FLASH AS2 and PHP variables - php

Question

My Flash movie reads and sends data to a PHP file in a free server. It seems ok for Flash to read variable values from a text file (which is managed by a PHP file) if they are wrote in this way: &variable = value&, I have no problem with that.
But my PHP file, pre-treated (by some mathematical functions) data sent by Flash and then, updates the values in the text file, that is my intention but I can't accomplish it.
Suppose I want to update a counter ( it counts how many times the data were updated):
in the text file I have &counter=0& (initial value) and if I put in the PHP file:
<?php
$fp = fopen("jose_stats.txt", "r");// I guess with it, I've read all the variables and values
// one of them is the variable &counter.
fclose($fp);
$toSave = "&counter=&counter+1&\n";
$fp = fopen("jose_stats.txt", "w");
if(fwrite($fp, "$toSave")) {
echo "&verify=success&"; //prints to screen &verify=success which flash will read
//and store as myVars.verify
} else { // simple if statement
echo "&verify=fail&"; //prints to screen &verify=fail which flash will read and
//store as myVars.verify
}
fclose($fp);
?>
but then, I check my text file and it has &counter=&counter+1& line :( and not the expected &counter =1&.
Please, give me and advise. Thank you.

Answer 1

Why not use JSON?
Just store the data in JSON format:
$count = 1;
$toWrite = array( 'count' => $count );//put other data into this array if you want
//encode it
$toWrite = json_encode( $toWrite );
//and now write the data
To decode it in flash, import the JSON class:
An example of JSON in as2 using the JSON.as class:
try {
var o:Object = JSON.parse(jsonStr);
var s:String = JSON.stringify(obj);
} catch(ex) {
trace(ex.name + ":" + ex.message + ":" + ex.at + ":" + ex.text);
}
So just import the class, and run JSON.parse( yourPhpResponse );.
Also, the reason for why you're seeing &counter=& in the text file is because you're storing it like that: $toSave = "&counter=&counter+1&\n";.