Using HTTPService tag to send/receive variables to a server-side script

The following example demonstrates a very simple usage of sending parameters from Flex to a server-side script (written in ColdFusion) and then displaying the server response in our Flex application. The server-side script is a simple echo/”Hello world” type script, but it accepts URL or FORM variables, so you can send using the GET or POST HTTP-method.

It’s a pretty basic/crude example, but maybe it helps somebody out there.

Full code after the jump.

View MXML

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<!-- http://blog.flexexamples.com/2007/08/16/using-httpservice-tag-to-sendreceive-variables-to-a-server-side-script/ -->
<mx:Application xmlns:mx="http://www.adobe.com/2006/mxml"
        layout="vertical"
        creationComplete="httpService.send(myObj);">

    <!-- Parameters to send to remote script. -->
    <mx:Object id="myObj" name="peterd" />

    <mx:HTTPService id="httpService"
            url="http://www.flash-mx.com/mm/greeting.cfm"
            method="POST"
            resultFormat="flashvars" />

    <mx:Label text="{httpService.lastResult.welcomeMessage}" />

</mx:Application>

View source is enabled in the following example.

By popular request, here is the ColdFusion source code as well.

http://www.flash-mx.com/mm/greeting.cfm

<cfsilent>
<cfsetting enablecfoutputonly="Yes">
<cfif IsDefined("URL.name")><cfset Form.Name = URL.name /></cfif>
<cfif NOT IsDefined("Form.name") OR Len(Trim(Form.Name)) EQ 0>
    <cfset Form.Name = "[Mysterious Stranger]" />
</cfif>
</cfsilent><cfcontent reset="true" /><cfoutput>welcomeMessage=#UrlEncodedFormat("Welcome, "&Form.name)#</cfoutput>
<cfsetting enablecfoutputonly="No">