Introduction to XML in Flash
       by senocular

Managing XML Data In Flash
In the squirrel finder and file listing examples, the XML loaded was only accessed one time, at the point directly after loading was complete. After that, anything dealing with the XML instance directly was, well, nonexistent. The information needed was immediately extracted and the XML instance was thereafter abandoned.

When dealing with loaded XML, this is, I think, the general approach (that should be) taken using XML in Flash. First obtain (load) the XML, then get what you need from it, converting its content into whatever internal Flash representation you need it to be in and then forget about it. In the squirrel finder, this representation was that of a list of buttons and a few variables which get used to display a text field; none of which screams "I'm XML!" In doing this, you're simplifying the process of dealing with the complications of XML as you only have to deal with it once.

Now this ideology changes a little bit when you need to take loaded XML and send it back out of Flash as XML. If you need that XML to change while in Flash, you will want to continuously work from the XML instance to assure its contents reflect what is seen in Flash.