dispatcher.addEventListener(SecurityErrorEvent.SECURITY_ERROR, securityErrorHandler);
            dispatcher.addEventListener(IOErrorEvent.IO_ERROR, ioErrorHandler);
        }
        /*
         Method: completeHandler
         Parameters:
         event:Event
         Returns:  
         */
        private function completeHandler(event:Event):void {
            var result = _loader.data;
            try {
                    _testScriptResult = result.toString()
                    dispatchEvent(new Event(Event.COMPLETE))
                }
             catch (error:Error) {
                _errorEvent = error;
                dispatchEvent(new Event(Event.CANCEL))
            }
            removeListeners(_loader);
            _loader=null;
        }
        /*
         Method: securityErrorHandler
         Parameters:
         event:SecurityErrorEvent
         Returns:  
         */
        private function securityErrorHandler(event:SecurityErrorEvent):void {
            //trace("securityErrorHandler: " + event + " \n\n");
            _errorEvent = event;
            dispatchEvent(new Event(Event.CANCEL))
        }
        /*
         Method: ioErrorHandler
         Parameters:
         event:IOErrorEvent
         Returns:  
         */
        private function ioErrorHandler(event:IOErrorEvent):void {
            //trace("ioErrorHandler: " + event + " \n\n");
            _errorEvent = event;
            dispatchEvent(new Event(Event.CANCEL))
        }

    }
}

internal class SingletonEnforcer {
}

I created the LogInProxy class as a Singleton pattern, because I only want to make one object which will handle the data transaction between the client side and the server. LoginProxy is responsible for the base64 encoding, it also submits the data and reports the results. Review the encodeAndEncryptData() method:

 private function encodeAndEncryptData():void  {
           var jStr:String = JSON.encode(_formObj);
            _encryption  = Base64.encode(jStr);
   }

this is where all the magic happens. You can revise this method to meet your needs, for example remove the option of using JSON and just use a simple string. The SendData method, does what it implies, pretty straight forward. Now, lets take a look at the Php.

The Php script is really simple and was created just for this demo:
<?php
$data= $_POST['data'];
$decoded = base64_decode ($data);
echo "$decoded";
?>

It receives the base64 encoded data, decodes it and prints it back to Flash.

Now, for a sanity check, I would recommend using a packet sniffer that captures network traffic, like Service Capture. Here’s a screenshot of the demo app in action:

As you can see, we successfully passed an encoded string to the Php script, which in return passed back a JSON object.
Its really that easy! I could have gone the extra mile and re-encoded a response in base64 and had Flash decode it, but I’ll leave that up to you.
Enjoy!

Download Source:
Base64 encoding example (29)

Open up the Flash IDE, presumably CS4 but CS3 will do.

Select File->Import->Import to Library..

Select your image to import.
Now navigate to your library.

Double click on the bitmap asset to activate the Bitmap Properties panel:

Navigate down to the linkage properties and select Export For ActionScript. You will notice that the Export in frame 1 checkbox will automatically be selected and the Class textfield will be highlighted. Go ahead and add an identifier string of your choice in the Class textfield and Select OK. Essentially, Flash has generated a linked class by the specified identifier automatically, which will allow you to have access to the Bitmap. All you have left to do is create a base class for your .fla and display your bitmap.

Open up your text editor and create a class like so:

package{
   
    import flash.display.Sprite;
    import flash.display.Bitmap;
   
    public class Main extends Sprite{
   
    private var imageSprite:Sprite;
   
    public function Main(){
       
        imageSprite = new Sprite();//create an image container
        addChild(imageSprite);//add it to the display list
        displayImageFromLibrary();
       
    }
   
   
   
    public function displayImageFromLibrary():void
    {
               //instantiate the bitmap in the library by its identifier
        var libraryImage:Bitmap = new Bitmap(new kfc(0,0));

               //place the image in the image container
        imageSprite.addChild(libraryImage);
    }
   
   
   
   
   
    }
   
}

Save the class as Main.as and make sure its in the same folder as the fla.
Navigate back to the Flash Ide and open the properties panel. Enter Main in the class textfield.

Once the program’s document class has been associated with the .fla we can now compile the program, Select-Control Test Movie. If all went well the desired results should have been achieved.

And there you have it.
Photo by Chris Brennan.
Download Source:
AS3 load Image from library (55)