Adobe AIR Development

[jtegen]

Yes, FDT looks nice, but not willing to spend more money on another IDE. But that leads me to another question. I cannot develop for both the PlayBook and for the BB10 device from the same IDE because the BB SDKs are different and only defined in one location. Correct?

[pgarcia]

Hi,

well, since you can have both SDK installed on your computer (they use differenct directories) you can develop for both 2.0 and BB10, but it is not a seamless task because the BB SDK is a global configuration on FlashBuilder.

So here are the options you have:

• Switch the BB AIR SDK on Preferences->FlashBuilder->Target Platforms-BlackBerry - There you could uncheck the "Use the latest Installed SDK" and select the path of the SDK you want to use. The problem is that the 2.0 projects will show errors when the BB10 SDK is selected and vice-versa, or
• Stop using the "Add platform specific libraries to library path" in you project configuration. Instead of that, add the libraries manually, pointing for 2.0 or BB10 swc files as needed. It is a little annoying to add them, but it is not like you're creating several projects a day, right?
• I'm pretty sure you could also use different workplaces as well, separating completely the 2.0 and BB10 projects.

Cheers

[jtegen]

Has everyone moved to FDT inside RIM?

[pgarcia]

I don't think so. I still prefer Flash Builder, even with the ANE workflow "problem".

FDT has a free version, so the idea was to give the developers another alternative to develop with. 

In favor of FDT, it is way easier to switch between SDK versions in your project, like what you were asking before, but I have to confess I'm too comfortable with FB to make the change. 

[jtegen]

The problem with the work arounds suggested, I wont be able to concurrently develop for both easily. At at some boint, the BB10 SDK will be the PB SDK and further migration of projects will be needed. It makes sense to have FDT be the BB10 IDE and FB for the PB IDE since the code as-is, would not easily work for both. I will try the free version of FDT to see if that is suitable. $600 is a lot to spend if the free version cannot manage the task. Worred that the free version does not do the AIR merge functionality suggested on their website (not certain if that is needed with the RIM SDK with 4.6).

[jtegen]

I tried downloading the free verson of FDT, but it is not an installer, it is just the raw files for Eclipse that requires you to have an empty eclipse and then spend the time to configure it. Yes, it is free in terms of cost, but not free in the amount of time it will take to get eclipse installed seperate from FlashBuilder and then perform all the steps to get it configured with the free version of FDT. The installer version of FDT costs $600. Has anyone tried installed the free version of FDT and a good place on the steps to do so, or it worth the cost for the paid version of FDT. Since it will take a lot of time to reconfigure FlashBuilder each time you need to work on different projects between the PlayBook and BB10 phones, I was planning on using FDT for BB10 and FlashBuilder for PlayBook dev, but either way it will cost me time or money out of pocket. Has anyone else attempt concurrent development?

[dmalik]

i"m currently using FDT free for 3.0 SDK and FB for 2.0 SDK. There are a few nice to haves missing in the free version but at least it doesn't expire and it gives you a good understanding of what you're getting yourself into. 

I'm going to try IntelliJ and Flash Develop soon and hope to write a blog post at some point in the future comparing the IDEs and how to get setup in them. 

[jtegen]

How did you get the free version of FDT to work? All that is downloaded is a zip file with a bunch of files. How are you suppose to install that?

[pgarcia]

Hi

Just extract the ZIP file into your user folder (or wherever you prefer) and run the eclipse.exe you'll find inside it. The first time you run, FDT will walk you to setup the environment.

Cheers

[jtegen]

I got FDT-Free to insrtall. Are there any tutorials to get v3 of the BB10 SDK to install with it? Seems to only have iOs and Android configured with it.