JPEGencode issue in as3 - actionscript-3

Question

Here is my code. What I m trying to achieve is to be able to capture an image from the the camera and upload it onto a media server but so far I have not been able to encode it succesfully .Can someone please point me in the right direction.
Here is the code
var imagePromise:MediaPromise = event.data;
imageLoader = new Loader();
imageLoader.contentLoaderInfo.addEventListener( Event.COMPLETE, asyncImageLoaded );
imageLoader.addEventListener( IOErrorEvent.IO_ERROR, cameraError );
imageLoader.loadFilePromise( imagePromise );
function asyncImageLoaded(event:Event):void
{
var destination:String = "upload.php";
var now:Date = new Date();
var fileName = "IMG" + now.fullYear + now.month + ".jpg";
var image:Bitmap = Bitmap(imageLoader.content);
var bitmapData:BitmapData = image.bitmapData;
var j = new JPGEncoder(80);
var bytes:ByteArray = j.encode(bitmapData);
}
This is the error I get when i try to encode the image
TypeError: Error #1009: Cannot access a property or method of a null object reference.

Answer 1

which line? 1009 means you're trying to access a variable of something that is NULL. I'm guessing in this case, it's probably the line:
var image:Bitmap = Bitmap(imageLoader.content);
Try adding this:
if (imageLoader.content is Bitmap) {
var image:Bitmap = Bitmap(imageLoader.content);
} else {
throw new Error("What the heck bob?");
}
If it's an error, I bet the content was not decoded properly (which could mean a mime-type that wasn't image/jpg)
Additionally, you could probably use the native jpeg encoder for speed: (flash 11 i believe?)
var byteArray:ByteArray = new ByteArray();
bitmapData.encode(new Rectangle(0,0,640,480), new flash.display.JPEGEncoderOptions(), byteArray);
http://help.adobe.com/en_US/as3/dev/WS4768145595f94108-17913eb4136eaab51c7-8000.html