Lynda.com has released a new course by David Gassner entitled AIR for Flex Developers. This course looks at how Flex Builder 3 and the Flex 3 framework can be used to build cross-system desktop applications with Adobe AIR, and covers every point of integration with the host operating system, including working with the local file system, creating and maintaining local databases, and managing native windows and menus.
Adobe AIR includes the capability of creating and working with local SQL databases. Many stand SQL features are supported in the runtime, open source SQLite system can be used for storing local, persistent data.
The flollowing is a simplistic example that create a sqlite database, add, get, update and remove records from the “user” table. Continue reading »
Adobe AIR supports enterprise deployment. There; I’ve said it. We’ve had a bit of trouble getting this message out, so I wanted to be clear about this right up front.
Now, before anyone jumps all over me for this one, I’m also sure we could do a better job of supporting enterprise deployment. If you’ve deployed AIR in an enterprise setting and have thoughts on what we could do better, please send them our way. Continue reading »
Spaz is another free Twitter client for desktop worth checking out. It is open-source, and because it runs using Adobe AIR you bet it’s cross-platformed. Spaz performs most of the functions a normal desktop Twitter client would (send/receive tweets, stream public tweets, etc) but extra customization support. It comes with 4 themes/skin to choose from, or you can even define your own using CSS.
Did I mention it’s also ads free? Download Spaz now.
Good news for those who read feeds via Google Reader. Here’s another option where you can read feeds with a standalone application on your desktop, without logging into Google Reader with browser. ReadAir is build with Adobe AIR, so you can be rest assured that it will run smoothly cross-platform, Linux, Mac or Windows.
The current ReadAir supports most functions of Google Reader but there’s still room for improvement before it really works like Google Reader on desktop. Getting keyboard shortcuts to be functioning is essential, display total number of un-read feeds on desktop icon is also cool. And these are all part of the developer’s to-do list, so you can be expecting them on any future update.
Overall, it’s still a cool app. FYI, there’s also a standalone Google Analytics built with Adobe AIR, if you are not aware of.
Vertabase Timer is a free utility to help you keep track of time spent on client projects. And the new version 1.5 is a Flex based AIR application (as described in this forum post).
The Adobe AIR beta 1 runtime installer leaves a lot to be desired. Adobe continues the blantant disregard for standard folders and proceedures on the Mac that Macromedia had, and this leads to problems. I had to do quite a lot of tinkering to be able to install it at all. Continue reading »
Multiple people have told me that a very limited amount of time went into grabbing this from the labs and presenting it at the conference (like measured in days – not even weeks). Combining that with Sun’s lousy track record with Java UI technologies, I quickly wrote off the release / platform. Continue reading »
