Flash parser for html

Question

Hi all,

As I was working on this project for a friend of mine who is terrified of changing from HTML to flash, I realized that maybe there could be a bridge between them. So I started working on a flash project that would grab the HTML from his page and parse it to display it in flash. Although I am sure there are resources available for this already, I figured that the experts on SO might be willing to suffer through the logic of one user trying to develop this script.

So basically, I am not asking for an answer, I am asking for some step-by-step direction that could be posted so other people could see the logic behind breaking down this project. I think it would be really useful (not just for me, but for anyone wanting to learn more about objects and oop).

So, much like the thread between primarily Senocular and Rampage, this would be a thread where I would be the student asking the questions in a logical step-by-step manner and someone else (or someones else) could provide guidance.

Let me know if you are interested and I can start by posting what I have already written. We can go from there and I am sure it will prove insightful to anyone who reads it. If no one is interested, or no one has the time or inclination, no problem.

Best wishes,

Jase

Answer 1

Goole Search retrieved these:

1. HTMLWrapper
2. Groe.org HTMLParser

There is an article about the 1st on *drawlogic. I think the seconds' home is on sourceforge here.

Answer 2

Who in their right mind would change from html to flash for displaying a simple website? I don't see the logic behind it, it's more like you are trying too hard. Flash has its function in the web, as well as html does. If it's just for simple displaying, using flash is just the wrong way and won't make your website any better but worse because its loading time will be too long.

Answer 3

Thing is, browsers already do a fine job at parsing html code. Having the flash player parse html files not only does away with any accessibility advantage your markup can offer but it also feels like reinventing the wheel. If you need to display html content, leave it to the browser.

Answer 4

Slightly offtopic - Flashpaper can convert most HTML pages into swf format.

Answer 5

Given properly "disciplined" HTML, you can use the XML parser in the player for the basic parsing. Are you really talking about writing an HTML renderer in Flash though? Or just being able to pull information from HTML dynamically?