drupalcon 2009 flash and drupal
DESCRIPTION
Travis Tidwell presents at DrupalconDC 2009TRANSCRIPT
Agenda
• Why Flash and Drupal?• How Flash and Drupal Communicate• Web Services in Drupal• Asynchronous Programming• Building a real Flash application for Drupal
Why Flash with Drupal?
Why Flash with Drupal?
• Flash is like …
Why Flash with Drupal?
• Flash is like … my wife
Why Flash with Drupal?
• Flash is like … my wife– It’s pretty.
Why Flash with Drupal?
• Flash is like … my wife– It’s pretty.– What you see is what you get.
Why Flash with Drupal?
• Flash is like … my wife– It’s pretty.– What you see is what you get. (WYSIWYG)
Why Flash with Drupal?
• Flash is like … my wife– It’s pretty.– What you see is what you get. (WYSIWYG)
• Drupal is like …
Why Flash with Drupal?
• Flash is like … my wife– It’s pretty.– What you see is what you get. (WYSIWYG)
• Drupal is like … me!
Why Flash with Drupal?
• Flash is like … my wife– It’s pretty.– What you see is what you get. (WYSIWYG)
• Drupal is like … me!– It’s nerdy.
Why Flash with Drupal?
• Flash is like … my wife– It’s pretty.– What you see is what you get. (WYSIWYG)
• Drupal is like … me!– It’s nerdy.– Complicated
Why Flash with Drupal?
• Flash is like … my wife– It’s pretty.– What you see is what you get. (WYSIWYG)
• Drupal is like … me!– It’s nerdy.– Complicated– but totally awesome!
Combine Beauty with Power and you get…
Combine Beauty with Power and you get…
Combine Beauty with Power and you get…
How Flash and Drupal communicate
How Flash and Drupal communicate
• Remote Function Calls (RPC)– Uses XML to call a remote function– AMF ( ActionScript Message Format )
How Flash and Drupal communicate
• Remote Function Calls (RPC)– Uses XML to call a remote function– AMF ( ActionScript Message Format )
How Flash and Drupal communicate
• Remote Function Calls (RPC)– Uses XML to call a remote function– AMF ( ActionScript Message Format )
<function>getHello</function>
How Flash and Drupal communicate
• Remote Function Calls (RPC)– Uses XML to call a remote function– AMF ( ActionScript Message Format )
<function>getHello</function>
“Hello World!”
How Drupal handles Flash RPC…
How Drupal handles Flash RPC…
• Services Module
How Drupal handles Flash RPC…
• Services Module• AMFPHP Module
How Drupal handles Flash RPC…
• Services Module• AMFPHP Module• AMFPHP ( http://www.amfphp.org )
How Drupal handles Flash RPC…
How Drupal handles Flash RPC…
• Services module comes with “external” API’s so that Flash can get Drupal data.
How Drupal handles Flash RPC…
• Services module comes with “external” API’s so that Flash can get Drupal data.– node.get– node.save– views.get– etc…
Connecting to Drupal
• Flash must first establish a connection with Drupal.
• Drupal manages the Flash connection using Session ID’s
Session Handling
Session Handling
• Flash calls “system.connect”
Session Handling
• Flash calls “system.connect”• Drupal returns a valid Session ID to Flash
Session Handling
• Flash calls “system.connect”• Drupal returns a valid Session ID to Flash• Flash stores the session ID, then uses it for all
other calls to Drupal.
On the Flash Side…
On the Flash Side…
• Uses NetConnection to connect to flash
On the Flash Side…
• Uses NetConnection to connect to flash
• Create responder to handle callbacks
On the Flash Side…
• Uses NetConnection to connect to flash
• Create responder to handle callbacks
• Make the Service Call
Drupals response is handled using callback functions
Asynchronous Programming
Asynchronous Programming• Flash triggers actions based on events ( Event
Driven )• Events move the system along
Asynchronous Programming• Flash triggers actions based on events ( Event
Driven )• Events move the system along
Asynchronous Programming• Flash triggers actions based on events ( Event
Driven )• Events move the system along
Register for event
Asynchronous Programming• Flash triggers actions based on events ( Event
Driven )• Events move the system along
Register for event
Make the call…
Asynchronous Programming• Flash triggers actions based on events ( Event
Driven )• Events move the system along
Register for event
Make the call…
Twiddle your thumbs…
Asynchronous Programming• Flash triggers actions based on events ( Event
Driven )• Events move the system along
Register for event
Make the call…
Twiddle your thumbs…
An event! Let’s do something!
Let’s build something!
Let’s build something!
Meet my wife…
Let’s build something!
Meet my wife…
Let’s build something!
Meet my wife… She is Flash…
Let’s build something!
Meet me…
Let’s build something!
Meet me…
Let’s build something!
Meet me… I am Drupal…
Demo Time!
For more information…• “Flash with Drupal” Book– Author: Travis Tidwell (me)– Packt Publishing– Due July this year
• Topics covered• Build a Flash recipe viewer• Build a media player using Nodes and Views• Build a Flash Five Star voter• A bunch of other good stuff…
Questions?