Blog Bio Agenda Jobs AjaxCFC

Xpath for ActionScript

Posted At : July 10, 2005 12:11 AM | Posted By : Rob Gonda
Related Categories: Flash/ActionScript

I was implementing xpath for actionscript and I came across a couple of options. Flash MX 2004 has an undocumented built-in xpath class. You can access this class by dragging the DataBindingClass to the stage (windows – other panels – classes) and then importing the mx.xpath.XPathAPI. It works fine as I demonstrate in the following example.

import mx.xpath.XPathAPI;

var rssfeed_xml = new XML("<xml><level id='1' price='100'>first Level</level><level id='2' price='200'>second Level</level><level id='3' price='300'>third Level</level></xml>");
rssfeed_xml.ignoreWhite = true;

var titlePath:String = "/xml/level[@id=1]";
title_array = XPathAPI.selectNodeList(rssfeed_xml.firstChild, titlePath);

for (var i = 0; i<title_array.length; i++) {
trace(title_array[i].attributes.id);
}

However, this API does not support greater than or less than comparissions.

So I downloaded the Xpath open source API from Factor Studio. Just down the file and unzip it into your F:\Documents and Settings\[user]\Local Settings\Application Data\Macromedia\Flash MX 2004\en\Configuration\Classes\ folder.

Then you can import it and use it at will. It supports greater and smaller than comparisons, plus it supports union or queries using the pipe character.

import com.xfactorstudio.xml.xpath.*;

var rssfeed_xml = new XML("<xml><level id='1' price='100'>first Level</level><level id='2' price='200'>second Level</level><level id='3' price='300'>third Level</level></xml>");

var levels = XPath.selectNodes(rssfeed_xml,"/xml/level[@price>150]");

for (var i = 0; i<levels.length; i++) {
trace(levels[i].attributes.id);
}

import com.xfactorstudio.xml.xpath.*;

var rssfeed_xml = new XML("<xml><level id='1' price='100'>first Level</level><level id='2' price='200'>second Level</level><level id='3' price='300'>third Level</level></xml>");

var levels = XPath.selectNodes(rssfeed_xml,"/xml/level[@id=1] | /xml/level[@id=2]");

for (var i = 0; i<levels.length; i++) {
trace(levels[i].attributes.id);
}

updated 12/4/2006: link updated for Factor Studio

posted on July 10, 2005 at 12:11 AM by Rob Gonda