https://sourceforge.net/adobe/flexsdk/wiki/Setup/Recent changes to SetupenThu, 15 Mar 2012 18:13:19 -0000https://sourceforge.net/adobe/flexsdk/wiki/Setup/# Set up your development environment Before you can build the Flex SDK from source code and then test it, you'll need to do some one-time setup. In addition to the source code, which you check out from the repository with a Subversion client, you'll need to * have an appropriate command-line shell * have a Java Development Kit (JDK) * have Apache Ant * set certain environment variables * configure the Flash Player You can build and test the Flex SDK on Windows, Macintosh, or Linux. You should be aware, however, that the official builds of the Flex SDK are done on a Windows machine using specific versions of the Java Development Kit and Apache Ant as described below. In the future, these versions will vary from branch to branch, so you should be prepared to have multiple versions of the JDK and Ant. The following sections discuss these requirements in general terms. Links to pages with detailed steps for each OS may be found at the end. ## Command-line shell The Flex SDK is built using command-line tools such as `ant` and `javac`, and the tools that get built -- such as `mxmlc` -- are command-line tools. We're working to provide robust Eclipse and Flex Builder projects for SDK developers to use for debugging the author-time tools and the runtime framework. (Take a look at the projects in `/flex/sdk/trunk/development`.) However, official builds and tests are always done on the command line. On Windows you'll need to use Cygwin, which provides a Unix-like command-line environment vastly richer than Command Prompt. Installing Cygwin is required because some of our build scripts use Cygwin tools. The ones we need are part of the default Cygwin installation. On Macintosh, you'll use the Terminal application that is part of OS X. ## Java Development Kit A JDK contains a Java compiler and a Java runtime environment. Since the Flex SDK's author-time command-line tools are written using Java 5, you need a JDK 1.5 or later to compile and run them. (Note that you may need a different version of the JDK than the latest available; more information on getting an appropriate version can be found in the "Detailed steps" section below.) On Windows, the command line executables (e.g. mxmlc.exe, compc.exe) are 32-bit processes, so a 32-bit version of Java must also be used to run them. ## Apache Ant We use Apache Ant, an open-source Java-based build system, to build the Flex SDK. Various directories inside the Flex SDK have `build.xml` files, which are Ant scripts written in XML format. ## Environment variables There are three environment variables -- `JAVA_HOME`, `ANT_HOME`, and `PATH` -- which must be properly set before the Flex SDK can be built, tested, and used. (Note that the setup.sh shell script discussed in a later section will set these up for you; they are documented here mainly for completeness and informational purposes.) #### `JAVA_HOME` --- This must point to the JDK directory, which should contain `bin` and `lib` directories. #### `ANT_HOME` --- This must point to the Ant directory, which should contain `bin` and `lib` directories. #### `PATH` ---- The following three directories should be at the beginning of the `PATH`: * the `bin` directory of the Flex SDK branch that you're using * Ant's `bin` directory, `$ANT_HOME/bin` * Java's `bin` directory, `$JAVA_HOME/bin` This will allow command-line tools such as `mxmlc`, `ant`, and `java` to be found no matter what your current directory is. ## Branch-setup scripts If you build multiple branches of the Flex SDK, you want to be sure that the right version of `mxmlc` and other SDK tools are found on your `PATH`. Otherwise, you might accidentally compile with the Flex 3 compiler at `branches/3.x/bin/mxmlc` instead of the Flex 4 compiler at `trunk/bin/mxmlc`, for example. Furthermore, in the near future we'll start using updated versions of Java and Ant on the trunk, so that Flex 4 is built with a current toolset (probably Java 5 and Ant 1.7). Therefore the best strategy for ensuring that these three environment variables are properly set is to use the shell script `setup.sh` that we provide in the root of each branch. This script sets the environment variables JAVA_HOME, ANT_HOME, and PATH appropriately for building, testing, and developing with that particular branch. It ensures that the right version of Java and Ant are used and that when you invoke a Flex SDK tool such as `mxmlc`, the right copy of that tool is executed. To use these scripts, do (for example) cd flex/sdk/trunk source setup.sh _Note:_ You _must_ run this script with the `source` command (or with the shorthand "dot" syntax, i.e., "`. setup.sh`"); simply executing the script file instead will not work because the state of certain variables set in the shell script will not persist when the script is finished running. Each `setup.sh` script assume that Java and Ant are installed at standard locations in your system. If you've placed them elsewhere, edit the paths. If you're a shell hacker, you can set up simple shell aliases such as `ft` (for "Flex trunk") that `cd` to a directory and `source` its `setup.sh` script. _Note:_ The 3.0.0.477 release was tagged as `tags/3.0.0.477` before the branch-setup scripts were added to `trunk` and `branches/3.x`. If you want to build this tag, copy `branches/3.x/setup.sh` to `tags/3.0.0.477/setup.sh` first. ## Flash Player Testing the Flex SDK involves running test applications in the standalone Flash Player. Development use of the Flash Player you to configure the `mm.cfg` file and the `FlashPlayerTrust` directory. See the "Detailed steps" section below for more information. #### mm.cfg --- This file lets you configure the debugging capabilities of the Flash Player. To test the SDK, you must specify TraceOutputFileEnable=1 in the `mm.cfg` file so that `trace()` output is directed to the `flashlog.txt` file. You should also specify ErrorReportingEnable=1 so that runtime errors are logged. See the detailed steps for information about where the `mm.cfg` file is located. ### FlashPlayerTrust This directory lets you configure aspects of Flash Player security. By default, an executing SWF can't access local files such as the images in the test apps. To allow this, you must create a "trust file" that grants this privilege to SWFs. See the detailed steps for more information. ## Detailed steps Please refer to the platform-specific steps documented below for setup on each OS; they detail the information you will need to get everything set up: * [Setup on Windows](https://sourceforge.net/adobe/flexsdk/wiki/Setup%20on%20Windows/) * [Setup on Macintosh](https://sourceforge.net/adobe/flexsdk/wiki/Setup%20on%20Macintosh/) * [Setup on Linux](https://sourceforge.net/adobe/flexsdk/wiki/Setup%20on%20Linux/) SourceForge Editorial StaffThu, 15 Mar 2012 18:13:19 -0000https://sourceforge.neta002da33dc7672f29a950dcee49cb6131db7a325