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Flash Communication Server
Flash Communication Server
Table of Contents
Copyright
About the Authors
Brian Lesser
Giacomo
Joey Lott
Robert Reinhardt
Justin Watkins
Foreword
Preface
What Does FlashCom Offer?
What's in This Book?
How to Use This Book
Audience
ActionScript 1.0 Versus ActionScript 2.0
Server-Side ActionScript
The flash-communications.net Site
Director, Breeze, and Other Options
Flash Video Options
Licensing and Hosting Options
Conventions Used in This Book
Voice
Using Code Examples
Safari Enabled
Comments and Questions
Acknowledgments
Part I:  FlashCom Foundation
Chapter 1.  Introducing the Flash Communication Server
Section 1.1.  Clients and Servers
Section 1.2.  Creating an Application
Section 1.3.  Real-Time Messaging Protocol
Section 1.4.  The Communication Classes
Section 1.5.  Communicating with Application Servers, Databases, and Directory Servers
Section 1.6.  Firewalls and Security
Section 1.7.  Getting Started
Section 1.8.  Hello Video!
Section 1.9.  Conclusion
Chapter 2.  Communication Components
Section 2.1.  Overview of Communication Components
Section 2.2.  Summary of Communication Components
Section 2.3.  Creating an Application that Monitorsa Connection
Section 2.4.  Building a Simple Chat Room
Section 2.5.  Adding Audio and Video to the Chat Room
Section 2.6.  Forgoing the SimpleConnect Component
Section 2.7.  Conclusion
Chapter 3.  Managing Connections
Section 3.1.  Making a Connection
Section 3.2.  Managing a Connection
Section 3.3.  Reusing a NetConnection Object
Section 3.4.  Multiple Simultaneous NetConnection Objects
Section 3.5.  Testing and Debugging Network Connections
Section 3.6.  Subclassing the NetConnection Class
Section 3.7.  Communication Components Without SimpleConnect
Section 3.8.  Conclusion
Chapter 4.  Applications, Instances, and Server-Side ActionScript
Section 4.1.  Scripting Application Instances
Section 4.2.  Differences Between Flash ActionScript and Server-Side ActionScript
Section 4.3.  The Life of an Application Instance
Section 4.4.  Running a Simple Hello World Test Script
Section 4.5.  A More Realistic Example
Section 4.6.  Instance-to-Instance Communications
Section 4.7.  Script Filenames and Locations in Detail
Section 4.8.  Testing and Debugging Server-SideScript Files
Section 4.9.  Designing Communication Applications
Section 4.10.  Conclusion
Part II:  Audio, Video, and Data Streams
Chapter 5.  Managing Streams
Section 5.1.  A Simple Publisher/Subscriber Example
Section 5.2.  Stream Names
Section 5.3.  Publishing Streams in Detail
Section 5.4.  Playing Streams in Detail
Section 5.5.  The Stream Class
Section 5.6.  Publishing and Playing ActionScript Data
Section 5.7.  Creating Synchronized Presentations
Section 5.8.  The NetStream and Stream Information Objects
Section 5.9.  Stream Enhancements and Limitations
Section 5.10.  Conclusion
Chapter 6.  Microphone and Camera
Section 6.1.  Working with Microphone/Audio Input
Section 6.2.  Working with Camera Input
Section 6.3.  Building a Message-Taking Application
Section 6.4.  Building a Surveillance Application
Section 6.5.  Conclusion
Chapter 7.  Media Preparation and Delivery
Section 7.1.  Audio and Video Compression
Section 7.2.  Converting Prerecorded Materialto FLV Format
Section 7.3.  Using Flash Pro's Media Components
Section 7.4.  Enabling Multiple Bit Rate FLVsWithin an Application
Section 7.5.  Streaming MP3 Audio
Section 7.6.  Conclusion
Part III:  Remote Connectivity and Communication
Chapter 8.  Shared Objects
Section 8.1.  Objects and Shared Objects
Section 8.2.  Getting a Shared Object in Flash
Section 8.3.  Updates and Frame Rates
Section 8.4.  Scripting Shared Objects on the Server
Section 8.5.  Temporary and Persistent Shared Objects
Section 8.6.  Proxied Shared Objects
Section 8.7.  Shared Objects and Custom Classes
Section 8.8.  Avoiding Collisions
Section 8.9.  Optimizing Shared Object Performance
Section 8.10.  Broadcasting Remote Method Callswith send( )
Section 8.11.  A Simple Video and Text Chat Application
Section 8.12.  Conclusion
Chapter 9.  Remote Methods
Section 9.1.  Why Use Calls?
Section 9.2.  The send( ) and call( ) Methods
Section 9.3.  Client-to-Server Calls
Section 9.4.  Server-to-Client Calls
Section 9.5.  Server-to-Server Calls
Section 9.6.  A Simple Lobby/Rooms Application
Section 9.7.  Debugging Calls
Section 9.8.  Advanced Topics
Section 9.9.  Conclusion
Chapter 10.  Server Management API
Section 10.1.  Connecting to the Admin Service
Section 10.2.  Using the Server Management API
Section 10.3.  Server Management API Uses
Section 10.4.  Conclusion
Chapter 11.  Flash Remoting
Section 11.1.  The Remoting Gateway
Section 11.2.  Remoting Basics
Section 11.3.  Role of Remoting in FlashCom Applications
Section 11.4.  Securing Access
Section 11.5.  Conclusion
Chapter 12.  ColdFusion MX and FlashCom
Section 12.1.  Understanding ColdFusion MXand Flash Remoting
Section 12.2.  Using Flash Remoting to Log Events
Section 12.3.  Getting a List of Streams
Section 12.4.  Using ColdFusion and FTP to Mirror Streams
Section 12.5.  Conclusion
Part IV:  Design and Deployment
Chapter 13.  Building Communication Components
Section 13.1.  Source Files
Section 13.2.  People Lists
Section 13.3.  A Simple People List
Section 13.4.  Listenable Shared Objects
Section 13.5.  Status and People List
Section 13.6.  Text Chat
Section 13.7.  Shared Text
Section 13.8.  Video Conference and Video Window
Section 13.9.  PeopleGrid
Section 13.10.  Summary
Section 13.11.  Conclusion
Chapter 14.  Understanding the Macromedia Component Framework
Section 14.1.  The Component Framework
Section 14.2.  Under the Hood of the Chat Component
Section 14.3.  Creating a Simple Component from Scratch: SharedTextInput
Section 14.4.  Creating a Container Component: SharedAddressForm
Section 14.5.  Creating an Authenticating Component
Section 14.6.  Integrating Components with Your Existing Applications
Section 14.7.  Understanding the Framework
Section 14.8.  Conclusion
Chapter 15.  Application Design Patterns and Best Practices
Section 15.1.  Shared Object Management
Section 15.2.  Moving Code to the Server
Section 15.3.  Building Façades on the Server
Section 15.4.  Server-Side Client Queues
Section 15.5.  A Framework for Recording and Playing Back Componentized Applications
Section 15.6.  Components and Component Frameworks
Section 15.7.  Conclusion
Chapter 16.  Building Scalable Applications
Section 16.1.  Coordinating Instances
Section 16.2.  Scalability and Load Balancing
Section 16.3.  Conclusion
Chapter 17.  Network Performance, Latency,and Concurrency
Section 17.1.  Latency
Section 17.2.  Bandwidth
Section 17.3.  Concurrency
Section 17.4.  Conclusion
Chapter 18.  Securing Applications
Section 18.1.  The Three A's: Authentication, Authorization, and Accounting
Section 18.2.  Authentication
Section 18.3.  Authorization
Section 18.4.  Accounting
Section 18.5.  Suggestions and References
Section 18.6.  Conclusion
Index
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D
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5.8. The NetStream and Stream Information Objects

The onStatus( ) method of a client-side NetStream or server-side Stream object is called and passed information objects as significant stream events occur. We've already made use of many of them throughout this chapter. The properties within the information object are more formally described in Table 5-2.

Table 5-2. Information object property names

Property name

Description

clientid

A unique server-side ID for the client

code

A dot-separated string code for the event such as "NetStream.Buffer.Empty"

description

A longer description of the event than provided by the code property

details

The name of the stream

level

The type of messageeither "status" or "error"


The code property values are described in detail in Table 5-3 (all codes start with "NetStream.", which is omitted from the code column). Each entry shows the level value and whether the code applies to the NetStream and/or Stream class.

Table 5-3. Code strings

Code

Level

NetStream

Stream

Comments

Buffer.Empty

status

X

 

The stream buffer is empty. An empty buffer can mean two things on a subscribing stream. If data is not arriving as quickly as it is being played, the buffer will empty and the stream will stop audibly or visually playing until the buffer refills. If the stream has come to the end of the server so that no more data is being sent, the buffer will eventually be emptied, indicating that the stream has finished playing. For a publishing stream, an empty buffer indicates that all the stream data that was waiting in the buffer to be sent to the server has been sent.

Buffer.Full

status

X

 

The stream buffer has reached or exceeded the stream buffer time value in seconds of data. On subscribing streams, a full buffer indicates that a stream has enough stream data in it to begin audibly or visually playing. On a publishing stream, a full buffer indicates that so much data is waiting in the buffer to be sent to the server that the buffer has reached or exceeded the stream's buffer time value.

Clear.Failed

error

 

X

At least one of the stream files to be deleted by application.clearStreams( ) could not be deleted.

Clear.Success

status

 

X

A recorded stream or streams were successfully cleared by the application.clearStreams( ) method.

Failed

error

X

X

An attempt to use a Stream or NetStream method failed for a reason not described by another code value.

Pause.Notify

status

X

 

A subscribing stream has paused playback. See also Unpause.Notify.

Play.Failed

error

X

 

A play( ) request failed for a reason not described by another code value.

Play.PublishNotify

status

X

 

If a live stream is not immediately available when NetStream objects attempt to subscribe to it, they will wait until it is. When the stream is published, all waiting subscribers receive this message.

Play.Reset

status

X

 

All pending play( ) requests have been dropped and the playlist has been reset.

Play.Start

status

X

 

Stream data has started to arrive from the server. This message is received whenever the server starts sending data to a subscribing stream. Examples include when the stream first starts to play and when it begins to play after a seek or pause.

Play.Stop

status

X

 

Stream data has stopped arriving from the server. When subscribed to a recorded stream, this code indicates the server has come to the end of the stream and does not need to send more data.

Play.StreamNotFound

error

X

 

An attempt to subscribe to a recorded stream has failed because the stream file could not be found. This code value will not be returned if the subscribing stream attempts to play a live or recorded stream using a start parameter value of -2 or omits a start parameter value entirely.

Play.UnpublishNotify

status

X

 

When a live stream stops publishing, all subscribers receive this message.

Publish.BadName

error

X

X

The stream could not be published because a live stream with the same name is currently being published.

Publish.Idle

status

X

 

The message is received by a publisher that has not sent any data on the stream for a long time.

Publish.Start

status

X

 

Informs the publisher that the stream is being successfully published to the server.

Record.Failed

error

X

X

The stream could not be recorded for a reason not described by another code value.

Record.NoAccess

error

X

X

The publisher attempted to record a stream without write access.

Record.Start

status

X

X

Recording has started.

Record.Stop

status

X

X

Recording has stopped.

Seek.Failed

error

X

 

A subscriber's attempt to seek to a time in a stream failed.

Seek.Notify

status

X

 

A subscriber's attempt to seek to a time in a stream has succeeded.

Unpause.Notify

status

X

 

The subscriber has resumed playing a paused stream.

Unpublish.Success

status

X

X

Notice to the publisher that the stream has stopped publishing.