
About Flash Communication Server 17
Setting up your development environment
To write Flash Communication Server applications, you must install the Flash MX authoring
software, Flash Communication Server, and the latest Flash Player. If you want to write
applications that capture audio or video, you also need to install a microphone or camera.
Additionally, if your application requires server-side scripts for your Flash Communication Server
applications, you’ll need a UTF-8 JavaScript editor, such as Macromedia Dreamweaver MX. Each
of these elements of the development environment is discussed in this section.
Flash MX authoring software If you haven’t already installed Flash MX, see Getting Started with
Flash Communication Server.
Flash Communication Server software If you haven’t already installed the server, see Getting
Started with Flash Communication Server.
Flash Player Make sure that you are using the latest version of the Flash Player. To download
the latest version, go to the Macromedia Flash Player Download Center
(http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer).
Camera and microphone To install a camera or microphone, follow the instructions that
accompany your device. For a list of cameras that are known to be compatible with Flash
Communication Server, see the documentation on camera compatibility on the Macromedia
website (http://www.macromedia.com/go/camera_compatibility). Cameras that aren’t on this list
may be compatible with Flash Communication Server, but haven’t been tested by Macromedia.
Many cameras contain a built-in microphone. You can also install a separate microphone, or for
best results, a microphone/headset combination.
After you’ve installed your devices, you can specify which camera or microphone Flash should use
by default. Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh) while any Flash MX movie is
playing, choose Settings from the context menu, click the Microphone or Camera panel, and
select your preferred device from the pop-up menu.
Using a JavaScript editor You can use any text editor to write server-side ActionScript code,
which you’ll store in files with an extension of .asc. You may prefer to use software specifically
designed for writing web-based applications, such as Macromedia Dreamweaver MX, which
offers syntax highlighting and code hinting for ASC files.
If you want to include non-ASCII text in your server-side scripts, such as double-byte characters
used in Asian languages, you must use an editor that supports UTF-8 encoding. The Flash
Communication Server requires UTF-8-encoded ASC files in order to pass double-byte
characters from one client to another. For more information on setting up Dreamweaver MX for
double-byte languages, see “Writing double-byte applications” on page 57.
Connecting to the server
To connect to a Flash Communication Server, you first start the service and then issue
new NetConnection and NetConnection.connect commands in your client-side script. These
tasks are discussed briefly in this section. For more detailed information, see the Client-Side
Communication ActionScript Dictionary.
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