0

I installed eclipse and the FDT plugin. Now i would like to create a flex project.

I am wondering how to get a designer for the mxml where i could drag and drop lists, buttong and build a UI in flex.

I am totally new to flex.

Also, once i have that, if I build that as an application, it seems to generate a swf file. Not sure if i can run this in anything other than a brower. The latest adobe flash player has not standalone exe.

I would like to understand the recommended workflow if I need to build a flex application. I am basically looking at developing a desktop/web application that has fusion charts to visualize certain data.

AMM
  • 17,130
  • 24
  • 65
  • 77
  • I have seen today that Adobe Flash Builder software is an enterprise-class Eclipse based IDE. You can download it here: http://www.adobe.com/products/flex.html. Also who is searching for free IDEs: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/5418058/free-flex-ides – Junior Mayhé Mar 21 '14 at 16:23

2 Answers2

2

I am wondering how to get a designer for the mxml where i could drag and drop lists, buttong and build a UI in flex.

The current version of Flash Builder has one, and I thought that was the only Flex IDE that had a design view. The Flash Builder design view is limited, as it only works with the current version of the Flex SDK and is all around problematic. Most developer's don't ues it and the feature will be removed in the next version of Flash Builder.

I've heard rumors that IntelliJ may add one in a future version, but I wouldn't count on it.

Once i have that, if I build that as an application, it seems to generate a swf file. Not sure if i can run this in anything other than a brower. The latest adobe flash player has not standalone exe.

Correct; a Flex project's primary intent is to build an SWf file that will run in the browser. At one time Adobe offered a stand alone player that the SWF would run it. I'm not sure if they still do. It was not practical to assume end users had the stand alone version of the Flash Player, though.

I have no idea if FDT supports this; but you can use the same, or similar, code with Adobe AIR to create an AIR file. The AIR file should run anywhere that the AIR runtime can be installed. If you use the Adobe AIR Captive Runtime feature on a windows PC you can create an executable.

JeffryHouser
  • 39,401
  • 4
  • 38
  • 59
  • FDT does not have a design view, and IntelliJ never will. I would also recommend not using Flex/Flash for Data Visualization. There are great Javascript alternatives such as D3.js http://d3js.org/ – Alan Klement May 20 '12 at 12:05
  • 1
    @AlanKlement Do you have a source for IntelliJ never having a Design View? Since you're profile says you're an FDT Developer, is there a plan to add a Design View to FDT? Why did you bring up Data Visualization explicitly, when it is not mentioned in the question, nor in my answer? – JeffryHouser May 20 '12 at 22:55
  • "I am basically looking at developing a desktop/web application that has fusion charts to visualize certain data." The person posting the question asked about data vis. RE: Design view. Because Flex was dropped by Adobe, commercial IDEs are moving away from any Flex support. Even Adobe's own tooling (Flash Builder) is not planned to support MXML via the new compiler. http://www.adobe.com/devnet/flex/whitepapers/roadmap.html – Alan Klement May 21 '12 at 00:55
  • @AlanKlement I missed that comment at the end regarding data visualization, my fault. You are mistaken about all commercial IDEs abandoning Flex, though. The folks at JetBrains (makers of IntelliJ) have spoken about devoting compiler development resources to the Apache Flex project. That is hardly abandonment. MXML Support in the new Falcon Compiler will exist when it is donated to Apache, but is expected to be in "beta" format. I'm sorry to hear that FDT is planning to move away from Flex support in their IDE. – JeffryHouser May 21 '12 at 02:45
  • ... I never said, specifically, that FDT was moving away from Flex support. I said 'commercial IDEs are moving away from any Flex support.' and this is true. That's all I'll say about that. – Alan Klement May 21 '12 at 21:09
  • @AlanKlement Your profile says you work with the FDT; as such I assumed you were only able to speak knowledgeable about FDT plans; but if you have more information on other IDEs; I'd love to hear what you know and the source of said info. – JeffryHouser May 21 '12 at 21:25
  • Thanks everyone for info. I appreciate the suggestion on JS alternative. As you might have guessed I am totally new to html5/JS etc. Is there an IDE that you would recommend that will help me design pages in html5/JS by dragging dropiing lists, tabs, containers, widgets etc? – AMM May 21 '12 at 21:56
  • You won't find any HTML5 toolsets as advanced as the Flex toolsets, at least not yet. Adobe is working on some stuff (Edge/Muse) and I know Sencha is working on some stuff; albeit that is tied very closely to Sencha frameworks (just like Flash Builder is tied to Adobe Flex/ActionScript ). – JeffryHouser May 21 '12 at 23:12
-1

Idea won't ever get a design view, because it requires a special version of the Flash player built into the IDE. This in turn requires access to the Player source code, and adding a bunch of platform-specific JNDI junk to your IDE. And given that even Adobe is dropping support for the design view, it's apparently not economically viable to maintain that special version, even if you have the sources to Player and the right to use them.

Sophistifunk
  • 4,742
  • 4
  • 28
  • 37
  • 1
    Source for the fact that design view requires a special version of the Flash Player? Given the functionality of the design view; I'm not sure why a Flash Player is needed at all. IntelliJ has a designer in beta according to this: https://twitter.com/#!/quetwo/statuses/204407489301725184 – JeffryHouser May 21 '12 at 04:59
  • There is no 'Special Flash Player'. There is perhaps a Flash Player instance running; however, that is totally different. FDT has a plugin system you can use to develop your own design view. Intellij has a UI builder plugin; however, I can't speak on it's quality. – Alan Klement May 21 '12 at 21:13
  • It's been stated dozens of times by Adobe employees, usually for explanation as to why Builder on Linux never had design view. – Sophistifunk May 28 '12 at 13:50