Embedding external files using [Embed]

OK, I learnt this trick a few weeks ago from a co-worker. A user emailed me and asked if it was possible to embed an HTML/text file in a Flex application rather than having to load the files at runtime, similar to how you can embed images or whatnot.

Not being certain, I asked the team and got this response…

foobar.as

package {
    import flash.utils.ByteArray;  

    [Embed(source="test.mxml", mimeType="application/octet-stream")]
    public class foobar extends ByteArray
    {
    }
}

test.mxml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<mx:Application xmlns:mx="http://www.adobe.com/2006/mxml" creationComplete="testMe()">  

<mx:Script>
    <![CDATA[
       public var myText:foobar = new foobar();
        public function testMe():void {
            trace(myText.toString());
        }
    ]]>
</mx:Script>  

</mx:Application>