ApplicationDomain

(Beta)

Package	flash.system
Class	public final class ApplicationDomain
Inheritance	ApplicationDomain Object

Language Version:

ActionScript 3.0

Runtime Versions:

AIR 1.0, Flash Player 9, Flash Lite 4

The ApplicationDomain class is a container for discrete groups of class definitions. Application domains are used to partition classes that are in the same security domain. They allow multiple definitions of the same class to exist and allow children to reuse parent definitions.

Application domains are used when an external SWF file is loaded through the Loader class. All ActionScript 3.0 definitions in the loaded SWF file are stored in the application domain, which is specified by the applicationDomain property of the LoaderContext object that you pass as a context parameter of the Loader object's load() or loadBytes() method. The LoaderInfo object also contains an applicationDomain property, which is read-only.

All code in a SWF file is defined to exist in an application domain. The current application domain is where your main application runs. The system domain contains all application domains, including the current domain, which means that it contains all Flash Player classes.

Every application domain, except the system domain, has an associated parent domain. The parent domain of your main application's application domain is the system domain. Loaded classes are defined only when their parent doesn't already define them. You cannot override a loaded class definition with a newer definition.

For usage examples of application domains, see the ActionScript 3.0 Developer's Guide.

The ApplicationDomain() constructor function allows you to create an ApplicationDomain object.

View the examples

More examples

About application domains
Working with application domains

Related API Elements

flash.display.Loader.load()
flash.display.Loader.loadBytes()
flash.display.LoaderInfo
flash.net.URLRequest
flash.system.LoaderContext

Public Properties

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Show Inherited Public Properties

	Property		Defined By
		constructor : Object A reference to the class object or constructor function for a given object instance.	Object
		currentDomain : ApplicationDomain [static] [read-only] Gets the current application domain in which your code is executing.	ApplicationDomain
		domainMemory : ByteArray Gets and sets the object on which domain-global memory operations will operate within this ApplicationDomain.	ApplicationDomain
		MIN_DOMAIN_MEMORY_LENGTH : uint [static] [read-only] Gets the minimum memory object length required to be used as ApplicationDomain.domainMemory.	ApplicationDomain
		parentDomain : ApplicationDomain [read-only] Gets the parent domain of this application domain.	ApplicationDomain

Public Methods

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Show Inherited Public Methods

	Method		Defined By
		ApplicationDomain(parentDomain:ApplicationDomain = null) Creates a new application domain.	ApplicationDomain
		getDefinition(name:String):Object Gets a public definition from the specified application domain.	ApplicationDomain
		getQualifiedDefinitionNames():Vector.<String> Gets all fully-qualified names of public definitions from the specified application domain.	ApplicationDomain
		hasDefinition(name:String):Boolean Checks to see if a public definition exists within the specified application domain.	ApplicationDomain
		hasOwnProperty(name:String):Boolean Indicates whether an object has a specified property defined.	Object
		isPrototypeOf(theClass:Object):Boolean Indicates whether an instance of the Object class is in the prototype chain of the object specified as the parameter.	Object
		propertyIsEnumerable(name:String):Boolean Indicates whether the specified property exists and is enumerable.	Object
		setPropertyIsEnumerable(name:String, isEnum:Boolean = true):void Sets the availability of a dynamic property for loop operations.	Object
		toLocaleString():String Returns the string representation of this object, formatted according to locale-specific conventions.	Object
		toString():String Returns the string representation of the specified object.	Object
		valueOf():Object Returns the primitive value of the specified object.	Object

Property Detail

Constructor Detail

Method Detail

Examples How to use this example

ApplicationDomainExample.as

The following example demonstrates runtime class loading as well as how to call public methods of a class that reside in another SWF.

Notes:

Since the ClassLoader class loads a SWF file, local security needs to be at the file system level.
To run this example, you must have a swf file called RuntimeClasses.swf existing in the same folder as the ApplicationDomainExample.swf file.

Begin by creating the RuntimeClasses.swf file from the following code:

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 package {
   import flash.display.Sprite;
   public class RuntimeClasses extends Sprite
   {
     public function RuntimeClasses()
     {}
      
     public function greet():String {
       return("Hello World");
     }
   }
 }

Then implement the following code:

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package {
    import flash.display.DisplayObject;
    import flash.display.Sprite;
    import flash.errors.IllegalOperationError;
    import flash.events.Event;
    import flash.text.TextField;

    public class ApplicationDomainExample extends Sprite {
        private var loader:ClassLoader;
        private var tf:TextField = new TextField();

        public function ApplicationDomainExample() {
            addChild(tf);

            loader = new ClassLoader();
            loader.addEventListener(ClassLoader.LOAD_ERROR,loadErrorHandler);
            loader.addEventListener(ClassLoader.CLASS_LOADED,classLoadedHandler);
            loader.load("RuntimeClasses.swf");
        }

        private function loadErrorHandler(e:Event):void {
            tf.text = "Load failed";
            throw new IllegalOperationError("Cannot load the specified file.");
        }

        private function classLoadedHandler(e:Event):void {
            var runtimeClassRef:Class = loader.getClass("RuntimeClasses");
            var greeter:Object = new runtimeClassRef();

            tf.text = greeter.greet();
        }
    }
}

import flash.display.Loader;
import flash.errors.IllegalOperationError;
import flash.events.Event;
import flash.events.EventDispatcher;
import flash.events.IOErrorEvent;
import flash.events.SecurityErrorEvent;
import flash.net.URLRequest;
import flash.system.ApplicationDomain;
import flash.system.LoaderContext;

class ClassLoader extends EventDispatcher {
    public static var CLASS_LOADED:String = "classLoaded";
    public static var LOAD_ERROR:String = "loadError";
    private var loader:Loader;
    private var swfLib:String;
    private var request:URLRequest;
    private var loadedClass:Class;

    public function ClassLoader() {

        loader = new Loader();
        loader.contentLoaderInfo.addEventListener(Event.COMPLETE,completeHandler);
        loader.contentLoaderInfo.addEventListener(IOErrorEvent.IO_ERROR,ioErrorHandler);
        loader.contentLoaderInfo.addEventListener(SecurityErrorEvent.SECURITY_ERROR,securityErrorHandler);
    }

    public function load(lib:String):void {
        swfLib = lib;
        request = new URLRequest(swfLib);
        var context:LoaderContext = new LoaderContext();
        context.applicationDomain=ApplicationDomain.currentDomain;
        loader.load(request,context);
    }

    public function getClass(className:String):Class {
        try {
            return loader.contentLoaderInfo.applicationDomain.getDefinition(className)  as  Class;
        } catch (e:Error) {
            throw new IllegalOperationError(className + " definition not found in " + swfLib);
        }
        return null;
    }

    private function completeHandler(e:Event):void {
        dispatchEvent(new Event(ClassLoader.CLASS_LOADED));
    }

    private function ioErrorHandler(e:Event):void {
        dispatchEvent(new Event(ClassLoader.LOAD_ERROR));
    }

    private function securityErrorHandler(e:Event):void {
        dispatchEvent(new Event(ClassLoader.LOAD_ERROR));
    }
}

ApplicationDomainExample.2.as

If multiple SWF files contain compiled classes with the same name but provide different implementation, you can partition the classes of externally loaded SWF files separate from the classes of each other following this example. Previously, the child SWF was instructed to use ApplicationDomain.currentDomain. In this case, a new ApplicationDomain is created, so that then the properties and methods of the Greeter class of whichever SWF loads second will not replace the properties and methods of the first Greeter class. You can test this by modifying the context.applicationDomain property in the load method of ClassLoader.

Notes:

Since the ClassLoader class loads a SWF file, local security needs to be at the file system level.
To run this example, you must have two SWF files called Greeter.swf existing in an "en" and "es" folder respectively.

Create a Greeter.as file in the "en" directory with the following code:

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 package {
    import flash.display.Sprite;
    public class Greeter extends Sprite
    {
        public function Greeter()
        {
        }
        
        public function greet():String {
            return("Good Morning");
        }
    }
 }

Then create a very similar Greeter.as file in the "es" directory:

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 package {
    import flash.display.Sprite;
    public class Greeter extends Sprite
    {
        public function Greeter()
        {
        }
        
        public function greet():String {
            return("Buenos Dias");
        }
    }
}

Compile SWF files for both and then implement the following code:

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package {
    import flash.display.DisplayObject;
    import flash.display.Sprite;
    import flash.errors.IllegalOperationError;
    import flash.events.Event;
    import flash.text.TextField;
    import flash.text.TextFieldAutoSize;

    public class ApplicationDomainExample2 extends Sprite {
        private var spanishGreeterLoader:ClassLoader;
        private var englishGreeterLoader:ClassLoader;
        private var tf:TextField = new TextField();
        private var greetersLoaded:uint = 0;

        public function ApplicationDomainExample2() {
            tf.autoSize = TextFieldAutoSize.LEFT;
            addChild(tf);

            spanishGreeterLoader = new ClassLoader();
            spanishGreeterLoader.addEventListener(ClassLoader.LOAD_ERROR,loadErrorHandler);
            spanishGreeterLoader.addEventListener(ClassLoader.CLASS_LOADED,classLoadedHandler);
            spanishGreeterLoader.load("es/Greeter.swf");
            
            englishGreeterLoader = new ClassLoader();
            englishGreeterLoader.addEventListener(ClassLoader.LOAD_ERROR,loadErrorHandler);
            englishGreeterLoader.addEventListener(ClassLoader.CLASS_LOADED,classLoadedHandler);
            englishGreeterLoader.load("en/Greeter.swf");
        }

        private function loadErrorHandler(e:Event):void {
            tf.text = "Load failed";
            throw new IllegalOperationError("Cannot load the specified file.");
        }

        private function classLoadedHandler(e:Event):void {
            greetersLoaded++;
            if(greetersLoaded == 2) {
                greet();    
            }
        }
        
        private function greet():void {
            var spanishGreeter:Class = spanishGreeterLoader.getClass("Greeter");
            var englishGreeter:Class = englishGreeterLoader.getClass("Greeter");
            var greeter1 = new spanishGreeter();
            var greeter2 = new englishGreeter();
            
            tf.text = greeter1.greet() + "\n" + greeter2.greet();
        }
    }
}

import flash.display.Loader;
import flash.errors.IllegalOperationError;
import flash.events.Event;
import flash.events.EventDispatcher;
import flash.events.IOErrorEvent;
import flash.events.SecurityErrorEvent;
import flash.net.URLRequest;
import flash.system.ApplicationDomain;
import flash.system.LoaderContext;

class ClassLoader extends EventDispatcher {
    public static var CLASS_LOADED:String = "classLoaded";
    public static var LOAD_ERROR:String = "loadError";
    private var loader:Loader;
    private var swfLib:String;
    private var request:URLRequest;
    private var loadedClass:Class;

    public function ClassLoader() {

        loader = new Loader();
        loader.contentLoaderInfo.addEventListener(Event.COMPLETE,completeHandler);
        loader.contentLoaderInfo.addEventListener(IOErrorEvent.IO_ERROR,ioErrorHandler);
        loader.contentLoaderInfo.addEventListener(SecurityErrorEvent.SECURITY_ERROR,securityErrorHandler);
    }

    public function load(lib:String):void {
        swfLib = lib;
        request = new URLRequest(swfLib);
        var context:LoaderContext = new LoaderContext();
//        context.applicationDomain = ApplicationDomain.currentDomain;
        context.applicationDomain = new ApplicationDomain();
        loader.load(request,context);
    }

    public function getClass(className:String):Class {
        try {
            return loader.contentLoaderInfo.applicationDomain.getDefinition(className)  as  Class;
        } catch (e:Error) {
            throw new IllegalOperationError(className + " definition not found in " + swfLib);
        }
        return null;
    }

    private function completeHandler(e:Event):void {
        dispatchEvent(new Event(ClassLoader.CLASS_LOADED));
    }

    private function ioErrorHandler(e:Event):void {
        dispatchEvent(new Event(ClassLoader.LOAD_ERROR));
    }

    private function securityErrorHandler(e:Event):void {
        dispatchEvent(new Event(ClassLoader.LOAD_ERROR));
    }
}

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ApplicationDomain - AS3

Packagesx

Language Elements

Appendixes

Package flash.system

currentDomain

domainMemory

MIN_DOMAIN_MEMORY_LENGTH

parentDomain

getDefinition

getQualifiedDefinitionNames

hasDefinition