AS3 Adobe AIR: Return xml string - actionscript-3

Question

I'm working in Flash CS6 with Adobe AIR 3.3 (for iOS) and having trouble returning an XML string to a textField.
It is tracing the proper information, and I've tried a few ways to return the trace but can't seem to quite get it... Here is my most recent try. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance.
var myLoader:URLLoader = new URLLoader();
myLoader.load(new URLRequest("http://www.someURL.php"));
//php file that echos xml
myLoader.addEventListener(Event.COMPLETE, init);
var fadedText:TextField;
var touchList:TouchList;
var textOutput:TextField;
var animateLeft:Tween;
var listArray:Array;
var item:TouchListItemRenderer;
var theXML:XML;
var days:Array = new Array("monday", "tuesday", "wednesday", "thursday", "friday", "saturday", "sunday");
var daySelected;
var businessNameArray:Array = new Array();
var businessLogoArray:Array = new Array();
var businessAddress:Array = new Array();
var distanceArrayDisplay:Array = new Array();
var distanceArrayCount = 0;
function init(e:Event = null):void
{
trace(myLoader.data);
theXML = new XML(e.target.data);
theXML.ignoreWhitespace = true;
myLoader.close();
// add our list and listener
var itemSizeCalculator = stage.stageHeight / 6;
touchList = new TouchList(stage.stageWidth, stage.stageHeight-itemSizeCalculator);
touchList.addEventListener(ListItemEvent.ITEM_SELECTED, handlelistItemSelected);
addChild(touchList);
touchList.x = stage.stageWidth;
// Fill our list with item rendreres that extend ITouchListRenderer.
for(var i:int = 0; i < theXML.food.length(); i++) {
if(theXML.food[i].monday != "un")
{
item = new TouchListItemRenderer();
item.index = i;
item.data = theXML.food[i].business;
item.name = theXML.food[i].business;
item.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, itemWasClicked);
item.itemHeight = itemSizeCalculator;
businessNameArray[i]= theXML.food[i].business;
businessLogoArray[i]=("http://www.logosURL.com/"+theXML.food[i].logo);
businessAddress[i]= theXML.food[i].address;
var fadedTextFormat:TextFormat = new TextFormat();
fadedTextFormat.bold = true;
fadedTextFormat.color = 0x999999;
fadedTextFormat.size = 14;
fadedTextFormat.font = "Helvetica";
fadedText = new TextField();
fadedText.height = 30;
fadedText.mouseEnabled = false;
fadedText.defaultTextFormat = fadedTextFormat;
item.addChild(fadedText);
fadedText.x = 75;
fadedText.y = 10;
distanceArrayDisplay.push(fadedText);
var distanceLoader:URLLoader = new URLLoader();
distanceLoader.load(new URLRequest("http://maps.googleapis.com&origins=someAddress&destinations="+businessAddress[i]+"&mode=walking&language=en-en&sensor=false"));
distanceLoader.addEventListener(Event.COMPLETE, distanceCalculated);
var logoLoader:Loader = new Loader();
item.addChild(logoLoader);
var logoURL:URLRequest = new URLRequest("http://www.myLogos.com/"+theXML.food[i].logo);
logoLoader.load(logoURL);
logoLoader.scaleX = .4;
logoLoader.scaleY = .4;
logoLoader.y = logoLoader.y + 5;
logoLoader.mouseEnabled = false;
var arrowGraphic:rightArrow = new rightArrow();
item.addChild(arrowGraphic);
arrowGraphic.x = stage.stageWidth - 5;
arrowGraphic.y = item.height/2;
touchList.addListItem(item);
}
}
}
function distanceCalculated(e:Event)
{
// trace(e.currentTarget.data);
var distanceXML:XML = new XML(e.target.data);
distanceXML.ignoreWhitespace = true;
var returnVar:String = (distanceXML.row.element.distance.text);
distanceArrayDisplay[distanceArrayCount].text = returnVar;
trace(returnVar);
distanceArrayCount++;
}

Answer 1

I am guessing that you are correctly reading the first XML, and that XML has a list of URLs that you want to load and then display some info from those on TextFields. Without knowing the structure of that XML I can't suggest you any working code, but I can point you on the right direction. For more info on reading/iterating XML on flash as3, please read: http://www.kirupa.com/developer/flashcs3/using_xml_as3_pg1.htm
//iterator var
var xml_read:uint=0;
//array of textfields for reference
var array_textFields:Array;
//config XML complete
function init(e:Event = null):void
{
array_textFields = new Array();
theXML = new XML(e.target.data);
theXML.ignoreWhitespace = true;
//this depends on the XML structure, please look at the article I linked
//for more info on how to iterate an XML
var i:uint=0;
for(someUrl in theXML..url)
{
var fadedText:TextField = new TextField();
//you should place each Textfield on different coord, otherwise
//they will all stack on top of each other and you will only see one
//for example:
fadedText.y = (fadedText.height+10)*i;
item.addChild(fadedText);
array_textFields.push(fadedText);
var distanceLoader:URLLoader = new URLLoader();
distanceLoader.load(new URLRequest(someUrl));
distanceLoader.addEventListener(Event.COMPLETE, distanceCalculated);
i++;
}
}
function distanceCalculated(e:Event):void
{
var distanceXML:XML = new XML(e.target.data);
distanceXML.ignoreWhitespace = true;
//retrieve information
var returnVar:String = (distanceXML.row.element.distance.text);
//set to textfield
TextField(array_textFields[xml_read]) = returnVar;
//increase iterator
xml_read++;
}
Please bear in mind that in ActionScript3, all network I/O is asynchronous. Usually EventListener functions don't return any value because you don't know when the data is ready. What you do is store a reference to where you want the data to go (in your case, a TextField variable) when the EventListener function is called asynchronously.