Question

All,

I’m trying to find out, unambiguously, what method (GET or POST) Flash/AS2 uses with XML.sendAndLoad.

Here’s what the help/docs (http://livedocs.adobe.com/flash/9.0/main/wwhelp/wwhimpl/common/html/wwhelp.htm?context=LiveDocs_Parts&file=00002340.html) say about the function

Encodes the specified XML object into
an XML document, sends it to the
specified URL using the POST method,
downloads the server’s response, and
loads it into the resultXMLobject
specified in the parameters.

However, I’m using this method to send XML data to a Java Servlet developed and maintained by another team of developers. And they’re seeing log entries that look like this:

GET /portal/delegate/[someService]?svc=setPayCheckInfo&XMLStr=[an encoded version of the XML I send]

After a Google search to figure out why the POST shows up as a GET in their log, I found this Adobe technote (http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/159/tn_15908.html). Here’s what it says:

When loadVariables or getURL actions are
used to send data to Java servlets it
can appear that the data is being sent
using a GET request, when the POST
method was specified in the Flash
movie.

This happens because Flash sends the
data in a GET/POST hybrid format. If
the data were being sent using a GET
request, the variables would appear in
a query string appended to the end of
the URL. Flash uses a GET server
request, but the Name/Value pairs
containing the variables are sent in a
second transmission using POST.
Although this causes the servlet to
trigger the doGet() method, the
variables are still available in the
server request.

I don’t really understand that. What is a “GET/POST hybrid format”?

Why does the method Flash uses (POST or GET) depend on whether the data is sent to a Java servlet or elsewhere (e.g., a PHP page?)

Can anyone make sense of this? Many thanks in advance!

Cheers,
Matt

Answer 1

Have you try doing something like that :

var sendVar=new LoadVars();
var xml=new XML("<r>test</r>");
sendVar.xml=xml;
sendVar.svc="setPayCheckInfo";

var receiveXML=new XML();
function onLoad(success) {
    if (success) {
        trace("receive:"+receiveXML);
    } else {
        trace('error');
    }
}
receiveXML.onLoad=onLoad;
sendVar.sendAndLoad("http://mywebserver", receiveXML, "POST");