Adobe AIR: Building Desktop Applications With Flex

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 Builder™ 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
• Creating directories
• Walkthrough: Creating directories and files
• Moving and copying file system objects
• Deleting file system objects
• Walkthrough: 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
• 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