Setup AIR
Adobe AIR is a cross-platform framework used by a wide range of applications and games on desktop and mobile. AIR can run on Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, and Android. While AIR was originally created by Adobe, it is currently maintained with active development of new features by HARMAN. See The future of Adobe AIR and HARMAN’s AIR SDK Website for more details.
Automatic Install
There is no automatic setup available for Adobe AIR.
Manual Install
In order to build applications using Adobe AIR, you must have the AIR SDK installed.
Download the Adobe AIR SDK from HARMAN, and extract it on your system.
Next, open a command-prompt or terminal and run the following command (using the path to your AIR SDK):
lime config AIR_SDK path/to/air/sdk
Build & Run
To compile an Adobe AIR application, run lime build air. Add the -debug option to create a build that can connect to a SWF debugger. Add the -release option to create a release build.
To compile and launch an Adobe AIR application with one command, run lime test air. The application will run on your computer using the AIR Debug Launcher (ADL).
To build an AIR app targeting Android, add the -android option. This will package an .apk file.
To build an AIR app targeting iOS, add the -ios option. This will package an .ipa file.
To build an AIR app for either Android or iOS, but test it in the AIR Debug Launcher (ADL) instead a device, add the -air-simulator option to skip packaging the .apk or .ipa file.
When targeting AIR for iOS, specify the -appstore option to create a build to be submitted to the iOS App Store. Alternatively, specify the -adhoc option for ad hoc distribution to specific devices outside of the App Store.
Code Signing
During development, AIR builds will automatically use a self-signed certificate. To distribute AIR apps, you must specify code signing options. Code signing options may may be added to a <certificate/> element in your project.xml file. You may need to add the if="air" attribute, if your app targets any other platforms besides AIR.
To use a specific certificate file, specify the path attribute.
<certificate path="path/to/keystore.p12" if="air"/>
You should not save a keystore password in your project.xml file because it is a serious security risk. It is technically allowed, though.
<!-- you should NOT specify the password like this -->
<certificate path="path/to/keystore.p12" password="hunter2" if="air"/>
Instead, you have two options.
-
Specify the password on the command line. Example:
--certificate-password=hunter2 -
Don’t specify the password, and wait for the build to request it automatically.
Instead of using a certificate file, developers on macOS may sign iOS and macOS apps using credentials stored in their Keychain.
<certificate type="KeychainStore" alias="Apple Development: Team Name (XXXXXXXXXX)" if="air ios"/>
Packaging for distribution
For projects targeting mobile, lime build air -android and lime build air -ios compile the .swf, copy all necessary assets, and package the Adobe AIR app as either .apk or .ipa for distribution to app stores. However, when targeting desktop, lime build air compiles the .swf file and copies assets only. This is enough for debugging in the AIR Debug Launcher (ADL), but it is not enough to distribute the app to users.
To package an Adobe AIR desktop app for distrubution, run lime build air and then run lime deploy air.
Using SWC libraries
To use a .swc library with Haxe that was compiled from ActionScript, add Haxe’s -swf-lib command line option. For instance, you can add it to your project.xml file using the <haxeflag/> element.
<haxeflag name="-swf-lib" value="path/to/example.swc"/>
Using AIR Native Extensions
To use .ane native extension files, add each one to your project’s native dependencies. For instance, you can add it to your project.xml file using the <dependency/> element.
<dependency name="com.example.MyNativeExtension" path="path/to/com.example.MyNativeExtension.ane" if="air"/>
The name attribute is the native extension’s ID. The path attribute is the relative path to the .ane file.
Advanced Configuration
The <config:air /> element in your project.xml file is used to specify advanced configuration options for Adobe AIR. For a complete list of these advanced option, see Config Values: Adobe AIR.
Help & Forums
If you encounter any problems when setting up Lime for AIR, please visit the forums or Discord.