Add events dispatching for ActionScript framework Robotlegs

Question

I have the following function in a Service class

protected function writeToFile():void{
        var destinationFile:File = File.applicationStorageDirectory.resolvePath(_newPath);

        var fs:FileStream = new FileStream();

        fs.open(destinationFile, FileMode.WRITE);
        fs.writeBytes(_buffer, 0, _buffer.length);

        fs.close();         


    }

this Service class should dispatch a SuccessfulCreateLocalFileEvent when writeToFile is successful and an UnsuccessfulCreateLocalFileEvent if writeToFile is unsuccessful.

I know that FileStream functions open and writeBytes may throw IOError if there is any problems. And all these FileStream functions all have void as return types.

I believe I need try catch, but I am not entirely sure how to do so.

Please advise.

This question is replicated at http://knowledge.robotlegs.org/discussions/questions/924-what-is-best-way-to-write-dispatch-events-in-this-service-class-function Experimenting which site has better answers for such a question.

Answer 1

FileStream class has its own events which are dispatched when the file operation is successful or not.

http://help.adobe.com/en_US/FlashPlatform/reference/actionscript/3/flash/filesystem/FileStream.html#eventSummary

A possible refactor of the code is

protected function writeToFile():void{
    _destinationFile = File.applicationStorageDirectory.resolvePath(_newPath);

    var fs:FileStream = new FileStream();

    fs.open(_destinationFile, FileMode.WRITE);
    fs.writeBytes(_buffer, 0, _buffer.length);

    fs.addEventListener(Event.CLOSE, dispatchFileCreatedEvent);

    fs.close(); 

}

Thanks to krasimir of knowledge Robotlegs Community for his help in arriving at this answer.

Answer 2

I'm not familiar with ActionScript but it seems to me that the usual try-catch-finally structure is available in this language too. A possible usage could be the following:

var fs:FileStream = new FileStream();
try {
    fs.open(destinationFile, FileMode.WRITE);
    fs.writeBytes(_buffer, 0, _buffer.length);
} finally {
    fs.close();
}

It ensures that the file will be closed even something throws an IOError or other exception.

I don't know how event dispatch works in ActionScript but maybe you could use something like this:

boolean successful = false;
try {
    var fs:FileStream = new FileStream();
    try {
        fs.open(destinationFile, FileMode.WRITE);
        fs.writeBytes(_buffer, 0, _buffer.length);
    } finally {
        fs.close();
    }
    successful = true;
} finally {
    if (successful) {
        // dispatch a SuccessfulCreateLocalFileEvent here
    } else {
        // dispatch an UnsuccessfulCreateLocalFileEvent here
    }
}

It sets the successful flag to true only if no file operation throws exception.

If you want to handle errors locally, you'll need a catch block too:

boolean successful = false;
try {
    var fs:FileStream = new FileStream();
    try {
        fs.open(destinationFile, FileMode.WRITE);
        fs.writeBytes(_buffer, 0, _buffer.length);
    } finally {
        fs.close();
    }
    successful = true;
} catch (IOError) {
    // handle IOError here
} finally {
    if (successful) {
        // dispatch a SuccessfulCreateLocalFileEvent here
    } else {
        // dispatch an UnsuccessfulCreateLocalFileEvent here
    }
}