Using an AS3 object or class as a DataProvider

I have a need to use custom class objects as a DataGrid dataprovider.  After wrestling with flash.utils.describeClass() I gave up and found two other methods for binding my custom objects to a DataGrid.

First here is a look at the sample MXML app I put together.

Same object bound two different ways

Click here to run this demo in a new window.

In the first grid the DataGrid gets a column per object property.

var dp_horizontal:Array = ArrayUtil.toArray( myCustomObj );
grid_1.dataProvider = dp_horizontal.valueOf();

In the second grid, I run my custom object through a helper function to create an ArrayCollection containing NAME, VALUE pairs for each object property.

/**
 * Convert a class object into an ArrayCollection to be used
 * as a DataProvider
 */
private function objectToDataProvider( obj:Object ):ArrayCollection
{
	// our DataProvider
	var dp:ArrayCollection = new ArrayCollection();
	// get object class info
	var info:Object = mx.utils.ObjectUtil.getClassInfo( obj );
	// split the class property list into Array
	var propsA:Array = String( info.properties ).split(',');
	// loop over class properties grabbing value and filling up dp
	for( var xx:int = 0; xx <= propsA.length-1; xx++)
	{
		dp.addItem( { name : propsA[ xx ], value : obj[ propsA[ xx ] ] } );
	}

	return dp;
}

I’m currently using this helper function to bind the result of WebORB.NET data calls to a DataGrid for testing.  This code could really be used by any type of object though.

Hope this helps somebody else.