I say build a bunch of custom Swing components and build the whole thing in Java FX, it goes live in a week.
On Mon, Nov 24, 2008 at 9:38 PM, Jules Suggate <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>wrote: > Grr, ok the plot sickens :) > > Have just spoken with the guys and someone pointed out that native > drag-and-drop, custom context menus and similar OS-level integrations are > never going to be added to the Flash Player now that Adobe have AIR to put > those features into. I'm inclined to see their point, but I need to think up > a way around the one-click install showstopper. > > Naive approach would be: use a native installer to automate download and > install of Adobe AIR (if not exists) and an AIR application without user > intervention. Has anyone tried this? Can it be done (legally/technically)? > > Another alternative would be the Shu Player (http://www.shu-player.com). > This bundles the AIR runtime into a single standalone exe with your AIR app, > however distributing such applications contravenes the standard Adobe AIR > license (see http://www.shu-player.com/air-runtime-notice). > > Has anyone had any luck negotiating a "case by case runtime distribution > agreement" with Adobe for bundling the AIR runtime with an AIR application? > > Hope you guys can shed some light on this! > > Cheers, > Jules > > > On Mon, Nov 24, 2008 at 22:33, Jules Suggate <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>wrote: > >> Hi, sorry for my late reply. >> >> Merapi is on our list of "possibles", but we don't like the socket-server >> approach for reasons of technical aesthetic. Having two separate processes >> just smells icky... conceptually the Java code and the Flex code both >> address the same concern -- To Build a Rich Client. Separating them >> technically is only necessary because the AIR framework doesn't support >> everything we need. We'd rather keep the technical structure as similar to >> the logical structure as possible. >> >> An example of what could happen: if the Flex UI crashes, the CD burning >> process might continue. Things like this give the socket server approach an >> unnatural feel IMHO. >> >> The main advantage for us of using AIR would be the application updater >> harness, but that's ruled out when using the Merapi approach anyway. Most >> crucially though, we want a self-contained one-click install, and this is >> just not possible using AIR and Merapi from what I can see. >> >> Cheers, >> Jules >> >> >> On Sat, Nov 22, 2008 at 04:31, valdhor <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >> >>> I don't know about others but this seems, to me, to be a very >>> difficult route to take. >>> >>> Have you looked at the Merapi Project (http://www.merapiproject.net/)? >>> This would give you a bridge between your AIR application and the >>> local Java implementation. >>> >>> --- In [email protected] <flexcoders%40yahoogroups.com>, "Jules >>> Suggate" >>> >>> <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >>> > >>> > Hi list, long-time-no-post :) >>> > >>> > I've a gnarly one here. >>> > >>> > I contract to a VC funded startup formed to create a cross-platform >>> desktop >>> > client. Unfortunately AIR's APIs are not low-level enough (e.g. you >>> can't >>> > burn a CD with AIR). We've looked at Zinc, Shu Player, Janus and the >>> rest >>> > but Zinc and Janus don't support MacOS very well and the legal >>> issues around >>> > Shu Player make us wary of using it. This is a consumer-facing app >>> and needs >>> > to be squeaky clean. >>> > >>> > How about embedding the NPAPI FP10 in a Java process? That would be >>> > cross-platform, and we could use NPRuntime to interact seamlessly >>> from Java. >>> > >>> > The Flash Player license allows us to automate download of the FP10 >>> > installer, however these are the problems we still face: >>> > >>> > - If a user doesn't have the player installed, there will be a >>> two-step >>> > install process (one for the player, one for our app), which is >>> sooo 90s >>> > - We can't legally change the install location of the NPAPI >>> plugin, so if >>> > we automate downloads of the NPAPI FP10 and the user doesn't have >>> Mozilla >>> > installed it's unclear what we should do >>> > - Not sure if we can specify the kind of Player (NPAPI vs ActiveX) to >>> > download from adobe.com if the user is on Windows >>> > >>> > Even for the base case (a user with Mozilla and the NPAPI FP10 plugin >>> > installed prior to install of our app), should we talk this over >>> with Adobe >>> > legal? >>> > >>> > Has anyone heard of Adobe entering into custom licensing agreements >>> for this >>> > kind of thing (and I mean, actual bonafide true stories, not conjecture >>> > based on Adobe's licensing page making passing reference)? >>> > >>> > Hope this hits someone's cache! >>> > >>> > Cheers, >>> > Jules >>> > -- >>> > Jules Suggate >>> > Owner and Technical Lead >>> > Uphill Sprint Limited >>> > >>> > +64-21-157-8562 >>> > >>> >>> >> > > -- "Therefore, send not to know For whom the bell tolls. It tolls for thee." Like the cut of my jib? Check out my Flex blog! :: Josh 'G-Funk' McDonald :: 0437 221 380 :: [EMAIL PROTECTED] :: http://flex.joshmcdonald.info/ :: http://twitter.com/sophistifunk
