[flexcoders] Beyond Confused (Please Help)- Flex 2 Beta 2 - HTTPService & XML

[David Terry]

Hello everyone,
 
First off, thank you for reading 
this post and helping me understand 
this issue.  I am new to 
ActionScript coding but I’ve taken a very 
serious interest in RIA development 
using Flex.
 
Okay on to my issue.  I truly don’t understand how Flex reads 
XML out of an HTTPService.  At times 
when trying to bind the data I only see [object Object].  Other times I see what I need to 
display.  So…  For us newbie’s how about we hack this 
out.
 
I’m using SQLXML IIS with XML 
Templates to return my SQL 
data using the FOR XML option in the select statement.  SQLXML IIS allows me to access my SQL 
Server via HTTP using various methods – I decided to use XML Templates for 
security issues.  

 
XML Template 
Example
------------------------------------------
<?xml version="1.0" 
encoding="UTF-8"?>
<ROOT 
xmlns:sql="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:xml-sql">
    
<sql:query>
SELECT Employee.FirstName as 
FirstName, Employee.FirstName as label, Employee.LastName as LastName, 
SalesTerritory.Name as Territory,
SalesPerson.TerritoryID as 
TerritoryID, SalesPerson.SalesPersonID as SalesPersionID
          
FROM SalesPerson INNER JOIN
Employee ON 
SalesPerson.SalesPersonID = Employee.EmployeeID INNER JOIN
          
SalesTerritory ON SalesPerson.TerritoryID = 
SalesTerritory.TerritoryID
          
ORDER BY SalesTerritory.Name
          
FOR XML AUTO, ELEMENTS
    
</sql:query>
</ROOT>
 
I assume we all know TSQL but here 
is a little refresher on the FOR XML method.  FOR XML returns XML from SQL Server in 
various formats.
 
FOR XML RAW - Returns
------------------------------------------
  <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" 
?> 
- <ROOT 
xmlns:sql="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:xml-sql">
  <row FirstName="Lynn" label="Lynn" LastName="Tsoflias" 
Territory="Australia" TerritoryID="9" 
SalesPersionID="36" /> 
  <row FirstName="José" label="José" 
LastName="Saraiva" Territory="Canada" TerritoryID="6" 
SalesPersionID="31" />
  </ROOT>
 
FOR XML AUTO – Returns
------------------------------------------
  <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" 
?> 
- <ROOT 
xmlns:sql="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:xml-sql">
- <Employee 
FirstName="Lynn" 
label="Lynn" LastName="Tsoflias">
- <SalesTerritory Territory="Australia" label="Australia">
  <SalesPerson TerritoryID="9" 
label="9" SalesPersionID="36" /> 
  
</SalesTerritory>
  </Employee>
  </ROOT>
 
FOR XML AUTO, ELEMENTS – 
Returns
------------------------------------------
  <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" 
?> 
- <ROOT 
xmlns:sql="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:xml-sql">
- 
<Employee>
  <FirstName>Lynn</FirstName> 

  <label>Lynn</label> 

  
<LastName>Tsoflias</LastName> 
- 
<SalesTerritory>
  <Territory>Australia</Territory> 

  <label>Australia</label> 

- 
<SalesPerson>
  <TerritoryID>9</TerritoryID> 

  <label>9</label> 

  
<SalesPersionID>36</SalesPersionID> 
  
</SalesPerson>
  
</SalesTerritory>
  </Employee>
  </ROOT>
 
Okay with that said here is what I 
am trying to do.
 
I want to databind a control (DataGrid and Tree in these 
examples) with the results.  
Here is my Flex code.
 
<mx:HTTPService  
    id="rawXML" 
resultFormat="object"
    
url=""
    useProxy="false" 
showBusyCursor="true" />
 
<mx:DataGrid 
dataProvider="{rawXML.result}">
  <mx:columns>
          
<mx:DataGridColumn headerText="First Name" 
dataField="FirstName"/>
          
<mx:DataGridColumn headerText="Last Name" 
dataField="LastName"/>
          
<mx:DataGridColumn headerText="Territory" 
dataField="Territory"/>
  
</mx:columns>
</mx:DataGrid>
 
Now…  This fails (I don’t see any 
results), but if I place the results in a 
Text…
 
<mx:Text 
text="{rawXML.result}"/>
 I get [object 
Object]
 
If I change the code to 
<mx:Text text="{rawXML.result.ROOT}"/>
It still displays [object 
Object].  
 
But, changing it to <mx:Text 
text="{rawXML.result.ROOT.root}"/> returns many [object Object] 
values.
 
Using a dataProvider of 
dataProvider="{rawXML.result.ROOT.root}" in the DataGrid returns the results I 
expect, but lets say I was using the FOR XML AUTO, ELEMENTS data with the 
dataProvider of dataProvider="{rawXML.result.ROOT.Employee}" I also get data, 
BUT I can’t get the Territory data.  
It seems I only have access to the Employee node of the tree and not 
children nodes.
 
Hold on to that 
though…
 
Lets try using a Tree control with 
the dataProvider set to dataProvider="{rawXML.result.ROOT.Employee}" using the 
FOR XML AUTO, ELEMENTS data.
 
<mx:Tree 
dataProvider="{rawXML.result.ROOT.Employee}" />
 
Now based on the examples I’ve seen I should have seen a Tree that looks 
kind of like…
 
Employee
          
Territory
                   
ID
 
BUT…  It seems I have the same problem as the 
DataGrid and can only see the Employee level of the XML.
 
I have no idea what I am doing 
wrong.  
 
My Questions
---------------------------------
How does Flex handle 
XML?
Why doesn’t Flex understand the 
XML?
Am I doing something 
wrong?
Do I need to convert the data into 
something?
Am I missing a 
step?
 
ANY help would be GREATLY 
appreciated.
 
Many thanks,
~David T.
 
 
 
 





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