Wes Leonardo - Putting AIR into your Application

Wes LeonardoFlash Platform Engineer

• Getting Started with Adobe AIR

• Differences between AIR and Web apps.

• AIR Features with examples

• Some Best Practices

• Demos/Inspiration

• Resources

• Q & A

What will this cover?

What is AIR?

• Adobe Integrated Runtime

• Build AIR applications from Flex, Flash and Dreamweaver

• AIR applications can be HTML, JavaScript or Flash

• Distribute across different operating systems Win/Mac

Developer Role

Developer Role

Developer Role

Developer Role

Getting Started

- In Flex Builder, Create a New Flex Project and select Desktop application

- Root tag of the application will be WindowedApplication

Application Descriptor File

• Located in the root directory

• Set the Application ID

• Set Desktop & System Tray Icons

• Set Application Version

• Storing Information– Web: Database on a Server

– Desktop: Local Database SQLite

• Connection– Web: Web Site Uptime

– Desktop: Mostly Local – Socket Connection

Web vs. Desktop

• Check/Create DB file

• Setup/Open SQL connection

• Create Tables

• Asynchronous/Synchronous

• Insert, Update, Delete SQL statements

SQLite Integration

Socket Connections

• Application is online/offline

• Connections to Sockets are open

• Detect Network Status

Custom Chrome

• Branding

• Custom Application Border • Circle

• Custom Shapes

• Chrome Transparent

• Drop Shadows

Local File Access

• Create, Open, Read, and or Write Files

• Create Directories

• Get Contents of a Directory

• Asynchronous/Synchronous

Updating Your AIR App

• AIR Update Framework

• Check for updates on your server

• Access to Update Process

Best Practices

• Don’t annoy your users

• Never use Always In Front

• Custom chrome - add close, minimize buttons

• Avoid full screen applications

• Give the user options

Demos

Resources

Blog

http://developer.ribbit.com/blog

AIR 1.5 Documentation

http://help.adobe.com/en_US/AIR/1.5/devappsflex/

AIR Team Blog

http://wwblogs.adobe.com/air/