My question is quite simple: I want to create an adobe AIR application for desktop (windows).
What if an user does not have AIR runtime installed ? Does newest version of AIR come now with EMBEDDED AIR runtime, so it works even for people that do not have AIR runtime installed ?
if not, what would be the simplest way to distribut my AIR application and make sure people that do not have air runtime will be able to run it ?
regards
With the Release of the AIR 3.0 SDK you are now able to distribute Air with your application using the Captive Run Time
This will allow a user to install and run your Air application without having the runtime already installed.
There are some downsides however. For mobile applications (and desktop alike) including the captive runtime can increase the package size by around 10MB. Also, for desktop applications, you will have to package the application natively (ie .exe or .dmg) but if the user doesn't have the runtime installed in the first place they can't run the .air file anyway.
I've had to do this just recently and wanted to know exactly what you just asked.
http://www.adobe.com/devnet/air/articles/badge_for_air.html
That is what you need to know and will answer your question.
All you need to do then is deploy your .air file onto a server somewhere and point the javascript code to it.
HTH
Anthoni
Related
I recently finished an application based on Titanium, Javascript, HTML, CSS. I have only been a web designer to date so I have little experience in distributing applications. I was accustomed to the TiDev Community deploying app, which prepared the app for download and made it available for download at a given link.
But tidev community is no longer supported, so I use TideSDK Developer to package the app, which doesnt do all the hard work the other one did so nicely.
I am obviously a complete rookie to this.
Could anyone outline the steps I would need to take to go from the bundled application folder I have now (put together by TideSDK Developer), to a link that will allow customers to download and install the app or online? I know there is an issue with packaoging the app for platforms other than your own, and that appcelerator is working on a solution to this I think. I also realise I would probably have to pay to host the download online. Any guidance would be greatly appreciated.
You must use the tidebuilder.py script. to compile a installation package. To compile a binary for a Mac, you must run the script on a Mac, to compile a binary for windows, you must be on a windows box etc.
There is some documentation on how to use it here per platform. The command is very simple and works.
Once you have your application file (DMG for OSX or a MSI for Windows) then just distribute it however you see fit, email, putting it on your web server, whatever works for you.
Is it possible to run an Adobe AIR app without installing it? The AIR runtime is already installed, and we need a solution to control the 'installation' of applications - so what we need is run an adobe air app which just runs and doesn't presents the installer when launched.
Yes it is. Adobe call it a captive runtime, and I believe this is only supported under Adobe Air 3.0 and up.
Their website does a good job of explaining various pros and cons at Packaging a captive runtime bundle for desktop computers
Can I produce a native exe using flash builder and air.
I don't want the user to have to get any other dependencies such as air etc. I want everything bundled into a native application, a single exe perhaps that I could produce my own installer using nullsoft or similar.
I've searched around and spoken to people and come to the conclusion that no one is sure, seen some yes and no's.
With flash builder 4.6 they have included the captive build process in the gui. This enables you to produce an exe that is bundled with the AIR Dll's and requirements without the end user ever needing to install Adobe AIR.
Correct: Flash Builder 4.6 has the option right there in the Project menu option, when selecting "Export Release build" :-)
I use FlashDevelop as my code editor and the Flash CS4 IDE for publishing my AIR files (as well as asset control, animation creation etc...). The bonus of this is the Flash IDE handles all the crap of creating certificates and whatnot very easily as well.
Flash CS4 uses Adobe AIR 1.5, which is very old and I am wanting to update it to AIR 2.6, which as of current writing, is the latest version of AIR. Also, I don't know if this is of any significance, but I would like to publish AIR apps for Android now. I've successfully made an AIR app for PC in the past, using AIR 1.5.
I downloaded the AIR 2.6 SDK from the Adobe website and replaced all the files inside the "AIK1.5" folder of my Flash installation (the folder being still named 1.5 inherently annoys me).
Is there any other steps I must take? Because I'm not convinced I'm publishing AIR 2.6 apps as the application.xml file in my AIR project still reads:
<application xmlns="http://ns.adobe.com/air/application/1.5">
If I change the version in the .xml, Flash explodes (doesn't compile, gives me an error).
Furthermore, if I go File > Publish Settings, then the Flash tab, the player field reads as "Adobe AIR 1.5". Is this right? I'm assuming this will always be this way, even if you do successfully update the AIR version, since apparently Adobe is too lazy to update CS4 so that it can logically figure out it has the new version of AIR.
Also, if AIR is free, why the hell does Adobe not at the very least, release updates to CS4 that update the version of AIR it uses. This seems to be fully within their power, and it seems incredibly negligent that they don't do this for people who have bought their software.
Please, if you could provide clear step by step help, because I'm very ignorant when it comes to development configurations and stuff. I just want to write code and be off.
UPDATE
Once you've updated Flash's AIR library with AIR 2.6, and have compiled your AIR project, make sure you use the new application descriptor template from the AIR SDK. I originally thought it just required changing the version number from 1.5 to 2.6 or whatever new version you're using. As seen below.
<application xmlns="http://ns.adobe.com/air/application/1.5">
But the format as changed, and you really need to use the new template, otherwise it won't work. And when you compile you won't automatically get a preview of your compiled .swf. This will happen in FlashDevelop too if you've set-up your descriptor file incorrectly.
Bzzzzzzt wrong you can hack apart your CS IDE and get it working follow the concepts in this tutorial, they should get you going and you should be able to piece it together from there.
http://swfhead.com/blog/?p=16
If you have any problems just post a comment I'll help you sort it.
You will need to purchase the latest version of Creative Suite or Flash/Flash Builder to take advance of the latest versions of AIR.
Like any other software, releases are versioned with specific features and newer versions support newer features and integration into other newer technologies.
Its like Microsoft is well in their power to provide docx support in windows 2003, but that would just cause compatibilty, support and licensing issues.
These are the tutorial for Flash cs 5:
http://blog.prevail.co.nz/2011/06/21/overlaying-air2-7-in-flash-cs5/
These are the tutorial for Flash cs 5.5:
http://www.yeahbutisitflash.com/?p=2949
http://helpx.adobe.com/x-productkb/multi/overlay-air-sdk-flash-professional.html
This is the tutorial for Flash cs 6:
http://www.leebrimelow.com/?p=3335
I'm looking to create an application that will be executed on a Mac machine, but I don't have one to develop on. I thought this would be a great opportunity to try and take advantage of the Mono runtime. I'm trying to figure out how to develop on a Windows XP machine and prepare a deployment package for an OSX machine.
I'd like to try and make the application have a UI since my users are not very technical. Is MonoDevelop the right tool to accomplish this? Should I be trying to use Windows Forms or GTK#?
Yep , you should use mono on windows directly with GTK# , but you'll need a few tweaks on mac so you'll need a mac eventualy. Your users will have to install the mono framework on their computer too, mono doesnt produce native Mac applications.
I love mono but if the end users are not very technical I dont think it is the right solution.
Anyway , the only way to develop some real multiplatform apps is Java, since it is pre installed on Macs so users will not have to download a framework to launch your apps.