Load and Send XML values

Question

I am new to ActionScript 3 and have a project I would like to get some help on. I have an XML file on a server that has two types of parent nodes... an example is below:
<bodytypesuggestions>
<ID1>36</ID1>
<ID2>34</ID2>
<ID3>37</ID3>
</bodytype>
<bodytypes>
<ID1>34</ID1>
<ID2>32</ID2>
<ID3>35</ID3>
</bodytype>
The AS code below connects my flash to the URL:
import flash.net.*;
import flash.events.*;
var myXML:XMLList;
var url:URLRequest = new URLRequest("MYSERVER.COM");
var XMLLoader:URLLoader = new URLLoader(url);
XMLLoader.addEventListener(Event.COMPLETE, GetRecommendations);
XMLLoader.addEventListener(Event.CHANGE, updateAndGetRecommendations);
function GetSuggestions(event:Event):void {
if (XMLLoader.data) {
myXML = XMLList(XMLLoader.data);
var myDev:XMLList = new XMLList(XMLLoader.data)
var bodytypelist:XMLList = myDev..bodytypes
var bydytypesugglist:XMLList = myDev..bodytypesuggestions
trace(bodytypelist);
this["ID1"].text = bodytypelist.ID1;
this["ID1"].restrict = "0-9.";
this["ID1"].maxChars = 5;
this["ID2"].text = bodytypelist.ID2;
this["ID2"].restrict = "0-9.";
this["ID2"].maxChars = 5;
this["ID3"].text = bodytypelist.ID3;
this["ID3"].restrict = "0-9.";
this["ID3"].maxChars = 5;
Now in my flash file, I have 3 textInput fields that are populated with the above XML values from the bodytype child values.
My question is - how can I write a function that when a user changes a value in any one of the text fields, the data returned is from the bodytypesuggestions node value instantly, i.e. once a field value is changed, the other two will change accordingly. The actual XML on the server already handles those calculations. I hope this makes sense, I really need some help on this one.

Answer 1

I am not 100% certain what you're asking for here...
I would tend to send XML rather than an XMLList string. I can't get the e4x filtering to work for an XMLList like that, which means (I assume) that you would need to iterate the list and using filtering on each XML object in the list. Perhaps I've missed something as you don't seem to be expressing a problem with loading the xml data and getting it into the textfields initially. I've not tried using the filtering on an XMLList directly before but could not get it working the way you have it. So in the following simulation I have wrapped the list in a top level tag to get it working the way I wanted.
Here is a non-loading simulation of what you seem to want. The difference here is that the GetSuggestions 'listener' is called manually with the data string rather than by the URLLoader's listener with the data attached to the URLLoader's dispatched event.
Hope that helps some.
var xStr:String="<bodytypesuggestions><ID1>36</ID1><ID2>34</ID2><ID3>37</ID3></bodytypesuggestions><bodytypes><ID1>34</ID1><ID2>32</ID2><ID3>35</ID3></bodytypes>";
var myXML:XML;
var suggestions:XMLList;
//requires 3 input textfields on the stage named ID1, ID2, ID3
function GetSuggestions(data:String):void {
if (data) {
var myXML:XML = XML("<wrapper>"+XMLList(data).toXMLString()+"</wrapper>");
var bodytypelist:XMLList = myXML..bodytypes;
suggestions = myXML..bodytypesuggestions;
ID1.text = bodytypelist.ID1;
ID1.restrict = "0-9.";
ID1.maxChars = 5;
ID2.text = bodytypelist.ID2;
ID2.restrict = "0-9.";
ID2.maxChars = 5;
ID3.text = bodytypelist.ID3;
ID3.restrict = "0-9.";
ID3.maxChars = 5;
GetSuggestions(xStr)
ID1.addEventListener(Event.CHANGE,myTextListener)
ID2.addEventListener(Event.CHANGE,myTextListener)
ID3.addEventListener(Event.CHANGE,myTextListener)
function myTextListener(e:Event):void{
     var updates:Array = ['ID1','ID2','ID3'];
     //check to see if current value is recognized
     if (TextField(e.currentTarget).text == suggestions.elements(TextField(e.currentTarget).name).text()){
          trace('found match')
          for each(var fieldName:String in updates){
               if (TextField(e.currentTarget).name==fieldName) continue;
               TextField(this[fieldName]).text = suggestions.elements(fieldName).text();
               trace(' set '+fieldName + ' to '+TextField(this[fieldName]).text)