Flex Builder Windows

Flex Builder for Windows (Flex 3)

Components
All you need is Eclipse, the Flex 3 plugin and the Whirled SDK.

A java runtime environment is installed with the Flex Builder plugin for Eclipse. The installation also includes the debug version of Flash for Netscape, Firefox and IE. The installation also includes the Flex SDK versions 2.1 and 3.0.


 * Eclipse 3.3+ (pre-installed). You can download Eclipse from here.  Choose the Latest Release, link is under Build Name.  As of 03/18/2008, the version was 3.3.2.  Use this graphic if you have trouble locating the download link.

NOTE: You may also opt to download from Adobe a version of Flex Builder that also includes Eclipse as part of the installation process.


 * Download the plugin. These instructions assume that Eclipse is already installed.  Use the following link to Download the Flex Builder Eclipse plugin.  Registration with the Adobe website is required.

Installation

 * Double clicking on the installer will begin the installation. Note: On windows, it may take several minutes for things to start taking place.  There is little indication that is it unpacking a LARGE archive!

You may use the default installation directory or change it.


 * You need to tell the installation process where you installed Eclipse. Click on Choose to change the directory location.






 * Once you proceed, the installation process will continue.


 * This next option will allow you to install the debug version of the Flash Player in Netscape, Firefox and Internet Explorer. WARNING: By installing the debug version of the Flash Player, any errors introduced by avatars, toys, etc will show up.

If you have both Firefox (or Netscape) and IE installed. You can choose one or the other for installation of the debug plug in for testing and leave the browser you regularly use unaffected. This is a choice that you have to make. You need a debug version in something in order to debug your code. (In the example below, we choose Firefox for debugging our applications and we choose to use IE for our normal viewing pleasure).




 * You will then be presented a summary of information.




 * When all is installed and successful, you should see this message.



= Whirled SDK =
 * Get the latest Whirled SDK.
 * When viewing the archive in windows, you will see a directory called whirled.
 * Copy it to a location and remember where you stashed it.

Suggestion: Once unpacked, I like to keep the old version around for a little while in case I need to go back. What I like to do is copy the whirled directory to C:\Program Files and then rename whirled to whirled_sdk_0.xx with the proper version number.

Adobe Flex Builder 3 Eclipse Launcher
At this point, you should be ready to go. (NOTE: fix up with additional content or link back to Flex Builder)

To link up the Whirled SDK with your applications, you need to make an adjustment to each project.



Adjust the ActionScript Build Path -> Source path and tell it where to find the as (ActionScript source code) in the Whirled SDK directory.