Data display concepts

[Mark Richards]

Looking to see if the following is possible and for experienced Flash and Data
Integration folks to comment on what techniques they might use to accomplish it:

Our product provides HVAC systems monitoring in "near real time". Data is
gathered from remote sites, sent to our servers, is processed into a (very
large) MySQL database, and then results are provided on static web pages in the
forms of plots and reports.

We'd like, in a new type of presentation, to display a graphical schematic of
the various monitoring points in a system (a simplified diagram of pipes, a
pump, valves, etc) and display certain measurements with baloon-like callouts
on the graphic. Certain system states, such as flow (and flow direction) would
be nice to animate as well.

Ideally, as the data changes, the client would maintain a connection to the
server and update its values "on the fly". In another scenario, the page would
refresh every minute or so, displaying state changes. The first process has
usually been relegated to the world of client-side applications, but as I
understand Flash, it may actually be possible.

I'm a programmer, not an artist. So we have someone making nice tiff drawings
of various pieces which, my experiments in Flash show, can easily be used. My
goal is to put the graphic pieces together in the Flash tool and build the
hooks (or whatever) so that the dynamic data is displayed.

How would you go about this task? Is Flash the best tool to use? If any
special server-side component is needed, will it run on a Linux box? Will the
client side work on most browsers? (We cannot be limited to just IE).

Maybe this is biting off more than one can chew in a few weeks (which is about
how much time I have).

Suggestions warmly invited.

[Nancy Gill]

I'm not the expert you probably seek, Mark .. but I surely believe this
could be done in Flash .. and if you're going for cross browser integration,
surely Flash is the tool to use since everything looks the same in the Flash
player. This would also be a good application for Flex, although I realize
the cost is sometimes prohibitive.

Since you're using MySql already, I would code the server side with PHP and
bind the data to Flash that way. Just a suggestion .. like I said .. not
the expert you probably seek.


--
Nancy Gill
Team Macromedia Volunteer for Dreamweaver MX/UltraDev
[url]http://www.macromedia.com/go/team/[/url]
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"Mark Richards" <mark.richards@massmicro.com> wrote in message
news:ds12in$mvj$1@forums.macromedia.com...

> Looking to see if the following is possible and for experienced Flash and
> Data
> Integration folks to comment on what techniques they might use to
> accomplish it:
>
> Our product provides HVAC systems monitoring in "near real time". Data is
> gathered from remote sites, sent to our servers, is processed into a (very
> large) MySQL database, and then results are provided on static web pages
> in the
> forms of plots and reports.
>
> We'd like, in a new type of presentation, to display a graphical schematic
> of
> the various monitoring points in a system (a simplified diagram of pipes,
> a
> pump, valves, etc) and display certain measurements with baloon-like
> callouts
> on the graphic. Certain system states, such as flow (and flow direction)
> would
> be nice to animate as well.
>
> Ideally, as the data changes, the client would maintain a connection to
> the
> server and update its values "on the fly". In another scenario, the page
> would
> refresh every minute or so, displaying state changes. The first process
> has
> usually been relegated to the world of client-side applications, but as I
> understand Flash, it may actually be possible.
>
> I'm a programmer, not an artist. So we have someone making nice tiff
> drawings
> of various pieces which, my experiments in Flash show, can easily be used.
> My
> goal is to put the graphic pieces together in the Flash tool and build the
> hooks (or whatever) so that the dynamic data is displayed.
>
> How would you go about this task? Is Flash the best tool to use? If any
> special server-side component is needed, will it run on a Linux box? Will
> the
> client side work on most browsers? (We cannot be limited to just IE).
>
> Maybe this is biting off more than one can chew in a few weeks (which is
> about
> how much time I have).
>
> Suggestions warmly invited.
>
>