Sorry, one very important typo in my example. This line should include the
string in quotes so it's not interpreted as an object that will then be
processed like you are seeing and you lose the order:
> httpService.send({ \"otherParameters\": \"Other Random Misc Data\",
> \"lastParameter\": \"LastOne\", \"firstParameter\": \"firstOne\", \"amount\":
> 100 });
Should be:
> httpService.send("{ \"otherParameters\": \"Other Random Misc Data\",
> \"lastParameter\": \"LastOne\", \"firstParameter\": \"firstOne\", \"amount\":
> 100 }");
And I agree with Javier, that servers should never rely on HTTP request
parameter order, either in URL query params or in a collection of params sent
in the body of a request. They should be specifically expecting "named"
parameters and parsed accordingly. Your solution may be as simple as just
eliminating that dependency on the server if you have access. Of course if you
don't have any way to change the server endpoint logic then I suggest you
breakpoint code and examine the contents of the payload after it processes your
parameters and reproduce that with direct assignment of the body as text but in
the order you want.
Erik
> On Jul 6, 2017, at 7:47 AM, Erik J. Thomas <e...@linqto.com> wrote:
>
> Hey Jeffry:
>
> I may be missing something in my understanding of your problem, but are you
> trying to send a body of parameters in the request payload? If so, I suggest
> you adopt a JSON or plain text approach, and build your params into the
> body/payload in the order you want by just building the string:
>
> // JSON approach
> httpService.contentType = "application/json";
> httpService.send({ \"otherParameters\": \"Other Random Misc Data\",
> \"lastParameter\": \"LastOne\", \"firstParameter\": \"firstOne\", \"amount\":
> 100 });
>
> The server endpoint will of course need to know how to parse the JSON, but
> your order will be preserved in the body of the request.
>
> Another approach could be just to send the entire parameter string as you
> want it as the payload/body by just directly assigning it:
>
> httpService.contentType = "text/html";
> httpService.send("otherParameters=Other Random Misc
> Data&lastParameter=LastOne&firstParameter=firstOne&amount=100");
>
> And parse the params on the server.
>
> I so often have to bypass some of the cool functionality Flex provides to
> save me code when dealing with REST communication but with HTTP
> communication, everything is possible, since in the end an HTTP request is an
> HTTP request, it's generic, and unless your server cannot be changed to deal
> with a generic HTTP request (just treat the payload/body however you want)
> you can do anything you want by just building your requests without depending
> on utility classes. Sure you may have to write 5 more lines of code on the
> server, but that's often a lot easier than trying to fix something Flex
> doesn't do for you OOTB.
>
> Erik
>
>> On Jul 4, 2017, at 7:55 AM, Jeffry Houser <jef...@dot-com-it.com
>> <mailto:jef...@dot-com-it.com>> wrote:
>>
>> Hi Everyone,
>>
>> I'm updating a Point of Sale system that was built with Flex and AIR using
>> the Cairngorm framework.
>>
>> The code integrates with a custom server provided by my client's payment
>> processor vendor. Part of their requirement is that parameters be form
>> posted to their server in a specific order. The Apache Flex framework does
>> not appear to retain the parameter order of the object's parameters. Has
>> anyone run into this before?
>>
>> More specifics, with code:
>>
>> 1) Service object set up in the Cairngorm Services.mxml:
>>
>> <mx:HTTPService id="service"
>> showBusyCursor="false"
>> requestTimeout="240"
>> method="post"
>> contentType="application/x-www-form-urlencoded"
>> url="http://localhost.:16448/ <http://localhost.:16448/>"
>> resultFormat="e4x"
>> />
>>
>> 2) Create Parameter object and call service method; this is done in a
>> Cairngorm Delegate:
>>
>> var parameters : Object = new Object();
>> parameters.firstParameter = "firstOne";
>> parameters .amount = 100;
>> parameters .otherParameters = "Other Random Misc Data";
>> parameters.lastParameter = "LastOne";
>>
>> Then make the call:
>>
>> var call : Object = this.service.send(parameters);
>> call.addResponder( this.responder );
>>
>> 3) Flex Framework class mx.rpc.httpAbstractOperation, starting around line
>> 862. This appears to loop over properties using classinfo.properties .
>> This seems to get an alphabetical list of properties from my object and add
>> them to the paramsToSend object:
>>
>>
>> else if (ctype == CONTENT_TYPE_FORM)
>> {
>> paramsToSend = {};
>> var val:Object;
>>
>> if (typeof(parameters) == "object")
>> {
>> //get all dynamic and all concrete properties from the
>> parameters object
>> var classinfo:Object = ObjectUtil.getClassInfo(parameters);
>>
>> for each (var p:* in classinfo.properties)
>> {
>> val = parameters[p];
>> if (val != null)
>> {
>> if (val is Array)
>> paramsToSend[p] = val;
>> else
>> paramsToSend[p] = val.toString();
>> }
>> }
>> }
>> else
>> {
>> paramsToSend = parameters;
>> }
>> }
>>
>> 4) Looking at the raw data in the Flash Builder Network Monitor; the final
>> request doesn't have the parameters in alphabetical order.
>>
>> otherParameters=Other%20Random%20Misc%20Data&lastParameter=LastOne&firstParameter=firstOne&amount=100
>>
>> With this small sample it appears that the parameters are in reverse
>> alphabetical order, but with the actual request data they are in a seemingly
>> random--but always consistent--order.
>>
>>
>> -------
>>
>> Thanks for reading this far. My first attempt at a solution was to create
>> the POST parameter string manually and use that as the parameter object.
>> However in that case the body of the POST request was blank when reviewing
>> it in the service monitor.
>>
>> So, has anyone run into this before? What was your solution?
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>>
>> Jeffry Houser
>> Technical Entrepreneur
>> http://www.dot-com-it.com <http://www.dot-com-it.com/>
>> http://www.jeffryhouser.com
>> 203-379-0773
>>
>>
>
