My First Class: extends XML feedback welcome

talk open source
1

Very basic but I am new to writing classes.
comments and suggestions for improvements and advances are always appreciated.

DMC_XML is an XML loader that automatically makes available the number of children within the XML file for you.

Ideal when using a loop to populate fields from xml files, as the number of children is readily available after the load.

NOTES:
There is also a static variable that tracks the number of xml instances that have been loaded.
I am thinking of expanding the class to chain together multiple XML loads.

USAGE:
simply define a new variable as an instance of DMC_XML
var info: DMC_XML = new DMC_XML (“map_info”);

you can then reference the _xmlLength property to use in a loop that parses your xml.
var infoL:Number = info.get_xmlLength()
for(i=0; i<=infoL; i++){
code
}



class DMC_XML extends XML {
	//
	//*****  private variables  *****
	//
	private static var _xmlInstances:Number = 0;
	private var _xmlFileName:String;
	private var _xmlFile:XML;
	private var _xmlLength:Number;
	private var _interval:Number;
	//
	//*****  constructor  *****
	//
	public function DMC_XML (arg1:String) {
		_xmlInstances++;
		trace ("xml file loading = " + arg1);
		this._xmlFileName = arg1;
		this._xmlFile = new XML ();
		this._xmlFile.ignoreWhite = true;
		this._xmlFile.load ("xml/" + arg1 + ".xml");
		this._interval = setInterval (this, "monitorLoad", 10);
		this._xmlFile.onLoad = function (success) {
			if (success) {
				trace (arg1 + " xml file loaded");
			}
		};
	}
	//
	//*****  static methods  *****
	//
	static function get_xmlInstances ():Number {
		return _xmlInstances;
	}
	//
	//*****  getters & setters  *****
	//
	public function get_xmlFileName ():String {
		return this._xmlFileName;
	}
	public function set_xmlFileName (arg1:String):Void {
		this._xmlFileName = arg1;
	}
	public function get_xmlFile ():XML {
		return this._xmlFile;
	}
	public function set_xmlFile (arg1:XML):Void {
		this._xmlFile = arg1;
	}
	public function get_xmlLength ():Number {
		return this._xmlLength;
	}
	public function set_xmlLength (arg1:Number):Void {
		this._xmlLength = arg1;
	}
	//
	//*****  methods  *****
	//
	public function countChildren ():Void {
		trace ("counting children in " + get_xmlFileName ());
		var file:XML = get_xmlFile ();
		var activeNode:XMLNode = file.firstChild.firstChild;
		var nextNode:XMLNode = activeNode.nextSibling;
		var lastNode:XMLNode = file.firstChild.lastChild;
		var counter:Number = 0;
		do {
			counter++;
			activeNode = nextNode;
			nextNode = activeNode.nextSibling;
		} while (nextNode.nodeName != null);
		set_xmlLength (counter);
		trace ("zero based number of children in " + get_xmlFileName () + " = " + counter);
	}
	//-----------------------------------------------------
	//
	private function monitorLoad () {
		var bLoad:Number = _xmlFile.getBytesLoaded ();
		var bTotal:Number = _xmlFile.getBytesTotal ();
		//trace (bLoad);
		//trace (bTotal);
		if (bLoad > 0 && bLoad == bTotal) {
			countChildren ();
			//trace (_xmlFileName + " monitorLoad interval cleared");
			clearInterval (this._interval);
		}
	}
	//-----------------------------------------------------
	//
}