FlashDevelop would seem to be the best free alternative to an Adobe product for working in ActionScript and Flex. But life with plain-old AS3 and minimal-Flex4 XML seems complicated.
This seems to be a basic minimum (one of a few alternatives) for using spark components* from Flex4 in FlashDevelop AS3:
The ActionScript3 code using spark components then runs fine in that onCreationCompl ete() method in my script file "spark_02.a s" in the example.
I owe this technique to a web AS3 guru.
mx.core.FlexGlo bals.topLevelAp plication.addCh ild( myComp );
Anything fancier using your own classes or extending spark seems to now require giving up the Application class and working instead with the FlexGlobals.top LevelApplicatio n and dealing with preloading and class loading.
At that point I would prefer to be in the Curl Surge RTE with curl, pcurl, scurl and dcurl files than in the Flash Player or even the Air WebKit wrapper.
*spark components are the Adobe replacement hierarchy which Adobe now recommends over Flex mx components. Useful points of comparison with Curl 7.0 include Box, VBox, HBox and other recent parallels/imitations.
This seems to be a basic minimum (one of a few alternatives) for using spark components* from Flex4 in FlashDevelop AS3:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<mx:Applicati on xmlns:mx="http://www.adobe.com/2006/mxml" layout="absolut e" creationComplet e="onCreationCo mplete()">
<mx:Script source="" />
</mx:Application>
I right-click to flip this MXML file to being the "must compile" file and adjust the Project "properties " menu to build a suitably named SWF file.<mx:Applicati on xmlns:mx="http://www.adobe.com/2006/mxml" layout="absolut e" creationComplet e="onCreationCo mplete()">
<mx:Script source="" />
</mx:Application>
The ActionScript3 code using spark components then runs fine in that onCreationCompl ete() method in my script file "spark_02.a s" in the example.
I owe this technique to a web AS3 guru.
mx.core.FlexGlo bals.topLevelAp plication.addCh ild( myComp );
Anything fancier using your own classes or extending spark seems to now require giving up the Application class and working instead with the FlexGlobals.top LevelApplicatio n and dealing with preloading and class loading.
At that point I would prefer to be in the Curl Surge RTE with curl, pcurl, scurl and dcurl files than in the Flash Player or even the Air WebKit wrapper.
*spark components are the Adobe replacement hierarchy which Adobe now recommends over Flex mx components. Useful points of comparison with Curl 7.0 include Box, VBox, HBox and other recent parallels/imitations.