Creating a Photo Gallery with Flash and XML: Pt.II

In this tutorial we'll build on that foundation by using our XML file to provide the data for a photo gallery application. The XML file will list the filename and caption for each photo in the gallery, then Flash will extract the information and display it in a movie. We'll load each image as the user requests it so that the photo gallery will run very quickly and users won't have to download all of the images before starting to view pictures.

If you haven't completed the first part of the tutorial, you'll need to understand XML and be able to load an XML file into Flash before you can start this tutorial.  I'm assuming that you know how to enter ActionScript into the Actions panel and that you have some experience at using actions in your Flash movies.

Check also the new Dreamweaver extension Flash Album Generator that will allow to create Flash Galleries quickly and easy!

Creating a Photo Gallery with Flash and XML: Pt. 1

One of the great things about Flash is that you can use it to read information from other programs (such as databases and XML files). That means you can add this content to Flash to create more dynamic movies.

Well in this two-part tutorial we're going to make use of Flash's ability to work with external information, and develop a fully functioning photo gallery that derives it's information from data stored in an XML file.

Using XML can sometimes be a neat alternative to using a database (for instance when you don't have access to a database or an application server). It's also great for Flash movies that will be distributed on a CD-ROM.

In this part of this tutorial, we'll look at XML and some of the rules that you'll need to know to work with XML files. We'll also load an XML file into Flash and display the contents. In the second part we'll use the XML file to display images and captions. Then we'll see how to add categories to the photos in the gallery.

I'm assuming that you know how to enter ActionScript into the Actions panel and that you have some experience at using actions in your Flash movies.

Check also the new Dreamweaver extension Flash Album Generator that will allow to create Flash Galleries quickly and easy!

More ActionScript for Designers

The tutorial showed you how to add actions to the Actions panel and how to use buttons to trigger the commands.  If you're new to ActionScript and haven't completed the Basic ActionScript tutorial, I would recommend reading it before you continue.

In this tutorial, we'll get a bit more adventurous and look at:

• Controlling the appearance of movie clips
• Dragging movie clips
• Loading an external JPEG image into a movie
• Loading an external SWF file into a movie
• Displaying "Quote of the Day" text

Basic ActionScript for Designers

This interactivity can be achieved with ActionScript, the scripting language built into Flash.  So if you already know how to animate within Flash but are looking to develop your skills and add some interactivity to your movies then this tutorial is for you.

We won't be dealing with much theory here - we'll dive straight in and show you how ActionScript can be used to achieve tasks like:

• Controlling the way movies play
• Using buttons
• Opening a Web site from Flash
• Playing and stopping sounds

For the purposes of this tutorial we're going to assume you're familiar with working on the Timeline and creating animations with keyframes. You should also know how to create buttons and movie clips, as well as being able to publish a movie, both within Flash and on a Web page.