Page History

History

• 1/11/2013 - MXML-based project can now be compiled into a working HTML/JS project
• 2/10/2013 - Added HTTPService, LazyCollection, and a List class.
• 3/01/2013 - Added Adobe Flash Builder integration.
• 4/23/2013 - Updated to use FalconJX instead of FalconJS.
• 6/27/2013 - Added the beginnings of MXML states and data binding.
• 7/22/2015 - Updated to latest process.
• 8/24/2015 - Updated with pre-requisites and automated script info
• 4/02/2016 - No need for linters and hinters

Set Up

This is the setup for developers working with the source code. If you only want to use Flash Builder to build applications with the FlexJS framework, see: Using FlexJS with Adobe Flash Builder, for IntelliJ, see Using FlexJS with IntelliJ IDEA.

First you will need the following prerequisites:

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Git should print out its version if it is already installed.  If not, install Git for your platform from here: http://git-scm.com/downloads.  Many folks prefer GUI versions of Git, which is fine as long as there is a command-line version as well.  Add Git to your PATH environment variable.

G. Google Closure Linter (Mac only)

The Google Closure Linter can be installed by following the directions here:  https://developers.google.com/closure/utilities/docs/linter_howto

It should automatically make the linter available. No need to change paths or environment variables. Some folks on OSX had permission issues after the install. See their support channels for assistance.

H. JSHint (Mac only)

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Downloading and Building the Source

There are two ways to build the source on a computer that has never had the source before.

If you have installed

JSHint will also be automatically available. No need to change paths or environment variables. On OSX some folks had permission issues after the install. See their documentation on using -g and sudo.

Downloading and Building the Source

The steps below have been put into an Ant script that can be run by first installing FlexJS per the instructions in Using FlexJS with Adobe Flash Builder.  Then go , you can just go to the folder where you installed FlexJS and run "ant".  The script should ask you for a folder to store all of the source code and then download (clone) all of the repos, ask you to approve up to 3 4 licenses, then build all of the source in the repos (except the source in the FlexJS folder).  Once the script completes, it will tell you to change to the FlexJS source folder and run "ant" again there.  Below is the steps it is performing.  

Another way is to create an empty folder, change the current directory to that folder, then get the ASJS code from Git as follows:

git clone https://git-wip-us.apache.org/repos/asf/flex-asjs flex-asjs
cd flex-asjs
git checkout develop

Then run "ant all".  Either method is performing all the steps below.  If you are using one of the script, skip the rest of this section and perform the steps in methods above skip past this section to "After The Build Completes".

1. Get the ASJS code from Apache Git via

   Code Block
   git clone https://git-wip-us.apache.org/repos/asf/flex-asjs flex-asjs cd flex-asjs git checkout develop

2. Get the Falcon code from Apache Git at

   Code Block
   git clone https://git-wip-us.apache.org/repos/asf/flex-falcon.git flex-falcon cd flex-falcon git checkout develop

3. Get the FlexUnit code from Apache Git at

   Code Block
   git clone https://git-wip-us.apache.org/repos/asf/flex-flexunit.git flex-flexunit cd flex-flexunit git checkout develop

4. Get the Flex SDK code from Apache Git at

   Code Block
   git clone https://git-wip-us.apache.org/repos/asf/flex-sdk.git flex-sdk cd flex-sdk git checkout develop

5. Get the TLF code from Apache Git at

   Code Block
   git clone https://git-wip-us.apache.org/repos/asf/flex-tlf.git tlf cd tlf git checkout develop

6. Get the BlazeDS code from Apache Git at

   Code Block
   git clone https://git-wip-us.apache.org/repos/asf/flex-blazeds.git flex-blazeds cd flex-blazeds git checkout develop

7. In the flex-sdk folder, run 'ant' to build the sdk.
8. In the flex-falcon folder:
   1. In the compiler folder run 'ant all' to build SWF the compiler and extern swcs.
   2. In the compiler.jx folder, run 'ant' to build the cross-compiler
9. In the flex-flexunit folder, run ant to build flexunit.
10. In the flex-asjs folder, run 'ant' to build the FlexJS libraries.

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1. In the flex-asjs folder, change to examples/flexjs/DataBindingExample and run 'ant' there.  It should create bin-debug/DataBindingExample and bin/js-debug and bin/js-release folders containing a debug SWF, a debug HTML/JS/CSS version and a minified HTML/JS/CSS version respectively.  Open the .html file in those folders in your browser.

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And the environment variables:
PLAYERGLOBAL_HOME are points to the folder containing versions of playerglobal.swc as specified above.  Thus, if you followed the instructions above on a Mac, you would set the variable to: /Users/myusername/adobe/flashplayer

For cross-compiling with FalconJX the Program Arguments are:

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Each of the SWCs has a set of Flash Builder project files.  Actually two sets.  In the frameworks/projects/Core folder are the Flash Builder project files for compiling with the compiler settings required for the version of the framework that runs in Flash, and in frameworks/js/FlexJS/projects/CoreJS are another set of Flash Builder project files for compiling with the compiler settings required for cross-compiling the same source in frameworks/projects/Core, and for building the "JS" version of the SWC.  For more information on what a "JS" SWC is, click here.

It is recommended to use a new empty Workspace.  You will have to specify two "Linked Resources" in Flash Builder's Preferences (under Workspace).  Create a FLEX_ASJS linked resource that points to the working copy for flex-asjs.  Create a FLEX_FALCON linked resource that points to an installed FlexJS SDK.  Setup that same FlexJS SDK as a Flex SDK in Flash Builder's Preferences.  Then, import the projects.  You may find that Flash Builder hangs building the Core SWC.  If that happens, quit Flash Builder and re-open it.  The other projects should then build.  Flash Builder may also hang if you clean all projects or the Core project.  You may find it useful to define a Working Set (of "Resources") and put all projects besides Core in that working set so you can more easily get them to build separately.

The Demo

MXML->SWF
The latest demo is http://peoplehome.apache.org/~aharui/FlexJS/FlexJSStore. Run the bin-release/FlexJSStore.html and right-click and choose "View Source" to see the source. You should be able to compile FlexJSStore.mxml into a working SWF by using the Apache Flex SDK Installer to install a FlexJS release and using the js/bin/mxmlc on Mac or js/bin/mxmlc.bat on Windows to compile the source.  This is a port of the old FlexStore demo to FlexJS.  You can click on the Products button, hover over the people and see toolTips, drag them to the compare window and see drag-and-drop work and effects play.

MXML->JS
Now you should be able to create an HTML/JS equivalent by running js/bin/mxmlc on Mac or js/bin/mxmlc.bat on Windows.  The FalconJX compiler will generate an The compiler also generated a JS version of the example.  You should find an index.html file and a single minified .js file in bin/js-release and a debug version with many .js files in bin/js-debug.

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Once you have the HTML and JS file(s), you can copy these into the www folder in a Cordova/PhoneGap application and publish it and see it work on a phone or desktop emulator. A To Do item is to automate this process.

Discussion

As you can hopefully see, the first building blocks are now in place such that the ASJS FlexJS framework and FalconJX compiler can create applications using familiar tools, components, and workflows. You can use Adobe Flash Builder or other Flex-capable IDE to quickly build or prototype an application on Flash using structured-programming techniques afforded by ActionScript, then convert it to a HTML/JS application that can run on browsers or mobile devices without Flash.

Next Steps

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