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E4X in ActionScript 3

E4X stands for ECMAScript for XML. (ActionScript is an implementation of ECMAScript.)

E4X is a Document Object Model (DOM) interface for XML. E4X makes XML a first-class citizen in ActionScript.

   var xmlAlbum:XML = 
      <album name="Sky Blue Sky" artist="Wilco">
         <tracks>
            <track name="Either Way" seconds="187"/>
            <track name="You Are My Face" seconds="278"/>
            <track name="Impossible Germany" seconds="358"/>
            <track name="Sky Blue Sky" seconds="203"/>
            <track name="Side With The Seeds" seconds="256"/>
            <track name="Shake It Off" seconds="342"/>
            <track name="Please Be Patient With Me" seconds="199"/>
            <track name="Hate It Here" seconds="273"/>
            <track name="Leave Me (Like You Found Me)" seconds=""/>
            <track name="Walken" seconds="267"/>
            <track name="What Light" seconds="216"/>
            <track name="On And On And On" seconds=""/>
         </tracks>
      </album>

Notice in the example that you are not wrapping the XML in quotes or treating it as a string. Just type the XML as a literal.

Of course you can turn a string into XML, and back:

   // turn a string into XML
   var xmlPerson:XML = XML( "<person><firstName>Jeff</firstName><lastName>Tweedy</lastName></person>" );
   
   // turn XML into a string
   var personStr:String = xmlPerson.toXMLString();

E4X classes in the "Top Level" package:

  • XML - methods for an XML element (could be a document)
  • XMLList - methods for a list of XML elements
  • QName - (see ActionScript documentation for more information)
  • Namespace - (see ActionScript documentation for more information)

More

Learn more about working with XML in ActionScript...

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