2009-07-22

Free Flex IDE

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Ok so flex is great but there is one small problem and thats the US$ 299 for the IDE from adobe. Yes there is a free trial available so you can at least spend 60 days trying the IDE but what happens after your 60 days are up and you still want to use flex but don't have US $299 laying around to buy yourself the full version. With Flash Develop and a two little plugins you can.

Installing First you need to download all the required files listed below:

Now you have a directory full of downloads it is time to start installing(please note [version] is a place holder for the current version of the file you downloaded):

  1. Run the installer(FlashDevelop[version].exe) for Flash Develop and and leave everything as the defaults.
  2. Install the Java SE Runtime Environment (jre-[number]-windows-i586.exe).
  3. Extract the Flex SDK(flex_sdk_3.zip) to "C:\Flex\3\".
  4. Install the Design View AIR app(designview.air) by double clicking it.
  5. Open the Design View plugin(FlexDesignView-[version].zip) and copy the contents of "Data" to "C:\Program Files\FlashDevelop\Data\" and the contents of "Plugins" to "C:\Program Files\FlashDevelop\Plugins\".
  6. Extract the Debugger Plugin(FlexDbg.zip) to "C:\Program Files\FlashDevelop\Plugins\"".

Now Everything is in installed all you need to do is set up flex in Flash Develop:

  1. Open the Flash Develop(Start > Applications > Flex Develop > Flex Develop).
  2. Once the application is opened press F10 or go to "Tool > Program Settings" to open the Program Settings.
  3. Click on AS3Content button (1. in the image below).
  4. Then set the "Flex SDK Location" (2. in the image below) to "C:\Flex\3\".
  5. Click Close, and enjoy Flash Develop.

Program Settings Settings Screen

Update: as requested here are some screen shots with FlashDevelop in both Source and Design Views.

16 comments:

  1. Anonymous12 August 2009 at 8:15 am

    Amazing stuff, thanks so much!

    Two small details that slowed me down a bit:

    - To open the .air file, you need to have installed Adobe AIR (http://www.adobe.com/products/air/ then the "Get Adobe AIR now" link).

    - To make the DesignerView plugin work, you need to extract the folders & files in the following folders instead of those mentioned:

    Vista: C:\Users\--username--\AppData\Local\FlashDevelop\
    XP: C:\Document and Settings\--username--\Local Settings\Application Data\FlashDevelop

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous12 August 2009 at 12:47 pm

    Opps, I missed that thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Stefan Drachsler6 September 2009 at 5:42 am

    Thanks for the very good instructions.

    But everytime i want to build a project (just some little test with one mxml file, because i'm new to flex) my Flash CS4 opens with the message "no documents opened".
    The Flex SDK Location is set to the right path, still it seems that the compilation doesn't work.

    Could you give me some hint?

    thanks,
    Stefan

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous8 October 2009 at 6:27 pm

    Thank you for the information. Now I have all the tools to get FlashDevelop to work correctly. It's superb! I love simplicity.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Jon28 October 2009 at 9:08 pm

    Could you please post some screen shots of the completed FlashDev with the integrated designer view plugin

    Everything installed but I don't see the added designer view or anything that looks different from the vanilla Flash Dev. Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous9 November 2009 at 3:27 pm

    I have added some screenshots as requested.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous9 November 2009 at 3:29 pm

    Hi Stefan

    It looks like you missed this step: "Then set the "Flex SDK Location" (2. in the image below) to "C:\Flex\3\"."

    Matt

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anonymous23 November 2009 at 3:40 am

    how can i open the Design view from within the FlashDevelop IDE???

    thank you in advance

    Skinloa

    ReplyDelete
  9. Anonymous20 December 2009 at 7:57 pm

    Thanks so much for the guide, it's the setup I'm using now and it's just perfect. (a few 'design view' bugs aside)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anonymous11 January 2010 at 1:51 pm

    Just installed the app. It's portable, flexible , works fast and has nice plugins. Keep up the good work guys!!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Anonymous30 January 2010 at 3:56 pm

    Hi

    I am facing issue with
    4.Install the Design View AIR app(designview.air) by double clicking it.

    Whenever i follow th link to download designview.air the file being dowloaded is designview.zip

    Please help

    Thanks

    ReplyDelete
  12. Anonymous3 February 2010 at 3:17 pm

    You will need to unzip the zip file first before you can open it.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Anonymous3 February 2010 at 3:18 pm

    also thanks to the first comment

    - To open the .air file, you need to have installed Adobe AIR (http://www.adobe.com/products/air/ then the "Get Adobe AIR now" link).

    ReplyDelete
  14. Anonymous4 February 2010 at 1:24 am

    What am i doing wrong? I have installed everything as you said, and flashdevelop works fine, but when I click on the 'Design View' icon under my tester.mxml tab nothing happens?!? I have installed the designview plugin.

    Thanks

    ReplyDelete
  15. Anonymous5 February 2010 at 7:12 am

    If designview.air is being downloaded as designview.zip, simply change the file extension from .zip to .air and then you can run it successfully.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Luís Osório6 April 2010 at 2:23 am

    Hi, very good tutorial.
    Now, would this be possible to do in usb disc environment?

    Pre-reqs:
    The computer must have air installed.

    on the usbDisc:
    flashdevelop
    flexSDK
    java
    pluigns

    thank you

    ReplyDelete

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