Flash and XML: SU’s Seating Chart Application

Michael Caldwell
Print and Web Media Manager
Seattle University School of Law

Chris Wilen
Director of Instructional Design
Seattle University School of Law

Seattle University created a seating chard application using Macromedia Flash, MS Access, and XML. Student, class, and faculty data are imported into MS Access and then exported to an XML file. A Flash application was developed that reads the XML file and allows the instructor (or user) to easily create a seating chart for their class. The application allows the modification of student data such as title and name spelling. Using drag and drop a seating charty is created using a variety of classroom templates. The number of seats per row in a classrom is user configurable.