Adobe AIR: Visual QuickPro Guide

385 Pages·2008·8.802 MB·English

by  Ullman, Larry

VISUAL QUICKPRO GUIDE
ADOBE AIR
(ADOBE INTEGRATED RUNTIME)
WITH AJAX
Larry Ullman
Peachpit Press
Visual QuickPro Guide
Adobe AIR (Adobe Integrated Runtime) with Ajax
Larry Ullman
Peachpit Press
1249 Eighth Street
Berkeley, CA 94710
510/524-2178
510/524-2221 (fax)
Find us on the Web at: www.peachpit.com
To report errors, please send a note to: [email protected]
Peachpit Press is a division of Pearson Education.
Copyright © 2008 by Larry Ullman
Editor: Rebecca Gulick
Copy Editor: Anne Marie Walker
Production Coordinator: Myrna Vladic
Compositor: Debbie Roberti
Indexer: Rebecca Plunkett
Cover Production: Louisa Adair
Technical Reviewer: Prayank Swaroop
Notice of rights
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. For
information on getting permission for reprints and excerpts, contact [email protected].
Notice of liability
The information in this book is distributed on an “As Is” basis, without warranty. While every precaution has
been taken in the preparation of the book, neither the author nor Peachpit Press shall have any liability to any
person or entity with respect to any loss or damage caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly by the
instructions contained in this book or by the computer software and hardware products described in it.
Trademarks
Visual QuickPro Guide is a registered trademark of Peachpit Press, a division of Pearson Education.
Adobe AIR and Adobe Integrated Runtime are registered trademarks of Adobe Systems, Inc., in the
United States and in other countries. Macintosh and Mac OS X are registered trademarks of Apple
Computer, Inc. Microsoft and Windows are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corp. Other product
names used in this book may be trademarks of their own respective owners. Images of Web sites in this
book are copyrighted by the original holders and are used with their kind permission.
Many of the designations used by manufacturers and sellers to distinguish their products are claimed
as trademarks. Where those designations appear in this book, and Peachpit was aware of a trademark
claim, the designations appear as requested by the owner of the trademark. All other product names
and services identified throughout this book are used in editorial fashion only and for the benefit of
such companies with no intention of infringement of the trademark. No such use, or the use of any
trade name, is intended to convey endorsement or other affiliation with this book.
ISBN-13: 978-0-321-52461-4
ISBN-10: 0-321-52461-6
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Printed and bound in the United States of America
Dedication:
To the Kavounis family
Special thanks to:
Top-notch editor and champion of books
and writers, Rebecca Gulick.
Anne Marie Walker, for her excellent atten-
tion to detail and for improving writing that
is often too vague.
Debbie Roberti and Myrna Vladic, for put-
ting together the puzzle that is this book out
of the pieces I created.
Rebecca Plunkett, for creating the index.
Everyone else at Peachpit Press, naturally, for
all of the work they do!
Prayank Swaroop, for jumping in and provid-
ing a most helpful technical review.
Nicole, for helping with the kids so that I can
write these books.
Jessica, Zoe, and Sam, for making it so much
fun not to be sitting at my computer writing
and programming.
Table of Contents
Introduction iii
Chapter 1: Running AIR Applications 1
Installing the Runtime ......................... 2
Installing an Application ....................... 4
Running an Application ........................ 7
Chapter 2: Creating an Application 9
T
Installing the SDK ............................. 10 a
b
Updating Your Path on Windows .............. 11
l
e
Updating Your Path on Mac OS X .............. 13 o
Creating the Project’s Structure ................ 16 f
C
Creating the HTML File ....................... 18 o
Creating the XML File ......................... 19 n
t
Testing the Application ....................... 23 e
n
Creating a Certificate .......................... 25 t
s
Building the Application ...................... 27
Chapter 3: AIR Deelopment Tools 29
Using Aptana Studio .......................... 30
Using Dreamweaver ........................... 37
Creating Digital Signatures .................... 40
Chapter 4: Basic Concepts and Code 45
Technological Background .................... 46
Using AIRAliases.js ............................ 49
JavaScript Frameworks ........................ 51
ActionScript Libraries ......................... 54
Handling Events .............................. 56
The XMLHttpRequest Object .................. 59
Chapter 5: Debugging 65
Using JavaScript Dialogs ....................... 66
Using Trace ................................... 68
Using the AIR Introspector .................... 70
Other Debugging Techniques .................. 72

Contents
Chapter 6: Making Windows 75
Creating a New Window ....................... 76
Creating a New Native Window ................ 80
Customizing Windows ........................ 83
Accessing a New Native Window .............. 86
Creating Full-screen Windows ................. 90
Handling Window Events ..................... 93
Creating a New Look .......................... 96
Moving and Resizing Windows ............... 100
Chapter 7: Creating Menus 103
Menu Terminology ........................... 104
Creating a Menu ............................. 106
Handling Menu Events ....................... 111
OS-specific Menus ........................... 115
Adding Keyboard Equivalents ................ 118
s
t Changing a Menu Item’s State ................ 123
n
e
t Chapter 8: Importing and Exporting Data 127
n
o Copying ..................................... 128
C
f Cutting ...................................... 133
o Pasting ...................................... 137
e
l Working with Different Formats .............. 141
b
a Drag and Drop In ............................ 146
T
Drag and Drop Out ........................... 151
Chapter 9: Files and Directories 155
Fundamentals ............................... 156
File and Directory Browsing .................. 159
Accessing File Information ................... 164
Reading Directories .......................... 168
Deleting Files and Directories ................. 172
Copying and Moving ......................... 177
Chapter 10: Working with File Content 183
Reading from Files ........................... 184
Writing to Files .............................. 189
An Asynchronous Example ................... 195
Using Binary Data ............................ 201
Chapter 11: Working with Databases 205
Connecting to a Database .................... 206
Creating a Database .......................... 209
Inserting Records ............................ 213
Handling Errors .............................. 218
Selecting Records ............................ 221
Updating and Deleting Records ............... 227
i
Contents
Chapter 12: Database Techniques 235
Distributing Databases ....................... 236
Using Prepared Statements ................... 240
Fetching Records in Groups .................. 245
Performing Transactions ..................... 249
Improving Performance ...................... 260
Debugging Techniques ....................... 261
Chapter 13: Networking 263
The URLRequest Class ....................... 264
Receiving Data ............................... 268
Parsing Data ................................. 271
Transmitting Data ........................... 275
Downloading Files ........................... 280
Downloading Large Files ..................... 283
Uploading Files .............................. 287
T
a
Chapter 14: Using Other Media 291 b
l
Playing Sounds. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292 e
o
Playing Long Sounds ......................... 294 f
Playing Streaming Sounds .................... 298 C
o
Controlling Sounds ........................... 303 n
t
Displaying PDFs ............................. 308 e
n
Handling XML Data. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 312 t
s
Chapter 15: Security Techniques 319
The AIR Security Model ...................... 320
Using Non-Application Sandbox Content ..... 325
Using the Sandbox Bridge .................... 328
Storing Encrypted Data ...................... 339
Validating Data .............................. 343
Best Security Practices ....................... 344
Chapter 16: Deploying Applications 345
More Application Descriptor File Options ..... 346
Using Custom Icons .......................... 349
Seamless Installations ........................ 351
More Application Ideas ....................... 354
Updating an Application ..................... 358
Index 366
ii
i
Introduction
Adobe AIR (Adobe Integrated Runtime) With so many ways to create desktop appli-
is a fantastic new technology that greatly cations, the natural question is: Why should
expands the ways in which you can cre- I use Adobe AIR? The first and most compel-
ate desktop applications. Traditionally, ling reason is that using Adobe AIR is easy. In
programs like Microsoft Word, the Firefox all likelihood you’ll just apply the knowledge
Web browser, and Adobe Reader have been you already have. In the worst-case scenario,
n written in a programming language like C or if you have limited to no experience with
o
i C++. Learning such technologies, while not HTML and JavaScript, rest assured that few
t
c hard, takes some effort, and making graphi- technologies are as approachable as these.
u
d cal applications, let alone cross-platform The learning curve for using Adobe AIR is
o
r apps, using them is an even larger hurdle. therefore short but the upside is huge.
t
n Now, with Adobe AIR you can use whatever
I A second but very strong reason to use Adobe
Web development know-how you have—
AIR is that it automatically generates cross-
be it Adobe Flash, Adobe Flex, or standard
platform applications. The programs you cre-
Ajax (HTML and JavaScript)—to create fully
ate will run equally well on Windows, Mac OS
functional desktop applications that will
X, and Linux regardless of the operating sys-
run equally well on Windows, Mac OS X,
tem on which they were written. Adobe AIR
and Linux.
was designed specifically with this in mind,
This book, which focuses solely on the Ajax and there are but few areas in which operating
(HTML and JavaScript) approach, covers system-specific steps need to be taken.
everything you need to know to begin creat-
A third consideration to note is that with
ing useful Adobe AIR applications today.
Adobe AIR you’re creating graphical appli-
With a minimum of technical jargon and lots
cations: programs that are visible, that run
of practical examples, this easy-to-follow text
outside of any console window or terminal
is the perfect introduction for how you can
application, and that can take full advantage
apply your Web development skills in new
of the user’s mouse and keyboard. This may
ways. Whether you’re creating programs for
not sound revelatory to you, but when using
your own use, developing company software,
other technologies (like C or C++) to make an
or repurposing a Web site to broaden its
application, creating a graphical application
reach, Adobe AIR is the right tool for the job.
viii
IInnttrroodduuccttiioonn
as opposed to a command-line utility isn’t u HTML and JavaScript are understood by
that simple. a larger audience.
The Adobe AIR applications you develop can u Far more applications can be used to
generate HTML and JavaScript code.
u Access files and directories on the user’s
computer There are 16 chapters in all, and they can
pretty much be read in any order you like.
u Integrate a client-side database
I would, however, highly recommend that
u Securely store data in an encrypted format you initially read the first four chapters in
order. They cover the most basic informa-
u Contain custom windows and menus
tion, knowledge that the other chapters will
u Interact with network resources, like assume you already have.
Web sites and servers
In keeping with the approach I take to any
u Tap into the computer’s clipboard, sup- subject, I hope you’ll find that the content in
porting cut, copy, paste, plus drag in and this book, while accurate and appropriate,
out functionality is never too complicated or overloaded with
technical jargon. Also, a real emphasis has
u Play sounds and videos
been placed on using practical, real-world
u Display PDFs examples. With few exceptions, most of the W
demonstrations portray actions that desktop h
In short, an application written in AIR can a
applications would actually perform. t
do pretty much anything you can think of! Y
o
Because there are limits to what a book can
If you still need convincing, consider that u
discuss, not everything that’s possible in AIR ’l
the tools required for creating and running l
is covered here. As stated earlier, the book N
AIR applications are free and supported by
does not discuss how to write AIR applica- e
an excellent company, Adobe. If the way e
tions using Flash or Flex (I don’t think a d
in which Adobe handled the invention,
good book could actually cover multiple
promotion, and distribution of the Portable
AIR development methods). Beyond that, a
Document Format (PDF) is any gauge, the
small subset of topics has been omitted, for
future looks bright for Adobe AIR.
example, taking command-line arguments
About This Book or using digital rights management (DRM)
for media files. Rest assured that I only made
This book covers everything you need to such omissions for subjects that the vast
know to develop desktop applications using majority of readers will not need to know
Adobe AIR. Although there are three primary and that are also adequately covered in the
technologies that you can use with AIR— online documentation (a fact that can’t be
Ajax, Flash, and Flex—this book focuses said for every topic).
solely on just the Ajax (which is to say HTML
What You’ll Need
and JavaScript) method. I’ve chosen to only
use Ajax code because:
Fortunately, the requirements for developing
u HTML and JavaScript are easier to learn Adobe AIR applications with Ajax are quite
than Flash and Flex (in my opinion). manageable. In fact, you don’t even need to
spend any money! To run an AIR application,
iixx