What is the best way to display HTML in Flex?

Question

I have HTML that includes symbols such as the Trademark "TM" as superscript (™). In normal HTML, I would use "™" or ™ to display the Trademark TM. However, I can find no way to import HTML like this into Flex and have it displayed correctly. I am having similar issues with the <li> tag.

My HTML:

<p>This information is intellectual property of My Company&#153;.</p>

<p>Available features:</p>

<li>Feature 1</li>
<li>Feature 2</li>
<li>Feature 3</li>
<li>Feature 4</li>

<p>COPYRIGHT INFORMATION:</p>

<p>Copyright &#169; 2008, My Company. All rights reserved.</p>

The only way that I've gotten this to work is by copying and pasting the content directly into Flex:

<mx:Text width="100%" height="100%">
    <mx:htmlText>
        <![CDATA[
This information is intellectual property of My Company™. 

Available features:

•   Feature 1
•   Feature 2
•   Feature 3
•   Feature 4

COPYRIGHT INFORMATION:

Copyright © 2008, My Company. All rights reserved. 
        ]]>
    </mx:htmlText>
</mx:Text>

I want to use an external HTML file that I can import into my Flex App at run time, so that I don't have to recompile the app for a simple content change.

I've heard of too many issues with the iFrame option, so I want to avoid that, if possible.

Does anyone have any other good suggestions for dealing with this issue?

Thank you.

Answer 1

Okay, this is a tricky one. I just finished a project where we used this open-source library to display HTML: http://code.google.com/p/flex-htmlfilter

It handles lists, tables, etc, and is pretty easy to work with. But, I don't think it supports the trademark symbol. It does support some of the others, though.

I'm using it to pull content from a CMS and display in my flash movie. It has worked great, and allows me all the flash styling flexibility I need.

Answer 2

I don't know if this is a good solution for all problems, but if you want to use a RichText control you can load FlowText in to it which allows you to use more HTML, including superscript and other glyphs, like the ones you want to use.

How to use superscripting in flex?