display - remove players from screen from XML feed

[LOLFlash]

Hi all
I'm new in game design need some suggestion
I have XML feed from server refreshing every 2 sec.
In XML I have 2 teams and number of players in each team can be vary from 0 to 20;

<players>
<team1>
<player name="JOC">
<x>45</x>
<y>4</>........
</player>
...........
</team1>
<team2>
...............
</team2>
</players>

each node <player> represents on screen MovieClip with Click listener

every time I'm receiving XML I'm setting a properties for each player according the node
<player name="BOB">
<x>30</x>
<y>68</>........
</player>

attribute name unique in each team;

But if in next XML player disappeared, I have to remove it from screen and as well if new joined I have to add it on screen:

Where to start to add and remove players according new XML every 2 sec.

[rrh]

Maybe the simplest to program would be to remove them all and then re-add everything listed in the XML. It might not the most efficient in terms of processing, but it avoids having to write separate adding and removing code.

[LOLFlash]

thx rrh

What about garbage collection.
Every 2 sec I have to remove players with their listeners and create new. Is it OK for flash?

[rrh]

Like I said, it might be inefficient for processing.

A slightly more complex but less processor heavy method would be:


//lastTimePlayers has players from last update
var currentPlayers newPlayers:Object = empty objects;

for each player listed in XML {
if a player of that name exists in lastTimePlayers {
update the position
remove it from lastTimePlayers
put it in currentPlayers
} else {
add this player to newPlayers;
}
}

loop through lastTimePlayers and remove any that no longer exist

loop through newPlayers and create each one, adding them to currentPlayers

move all the players from currentPlayers to lastTimePlayers

[LOLFlash]

You right remove all and add all much easy. But I'll try your last code to make it work.
Will publish later on what I get.

[bluemagica]

I don't know if I should recommend this, cause its a bit advanced, but in your situation, an object pool would work great!
http://www.lostinactionscript.com/blog/index.php/2008/10/30/object-pooling-in-as3/

[LOLFlash]

I briefly went through this project and I have one question:
What object pool can do what AS3 can't?
For now I want to try rrh way:


var tempAr:Array=playersAr.slice(0);
for each (var xml:XML in dataXML.team1)
{
var player= this.getChildByName("team1_"+xml.@name);
if (player==nul){
var myplayer:Player= new Player(xml);
myplayer.name="team1_"+xml.@name;
playersAr.push(this.addChild(myplayer));

}else {
delete tempAr[tempAr.indexOf(player)];
player.setXML=xml;
player.flag=curTime;

}
....... same for team2......

var n:uint=tempAr.length;
for (var i=n;i>0;i--){
if(tempAr[i-1] == null){
var r=playersAr[i-1];
r.removeEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_OVER,over);
r.removeEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_OUT,out);
this.removeChild(r);
playersAr.splice(i-1,1);
}
}