ActionScript 2.0 Language Reference
ActionScript classes > XMLSocket > connect (XMLSocket.connect method)

connect (XMLSocket.connect method)

Establishes a connection to the specified Internet host using the specified TCP port (must be 1024 or higher), and returns true or false, depending on whether a connection is successfully established. If you do not know the port number of your Internet host computer, contact your network administrator.

If you specify null for the host parameter, the host contacted is the one where the SWF file calling XMLSocket.connect() resides. For example, if the SWF file was downloaded from www.yoursite.com, specifying null for the host parameter is the same as entering the IP address for www.yoursite.com.

In SWF files running in a version of the player earlier than Flash Player 7, host must be in the same superdomain as the SWF file that is issuing this call. For example, a SWF file at www.someDomain.com can load variables from a SWF file at store.someDomain.com because both files are in the same superdomain of someDomain.com.

In SWF files of any version running in Flash Player 7 or later, host must be in exactly the same domain. For example, a SWF file at www.someDomain.com that is published for Flash Player 5, but is running in Flash Player 7 or later can load variables only from SWF files that are also at www.someDomain.com. If you want to load variables from a different domain, you can place a cross-domain policy file on the server hosting the SWF file that is being accessed.

When load() is executed, the XML object property loaded is set to false. When the XML data finishes downloading, the loaded property is set to true, and the onLoad event handler is invoked. The XML data is not parsed until it is completely downloaded. If the XML object previously contained any XML trees, they are discarded.

If XMLSocket.connect() returns a value of true, the initial stage of the connection process is successful; later, the XMLSocket.onConnect method is invoked to determine whether the final connection succeeded or failed. If XMLSocket.connect() returns false, a connection could not be established.

When using this method, consider the Flash Player security model.

• For Flash Player 8, the XMLSocket.connect() method is not allowed if the calling SWF file is in the local-with-file-system sandbox.
• For Flash Player 7 and later, websites can permit access to a resource from requesters in different domains by deploying a cross-domain policy file.

For more information, see the following:

• "Understanding Security" in Learning ActionScript 2.0 in Flash
• The Flash Player 9 Security white paper at http://www.adobe.com/go/fp9_0_security
• The Flash Player 8 Security-Related API white paper at http://www.adobe.com/go/fp8_security_apis

Availability: ActionScript 1.0; Flash Player 5 - Behavior changed in Flash Player 7.

Parameters

url:String - String; a fully qualified DNS domain name or an IP address in the form aaa.bbb.ccc.ddd. You can also specify null to connect to the host server on which the SWF file resides. If the SWF file issuing this call is running in a web browser, host must be in the same domain as the SWF file; for details, see the information about domain restrictions for SWF files in the main description of this method.

port:Number - A number; the TCP port number on the host used to establish a connection. The port number must be 1024 or greater.

Returns

Boolean - true if the connection is successful; false otherwise.

Example

The following example uses XMLSocket.connect() to connect to the host where the SWF file resides and uses trace to display the return value indicating the success or failure of the connection:

var socket:XMLSocket = new XMLSocket()
socket.onConnect = function (success:Boolean) {
    if (success) {
    trace ("Connection succeeded!")
    } else {
    trace ("Connection failed!")
    }
}
if (!socket.connect(null, 2000)) {
    trace ("Connection failed!")
}

See also

onConnect (XMLSocket.onConnect handler), function statement

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