Flash Remoting
The Flash plugin from Macromedia has been around for some time and a great way to enhance the internet experience for end users. We’ve been looking at one of the newer features which comes with FlashMX, namely Flash Remoting. Flash Remoting utilises an internal protocol called AMF (Action Message Format) to transfer information efficiently between the client (Flash inside your browser) and the server (a gateway installed on the remote server). Web applications that feel more like desktop ones become possible with this technology!
To create the Flash movie you need the Macromedia editing environment, but when it comes to the server side there are several choices. The easiest option is to install Cold Fusion MX. This includes a Remoting Gateway and is easy to use, but not everyone wants Cold Fusion on their webserver. We have also experimented with FlashORB, but we found it rather more difficult to set up. For .NET users, though, it is probably the best solution. Finally we have tried a Perl module: FLAP, an open source solution which we like as it allows full application of all the great tools and methods that Perl provides. Here’s a demonstration we’ve created using Flash and FLAP!