Looking to use Firebase with Actionscript 3 / Air - actionscript-3

Question

I have found Firebase, and it looks excellent for javascript / HTML5 usage.
But I was wondering if there is also an Actionscript API?
E.g
var myRootRef = new Firebase('https://myprojectname.firebaseIO-demo.com/');
myRootRef.set('Hello World!');
var dataRef = new Firebase('https://SampleChat.firebaseIO-demo.com/users/fred/name/first');
dataRef.on('value', function(snapshot) {
alert('fred’s first name is ' + snapshot.val());
});
So to set data and have listeners for updated data etc.
Thanks for any help
Matt

Answer 1

Doesn't look like there is an AS3 api available but the good news is that they have a rest api which is cross platform that you can write an AS3 wrapper around. (https://www.firebase.com/docs/rest-api.html) That is what I plan to do. I Want to use it with GameBuilder Studio.

Answer 2

If you are planning on embedding your application inside a web page (that you create) you could use an external javascript interface and communicate to firebase through that.
I'm planning on doing this myself to see how it turns out.

Answer 3

Connecting to Firebase using ActionScript 3 only requires the use of URLRequest and URLLoader. The following examples cover the 4 basic operations (CRUD).
To read data from an specific node from your Firebase database:
private function loadNews():void
{
var request:URLRequest = new URLRequest("https://<YOUR-PROJECT-ID>.firebaseio.com/<Node_to_read>.json");
var loader:URLLoader = new URLLoader();
loader.addEventListener(flash.events.Event.COMPLETE, newsLoaded);
loader.load(request);
}
private function newsLoaded(event:flash.events.Event):void
{
trace(event.currentTarget.data);
var rawData:Object = JSON.parse(event.currentTarget.data);
}
To insert data to a specific node:
private function saveEntry(title:String, description:String):void
{
var myObject:Object = new Object();
myObject.title = title;
myObject.description = description;
myObject.timestamp = new Date().getTime();
var request:URLRequest = new URLRequest("https://<YOUR-PROJECT-ID>.firebaseio.com/<Node_to_insert>.json");
request.data = JSON.stringify(myObject);
request.method = URLRequestMethod.POST;
var loader:URLLoader = new URLLoader();
loader.addEventListener(flash.events.Event.COMPLETE, entrySent);
loader.load(request);
}
private function entrySent(event:flash.events.Event):void
{
trace(event.currentTarget.data);
}
To delete a specific node:
private function deleteEntry():void
{
var header:URLRequestHeader = new URLRequestHeader("X-HTTP-Method-Override", "DELETE");
var request:URLRequest = new URLRequest("https://<YOUR-PROJECT-ID>.firebaseio.com/<Node_to_delete>.json");
request.method = URLRequestMethod.POST;
request.requestHeaders.push(header);
var loader:URLLoader = new URLLoader();
loader.addEventListener(flash.events.Event.COMPLETE, entryDeleted);
loader.load(request);
}
private function entryDeleted(event:flash.events.Event):void
{
trace(event.currentTarget.data);
}
To update/modify data to a specific node:
private function updateEntry(title:String, description:String):void
{
var header:URLRequestHeader = new URLRequestHeader("X-HTTP-Method-Override", "PATCH");
var myObject:Object = new Object();
myObject.title = title;
myObject.description = description;
var request:URLRequest = new URLRequest("https://<YOUR-PROJECT-ID>.firebaseio.com/journal/<Node_to_modify>.json");
request.data = JSON.stringify(myObject);
request.method = URLRequestMethod.POST;
request.requestHeaders.push(header);
var loader:URLLoader = new URLLoader();
loader.addEventListener(flash.events.Event.COMPLETE, entryUpdated);
loader.load(request);
}
private function entryUpdated(event:flash.events.Event):void
{
trace(event.currentTarget.data);
}
If you want further information I have written detailed Firebase REST guides and examples on how to use ActionScript 3 and Firebase.