Flash 4 and PHP/mysql loading variable number of variables

Hi! I am a flash newbie. I am using Flash 4 What I'd need help on is, how can I load a unknown number of variables into a flash movie and use them there? I have done a simple flash/php integration using a flash-text field and LoadVariable and it worked alright, but i have the problem that I dont know how to get rid that text field. All I need is a number of variables from a php-script that are not displayed but that can be used in flash. For example imagine I was doing a address list that I wanted to use in flash, but I don't know how many records are in the database. Therefore my php-script would return something like: name1=Dennis&name2=Peter&name3=Petra&name4=Silvy&name5=Mark..... how can I use this information in flash without actually displaying it right ahead? And is there somthing similar to an array or a java-like collection in flash or does it only support simple variables? I hope this is not too much OT. thx for your help