Projects in Flash Builder

All projects in a workspace are displayed in the Package Explorer, as the following example shows. The Package Explorer provides a tree view of projects from both a physical view and logical (flat) view. Using this view, you manage your projects by adding and deleting resources (folders and files), importing and linking to external resources, and moving resources to other projects in the workspace.

Highlights of the Package Explorer include:

• Displaying ActionScript packages in either a hierarchical or flat presentation.

  Use the Package Explorer’s menu to specify the package presentation.

• Project libraries are represented in two top-level nodes, one node for the Flex SDK and the other for referenced libraries.

  You can expand a library’s contents and open editors to view attachments.

• Error and warning badges on Package Explorer nodes notify you of problems within a package.

• You can limit which projects and resources are visible.

  You can create a working set (a collection of resources), create display filters, and sort resources by name and type. These options are available from the Package Explorer menus. For more information about modifying views, see Customize the workbench.

• You can expand ActionScript, MXML, and CSS files and see a tree view of their contents.

From the Package Explorer, you can open the project resources for editing. For example, you can edit MXML and ActionScript in <fx:Script> blocks and CSS in <fx:Style> blocks, or you can switch to Design mode and visually manipulate components and controls to create the application’s layout and behavior. For more information about working with the Flash Builder editors, see Flash Builder editors and Build user interfaces.

Then you add projects, files, and folders, and organize and manage them as needed. See Projects in Flash Builder.

Most menu commands that you use in the Package Explorer view are also available from the view’s context menu.

You use a combination of deleting and importing operations to move a project from one workspace to another. When you delete a project from a workspace, you can remove it from the workspace but leave it in the file system (see Delete a project). After you remove a project from one workspace, you can import it into another.

When creating a Flex project, you can specify which Flex SDK to use. However, you can later modify the SDK settings by selecting Project > Properties > Flex Compiler > Use a specific SDK.

If you want to compile your project against a version of the Flex SDK that is not available in your Flash Builder installation, you can download the SDK and add it to your installation. For example, download the SDK, and add it to Flash Builder using Project > Properties > Flex Compiler > Configure Flex SDKs.

When you delete a project, you remove the project from the current workspace. You can also remove the project from the file system at the same time.

Instead of deleting the project from the workspace, you can close the project. Closing the project lets you keep a reference to it in your workspace and also free some system resources. For more information, see Close and open projects.

1. In the Package Explorer, select the project to delete.

2. Select Edit > Delete from the main menu.

3. Select an option:

   Also Delete Contents Under Directory

   Permanently removes the project from the workspace and the file system.

   Do Not Delete Contents

   Removes the project from the workspace but not from the file system.

To save memory and improve build time without deleting a project, you can close it. When you close a project, you collapse the project and its resources, however, the name remains visible in the Package Explorer. A closed project requires less memory than an open project, and is excluded from builds. You can easily reopen the closed project.

1. In the Flex Package Explorer, select the project to close or reopen.

2. From the Package Explorer context menu, select Close Project or Open Project.

When you create a project, the main application file is generated for you. By default, it is named after the project. The main application file is the entry point into your applications and becomes the basis of the application SWF file. However, as you add files to your application, you might want to designate a different file as the main application file.

If you prefer to set multiple files as application files so that each application file is built in to a separate SWF file, see Manage project application files.

1. In the Package Explorer, select the MXML application file that you want to make the main application file.

2. From the Package Explorer context menu, select Set as Default Application.

You can manage the application files in your project by selecting Project > Properties > Flex Applications (or ActionScript Applications if you’re working with an ActionScript project).

Usually, a project has a single main application file, which serves as the entry point to your application. The Flash Builder compiler uses this file to generate the application SWF file.

For example, you can have a complex application with many custom MXML components that represent distinct but interrelated application elements. You can create an application file that contains a custom component and then build, run, and test it separately.

By default, whenever you add an MXML application file to your Flex project, you can run the application, and it is added to the list of project application files. All files defined as application files must reside in your project’s source folder.

You can manage the list of application files by selecting a project and viewing its properties.

1. In the Package Explorer, select a project.

2. Select Project > Properties from the main menu or select Properties from the context menu.

3. In the Project Properties dialog box, select Flex Applications (or ActionScript Applications if you are working with an ActionScript project).

4. Add and remove application files as needed. Click OK.

You can work in only one workspace at a time. When you install and run Flash Builder for the first time, you are prompted to create a workspace, which becomes the default workspace. You can create other workspaces and switch among them by either selecting the workspace when you start Flash Builder or by selecting File > Switch Workspace.