Packageflash.net
Classpublic class FileReference
InheritanceFileReference Inheritance EventDispatcher Inheritance Object
Subclasses File

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Runtime Versions: Flash Player 9, AIR 1.0

The FileReference class provides a means to upload and download files between a user's computer and a server. An operating-system dialog box prompts the user to select a file to upload or a location for download. Each FileReference object refers to a single file on the user's disk and has properties that contain information about the file's size, type, name, creation date, modification date, and creator type (Macintosh only).

Note: In Adobe AIR, the File class, which extends the FileReference class, provides more capabilities and has less security restrictions than the FileReference class.

FileReference instances are created in the following ways:

During an upload operation, all the properties of a FileReference object are populated by calls to the FileReference.browse() or FileReferenceList.browse() methods. During a download operation, the name property is populated when the select event is dispatched; all other properties are populated when the complete event is dispatched.

The browse() method opens an operating-system dialog box that prompts the user to select a file for upload. The FileReference.browse() method lets the user select a single file; the FileReferenceList.browse() method lets the user select multiple files. After a successful call to the browse() method, call the FileReference.upload() method to upload one file at a time. The FileReference.download() method prompts the user for a location to save the file and initiates downloading from a remote URL.

The FileReference and FileReferenceList classes do not let you set the default file location for the dialog box that the browse() or download() methods generate. The default location shown in the dialog box is the most recently browsed folder, if that location can be determined, or the desktop. The classes do not allow you to read from or write to the transferred file. They do not allow the SWF file that initiated the upload or download to access the uploaded or downloaded file or the file's location on the user's disk.

The FileReference and FileReferenceList classes also do not provide methods for authentication. With servers that require authentication, you can download files with the Flash® Player browser plug-in, but uploading (on all players) and downloading (on the stand-alone or external player) fails. Listen for FileReference events to determine whether operations complete successfully and to handle errors.

For content running in Flash Player or for content running in Adobe AIR outside of the application security sandbox, uploading and downloading operations can access files only within its own domain and within any domains that a URL policy file specifies. Put a policy file on the file server if the content initiating the upload or download doesn't come from the same domain as the file server.

Note that because of new functionality added to the Flash Player, when publishing to Flash Player 10, you can have only one of the following operations active at one time: FileReference.browse(), FileReference.upload(), FileReference.download(), FileReference.load(), FileReference.save(). Otherwise, Flash Player throws a runtime error (code 2174). Use FileReference.cancel() to stop an operation in progress. This restriction applies only to Flash Player 10. Previous versions of Flash Player are unaffected by this restriction on simultaneous multiple operations.

While calls to the FileReference.browse(), FileReferenceList.browse(), or FileReference.download() methods are executing, SWF file playback pauses in stand-alone and external versions of Flash Player and in AIR for Linux and Mac OS X 10.1 and earlier

The following sample HTTP POST request is sent from Flash Player to a server-side script if no parameters are specified:

  POST /handler.cfm HTTP/1.1 
  Accept: text/*
  Content-Type: multipart/form-data; 
  boundary=----------Ij5ae0ae0KM7GI3KM7 
  User-Agent: Shockwave Flash 
  Host: www.example.com 
  Content-Length: 421 
  Connection: Keep-Alive 
  Cache-Control: no-cache
  
  ------------Ij5GI3GI3ei4GI3ei4KM7GI3KM7KM7
  Content-Disposition: form-data; name="Filename"
  
  MyFile.jpg
  ------------Ij5GI3GI3ei4GI3ei4KM7GI3KM7KM7
  Content-Disposition: form-data; name="Filedata"; filename="MyFile.jpg"
  Content-Type: application/octet-stream
  
  FileDataHere
  ------------Ij5GI3GI3ei4GI3ei4KM7GI3KM7KM7
  Content-Disposition: form-data; name="Upload"
  
  Submit Query
  ------------Ij5GI3GI3ei4GI3ei4KM7GI3KM7KM7--
  

Flash Player sends the following HTTP POST request if the user specifies the parameters "api_sig", "api_key", and "auth_token":

  POST /handler.cfm HTTP/1.1 
  Accept: text/*
  Content-Type: multipart/form-data; 
  boundary=----------Ij5ae0ae0KM7GI3KM7 
  User-Agent: Shockwave Flash 
  Host: www.example.com 
  Content-Length: 421 
  Connection: Keep-Alive 
  Cache-Control: no-cache
  
  ------------Ij5GI3GI3ei4GI3ei4KM7GI3KM7KM7
  Content-Disposition: form-data; name="Filename"
  
  MyFile.jpg
  ------------Ij5GI3GI3ei4GI3ei4KM7GI3KM7KM7
  Content-Disposition: form-data; name="api_sig"
  
  XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
  ------------Ij5GI3GI3ei4GI3ei4KM7GI3KM7KM7
  Content-Disposition: form-data; name="api_key"
  
  XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
  ------------Ij5GI3GI3ei4GI3ei4KM7GI3KM7KM7
  Content-Disposition: form-data; name="auth_token"
  
  XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
  ------------Ij5GI3GI3ei4GI3ei4KM7GI3KM7KM7
  Content-Disposition: form-data; name="Filedata"; filename="MyFile.jpg"
  Content-Type: application/octet-stream
  
  FileDataHere
  ------------Ij5GI3GI3ei4GI3ei4KM7GI3KM7KM7
  Content-Disposition: form-data; name="Upload"
  
  Submit Query
  ------------Ij5GI3GI3ei4GI3ei4KM7GI3KM7KM7--
  

View the examples

See also

flash.net.FileReferenceList
flash.filesystem.File


Public Properties
 PropertyDefined By
 Inheritedconstructor : Object
A reference to the class object or constructor function for a given object instance.
Object
  creationDate : Date
[read-only] The creation date of the file on the local disk.
FileReference
  creator : String
[read-only] The Macintosh creator type of the file, which is only used in Mac OS versions prior to Mac OS X.
FileReference
  data : ByteArray
[read-only] The ByteArray object representing the data from the loaded file after a successful call to the load() method.
FileReference
  AIR-only extension : String
[read-only] The filename extension.
FileReference
  modificationDate : Date
[read-only] The date that the file on the local disk was last modified.
FileReference
  name : String
[read-only] The name of the file on the local disk.
FileReference
 Inheritedprototype : Object
[static] A reference to the prototype object of a class or function object.
Object
  size : Number
[read-only] The size of the file on the local disk in bytes.
FileReference
  type : String
[read-only] The file type.
FileReference
Public Methods
 MethodDefined By
  
Creates a new FileReference object.
FileReference
 Inherited
addEventListener(type:String, listener:Function, useCapture:Boolean = false, priority:int = 0, useWeakReference:Boolean = false):void
Registers an event listener object with an EventDispatcher object so that the listener receives notification of an event.
EventDispatcher
  
browse(typeFilter:Array = null):Boolean
Displays a file-browsing dialog box that lets the user select a file to upload.
FileReference
  
Cancels any ongoing upload or download operation on this FileReference object.
FileReference
 Inherited
Dispatches an event into the event flow.
EventDispatcher
  
download(request:URLRequest, defaultFileName:String = null):void
Opens a dialog box that lets the user download a file from a remote server.
FileReference
 Inherited
Checks whether the EventDispatcher object has any listeners registered for a specific type of event.
EventDispatcher
 Inherited
Indicates whether an object has a specified property defined.
Object
 Inherited
Indicates whether an instance of the Object class is in the prototype chain of the object specified as the parameter.
Object
  
Starts the load of a local file selected by a user.
FileReference
 Inherited
Indicates whether the specified property exists and is enumerable.
Object
 Inherited
removeEventListener(type:String, listener:Function, useCapture:Boolean = false):void
Removes a listener from the EventDispatcher object.
EventDispatcher
  
save(data:*, defaultFileName:String = null):void
Opens a dialog box that lets the user save a file to the local filesystem.
FileReference
 Inherited
Sets the availability of a dynamic property for loop operations.
Object
 Inherited
Returns the string representation of this object, formatted according to locale-specific conventions.
Object
 Inherited
Returns the string representation of the specified object.
Object
  
upload(request:URLRequest, uploadDataFieldName:String = "Filedata", testUpload:Boolean = false):void
Starts the upload of a file selected by a user to a remote server.
FileReference
  
Initiate uploading a file to a URL without any encoding.
FileReference
 Inherited
Returns the primitive value of the specified object.
Object
 Inherited
Checks whether an event listener is registered with this EventDispatcher object or any of its ancestors for the specified event type.
EventDispatcher
Events
 Event Summary Defined By
 Inherited[broadcast event] Dispatched when the Flash Player or AIR application gains operating system focus and becomes active.EventDispatcher
  Dispatched when a file upload or download is canceled through the file-browsing dialog box by the user.FileReference
  Dispatched when download is complete or when upload generates an HTTP status code of 200.FileReference
 Inherited[broadcast event] Dispatched when the Flash Player or AIR application operating loses system focus and is becoming inactive.EventDispatcher
  Dispatched if a call to the upload() or uploadUnencoded() method attempts to access data over HTTP and Adobe AIR is able to detect and return the status code for the request.FileReference
  Dispatched when an upload fails and an HTTP status code is available to describe the failure.FileReference
  Dispatched when the upload or download fails.FileReference
  Dispatched when an upload or download operation starts.FileReference
  Dispatched periodically during the file upload or download operation.FileReference
  Dispatched when a call to the FileReference.upload() or FileReference.download() method tries to upload a file to a server or get a file from a server that is outside the caller's security sandbox.FileReference
  Dispatched when the user selects a file for upload or download from the file-browsing dialog box.FileReference
  Dispatched after data is received from the server after a successful upload.FileReference
Property Detail
creationDateproperty
creationDate:Date  [read-only]

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Runtime Versions: Flash Player 9, AIR 1.0

The creation date of the file on the local disk. If the object is was not populated, a call to get the value of this property returns null.



Implementation
    public function get creationDate():Date

Throws
IllegalOperationError — If the FileReference.browse(), FileReferenceList.browse(), or FileReference.download() method was not called successfully, an exception is thrown with a message indicating that functions were called in the incorrect sequence or an earlier call was unsuccessful. In this case, the value of the creationDate property is null.
 
IOError — If the file information cannot be accessed, an exception is thrown with a message indicating a file I/O error.

See also

creatorproperty 
creator:String  [read-only]

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Runtime Versions: Flash Player 9, AIR 1.0

The Macintosh creator type of the file, which is only used in Mac OS versions prior to Mac OS X. In Windows or Linux, this property is null. If the FileReference object was not populated, a call to get the value of this property returns null.



Implementation
    public function get creator():String

Throws
IllegalOperationError — On Macintosh, if the FileReference.browse(), FileReferenceList.browse(), or FileReference.download() method was not called successfully, an exception is thrown with a message indicating that functions were called in the incorrect sequence or an earlier call was unsuccessful. In this case, the value of the creator property is null.

See also

dataproperty 
data:ByteArray  [read-only]

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Runtime Versions: Flash Player 10, AIR 1.5

The ByteArray object representing the data from the loaded file after a successful call to the load() method.



Implementation
    public function get data():ByteArray

Throws
IllegalOperationError — If the load() method was not called successfully, an exception is thrown with a message indicating that functions were called in the incorrect sequence or an earlier call was unsuccessful. In this case, the value of the data property is null.
 
IOError — If the file cannot be opened or read, or if a similar error is encountered in accessing the file, an exception is thrown with a message indicating a file I/O error. In this case, the value of the data property is null.

See also

AIR-only extensionproperty 
extension:String  [read-only]

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Runtime Versions: AIR 1.0

The filename extension.

A file's extension is the part of the name following (and not including) the final dot ("."). If there is no dot in the filename, the extension is null.

Note: You should use the extension property to determine a file's type; do not use the creator or type properties. You should consider the creator and type properties to be considered deprecated. They apply to older versions of Mac OS.



Implementation
    public function get extension():String

Throws
IllegalOperationError — If the reference is not initialized.
modificationDateproperty 
modificationDate:Date  [read-only]

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Runtime Versions: Flash Player 9, Flash Player 9, AIR 1.0

The date that the file on the local disk was last modified. If the FileReference object was not populated, a call to get the value of this property returns null.



Implementation
    public function get modificationDate():Date

Throws
IllegalOperationError — If the FileReference.browse(), FileReferenceList.browse(), or FileReference.download() method was not called successfully, an exception is thrown with a message indicating that functions were called in the incorrect sequence or an earlier call was unsuccessful. In this case, the value of the modificationDate property is null.
 
IOError — If the file information cannot be accessed, an exception is thrown with a message indicating a file I/O error.

See also

nameproperty 
name:String  [read-only]

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Runtime Versions: AIR 1.0 Flash Player 9

The name of the file on the local disk. If the FileReference object was not populated (by a valid call to FileReference.download() or FileReference.browse()), Flash Player throws an error when you try to get the value of this property.

All the properties of a FileReference object are populated by calling the browse() method. Unlike other FileReference properties, if you call the download() method, the name property is populated when the select event is dispatched.



Implementation
    public function get name():String

Throws
IllegalOperationError — If the FileReference.browse(), FileReferenceList.browse(), or FileReference.download() method was not called successfully, an exception is thrown with a message indicating that functions were called in the incorrect sequence or an earlier call was unsuccessful.

See also

sizeproperty 
size:Number  [read-only]

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Runtime Versions: Flash Player 9, AIR 1.0

The size of the file on the local disk in bytes. If size is 0, an exception is thrown.

Note: In the initial version of ActionScript 3.0, the size property was defined as a uint object, which supported files with sizes up to about 4 GB. It is now implimented as a Number object to support larger files.



Implementation
    public function get size():Number

Throws
IllegalOperationError — If the FileReference.browse(), FileReferenceList.browse(), or FileReference.download() method was not called successfully, an exception is thrown with a message indicating that functions were called in the incorrect sequence or an earlier call was unsuccessful.
 
IOError — If the file cannot be opened or read, or if a similar error is encountered in accessing the file, an exception is thrown with a message indicating a file I/O error.

See also

typeproperty 
type:String  [read-only]

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Runtime Versions: Flash Player 9, AIR 1.0

The file type.

In Windows or Linux, this property is the file extension. On the Macintosh, this property is the four-character file type, which is only used in Mac OS versions prior to Mac OS X. If the FileReference object was not populated, a call to get the value of this property returns null.

For Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X, the file extension — the portion of the name property that follows the last occurrence of the dot (.) character — identifies the file type.



Implementation
    public function get type():String

Throws
IllegalOperationError — If the FileReference.browse(), FileReferenceList.browse(), or FileReference.download() method was not called successfully, an exception is thrown with a message indicating that functions were called in the incorrect sequence or an earlier call was unsuccessful. In this case, the value of the type property is null.

See also

Constructor Detail
FileReference()Constructor
public function FileReference()

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Runtime Versions: Flash Player 9, AIR 1.0

Creates a new FileReference object. When populated, a FileReference object represents a file on the user's local disk.

See also

Method Detail
browse()method
public function browse(typeFilter:Array = null):Boolean

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Runtime Versions: Flash Player 9, AIR 1.0

Displays a file-browsing dialog box that lets the user select a file to upload. The dialog box is native to the user's operating system. The user can select a file on the local computer or from other systems, for example, through a UNC path on Windows.

Note: The File class, available in Adobe AIR, includes methods for accessing more specific system file selection dialog boxes. These methods are File.browseForDirectory(), File.browseForOpen(), File.browseForOpenMultiple(), and File.browseForSave().

When you call this method and the user successfully selects a file, the properties of this FileReference object are populated with the properties of that file. Each subsequent time that the FileReference.browse() methodsdq is called, the FileReference object's properties are reset to the file that the user selects in the dialog box. Only one browse() or download() session can be performed at a time (because only one dialog box can be invoked at a time).

Using the typeFilter parameter, you can determine which files the dialog box displays.

In Flash Player 10 and Flash Player 9 Update 5, you can only call this method successfully in response to a user event (for example, in an event handler for a mouse click or keypress event). Otherwise, calling this method results in Flash Player throwing an Error exception.

Note that because of new functionality added to the Flash Player, when publishing to Flash Player 10, you can have only one of the following operations active at one time: FileReference.browse(), FileReference.upload(), FileReference.download(), FileReference.load(), FileReference.save(). Otherwise, Flash Player throws a runtime error (code 2174). Use FileReference.cancel() to stop an operation in progress. This restriction applies only to Flash Player 10. Previous versions of Flash Player are unaffected by this restriction on simultaneous multiple operations.

Parameters

typeFilter:Array (default = null) — An array of FileFilter instances used to filter the files that are displayed in the dialog box. If you omit this parameter, all files are displayed. For more information, see the FileFilter class.

Returns
Boolean — Returns true if the parameters are valid and the file-browsing dialog box opens.

Events
select:Event — Dispatched when the user successfully selects an item from the Browse file chooser.
 
cancel:Event — Dispatched when the user cancels the file upload Browse window.

Throws
IllegalOperationError — Thrown in the following situations: 1) Another FileReference or FileReferenceList browse session is in progress; only one file browsing session may be performed at a time. 2) A setting in the user's mms.cfg file prohibits this operation.
 
ArgumentError — If the typeFilter array contains FileFilter objects that are incorrectly formatted, an exception is thrown. For information on the correct format for FileFilter objects, see the FileFilter class.
 
Error — If the method is not called in response to a user action, such as a mouse event or keypress event.

See also

select event
cancel event
FileReference.download()
FileReferenceList.browse()
File.browseForDirectory()
File.browseForOpen()
File.browseForOpenMultiple()
File.browseForSave()
cancel()method 
public function cancel():void

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Runtime Versions: Flash Player 9, AIR 1.0

Cancels any ongoing upload or download operation on this FileReference object. Calling this method does not dispatch the cancel event; that event is dispatched only when the user cancels the operation by dismissing the file upload or download dialog box.

download()method 
public function download(request:URLRequest, defaultFileName:String = null):void

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Runtime Versions: Flash Player 9, AIR 1.0

Opens a dialog box that lets the user download a file from a remote server. Although Flash Player has no restriction on the size of files you can upload or download, the player officially supports uploads or downloads of up to 100 MB.

The download() method first opens an operating-system dialog box that asks the user to enter a filename and select a location on the local computer to save the file. When the user selects a location and confirms the download operation (for example, by clicking Save), the download from the remote server begins. Listeners receive events to indicate the progress, success, or failure of the download. To ascertain the status of the dialog box and the download operation after calling download(), your code must listen for events such as cancel, open, progress, and complete.

The FileReference.upload() and FileReference.download() functions are nonblocking. These functions return after they are called, before the file transmission is complete. In addition, if the FileReference object goes out of scope, any upload or download that is not yet completed on that object is canceled upon leaving the scope. Be sure that your FileReference object remains in scope for as long as the upload or download is expected to continue.

When the file is downloaded successfully, the properties of the FileReference object are populated with the properties of the local file. The complete event is dispatched if the download is successful.

Only one browse() or download() session can be performed at a time (because only one dialog box can be invoked at a time).

This method supports downloading of any file type, with either HTTP or HTTPS.

You cannot connect to commonly reserved ports. For a complete list of blocked ports, see "Restricting Networking APIs" in the security chapter of the Programming ActionScript 3.0 book.

Note: If your server requires user authentication, only SWF files running in a browser — that is, using the browser plug-in or ActiveX control — can provide a dialog box to prompt the user for a user name and password for authentication, and only for downloads. For uploads using the plug-in or ActiveX control, or for uploads and downloads using the stand-alone or external player, the file transfer fails.

When you use this method , consider the Flash Player security model:

However, in Adobe AIR, content in the application security sandbox (content installed with the AIR application) is not restricted by these security limitations.

For more information related to security, see the following:

Note that because of new functionality added to the Flash Player, when publishing to Flash Player 10, you can have only one of the following operations active at one time: FileReference.browse(), FileReference.upload(), FileReference.download(), FileReference.load(), FileReference.save(). Otherwise, Flash Player throws a runtime error (code 2174). Use FileReference.cancel() to stop an operation in progress. This restriction applies only to Flash Player 10. Previous versions of Flash Player are unaffected by this restriction on simultaneous multiple operations.

Parameters

request:URLRequest — The URLRequest object. The url property of the URLRequest object should contain the URL of the file to download to the local computer. If this parameter is null, an exception is thrown. The requestHeaders property of the URLRequest object is ignored; custom HTTP request headers are not supported in uploads or downloads. To send POST or GET parameters to the server, set the value of URLRequest.data to your parameters, and set URLRequest.method to either URLRequestMethod.POST or URLRequestMethod.GET.

On some browsers, URL strings are limited in length. Lengths greater than 256 characters may fail on some browsers or servers.

 
defaultFileName:String (default = null) — The default filename displayed in the dialog box for the file to be downloaded. This string must not contain the following characters: / \ : * ? " < > | %

If you omit this parameter, the filename of the remote URL is parsed and used as the default.


Events
open:Event — Dispatched when a download operation starts.
 
progress:ProgressEvent — Dispatched periodically during the file download operation.
 
complete:Event — Dispatched when the file download operation successfully completes.
 
cancel:Event — Dispatched when the user dismisses the dialog box.
 
select:Event — Dispatched when the user selects a file for download from the dialog box.
 
securityError:SecurityErrorEvent — Dispatched when a download fails because of a security error.
 
ioError:IOErrorEvent — Dispatched for any of the following reasons:
  • An input/output error occurs while the file is being read or transmitted.
  • SWF content running in the stand-alone or external versions of Flash Player tries to download a file from a server that requires authentication. During download, the standalone and external players do not provide a means for users to enter passwords. If a SWF file in these players tries to download a file from a server that requires authentication, the download fails. File download can succeed only in the ActiveX control and browser plug-in players.

Throws
IllegalOperationError — Thrown in the following situations: 1) Another browse session is in progress; only one file browsing session can be performed at a time. 2) The value passed to request does not contain a valid path or protocol. 3) The filename to download contains prohibited characters. 4) A setting in the user's mms.cfg file prohibits this operation.
 
SecurityError — Local untrusted content may not communicate with the Internet. To avoid this situation, reclassify this SWF file as local-with-networking or trusted. This exception is thrown with a message indicating the filename and the URL that may not be accessed because of local file security restrictions.
 
SecurityError — If you are trying to connect to a commonly reserved port. For a complete list of blocked ports, see "Restricting Networking APIs" in the security chapter of the Programming ActionScript 3.0 book.
 
ArgumentError — If url.data is of type ByteArray, an exception is thrown. For use with the FileReference.upload() and FileReference.download() methods, url.data can only be of type URLVariables or String.
 
MemoryError — This error can occur for the following reasons: 1) Flash Player cannot convert the URLRequest.data parameter from UTF8 to MBCS. This error is applicable if the URLRequest object passed to the FileReference.download() method is set to perform a GET operation and if System.useCodePage is set to true. 2) Flash Player cannot allocate memory for the POST data. This error is applicable if the URLRequest object passed to the FileReference.download() method is set to perform a POST operation.
 
Error — If the method is not called in response to a user action, such as a mouse event or keypress event.

See also


Example  ( How to use this example )

The following example shows usage of the download event object. To run this example, change the downloadURL.url property to point to an actual domain and file, rather than the fictional http://www.[yourDomain].com/SomeFile.pdf. You might also need to compile the SWF file with Local playback security set to Access network only or to update Flash Player security settings to allow this file network access.

package {
    import flash.display.Sprite;
    import flash.events.*;
    import flash.net.FileReference;
    import flash.net.URLRequest;
    import flash.net.FileFilter;

    public class FileReference_download extends Sprite {
        private var downloadURL:URLRequest;
        private var fileName:String = "SomeFile.pdf";
        private var file:FileReference;

        public function FileReference_download() {
            downloadURL = new URLRequest();
            downloadURL.url = "http://www.[yourDomain].com/SomeFile.pdf";
            file = new FileReference();
            configureListeners(file);
            file.download(downloadURL, fileName);
        }

        private function configureListeners(dispatcher:IEventDispatcher):void {
            dispatcher.addEventListener(Event.CANCEL, cancelHandler);
            dispatcher.addEventListener(Event.COMPLETE, completeHandler);
            dispatcher.addEventListener(IOErrorEvent.IO_ERROR, ioErrorHandler);
            dispatcher.addEventListener(Event.OPEN, openHandler);
            dispatcher.addEventListener(ProgressEvent.PROGRESS, progressHandler);
            dispatcher.addEventListener(SecurityErrorEvent.SECURITY_ERROR, securityErrorHandler);
            dispatcher.addEventListener(Event.SELECT, selectHandler);
        }

        private function cancelHandler(event:Event):void {
            trace("cancelHandler: " + event);
        }

        private function completeHandler(event:Event):void {
            trace("completeHandler: " + event);
        }

        private function ioErrorHandler(event:IOErrorEvent):void {
            trace("ioErrorHandler: " + event);
        }

        private function openHandler(event:Event):void {
            trace("openHandler: " + event);
        }

        private function progressHandler(event:ProgressEvent):void {
            var file:FileReference = FileReference(event.target);
            trace("progressHandler name=" + file.name + " bytesLoaded=" + event.bytesLoaded + " bytesTotal=" + event.bytesTotal);
        }

        private function securityErrorHandler(event:SecurityErrorEvent):void {
            trace("securityErrorHandler: " + event);
        }

        private function selectHandler(event:Event):void {
            var file:FileReference = FileReference(event.target);
            trace("selectHandler: name=" + file.name + " URL=" + downloadURL.url);
        }
    }
}
load()method 
public function load():void

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Runtime Versions: Flash Player 10, AIR 1.5

Starts the load of a local file selected by a user. Although Flash Player has no restriction on the size of files you can upload, download, load or save, it officially supports sizes of up to 100 MB. For content running in Flash Player, you must call the FileReference.browse() or FileReferenceList.browse() method before you call the load() method. However, content running in AIR in the application sandbox can call the load() method of a File object without first calling the browse() method. (The AIR File class extends the FileReference class.)

Listeners receive events to indicate the progress, success, or failure of the load. Although you can use the FileReferenceList object to let users select multiple files to load, you must load the files one by one. To load the files one by one, iterate through the FileReferenceList.fileList array of FileReference objects.

Adobe AIR also includes the FileStream class which provides more options for reading files.

The FileReference.upload(), FileReference.download(), FileReference.load() and FileReference.save() functions are nonblocking. These functions return after they are called, before the file transmission is complete. In addition, if the FileReference object goes out of scope, any transaction that is not yet completed on that object is canceled upon leaving the scope. Be sure that your FileReference object remains in scope for as long as the upload, download, load or save is expected to continue.

If the file finishes loading successfully, its contents are stored as a byte array in the data property of the FileReference object.

The following security considerations apply:

However, these considerations do not apply to AIR content in the application sandbox.

Note that when publishing to Flash Player 10 or AIR 1.5, you can have only one of the following operations active at one time: FileReference.browse(), FileReference.upload(), FileReference.download(), FileReference.load(), FileReference.save(). Otherwise, the application throws a runtime error (code 2174). Use FileReference.cancel() to stop an operation in progress. This restriction applies only to Flash Player 10 and AIR 1.5. Previous versions of Flash Player or AIR are unaffected by this restriction on simultaneous multiple operations.


Events
open:Event — Dispatched when an load operation starts.
 
progress:ProgressEvent — Dispatched periodically during the file load operation.
 
complete:Event — Dispatched when the file load operation completes successfully.
 
ioError:IOErrorEvent — Invoked if the load fails because of an input/output error while the application is reading or writing the file.

Throws
IllegalOperationError — Thrown in the following situations: 1) Another FileReference or FileReferenceList browse session is in progress; only one file browsing session may be performed at a time. 2) A setting in the user's mms.cfg file prohibits this operation.
 
MemoryError — This error can occur if the application cannot allocate memory for the file. The file may be too large or available memory may be too low.

See also

save()method 
public function save(data:*, defaultFileName:String = null):void

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Runtime Versions: Flash Player 10, AIR 1.5

Opens a dialog box that lets the user save a file to the local filesystem. Although Flash Player has no restriction on the size of files you can upload, download, load or save, the player officially supports sizes of up to 100 MB.

The save() method first opens an operating-system dialog box that asks the user to enter a filename and select a location on the local computer to save the file. When the user selects a location and confirms the save operation (for example, by clicking Save), the save process begins. Listeners receive events to indicate the progress, success, or failure of the save operation. To ascertain the status of the dialog box and the save operation after calling save(), your code must listen for events such as cancel, open, progress, and complete.

Adobe AIR also includes the FileStream class which provides more options for saving files locally.

The FileReference.upload(), FileReference.download(), FileReference.load() and FileReference.save() functions are nonblocking. These functions return after they are called, before the file transmission is complete. In addition, if the FileReference object goes out of scope, any transaction that is not yet completed on that object is canceled upon leaving the scope. Be sure that your FileReference object remains in scope for as long as the upload, download, load or save is expected to continue.

When the file is saved successfully, the properties of the FileReference object are populated with the properties of the local file. The complete event is dispatched if the save is successful.

Only one browse() or save() session can be performed at a time (because only one dialog box can be invoked at a time).

In Flash Player, you can only call this method successfully in response to a user event (for example, in an event handler for a mouse click or keypress event). Otherwise, calling this method results in Flash Player throwing an Error exception. This limitation does not apply to AIR content in the application sandbox.

Parameters

data:* — The data to be saved. The data can be in one of several formats, and will be treated appropriately:
  • If the value is null, the application throws an ArgumentError exception.
  • If the value is a String, it is saved as a UTF-8 text file.
  • If the value is XML, it is written to a text file in XML format, with all formatting preserved.
  • If the value is a ByteArray object, it is written to a data file verbatim.
  • If the value is none of the above, the save() method calls the toString() method of the object to convert the data to a string, and it then saves the data as a text file. If that fails, the application throws an ArgumentError exception.
 
defaultFileName:String (default = null) — The default filename displayed in the dialog box for the file to be saved. This string must not contain the following characters: / \ : * ? " < > | %

If a File object calls this method, the filename will be that of the file the File object references. (The AIR File class extends the FileReference class.)


Events
open:Event — Dispatched when a download operation starts.
 
progress:ProgressEvent — Dispatched periodically during the file download operation.
 
complete:Event — Dispatched when the file download operation successfully completes.
 
cancel:Event — Dispatched when the user dismisses the dialog box.
 
select:Event — Dispatched when the user selects a file for download from the dialog box.
 
ioError:IOErrorEvent — Dispatched if an input/output error occurs while the file is being read or transmitted.

Throws
IllegalOperationError — Thrown in the following situations: 1) Another browse session is in progress; only one file browsing session can be performed at a time. 2) The filename to download contains prohibited characters. 3) A setting in the user's mms.cfg file prohibits this operation.
 
ArgumentError — If data is not of type ByteArray, and it does not have a toString() method, an exception is thrown. If data is not of type XML, and it does not have a toXMLString() method, an exception is thrown.
 
Error — If the method is not called in response to a user action, such as a mouse event or keypress event.
 
MemoryError — This error can occur if Flash Player cannot allocate memory for the file. The file may be too large or available memory may be too low.

See also


Example  ( How to use this example )

The following example saves the content typed into a text field to a file. The example creates an editable text field (MyTextField) and another text field that is not editable (MyButtonField)to serve as a "button" to respond to a mouse click. A user can edit the first text field and click the button to save the text field contents to a local file. The mouse click event handler clickhandler uses the FileReference.save() method (for a FileReference object named MyFileReference) to open a dialog on the user's current operating system so the user can save the contents to a local file with the name the user provides.
var MyTextField:TextField = new TextField();
var MyButtonField:TextField = new TextField();
var MyFile:FileReference = new FileReference();

MyTextField.border = true;
MyTextField.type = TextFieldType.INPUT;

MyButtonField.background = true;
MyButtonField.backgroundColor = 0x339933;
MyButtonField.x = 150;
MyButtonField.height = 20;
MyButtonField.text = "Click here to save";

addChild(MyTextField);
addChild(MyButtonField);
MyButtonField.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, clickhandler);

function clickhandler(e:MouseEvent): void {
    MyFile.save(MyTextField.text);
}
upload()method 
public function upload(request:URLRequest, uploadDataFieldName:String = "Filedata", testUpload:Boolean = false):void

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Runtime Versions: Flash Player 9, AIR 1.0

Starts the upload of a file selected by a user to a remote server. Although Flash Player has no restriction on the size of files you can upload or download, the player officially supports uploads or downloads of up to 100 MB. You must call the FileReference.browse() or FileReferenceList.browse() method before you call this method.

Listeners receive events to indicate the progress, success, or failure of the upload. Although you can use the FileReferenceList object to let users select multiple files for upload, you must upload the files one by one; to do so, iterate through the FileReferenceList.fileList array of FileReference objects.

The FileReference.upload() and FileReference.download() functions are nonblocking. These functions return after they are called, before the file transmission is complete. In addition, if the FileReference object goes out of scope, any upload or download that is not yet completed on that object is canceled upon leaving the scope. Be sure that your FileReference object remains in scope for as long as the upload or download is expected to continue.

The file is uploaded to the URL passed in the url parameter. The URL must be a server script configured to accept uploads. Flash Player uploads files by using the HTTP POST method. The server script that handles the upload should expect a POST request with the following elements:

You cannot connect to commonly reserved ports. For a complete list of blocked ports, see "Restricting Networking APIs" in the security chapter of the Programming ActionScript 3.0 book.

For a sample POST request, see the description of the uploadDataFieldName parameter. You can send POST or GET parameters to the server with the upload() method; see the description of the request parameter.

If the testUpload parameter is true, and the file to be uploaded is bigger than approximately 10 KB, Flash Player on Windows first sends a test upload POST operation with zero content before uploading the actual file, to verify that the transmission is likely to succeed. Flash Player then sends a second POST operation that contains the actual file content. For files smaller than 10 KB, Flash Player performs a single upload POST with the actual file content to be uploaded. Flash Player on Macintosh does not perform test upload POST operations.

Note: If your server requires user authentication, only SWF files running in a browser — that is, using the browser plug-in or ActiveX control — can provide a dialog box to prompt the user for a username and password for authentication, and only for downloads. For uploads using the plug-in or ActiveX control, or for uploads and downloads using the stand-alone or external player, the file transfer fails.

When you use this method , consider the Flash Player security model:

However, in Adobe AIR, content in the application security sandbox (content installed with the AIR application) are not restricted by these security limitations.

For more information, see the following:

Note that because of new functionality added to the Flash Player, when publishing to Flash Player 10, you can have only one of the following operations active at one time: FileReference.browse(), FileReference.upload(), FileReference.download(), FileReference.load(), FileReference.save(). Otherwise, Flash Player throws a runtime error (code 2174). Use FileReference.cancel() to stop an operation in progress. This restriction applies only to Flash Player 10. Previous versions of Flash Player are unaffected by this restriction on simultaneous multiple operations.

Parameters

request:URLRequest — The URLRequest object; the url property of the URLRequest object should contain the URL of the server script configured to handle upload through HTTP POST calls. On some browsers, URL strings are limited in length. Lengths greater than 256 characters may fail on some browsers or servers. If this parameter is null, an exception is thrown. The requestHeaders property of the URLRequest object is ignored; custom HTTP request headers are not supported in uploads or downloads.

The URL can be HTTP or, for secure uploads, HTTPS. To use HTTPS, use an HTTPS url in the url parameter. If you do not specify a port number in the url parameter, port 80 is used for HTTP and port 443 us used for HTTPS, by default.

To send POST or GET parameters to the server, set the data property of the URLRequest object to your parameters, and set the method property to either URLRequestMethod.POST or URLRequestMethod.GET.

 
uploadDataFieldName:String (default = "Filedata") — The field name that precedes the file data in the upload POST operation. The uploadDataFieldName value must be non-null and a non-empty String. By default, the value of uploadDataFieldName is "Filedata", as shown in the following sample POST request:
    Content-Type: multipart/form-data; boundary=AaB03x
    --AaB03x 
    Content-Disposition: form-data; name="Filedata"; filename="example.jpg" 
    Content-Type: application/octet-stream
    ... contents of example.jpg ... 
    --AaB03x-- 
    
 
testUpload:Boolean (default = false) — A setting to request a test file upload. If testUpload is true, for files larger than 10 KB, Flash Player attempts a test file upload POST with a Content-Length of 0. The test upload checks whether the actual file upload will be successful and that server authentication, if required, will succeed. A test upload is only available for Windows players.


Events
open:Event — Dispatched when an upload operation starts.
 
progress:ProgressEvent — Dispatched periodically during the file upload operation.
 
complete:Event — Dispatched when the file upload operation completes successfully.
 
uploadCompleteData:DataEvent — Dispatched when data has been received from the server after a successful file upload.
 
securityError:SecurityErrorEvent — Dispatched when an upload fails because of a security violation.
 
httpStatus:HTTPStatusEvent — Dispatched when an upload fails because of an HTTP error.
 
httpResponseStatus:HTTPStatusEvent — The upload operation completes successfully and the server returns a response URL and response headers.
 
ioError:IOErrorEvent — Invoked in any of the following situations:
  • The upload fails because of an input/output error while Flash Player or Adobe AIR is reading, writing, or transmitting the file.
  • The upload fails because an attempt to upload a file to a server that requires authentication (such as a user name and password). During upload, no mean is provided for users to enter passwords.
  • The upload fails because the url parameter contains an invalid protocol. FileReference.upload() must use HTTP or HTTPS.

Throws
SecurityError — Local untrusted SWF files may not communicate with the Internet. To avoid this situation, reclassify this SWF file as local-with-networking or trusted. This exception is thrown with a message indicating the name of the local file and the URL that may not be accessed.
 
SecurityError — If you are trying to connect to a commonly reserved port. For a complete list of blocked ports, see "Restricting Networking APIs" in the security chapter of the Programming ActionScript 3.0 book.
 
IllegalOperationError — Thrown in the following situations: 1) Another FileReference or FileReferenceList browse session is in progress; only one file browsing session may be performed at a time. 2) The URL parameter is not a valid path or protocol. File upload must use HTTP, and file download must use FTP or HTTP. 3) The uploadDataFieldName parameter is set to null. 4) A setting in the user's mms.cfg file prohibits this operation.
 
ArgumentError — Thrown in the following situations: 1) The uploadDataFieldName parameter is an empty string. 2) url.data is of type ByteArray. For use with the FileReference.upload() and FileReference.download() methods, url.data may only be of type URLVariables or String. 3) In the AIR runtime (in the application security sandbox), the method of the URLRequest is not GET or POST (use uploadEncoded() instead).
 
MemoryError — This error can occur for the following reasons: 1) Flash Player cannot convert the URLRequest.data parameter from UTF8 to MBCS. This error is applicable if the URLRequest object passed to FileReference.upload() is set to perform a GET operation and if System.useCodePage is set to true. 2) Flash Player cannot allocate memory for the POST data. This error is applicable if the URLRequest object passed to FileReference.upload() is set to perform a POST operation.

See also

AIR-only uploadUnencoded()method 
public function uploadUnencoded(request:URLRequest):void

Runtime Versions: AIR 1.0

Initiate uploading a file to a URL without any encoding. Whereas the upload() method encodes the file in a form-data envelope, the uploadUnencoded() method passes the file contents as-is in the HTTP request body. Use the uploadUnencoded() method if the data you wish to send is already encoded in a format that the receiving server can understand.You typically use the uploadeUnencoded() method with the HTTP/WebDAV PUT method.

Parameters

request:URLRequest — The URLRequest object; the url property of the URLRequest object should contain the URL of the server script configured to handle upload through HTTP POST calls. On some browsers, URL strings are limited in length. Lengths greater than 256 characters may fail on some browsers or servers. If this parameter is null, an exception is thrown.

The URL can be HTTP or, for secure uploads, HTTPS. To use HTTPS, use an HTTPS url in the url parameter. If you do not specify a port number in the url parameter, port 80 is used for HTTP and port 443 us used for HTTPS, by default.

To send POST or GET parameters to the server, set the data property of the URLRequest object to your parameters, and set the method property to either URLRequestMethod.POST or URLRequestMethod.GET.


Events
open:Event — Dispatched when an upload operation starts.
 
progress:ProgressEvent — Dispatched periodically during the file upload operation.
 
complete:Event — Dispatched when the file upload operation completes successfully.
 
uploadCompleteData:DataEvent — Dispatched when data has been received from the server after a successful file upload.
 
securityError:SecurityErrorEvent — Dispatched when an upload fails because of a security violation.
 
httpStatus:HTTPStatusEvent — Dispatched when an upload fails because of an HTTP error.
 
httpResponseStatus:HTTPStatusEvent — The upload operation completes successfully and the server returns a response URL and response headers.
 
ioError:IOErrorEvent — Invoked in any of the following situations:
  • The upload fails because of an input/output error while Adobe AIR is reading, writing, or transmitting the file.
  • The upload fails because an attempt to upload a file to a server that requires authentication (such as a user name and password). During upload, no mean is provided for users to enter passwords.
  • The upload fails because the url parameter contains an invalid protocol. FileReference.upload() must use HTTP or HTTPS.

Throws
SecurityError — Local untrusted SWF files may not communicate with the Internet. To avoid this situation, reclassify this SWF file as local-with-networking or trusted. This exception is thrown with a message indicating the name of the local file and the URL that may not be accessed.
 
IllegalOperationError — Thrown in the following situations: 1) Another FileReference or FileReferenceList browse session is in progress; only one file browsing session may be performed at a time. 2) The URL parameter is not a valid path or protocol. File upload must use HTTP.

See also

Event Detail
cancel Event
Event Object Type: flash.events.Event
property Event.type = flash.events.Event.CANCEL

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Runtime Versions: Flash Player 9, AIR 1.0

Dispatched when a file upload or download is canceled through the file-browsing dialog box by the user. Flash Player does not dispatch this event if the user cancels an upload or download through other means (closing the browser or stopping the current application).

The Event.CANCEL constant defines the value of the type property of a cancel event object.

This event has the following properties:

PropertyValue
bubblesfalse
cancelablefalse; there is no default behavior to cancel.
currentTargetThe object that is actively processing the Event object with an event listener.
targetA reference to the object on which the operation is canceled.

Example  ( How to use this example )

The following example shows usage of the cancel event object. To run this example, change the downloadURL.url property to point to an actual domain and file, rather than the fictional http://www.[yourDomain].com/SomeFile.pdf. You might also need to compile the SWF file with Local playback security set to Access network only or to update Flash Player security settings to allow this file network access.

package {
    import flash.display.Sprite;
    import flash.events.*;
    import flash.net.FileReference;
    import flash.net.URLRequest;

    public class FileReference_event_cancel extends Sprite {
        private var downloadURL:URLRequest;
        private var fileName:String = "SomeFile.pdf";
        private var file:FileReference;

        public function FileReference_event_cancel() {
            downloadURL = new URLRequest();
            downloadURL.url = "http://www.[yourDomain].com/SomeFile.pdf";
            file = new FileReference();
            file.addEventListener(Event.CANCEL, cancelHandler);
            file.download(downloadURL, fileName);
        }
        private function cancelHandler(event:Event):void {
            trace("cancelHandler: " + event);
        }
    }
}
complete Event  
Event Object Type: flash.events.Event
property Event.type = flash.events.Event.COMPLETE

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Runtime Versions: Flash Player 9, AIR 1.0

Dispatched when download is complete or when upload generates an HTTP status code of 200. For file download, this event is dispatched when Flash Player or Adobe AIR finishes downloading the entire file to disk. For file upload, this event is dispatched after the Flash Player or Adobe AIR receives an HTTP status code of 200 from the server receiving the transmission.

The Event.COMPLETE constant defines the value of the type property of a complete event object.

This event has the following properties:

PropertyValue
bubblesfalse
cancelablefalse; there is no default behavior to cancel.
currentTargetThe object that is actively processing the Event object with an event listener.
targetThe network object that has completed loading.

Example  ( How to use this example )

The following example shows usage of the complete event object. To run this example, change the downloadURL.url property to point to an actual domain and file, rather than the fictional http://www.[yourDomain].com/SomeFile.pdf. You might also need to compile the SWF file with Local playback security set to Access network only or to update Flash Player security settings to allow this file network access.

package {
    import flash.display.Sprite;
    import flash.events.*;
    import flash.net.FileReference;
    import flash.net.URLRequest;

    public class FileReference_event_complete extends Sprite {
        private var downloadURL:URLRequest;
        private var fileName:String = "SomeFile.pdf";
        private var file:FileReference;

        public function FileReference_event_complete() {
            downloadURL = new URLRequest();
            downloadURL.url = "http://www.[yourDomain].com/SomeFile.pdf";
            file = new FileReference();
            configureListeners(file);
            file.download(downloadURL, fileName);
        }

        private function configureListeners(dispatcher:IEventDispatcher):void {
            dispatcher.addEventListener(Event.CANCEL, cancelHandler);
            dispatcher.addEventListener(Event.COMPLETE, completeHandler);
            dispatcher.addEventListener(IOErrorEvent.IO_ERROR, ioErrorHandler);
            dispatcher.addEventListener(Event.OPEN, openHandler);
            dispatcher.addEventListener(ProgressEvent.PROGRESS, progressHandler);
            dispatcher.addEventListener(SecurityErrorEvent.SECURITY_ERROR, securityErrorHandler);
            dispatcher.addEventListener(Event.SELECT, selectHandler);
        }

        private function cancelHandler(event:Event):void {
            trace("cancelHandler: " + event);
        }

        private function completeHandler(event:Event):void {
            trace("completeHandler: " + event);
        }

        private function ioErrorHandler(event:IOErrorEvent):void {
            trace("ioErrorHandler: " + event);
        }

        private function openHandler(event:Event):void {
            trace("openHandler: " + event);
        }

        private function progressHandler(event:ProgressEvent):void {
            var file:FileReference = FileReference(event.target);
            trace("progressHandler name=" + file.name + " bytesLoaded=" + event.bytesLoaded + " bytesTotal=" + event.bytesTotal);
        }

        private function securityErrorHandler(event:SecurityErrorEvent):void {
            trace("securityErrorHandler: " + event);
        }

        private function selectHandler(event:Event):void {
            var file:FileReference = FileReference(event.target);
            trace("selectHandler: name=" + file.name + " URL=" + downloadURL.url);
        }
    }
}

See also

AIR-only httpResponseStatus Event  
Event Object Type: flash.events.HTTPStatusEvent
property HTTPStatusEvent.type = flash.events.HTTPStatusEvent.HTTP_RESPONSE_STATUS

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Runtime Versions: AIR 1.0

Dispatched if a call to the upload() or uploadUnencoded() method attempts to access data over HTTP and Adobe AIR is able to detect and return the status code for the request.

Unlike the httpStatus event, the httpResponseStatus event is delivered before any response data. Also, the httpResponseStatus event includes values for the responseHeaders and responseURL properties (which are undefined for an httpStatus event. Note that the httpResponseStatus event (if any) will be sent before (and in addition to) any complete or error event.

The HTTPStatusEvent.HTTP_RESPONSE_STATUS constant defines the value of the type property of a httpResponseStatus event object.

This event has the following properties:

PropertyValue
bubblesfalse
cancelablefalse; there is no default behavior to cancel.
currentTargetThe object that is actively processing the Event object with an event listener.
responseURLThe URL from which the response was returned.
responseHeadersThe response headers that the response returned, as an array of URLRequestHeader objects.
statusThe HTTP status code returned by the server.
targetThe network object receiving an HTTP status code.

See also

httpStatus Event  
Event Object Type: flash.events.HTTPStatusEvent
property HTTPStatusEvent.type = flash.events.HTTPStatusEvent.HTTP_STATUS

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Runtime Versions: Flash Player 9, AIR 1.0

Dispatched when an upload fails and an HTTP status code is available to describe the failure. The httpStatus event is dispatched, followed by an ioError event.

The httpStatus event is dispatched only for upload failures. For content running in Flash Player this event is not applicable for download failures. If a download fails because of an HTTP error, the error is reported as an I/O error.

The HTTPStatusEvent.HTTP_STATUS constant defines the value of the type property of a httpStatus event object.

This event has the following properties:

PropertyValue
bubblesfalse
cancelablefalse; there is no default behavior to cancel.
currentTargetThe object that is actively processing the Event object with an event listener.
statusThe HTTP status code returned by the server.
targetThe network object receiving an HTTP status code.

See also

ioError Event  
Event Object Type: flash.events.IOErrorEvent
property IOErrorEvent.type = flash.events.IOErrorEvent.IO_ERROR

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Runtime Versions: Flash Player 9, AIR 1.0

Dispatched when the upload or download fails. A file transfer can fail for one of the following reasons:

Important: Only applications running in a browser — that is, using the browser plug-in or ActiveX control — and content running in Adobe AIR can provide a dialog box to prompt the user to enter a user name and password for authentication, and then only for downloads. For uploads using the plug-in or ActiveX control version of Flash Player, or for upload or download using either the stand-alone or the external player, the file transfer fails.

Defines the value of the type property of an ioError event object.

This event has the following properties:

PropertyValue
bubblesfalse
cancelablefalse; there is no default behavior to cancel.
currentTargetThe object that is actively processing the Event object with an event listener.
errorIDA reference number associated with the specific error (AIR only).
targetThe network object experiencing the input/output error.
textText to be displayed as an error message.

See also

open Event  
Event Object Type: flash.events.Event
property Event.type = flash.events.Event.OPEN

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Runtime Versions: Flash Player 9, AIR 1.0

Dispatched when an upload or download operation starts.

The Event.OPEN constant defines the value of the type property of an open event object.

This event has the following properties:

PropertyValue
bubblesfalse
cancelablefalse; there is no default behavior to cancel.
currentTargetThe object that is actively processing the Event object with an event listener.
targetThe network object that has opened a connection.

Example  ( How to use this example )

The following example shows usage of the download event object. To run this example, change the downloadURL.url property to point to an actual domain and file, rather than the fictional http://www.[yourDomain].com/SomeFile.pdf. You might also need to compile the SWF file with Local playback security set to Access network only or to update Flash Player security settings to allow this file network access.

package {
    import flash.display.Sprite;
    import flash.events.*;
    import flash.net.FileReference;
    import flash.net.URLRequest;
    import flash.net.FileFilter;

    public class FileReference_download extends Sprite {
        private var downloadURL:URLRequest;
        private var fileName:String = "SomeFile.pdf";
        private var file:FileReference;

        public function FileReference_download() {
            downloadURL = new URLRequest();
            downloadURL.url = "http://www.[yourDomain].com/SomeFile.pdf";
            file = new FileReference();
            configureListeners(file);
            file.download(downloadURL, fileName);
        }

        private function configureListeners(dispatcher:IEventDispatcher):void {
            dispatcher.addEventListener(Event.CANCEL, cancelHandler);
            dispatcher.addEventListener(Event.COMPLETE, completeHandler);
            dispatcher.addEventListener(IOErrorEvent.IO_ERROR, ioErrorHandler);
            dispatcher.addEventListener(Event.OPEN, openHandler);
            dispatcher.addEventListener(ProgressEvent.PROGRESS, progressHandler);
            dispatcher.addEventListener(SecurityErrorEvent.SECURITY_ERROR, securityErrorHandler);
            dispatcher.addEventListener(Event.SELECT, selectHandler);
        }

        private function cancelHandler(event:Event):void {
            trace("cancelHandler: " + event);
        }

        private function completeHandler(event:Event):void {
            trace("completeHandler: " + event);
        }

        private function ioErrorHandler(event:IOErrorEvent):void {
            trace("ioErrorHandler: " + event);
        }

        private function openHandler(event:Event):void {
            trace("openHandler: " + event);
        }

        private function progressHandler(event:ProgressEvent):void {
            var file:FileReference = FileReference(event.target);
            trace("progressHandler name=" + file.name + " bytesLoaded=" + event.bytesLoaded + " bytesTotal=" + event.bytesTotal);
        }

        private function securityErrorHandler(event:SecurityErrorEvent):void {
            trace("securityErrorHandler: " + event);
        }

        private function selectHandler(event:Event):void {
            var file:FileReference = FileReference(event.target);
            trace("selectHandler: name=" + file.name + " URL=" + downloadURL.url);
        }
    }
}

See also

progress Event  
Event Object Type: flash.events.ProgressEvent
property ProgressEvent.type = flash.events.ProgressEvent.PROGRESS

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Runtime Versions: Flash Player 9, AIR 1.0

Dispatched periodically during the file upload or download operation. The progress event is dispatched while Flash Player transmits bytes to a server, and it is periodically dispatched during the transmission, even if the transmission is ultimately not successful. To determine if and when the file transmission is actually successful and complete, listen for the complete event.

In some cases, progress events are not received. For example, when the file being transmitted is very small or the upload or download happens very quickly a progress event might not be dispatched.

File upload progress cannot be determined on Macintosh platforms earlier than OS X 10.3. The progress event is called during the upload operation, but the value of the bytesLoaded property of the progress event is -1, indicating that the progress cannot be determined.

Defines the value of the type property of a progress event object.

This event has the following properties:

PropertyValue
bubblesfalse
bytesLoadedThe number of items or bytes loaded at the time the listener processes the event.
bytesTotalThe total number of items or bytes that ultimately will be loaded if the loading process succeeds.
cancelablefalse; there is no default behavior to cancel.
currentTargetThe object that is actively processing the Event object with an event listener.
targetThe object reporting progress.

Example  ( How to use this example )

The following example shows usage of the progress event. To run this example, change the downloadURL.url property to point to an actual domain and file, rather than the fictional http://www.[yourDomain].com/SomeFile.pdf. You might also need to compile the SWF file with Local playback security set to Access network only or to update Flash Player security settings to allow this file network access.

package {
    import flash.display.Sprite;
    import flash.events.*;
    import flash.net.FileReference;
    import flash.net.URLRequest;

    public class FileReference_event_progress extends Sprite {
        private var downloadURL:URLRequest;
        private var fileName:String = "SomeFile.pdf";
        private var file:FileReference;

        public function FileReference_event_progress() {
            downloadURL = new URLRequest();
            downloadURL.url = "http://www.[yourDomain].com/SomeFile.pdf";
            file = new FileReference();
            file.addEventListener(ProgressEvent.PROGRESS, progressHandler);
            file.addEventListener(IOErrorEvent.IO_ERROR, ioErrorHandler);
            file.addEventListener(Event.COMPLETE, completeHandler);
            file.download(downloadURL, fileName);
        }

        private function progressHandler(event:ProgressEvent):void {
            var file:FileReference = FileReference(event.target);
            trace("progressHandler: name=" + file.name + " bytesLoaded=" + event.bytesLoaded + " bytesTotal=" + event.bytesTotal);
        }
        
        private function ioErrorHandler(event:IOErrorEvent):void {
            trace("ioErrorHandler: " + event);
        }
        
        private function completeHandler(event:Event):void {
            trace("completeHandler: " + event);
        }
    }
}

See also

securityError Event  
Event Object Type: flash.events.SecurityErrorEvent
property SecurityErrorEvent.type = flash.events.SecurityErrorEvent.SECURITY_ERROR

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Runtime Versions: Flash Player 9, AIR 1.0

Dispatched when a call to the FileReference.upload() or FileReference.download() method tries to upload a file to a server or get a file from a server that is outside the caller's security sandbox. The value of the text property that describes the specific error that occurred is normally "securitySandboxError". The calling SWF file may have tried to access a SWF file outside its domain and does not have permission to do so. You can try to remedy this error by using a URL policy file.

In Adobe AIR, these security restrictions do not apply to content in the application security sandbox.

In Adobe AIR, these security restrictions do not apply to content in the application security sandbox.

The SecurityErrorEvent.SECURITY_ERROR constant defines the value of the type property of a securityError event object.

This event has the following properties:

PropertyValue
bubblesfalse
cancelablefalse; there is no default behavior to cancel.
currentTargetThe object that is actively processing the Event object with an event listener.
targetThe network object reporting the security error.
textText to be displayed as an error message.

See also

select Event  
Event Object Type: flash.events.Event
property Event.type = flash.events.Event.SELECT

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Runtime Versions: Flash Player 9, AIR 1.0

Dispatched when the user selects a file for upload or download from the file-browsing dialog box. (This dialog box opens when you call the FileReference.browse(), FileReferenceList.browse(), or FileReference.download() method.) When the user selects a file and confirms the operation (for example, by clicking OK), the properties of the FileReference object are populated.

For content running in Flash Player or outside of the application security sandbox in the Adobe AIR runtime, the select event acts slightly differently depending on what method invokes it. When the select event is dispatched after a browse() call, Flash Player or the AIR application can read all the FileReference object's properties, because the file selected by the user is on the local file system. When the select event occurs after a download() call, Flash Player or the AIR application can read only the name property, because the file hasn't yet been downloaded to the local file system at the moment the select event is dispatched. When the file is downloaded and the complete event dispatched, Flash Player or the AIR application can read all other properties of the FileReference object.

The Event.SELECT constant defines the value of the type property of a select event object.

This event has the following properties:

PropertyValue
bubblesfalse
cancelablefalse; there is no default behavior to cancel.
currentTargetThe object that is actively processing the Event object with an event listener.
targetThe object on which an item has been selected.

Example  ( How to use this example )

The following example shows usage of the select event object. To run this example, change the uploadURL.url property to point to an actual domain and file, rather than the fictional http://www.[yourDomain].com/SomeFile.pdf. You might also need to compile the SWF file with Local playback security set to Access network only or to update Flash Player security settings to allow this file network access. In order for this example to run from your desktop, your server also needs to have a crossdomain.xml file posted. If the ioErrorHandler() function is triggered, you probably need to update the provided uploadURL with a valid url that is configured to receive uploads.
 
package {
    import flash.display.Sprite;
    import flash.events.*;
    import flash.net.FileReference;
    import flash.net.URLRequest;

    public class FileReference_event_select extends Sprite {
        private var uploadURL:URLRequest;
        private var file:FileReference;

        public function FileReference_event_select() {
            uploadURL = new URLRequest();
            uploadURL.url = "http://www.[yourDomain].com/yourUploadHandlerScript.cfm";
            file = new FileReference();
            file.addEventListener(Event.SELECT, selectHandler);
            file.addEventListener(IOErrorEvent.IO_ERROR, ioErrorHandler);
            file.addEventListener(ProgressEvent.PROGRESS, progressHandler);
            file.addEventListener(Event.COMPLETE, completeHandler);
            file.browse();
        }

        private function selectHandler(event:Event):void {
            var file:FileReference = FileReference(event.target);
            trace("selectHandler: name=" + file.name + " URL=" + uploadURL.url);
            file.upload(uploadURL);
        }

        private function ioErrorHandler(event:IOErrorEvent):void {
            trace("ioErrorHandler: " + event);
        }

        private function progressHandler(event:ProgressEvent):void {
            var file:FileReference = FileReference(event.target);
            trace("progressHandler: name=" + file.name + " bytesLoaded=" + event.bytesLoaded + " bytesTotal=" + event.bytesTotal);
        }

        private function completeHandler(event:Event):void {
            trace("completeHandler: " + event);
        }
    }
}
uploadCompleteData Event  
Event Object Type: flash.events.DataEvent
property DataEvent.type = flash.events.DataEvent.UPLOAD_COMPLETE_DATA

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Runtime Versions: Flash Player 9.0.28.0, AIR 1.0

Dispatched after data is received from the server after a successful upload. This event is not dispatched if data is not returned from the server.

Defines the value of the type property of an uploadCompleteData event object.

This event has the following properties:

PropertyValue
bubblesfalse
cancelablefalse; there is no default behavior to cancel.
currentTargetThe object that is actively processing the Event object with an event listener.
dataThe raw data returned from the server after a successful file upload.
targetThe FileReference object receiving data after a successful upload.
Examples (  How to use this example  )
FileReferenceExample.as

The following example displays the data format and status information for a file loaded at runtime.

Note: To run this example, change the uploadURL.url property to point to an actual URL, rather than the fictional one in the example. The URL should point to a file named yourUploadHandlerScript.cfm in the root web directory of the URL specified. Based on your configuration, you might also need to compile the SWF file with Local Playback Security set to Access Network Only or to update Flash Player security settings to allow this file network access.

package {
    import flash.display.Sprite;
    import flash.events.*;
    import flash.net.FileFilter;
    import flash.net.FileReference;
    import flash.net.URLRequest;

    public class FileReferenceExample extends Sprite {
        private var uploadURL:URLRequest;
        private var file:FileReference;

        public function FileReferenceExample() {
            uploadURL = new URLRequest();
            uploadURL.url = "http://www.[yourDomain].com/yourUploadHandlerScript.cfm";
            file = new FileReference();
            configureListeners(file);
            file.browse(getTypes());
        }

        private function configureListeners(dispatcher:IEventDispatcher):void {
            dispatcher.addEventListener(Event.CANCEL, cancelHandler);
            dispatcher.addEventListener(Event.COMPLETE, completeHandler);
            dispatcher.addEventListener(HTTPStatusEvent.HTTP_STATUS, httpStatusHandler);
            dispatcher.addEventListener(IOErrorEvent.IO_ERROR, ioErrorHandler);
            dispatcher.addEventListener(Event.OPEN, openHandler);
            dispatcher.addEventListener(ProgressEvent.PROGRESS, progressHandler);
            dispatcher.addEventListener(SecurityErrorEvent.SECURITY_ERROR, securityErrorHandler);
            dispatcher.addEventListener(Event.SELECT, selectHandler);
            dispatcher.addEventListener(DataEvent.UPLOAD_COMPLETE_DATA,uploadCompleteDataHandler);
        }

        private function getTypes():Array {
            var allTypes:Array = new Array(getImageTypeFilter(), getTextTypeFilter());
            return allTypes;
        }

        private function getImageTypeFilter():FileFilter {
            return new FileFilter("Images (*.jpg, *.jpeg, *.gif, *.png)", "*.jpg;*.jpeg;*.gif;*.png");
        }

        private function getTextTypeFilter():FileFilter {
            return new FileFilter("Text Files (*.txt, *.rtf)", "*.txt;*.rtf");
        }

        private function cancelHandler(event:Event):void {
            trace("cancelHandler: " + event);
        }

        private function completeHandler(event:Event):void {
            trace("completeHandler: " + event);
        }

        private function uploadCompleteDataHandler(event:DataEvent):void {
            trace("uploadCompleteData: " + event);
        }

        private function httpStatusHandler(event:HTTPStatusEvent):void {
            trace("httpStatusHandler: " + event);
        }
        
        private function ioErrorHandler(event:IOErrorEvent):void {
            trace("ioErrorHandler: " + event);
        }

        private function openHandler(event:Event):void {
            trace("openHandler: " + event);
        }

        private function progressHandler(event:ProgressEvent):void {
            var file:FileReference = FileReference(event.target);
            trace("progressHandler name=" + file.name + " bytesLoaded=" + event.bytesLoaded + " bytesTotal=" + event.bytesTotal);
        }

        private function securityErrorHandler(event:SecurityErrorEvent):void {
            trace("securityErrorHandler: " + event);
        }

        private function selectHandler(event:Event):void {
            var file:FileReference = FileReference(event.target);
            trace("selectHandler: name=" + file.name + " URL=" + uploadURL.url);
            file.upload(uploadURL);
        }
    }
}