Developing with Adobe AIR

Developing with Adobe AIRPeter Elst – Flash Israel 2010

Who am I?

• Freelance Flash Platform Consultant• Adobe Community Professional• Adobe User Group Manager• Author of «Object-Oriented ActionScript 3.0»• Founding Partner of Project Cocoon

What will we talk about?

• How are AIR applications structured?• Examples of common features:

Network detection, windowing, Filesystem access, HTML support, local database support, drag ‘n drop, clipboard access, native processes

• What is new in the upcoming AIR 2.0?• Questions & answers

AIR application structure

SWF HTML

Adobe AIR runtime

Windows, Mac, Linux

Where to get AIR

• The Adobe AIR SDK is completely free of charge and can be downloaded here:

adobe.com/products/air/tools

• AIR 2.0 has a public beta available here:

labs.adobe.com/technologies/air2

Network detection

• Detect network status changes• Monitor connection to a URL or server socket

001_network

air.net.URLMonitorair.net.SocketMonitor

Windowing

• Create application windows at runtime• Window look ‘n feel is based on OS• Allows custom shaped UI windows

002_windowing

flash.display.NativeWindowflash.display.NativeWindowInitOptions

HTML support

• AIR has an embedded Webkit HTML engine• HTML content is integrated in the display list

003_HTML003_HTML_displaylist

flash.html.HTMLLoadermx.controls.HTML

Filesystem access

• AIR can read, write, delete files and folders• File paths are abstracted and OS independent

004_File

flash.filesystem.Fileflash.filesystem.FileStream

SQLite database

• AIR has an embedded SQLite database engine• Databases are container in a single file

005_SQLite

flash.data.SQLConnectionflash.data.SQLStatement

Drag ‘n drop

• AIR supports drag ‘n drop between applications• Allows you to set the drag data and image

006_DragDrop

flash.events.NativeDragEventflash.desktop.NativeDragManager

Clipboard access

• Control an OS wide clipboard• Assign clipboard data in one or more formats

007_Clipboard

flash.desktop.Clipboard

Native processes

• Open a file with its default application• Launch an executable with optional arguments

008_NativeProcess

flash.desktop.NativeProcessflash.desktop.NativeProcessStartupInfo

What is new in AIR 2.0?

• Support for TLS/SSL sockets• Enhanced printing support• Mass storage detection (e.g. USB drives)• Ability to listen to sockets, UDP support• Native processes• Raw microphone access• Multi-touch gestures• …

AIR for Android is coming

• Adobe has announced its working on AIR support for Android phones and tablets.

Questions & answers

Email [email protected] www.peterelst.comTwitter @peterelstLinkedIn www.linkedin.com/in/peterelst

Thanks and have fun with AIR!