That's about it. Oh, and I don't want to convert the Flex Builder Project making it incompatible with Flex Builder 3 Pro.
Yes! Here is an article and video that shows how to use the Flex 3 SDK in Flash Builder 4.
Yes, you can compile the project with Flash Builder 4. ISTR it either silently updated my project settings or I might have converted the project.
In any case, if you are trying to simultaneously use Flex Builder 3 and Flash Builder 4 you should note that at least one of the internal eclipse & FB project settings files (.actionScriptProperties, .flexProperties & .project) changed format between FB3 and FB4 - I can't remember exactly which ones changed off the top of my head.
This will affect your development workflow.
I have previously used Flash Builder 4 on a project whilst the rest of the team was using Flex Builder 3. Whenever they updated their project I had a lot of problems with conflicts in at least one of the above files. Whenever this happened, I just accepted the FB3 versions of the files, and let FB4 internally deal with upgrading the format. If I somehow needed to make changes to those files (such as adding a new class), I'd either get another team member to do it, use FB3 to add the files, or just manually edit the file myself. Irritating, but not the end of the world.
YMMV.
Yes. Adobe products are extremely backwards compatible. However, some Adobe products will by default save your "older" files into the newer format - ie if you saved your FB 3 project with the FB 4 application, you may have to choose "Save As" to force it to save it as version 3 (this is true at least for Flash, not certain if Flex is different in that regard). This is only relevant if you need to retain the older file format for compatibility with other coworkers who only have an older version of the program.
Related
I downloaded Flash Builder from here : Download
I recently started writing some small programs in Adobe Flash Builder Plugin for Eclipse.
I am trying out those programs by reading out the Adobe book : Training from the source.
But, I found that some of the controls mentioned in the book for some e.g, such as ApplicationControlBar doesn't appear in the Adobe Flash Builder 4. That control is mentioned in the book, but unable to find in the Builder.
What should I do ? Any suggestions ?
I suppose you've created project using Flex 4 SDK which is default in Flash Builder 4. And the book covers Flex 3. So Flash Builder created spark Application container (from Flex 4) where ApplicationControlBar isn't actual anymore and replaced with controlBarContent property which allows to skin Application more flexible way.
So I can recommend you the following 3 solutions how to use Flex 3 (to be compliant with the book) in your project:
The easiest way to switch existing Flex 4 project to use Flex 3 is the following. Open project properties then Flex compiler > Flex SDK version > Use a specific SDK and select Flex 3 SDK which should be available there. Then you need to create new application in your project, select it as default using context menu, copy old application context to the new one and delete old application file. But I suppose it is better to create new project as far as you are dealing with sample apps from the book.
So just create new Flex project and select the right SDK version on the New Project master's first page.
If you plan to use only Flex 3 for your book's playground workspace you can set Flex 3 SDK as default so you won't need to select the right version on project creation. Just go to the Preferences > Flash Builder > Installed Flex SDKs and select the default version. You can go there right from the new Flex project wizard by clicking Configure Flex SDKs…
Hope this helps!
I've never seen or heard of an ApplicationControlBox. Perhaps they were referring to the ApplicationControlBar and that it's just a typo.
Adobe has some great documentation out there on each of its packages and classes. It's a great place to start if you ever have a question about one of the components.
When i make a release build the folder is populated with a number of swfs. Are all these swfs necessary? Is there a option to generate one swf?
Thanks in advance
EDIT
The files I see are:
framework_4.5.0.18623.swf
osmf_1.0.0.16316.swf
rpc_4.5.0.18623.swf
spark_4.5.0.18623.swf
sparkskins_4.5.0.18623.swf
textLayout_2.0.0.200.swf
playerProductInstall.swf
I assume you're using Flash Builder 4 and/or Flex 4 SDK and see a bunch of SWZ files is that correct? These are framework files which can be cached by the player across multiple domains. Through this caching, the download size of your app is smaller because all these dependencies are left out.
If you want to combine everything to one SWF, in Flash Builder 4 open up the project properties and choose Flex build Path. You'll see a framework linkage option. Change it from "Runtime shared library" to "Merged into code. This default value was changed when moving from Flex 3 to Flex 4.
I'm not sure how to do it via command line, but I'm sure similar options exist.
Be warned, though, this will make your SWF bigger and you won't take advantage of the framework caching options.
Update:
The files you're seeing are definitely Flex Framework files. The reason they are SWFs instead of SWZs is because you are using a prerelease SDK (4.5 ) and the SWZs are not available for caching yet.
Here's what I found:
With Flex closed navigate to:
{Your Flex installation}\sdks\4.1.0\frameworks\flex-config.xml (where 4.1.0 is your latest version)
open flex-config.xml and scroll down until you see 6 items for "runtime-shared-library-path" it will look similar to:
<runtime-shared-library-path>
<path-element>libs/textLayout.swc</path-element>
<rsl-url>http://fpdownload.adobe.com/pub/swz/tlf/1.1.0.604/textLayout_1.1.0.604.swz</rsl-url>
<policy-file-url>http://fpdownload.adobe.com/pub/swz/crossdomain.xml</policy-file-url>
<rsl-url>textLayout_1.1.0.604.swz</rsl-url>
<policy-file-url></policy-file-url>
</runtime-shared-library-path>
Edit the "rsl-url" tag to place the swz file where you'd like:
<rsl-url>myrsl/textLayout_1.1.0.604.swz</rsl-url>
Do this for the remaining "runtime-shared-library-path" tags. Save it and launch Flex, your release build should now dump those .swz files into a folder called myrsl (or whatever you named it)
I uninstalled Flash Builder Beta 2 and installed the Flash Builder 4. I tried to import my new projects, but I keep getting a popup that says:
"
[path/to/Adobe Flash Builder Beta 2/FlashPlayer.exe]
Flash Builder cannot locate the required version of Adobe Flash Player.
Do you want to try to run your application with the current version?
Adobe Flash Player downloads"
I have a run config on a localhost server instead of generating the html wrapper. This only happens with imported projects, but I can't seem to find where in any of the config files the player location is specified.
I don't have a specific answer, but...
Instead of importing projects into a new workspace; have you tried using the same workspace? You can specify the workspace using the data argument when you launch Flash Builder:
flashbuilder.exe data="C:\something\something\something\workspace"
If that doesn't work, you can try to launch Flash builder with the '-clean' command line argument. I've found that fixes a lot of the issues I have.
Also check your SDK on the imported projects. Make sure it is not pointed at an old SDK from the beta 2 directory. After you change the SDK, be sure to clean the project.
Or if none of that works, re-create the project from scratch.
I am using the flex SDK to compile actionscript 3 classes into an swf. Some components are not included with the SDK like the fl.controls components.
What options do I have for getting access to the flash components? I've seen others mention that I can export them to a swc file within Flash Pro, but I would rather not have to purchase Flash Pro to just use some components. Is there any other manual way to perform this without purchasing or using Flash Pro?
Thanks
You don't need to use Flash Pro to do that.
here's what I do:
create an Fla and dump all the components on the timeline that you need.
you can then remove them from there (or leave them), it doesn't really matter, as long as you see them in the library. You can even move them directly into the library.
Then under publish options select flash only, and in the flash tab select the export to swc option.
now when you compile, even when using Ctrl-Enter the swc gets compiled.
The next step would be different for you, because I use flash develop (which is free) I copy the swc into my project's lib folder, and in the program I right-click on it and select add to library. done.
I don't know how you select the add to library in flex, but it is possible. Flash develop uses the flex compiler and it does it, and flash does it as-well. so czech the project setting for this option.
You can get Free Flash Components here:
http://www.flashcomponents.net/components/free_flash_files.html?1=1&f=cprice&fv=0,0
They are not from Adobe but independent developers.
Here are set of 32 Flash UI Components for $99: http://www.flashloaded.com/flashcomponents/bitcomponentset/
I am pretty sure you have to purchase an Adobe Flash product to get the Adobe components. I used the components I got with CS4 for SDK development.
I just upgraded to Flash Builder 4 (beta 2) from Flex Builder 3 which I have been using since it came out. Problem: All the projects that were in my workspace from Flex Builder 3 did not carry over into Flash Builder 4 (e.g. in the "Flex Navigator" view if FB3). Flash Builder 4 now uses the .FXP format to manage projects, but Flex Builder 3 did not. Is there an easy way to get all my projects back into Flash Builder 4?
Use File->Import->Other
In the dialog, select General->Existing Projects into Workspace
Point the root directory to your workspace, check all the projects you want to import and that's it.
Worked just fine for me.
Sharvey's answer was correct, but I also wanted to correct something from the original question, the part about .fxp files. Flash Builder 4 has not changed the format in which it stores projects; it still stores them as a directory with a .project file, a .actionScriptProperties file, and so on, just as Flex Builder 3 did. Where .fxp files come in is, they provide an easy way to package up a project into a single file and share it -- not only with other Flash Builder users, but also with users of Catalyst.
Catalyst is different from Flash Builder: .fxp files are its "native" format. So, suppose a designer created a project in Catalyst; you, the developer, could then import that .fxp file into Flash Builder using the "import FXP" command. When you do that, it unpacks the fxp into a traditional project format on disk.
Hope this helps clarify things! - Mike Morearty, Flash Builder team