How to send binary data from AS3 through Java to a filesystem?

Question

I\'ve got XML data in AS3 that needs to be compressed, validated on my Java Google App Engine servlet then saved to a file in Google Cloud Storage. Later that file will be opene

Answer 1

Here is the code that I use to save an xml. I send the data to PHP but I would think it would work the same way for you... I haven't had any trouble with it.

var createXMLURL:URLRequest = new URLRequest("createXML.php");
createXMLURL.method = URLRequestMethod.POST;
var Variables:URLVariables = new URLVariables();
Variables.xmlString = xml.toXMLString();
Variables.filename = filename;
createXMLURL.data = Variables;
var loader:URLLoader = new URLLoader();
loader.dataFormat = "VARIABLES";
loader.addEventListener(Event.COMPLETE, xmlCreated);
loader.load(createXMLURL);

Let me know if you have any questions about what some of the variables are since I did not include their declarations (I think they are pretty easy to figure out).

Now this doesn't send that data in binary format like you were asking for, but I don't know why you wouldn't be able to convert the string to binary once you receive it in java if you really need the raw bytes.

Answer 2

I would base64 encode before you POST if from the client, store it that way in a TextProerty, then base64 decode / decompress when received back at the client. If you want to store it as binary on GAE, then base64 decode it into a Blob. Here are some code snippets I pieced together using your code, and something similar I do using HttpService -- apologies in advance for not extensively proofing it. HTH.

private var _serviceHttp:HTTPService = new HTTPService;

private function postBytes():void {
    var xml:XML = <contents><thing>value</thing></contents>;
    var bytes:ByteArray = new ByteArray();
    bytes.writeObject(xml);
    bytes.position = 0;
    bytes.compress();
    var enc:Base64Encoder = new Base64Encoder();
    enc.encodeBytes(bytes, 0, bytes.length);
    var myObj:Object = new Object();
    myObj["bytes"] = enc.toString();
    // myObj["other_variables"] = your_other_varaibles;
    _serviceHttp.method = "POST";
    _serviceHttp.resultFormat = "flashvars";
    _serviceHttp.url = your_url_here;
    _serviceHttp.addEventListener(ResultEvent.RESULT, urlHandler);
    _serviceHttp.addEventListener(FaultEvent.FAULT, urlErrorHandler);
    _serviceHttp.send(myObj);
}