Adobe AIR In Action

Description

Adobe AIR is one of the hottest topics in rich application development. This exciting new technology is still in beta, but it's already being adopted by such web giants as eBay. With AIR, Web developers use their existing skills to build rich applications that flow seamlessly between the internet and the desktop.

 Adobe AIR in Action introduces AIR to developers familiar with Flex and JavaScript, showing them how to build solid AIR-driven desktop and hybrid applications. Using small examples, the expert authors walk web developers through the new topics they will need to develop AIR applications for the desktop. Readers will learn the essential features of the AIR API with examples and code samples that web professionals can use to get up and running in AIR quickly. The book describes how to create and customize native windows, read and write files and folders on the local file system.

 Web developers who read this book will be able to take instant advantage of the increased resources available to desktop applications. Sometimes-connected, web-enabled applications are gaining in popularity, and web developers of all stripes will want to add these skills to their toolbox.

CONTENTS:

1 Introducing Adobe AIR

    Anatomy of Adobe AIR

    Running AIR applications

    AIR application security and authenticity

    Building AIR applications

    Introducing AIR application descriptors

    Building AIR applications using Flex Builder

    Building AIR applications using Flash

    Building AIR applications using the Flex SDK

    Quick-start AIR application for Flex

    Quick-start AIR application for Flash

    Summary

 

2 Applications, windows, and menus

    Understanding applications and windows

    Managing windows

    Managing applications

    Menus

    Starting the AirTube application

    Summary

 

3 File system integration

    Understanding synchronicity

    Getting references to files and directories

    Listing directory contents

    Creating directories

    Removing directories and files

    Copying and moving files and directories

    Reading from and writing to files

    Reading and writing music playlists

    Storing data securely

    Writing to files with AirTube

    Summary

 

4 Copy-and-paste and drag-and-drop

    Using a clipboard to transfer data

    Copy-and-paste

    Drag-and-drop

    Adding drag-and-drop to AirTube

    Summary

 

5 Using local databases

    What is a database?

    Understanding SQL

    Creating and opening databases

    Running SQL commands

    Building a ToDo application

    Working with multiple databases

    Adding database support to AirTube

    Summary

 

6 Network communication

    Monitoring network connectivity

    Adding network monitoring to AirTube

    Summary

 

7 HTML in AIR

    Displaying HTML in AIR

    Controlling how AIR loads HTML

    Scrolling HTML content

    Navigating HTML history

    Interacting with JavaScript

    Managing security issues

    Adding HTML to AirTube

    Summary

 

8 Distributing and updating AIR applications

    Distributing applications

    Updating applications

    Launching AIR applications

    Summary