AIR applications are deployed as AIR files (files with
the .air filename extension). An AIR file is an installer file for
a specific AIR application.
When the user launches an AIR file (for example, by double-clicking
the AIR file), the runtime opens the AIR application installer,
which provides a graphical user interface for installing the application.
The application installer displays the identity of the application’s
developer (based on the developer’s certificate), if known.
The installed AIR application is added to a subdirectory of the
standard application directory (for example, a subdirectory of C:\Program
Files on Windows and /Applications on Mac OS). The installed application
directory includes the following:
-
A native executable file, which opens the application
in Adobe AIR.
-
HTML and SWF files used by the application. (Each AIR application
is built using at least one HTML or SWF file). HTML and SWF files
developed for Adobe AIR may contain APIs specific to AIR, which
do not work in web browsers.
-
Other resources, such as images, style sheets, and other
media, used by the application.
AIR applications can access the local file system, and they can
write files (of any type) to directories for which the user has
write privilege.
Each AIR application is signed, and an installed application
cannot run if any files in the installed application directory do
not match the application’s signature.