Flex's HTTPService dispatches a ResultEvent instead of a FaultEvent

Question

Flex's HTTPService dispatches a ResultEvent instead of a FaultEvent
I would like to know when does Flex's HTTPService launches a ResultEvent and when does it dispatches a FaultEvent.
When the servers response contain a 401 http status code error (Unauthorized), the HTTPService is dispatches a ResultEvent instead of a FaultEvent. I would assume that it should dispatch a FaultEvent. Am I correct? If not please tell me.
The amazing thing is that when I'm running the application under the Flash Builder 4.7's Android Simulator, it does dispatch a FaultEvent, but when I run it on the device, it dispatches the ResultEvent. Why is this happening? Any ideas?

Answer 1

I created an application to test what happens on both scenarios (Flash Builder's Simulator and Android Device) and compare the results. Next is the code.
Test application code
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<s:View xmlns:fx="http://ns.adobe.com/mxml/2009"
   xmlns:s="library://ns.adobe.com/flex/spark" title="HomeView">
   <fx:Script>
  <![CDATA[
  import mx.rpc.events.FaultEvent;
  import mx.rpc.events.ResultEvent;
  ///////////////////////////// USING HIGH LEVEL COMPONENT (FLEX) //////////////////////////////////////////
  * Checks if all the necesary data was entered by the user.
  protected function configHandler(event:MouseEvent):void
  textArea.text = "Connecting to server using a high level component";
  configurationService.url = "http://10.0.0.221/api/v1/room/current/";
  configurationService.headers.Accept = "application/json"; 
  configurationService.send();
  textArea.appendText("\n...");
  * Handles the first phase (getting basic application information) of the configuration.
  * Stores the retrieved data from the server and calls the second phase of the process.
  protected function serviceResultHandler(event:ResultEvent):void
  textArea.appendText("\n");
  textArea.appendText("Entering serviceResultHandler \n");
  textArea.appendText(" HTTP status code is: " + event.statusCode);
  * Handles errors within the first phase (getting basic application information) of the configuration process.
  protected function servicefaultHandler(event:FaultEvent):void
  textArea.appendText("\n");
  textArea.appendText("Entering servicefaultHandler \n");
  textArea.appendText("HTTP status code is: " + event.statusCode);
  ///////////////////////////// USING LOW LEVEL COMPONENT (FLASH) //////////////////////////////////////////
  * Checks if all the necesary data was entered by the user.
  protected function config2Handler(event:MouseEvent):void
  textArea.text = "Connecting to server using a low level component \n ...";
  var loader:URLLoader = new URLLoader();
  var request:URLRequest = new URLRequest("http://10.0.0.221/api/v1/room/current/");
  request.requestHeaders = new Array( new URLRequestHeader('Accept','application/json'));
  try {
  loader.load(request);
  } catch (error:Error) {
  trace("Unable to load requested document.");
  loader.addEventListener(Event.COMPLETE, completeHandler);
  loader.addEventListener(Event.OPEN, openHandler);
  loader.addEventListener(ProgressEvent.PROGRESS, progressHandler);
  loader.addEventListener(SecurityErrorEvent.SECURITY_ERROR, securityErrorHandler);
  loader.addEventListener(HTTPStatusEvent.HTTP_STATUS, httpStatusHandler);
  loader.addEventListener(IOErrorEvent.IO_ERROR, ioErrorHandler);
  private function completeHandler(event:Event):void {
  var loader:URLLoader = URLLoader(event.target);
  textArea.appendText("\n");
  textArea.appendText("Entering completeHandler \n");
  textArea.appendText("completeHandler: " + loader.data + "\n");
  var vars:URLVariables = new URLVariables(loader.data);
  textArea.appendText("The answer is " + vars.answer);
  private function openHandler(event:Event):void {
  textArea.appendText("\n");
  textArea.appendText("Entering openHandler \n");
  textArea.appendText("openHandler: " + event);
  private function progressHandler(event:ProgressEvent):void {
  textArea.appendText("\n");
  textArea.appendText("Entering progressHandler \n");
  textArea.appendText("progressHandler loaded:" + event.bytesLoaded + " total: " + event.bytesTotal);
  private function securityErrorHandler(event:SecurityErrorEvent):void {
  textArea.appendText("\n");
  textArea.appendText("Entering securityErrorHandler \n");
  textArea.appendText("securityErrorHandler: " + event);
  private function httpStatusHandler(event:HTTPStatusEvent):void {
  textArea.appendText("\n");
  textArea.appendText("Entering httpStatusHandler \n");
  textArea.appendText("httpStatusHandler: " + event);
  private function ioErrorHandler(event:IOErrorEvent):void {
  textArea.appendText("\n");
  textArea.appendText("Entering ioErrorHandler \n");
  textArea.appendText("ioErrorHandler: " + event);
  ]]>
   </fx:Script>
   <fx:Declarations>
   <s:HTTPService id="configurationService"
   result="serviceResultHandler(event)" fault="servicefaultHandler(event)"/>
   </fx:Declarations>
   <s:Button label="High Level" click="configHandler(event)"
   horizontalCenter="100" top="20" />
   <s:Button label="Low Level" click="config2Handler(event)"
   horizontalCenter="-100" top="20"/>
   <s:TextArea id="textArea"
   left="20" right="20" top="{configButton.y + configButton.height + 20}" bottom="20"/>
</s:View>
Results on the Flash Builder Simulator
When pressing the "Low Level" button (URL Loader) the text on the text area was:Connecting to server using a low level component ... Entering openHandler openHandler: [Event type="open" bubbles=false cancelable=false eventPhase=2] Entering httpStatusHandler httpStatusHandler: [HTTPStatusEvent type="httpStatus" bubbles=false cancelable=false eventPhase=2  status=401 responseURL=null] Entering ioErrorHandler ioErrorHandler: [IOErrorEvent type="ioError" bubbles=false cancelable=false eventPhase=2 text="Error #2032: Stream Error. URL: http://10.0.0.221/api/v1/room/current/" errorID=2032]
When pressing the "High Level" button (HTTPService) the text on the text area was:Connecting to server using a high level component ... Entering servicefaultHandler HTTP status code is: 401
Results on the Android device
When pressing the "Low Level" button (URL Loader) the text on the text area was:Connecting to server using a low level component ... Entering openHandler openHandler: [Event type="open" bubbles=false cancelable=false eventPhase=2] Entering httpStatusHandler httpStatusHandler: [HTTPStatusEvent type="httpStatus" bubbles=false cancelable=false eventPhase=2  status=401 redirected=false responseURL=null] Entering completeHandler completeHandler:
When pressing the "High Level" button (HTTPService) the text on the text area was:Connecting to server using a high level component ... Entering serviceResultHandler HTTP status code is: 401
When I ran the app on the Flash Builder's Simulator, both components worked as expected, meaning that they dispatched a FaultEvent and an IOErrorEvent. On the Android device each component misbehaived, the first dispatching a ResultEvent and the second one an Event.COMPLETE event.
Notice that on both scenarios, both components percieve the correct HTTP status code.
I would assume that there is a problem with the runtime, right? I'd appreciate your comments on the matter.