[flexcoders] Looking for a developer to convert an AIR app to iPad in Flash Builder
Hello, I have a fairly complex app which I currently package as an AIR application for deployment on Windows and Mac. I would like to use Flash Builder's support for iPad and do the necessary work to allow this application to run on the iPad. This might involve re-writing the UI, but re-using much of the AS3 code. I would be interested in finding a Flash Builder dev who has experience deploying on iPad. Thanks for any leads. Kevin
[flexcoders] Porting an AIR app to iOS
I have a complex AIR app that is currently deployed to Windows and Mac. I would love to port it to the iPad, and I am beginning to explore this possibility. Before I launch it it however, there are a few basics questions that come up. Some of these might be showstoppers depending on the answer, and getting some answers might save me weeks of experimentation. If anyone can offer feedback I would be grateful. Here goes: - My AIR app makes extensive use of an embedded web browser, via the flash.html.HTMLLoader object. Can I expect this to work when compiled for iOS? - My AIR app makes extensive use of a SQL Lite database via the flash.data namespace. Can I expect this to work on iOS? - How about RESTful web service calls using the flash.net namespace and JSON? Thanks for any help you are able to provide. Kevin
Re: [flexcoders] You are the product
Good points. Thanks for responding. I'm not sure why you conflate me knocking Adobe for a lack of willingness to learn. I code on a daily basis in half a dozen languages for a small company struggling to reach profitability. Our client application is one piece of that. The 'learning' in this case is that some companies can be trusted more than others. Adobe puts forth a consistent marketing message to software developers: "Trust us! Follow us!", and they consistently fail to live up to that in order to sell us the next round of developer tools. Microsoft, while clearly capable of various brands of skulduggery, has consistently maintained a level of loyalty to their developers, and it has succeeded famously for them. Have you every noticed that 15 year old programs still run on Windows 7? I don't expect that from Adobe. But the heavy sell job on AIR followed by stepping at arms length from it irks me. Kevin 2011/12/16 Csomák Gábor > ** > > > technology simply changes. i met a guy who was the lead engineer of > commodore 64. do you think when he was on the top of his career, he stopped > learning? this segment changes a lot. it is a lifelong learning. get used > to it. > > html5 is not ready. even w3c says it'll be in 2014 (as i remember). and i > think, it won't kill air. neither flash. of course it will depend on a lot > of things, but the two technologies are good in different segments. you > cannot do a prezi.com in html5, and you cannot do an entire webpage in > flash. (login remembers will not work, etc...) > the key is to know both, and know when to use what. > > On Wed, Dec 14, 2011 at 7:02 PM, Kevin MacDonald > wrote: > >> >> >> Hello developers, >> >> I have come to some unfortunate conclusions about how Adobe operates. I >> would be interested to get your opinions on the matter. >> >> Some years ago I helped build out a desktop application using Macromedia >> Director. It ran on both Mac and Windows, and was heavily backed by web >> services. In principle it was much like an Adobe AIR app might be today. >> After a few years Adobe bought Macromedia Director, with promises to the >> developer community that they would continue to support it. They came out >> with a few maintenance releases that were extremely buggy, enough so that >> we tried to roll back to the previous version. However, Adobe made sure >> there were some gotchas that made it painful to either stay on the current >> version or roll back. Shortly thereafter they killed Director altogether. >> >> An Adobe evangelist came to our office and sold us hard on moving to >> Adobe AIR, which we did. We completely re-wrote our application on that >> platform. Now, several years later, Adobe is very obviously moving away >> from AIR and towards HTML5, again with promises to their loyal developers >> to continue supporting it. >> >> Based on their history what I expect Adobe to do is kill AIR before too >> long. And you should have no doubts that they can make it very painful to >> remain on that platform. For example, AIR apps use whatever version of >> Adobe Reader is installed on the client machine. Adobe Reader updates >> happen independently of updates to the AIR run time. The latest update to >> Adobe Reader broke certain aspects of our client application, something >> that might directly hurt our business. What can you do when the HTMLLoader >> object no longer correctly displays a PDF? What I expected Adobe to do - >> and what the evangelist led me to believe - was that Adobe would evolve AIR >> and Flash Builder towards HTML5 over time, bringing all of us along with >> them. But they don't do that. They scorch the earth and start over. >> >> So, what's next? I suppose we will hear from Adobe before too long that >> we should run out, buy PhoneGap Builder 1.0, and once again chase their >> code-once-deploy-everywhere carrot. >> >> We are not the customer. We are the product. We are the means by which >> Adobe makes money for their shareholders, nothing more. I suppose in true >> jaded developer fashion this should come as no shock to me. But the truth >> is, it never feels nice to be a pawn in someone else's game. >> >> Kevin >> > > >
[flexcoders] You are the product
Hello developers, I have come to some unfortunate conclusions about how Adobe operates. I would be interested to get your opinions on the matter. Some years ago I helped build out a desktop application using Macromedia Director. It ran on both Mac and Windows, and was heavily backed by web services. In principle it was much like an Adobe AIR app might be today. After a few years Adobe bought Macromedia Director, with promises to the developer community that they would continue to support it. They came out with a few maintenance releases that were extremely buggy, enough so that we tried to roll back to the previous version. However, Adobe made sure there were some gotchas that made it painful to either stay on the current version or roll back. Shortly thereafter they killed Director altogether. An Adobe evangelist came to our office and sold us hard on moving to Adobe AIR, which we did. We completely re-wrote our application on that platform. Now, several years later, Adobe is very obviously moving away from AIR and towards HTML5, again with promises to their loyal developers to continue supporting it. Based on their history what I expect Adobe to do is kill AIR before too long. And you should have no doubts that they can make it very painful to remain on that platform. For example, AIR apps use whatever version of Adobe Reader is installed on the client machine. Adobe Reader updates happen independently of updates to the AIR run time. The latest update to Adobe Reader broke certain aspects of our client application, something that might directly hurt our business. What can you do when the HTMLLoader object no longer correctly displays a PDF? What I expected Adobe to do - and what the evangelist led me to believe - was that Adobe would evolve AIR and Flash Builder towards HTML5 over time, bringing all of us along with them. But they don't do that. They scorch the earth and start over. So, what's next? I suppose we will hear from Adobe before too long that we should run out, buy PhoneGap Builder 1.0, and once again chase their code-once-deploy-everywhere carrot. We are not the customer. We are the product. We are the means by which Adobe makes money for their shareholders, nothing more. I suppose in true jaded developer fashion this should come as no shock to me. But the truth is, it never feels nice to be a pawn in someone else's game. Kevin
[flexcoders] Adobe Reader 10.1 breaks Adobe AIR desktop app
Since Reader was upgraded to 10.1 PDFs no longer display properly using HTMLLoader in our AIR app. If we un-install 10.1 and re-install 9.4 everything works fine. So, due to nothing on our end all our customers have broken PDF views in our AIR application. Thanks a bunch Adobe. Anybody experiencing this problem? Kevin
[flexcoders] What version of Flash Builder do you have?
If I launch Flash Builder and go to Help --> About I see Flash Builder version 4.5.0.308971, not 4.5.1. I have run all available software updates. I called Adobe and they said there is no FB 4.5.1. Yet, there is this Release Notes page on the adobe site. http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/905/cpsid_90599.html However, I am unable to find a place where I can download 4.5.1. Anyone know what's up? Am I missing something? Kevin
[flexcoders] Why not support calls to NativeProcess in an AIR application?
Currently, it is not possible to use the NativeProcess class if your application is deployed as an AIR file. Is this a hard technical limitation, or a design choice by Adobe? If it's a hard limitation then I understand. But, if it's a choice made by Adobe then I question that choice. It would be very useful to be able to detect which platform your app is running on, and invoke a process that is native to that platform. Why not Adobe? Kevin TeachTown
[flexcoders] AIR runtime 2.0.3.13070 causing intermittent problems spawning new windows
Once existing users update their AIR runtimes to 2.0.3.13070 they begin experiencing intermittent problems where new windows fail to spawn on Windows machines. We know the code is running because we can still hear expected audio clips, but the window does not appear at all. Has anyone else experienced anything like this? It's a pretty scary prospect that a new AIR runtime can suddenly destabilize all existing clients. Kevin
