Adobe AIR: Building Desktop Applications with Flex

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Course Overview

This course is designed to equip experienced Adobe(R) Flex developers with the skills needed to develop robust desktop applications using Adobe AIR. Students learn to use this cross-operating system runtime to connect the desktop to the web to seamless deploy across operating systems. Flex developers will learn to create rich applications for deployment on the desktop. Learn how to interact with the windowing API and file system, drag and drop to the desktop, handle data persistence, and more. We'll also discuss how to easily package and distribute AIR applications.

This training may be available onsite; please contact us if you are interested.

Audience

This course is designed for object-oriented developers who want to bring the power of Rich Internet Applications to their web applications.

Skills Gained

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Get started with Adobe AIR
• Creating native windows
• Use the file system
• Connect applications
• Use the clipboard
• Persisting application data
• Understand Adobe AIR security
• Customise application deployment

Prerequisites

• Flex 2: Developing Rich Client Applications or Flex MasterClass course, or equivalent experience developing Flex applications

Course Outline

Introducing the course

• Introducing Mastery Learning
• Understanding the course format
• Reviewing the course prerequisites
• Reviewing the course outline

Introducing Adobe AIR

• Exploring the Adobe AIR development toolset
• Understanding the runtime application
• Understanding the Adobe AIR SDK
• Looking at Adobe Flex BuilderT 3
• Reviewing the Adobe AIR tools for Flex Builder 3
• Creating Adobe AIR projects
• Exporting Adobe AIR applications
• Walkthrough: Review the course application

Getting started with Adobe AIR

• Creating your first Adobe AIR application
• Creating an Adobe AIR project
• Creating a main application
• Compiling an Adobe AIR application
• Running an Adobe AIR application
• Walkthrough: Create an Adobe AIR application
• Packaging and deploying applications
• Exporting an application
• Code-signing an application
• Selecting application content
• Installing an application
• Walkthrough: Export and install application
• Learning Adobe AIR fundamentals
• Understanding the application container
• Exploring the Adobe AIR file format
• Understanding the application descriptor
• Understanding the application display attributes
• Walkthrough: Examine the Adobe AIR package and change its descriptor
• Getting help and other resources

Creating native windows

• Creating a window
• Using the Window class
• Adding content to a window
• Walkthrough: Create, open, and close a native window
• Modifying the window display
• Changing the window type
• Changing the window chrome
• Setting window transparency
• Going full screen
• Walkthrough: Control chrome, transparency, and full screen
• Manipulating windows
• Getting an instance of the window
• Resizing a window
• Moving a window
• Walkthrough: Maximize, minimize, restore, and move a window
• Using window events
• Identifying the window events
• Walkthrough: Control window behavior through event listeners

Using the file system

• Using the File class
• Using the File class
• Creating directories
• Walkthrough: Creating directories and files
• Moving and copying file system objects
• Deleting file system objects
• Walkthrough: Academy Class Copy, move, and delete file objects
• Using the Flex 3 Adobe AIR components
• Reviewing the component types
• Walkthrough: Use file browsing and display components
• Using file streams
• Creating directories
• Reading and writing files
• Walkthrough: Read and write to a text file
• Working with file formats
• Using binary and encoded characters
• Walkthrough: Read, modify, and write a binary file to the desktop

Connecting applications

• Communicating between applications
• Using LocalConnection
• Walkthrough: Connect to another Adobe AIR application
• Communicating with the browser
• Using the URLRequest class
• Walkthrough: Interact with a remote service via URL
• Using HTML content
• Loading HTML content
• Walkthrough: Load HTML into an Adobe AIR application
• Getting occasionally connected
• Monitoring services
• Detecting HTTP connectivity
• Detecting Socket connectivity
• Walkthrough: Add network detection
• Using the clipboard
• Moving data with copy and paste

Using the clipboard

• Getting data from the clipboard
• Writing data to the clipboard
• Walkthrough: Moving data with copy and paste
• Using drag and drop
• Exploring the drag-and-drop stages
• Dragging with the clipboard
• Walkthrough: Drag an image into the application

Persisting application data

• Using embedded SQL databases
• Understanding the database file
• Opening a database
• Creating a database
• Walkthrough: Create a new database
• Using SQL statements Academy Class
• Managing the database
• Managing the data
• Using best practices with embedded databases
• Walkthrough: Update database and records
• Working with data types
• Using Date data
• Using XML data
• Using BLOB data
• Walkthrough: Use date/time and BLOB data

Understanding Adobe AIR security

• Considering Adobe AIR security
• Learning about security sandboxes
• Understanding the domain considerations
• Detecting Adobe AIR capabilities
• Understanding the security best practices
• Walkthrough: Add capability detection

Customizing application deployment

• Setting the application's desktop icon
• Using application icons
• Walkthrough: Add icon to application
• Setting system tray notifications
• Using the shell
• Using the system tray
• Walkthrough: Add a system tray icon
• Customizing application chrome
• Understanding application chrome
• Walkthrough: Change application chrome
• Creating a seamless installer
• Adding the installer
• Demo: Review the badging process
• Summary and review