Robin for Flash Launches to Help Designers and Developers Create Flexible Multiuser Applications with Adobe Flash and PHP

Robin lets you code flexible Flash real time applications like multiuser games, shared whiteboards and chats.  Robin is a custom AS3 class for Adobe Flash combined with a turnkey PHP socket system.  Please see the VIDEO and the sample CODE.

You only need to code in Flash ActionScript

Robin works on a simple principle.  You save properties such as your x and y position and you get to read other people’s properties such as their x and y positions.

FEATURES

• Any number of application names
• Unlimited users or specify how many people per “room”
• History data for new people joining your application
• Shared unique data available as an array
• Optionally let new users fill in for users who have left
• Get the latest updated property values at any time

If you are familiar with the Flash Media Server, the “latest property value” works like a shared remote object.

Robin’s strength is that, unlike a shared remote object in the Flash Media Server, you have control of everyone’s unique properties simply through an array.  So if you are saving a name property in a chat, you can access everyone else’s name property as:

["Dan Zen", "Colin Moock", "Nonoba", "AMFPHP" "RED5"]

When people update their text,  an event is triggered and this array is updated.

Robin has a host of other methods and properties but really, it just takes a couple lines of code to make use of its power.  Three samples are provided in the download:

• a sample chat showing the history multi-room features
• a multiuser game with avatars under unique control
• a shared ball where anyone can move the ball

There is no back end PHP coding

You just set up PHP and set your Server address in the setUp.php file.  There is a simple admin system that lets you start your socket server.  All the tricky code has been written to provide real time data to the Robin Flash class. We suggest that you start Robin with a cron job although precautions are in place to restart the socket server should it stop.  Details are provided in the readme.txt in the Download ZIP.

FRIENDS AND DONATIONS
Please let us know if you use Robin and we will add you to the Friends area at left.  If you use Robin for a commercial venture and would care to donate that would be super!

FEATHERS
Robin is one of a selection of open source solutions called Flash Feathers available at http://flashfeathers.wordpress.com.

Dan Zen

-09-