F.A.Q
From FlashDevelop
What operating system(s) does FlashDevelop run on?
All Windows based OSs since Windows XP should be able to run FlashDevelop. This includes Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7 and 8.
It is currently possible to run FlashDevelop under Linux or OSX via virtualization software such as Parallels, VMWare or VirtualBox (free).
Other operating systems (such as Linux, and OSX) are not officially supported, but there are multiple community efforts to add native support. (See forum discussions on: OSX, Linux)
Does FlashDevelop run in 64-bit systems?
Yes, but requires Java 1.6+ 32-bits to be installed.
Why does FlashDevelop (FD) generate SWFs of a larger size than Adobe Flash Professional?
Be sure you are compiling for release mode. Debug mode adds code. (Original forum post)
How can external SWC files be used with FlashDevelop?
- Put SWCs in the project, for instance under a \lib directory
- In the Project panel, right-click the SWC file > "Add to Library"
- The SWC's default linking mode is usually fine, but you can change it in the Project panel, right-click the SWC file > "Options"
Known issues:
- When a SWC is output in the same directory as a FLA, this is an Adobe bug which creates potential instabilities. (Original forum post).
- If the SWC is located outside the project you'll have to add it manually in Project Properties > Compiler Options > SWC Libraries (or External Libraries or Included Libraries, depending on the linking mode you need). Fill in either an absolute path, or a path relative to your project root.
How to trace/debug in AS3
See, how to configure & troubleshoot tracing/debugging: AS3:Debugging
How can the Adobe controls from fl.controls.* be used in FlashDevelop?
An official copy of Flash is needed. Export all controls you want to use into a SWC and reference the SWC. (Original forum post)
Step-by-step:
- Create an FLA in Flash
- Drag all the components you need onto the stage
- Go to the SWF publish settings and make sure that "Publish SWC" is checked
- Publish
- Make sure the SWC is inside the folder for your FlashDevelop project
- In FlashDevelop right-click the SWC and select "Add As Library"
Is it possible to modify default key bindings?
Key bindings can be modified by Tools-> Keyboard Shortcuts... or manually editing MainMenu.xml. This is found in the FD install settings directory.
(e.g., On Vista this is C:\Program Files (x86)\FlashDevelop\Settings\MainMenu.xml)
How can the editor's font or colors be changed?
From the menu: Tools > Syntax Coloring
Settings are written to the file in the user's FD directory
.../FlashDevelop/Settings/AS3.xml
.../FlashDevelop/Settings/AS2.xml
etc...
How can a global directory be used with SWC and/or AS files?
FlashDevelop supports a global directory for .SWC and .AS files; meaning any project created will look to the directory for matching classes/functions. (Original forum post)
Step-by-step:
- From menu: "Tools" > "Global Classpaths"
- Add the path(s) you want accessible to every project opened up with FD
- To always show the paths, change: "Tools" > "Program Settings" > "ProjectManager" > "Show Global Classpaths"
How can pre-build or post-build commands be added to a project?
There are options to add Pre-Build and Post-Build command lines through the menus: "Project" > "Properties..." > "Build" tab
If you wish to execute DOS commands reference cmd.exe
Example, copying a file to the directory the project's SWF is being created in:
c:\windows\system32\cmd.exe /C copy "C:\source\projects\foo\bar.xml" "$(OutputDir)\bar.xml"
See forum thread for a discussion on this.
After moving a project why am I getting errors?
You may need to give local "trust" access to the parent folder of the project.
See forum thread for more.
Why do I receive an error creating a certificate for AIR mobile app, or generating a timestamp, or am unable to connect the debugger?
(Original post 1, post 2 )
Many of these errors are due to the latest Java 1.7 release or Java 64bits runtimes. Java 1.7 or 64bits is not compatible with the latest Flex SDK. To fix, uninstall it and install Java 1.6 32bits instead.
If you have the correct version of Java installed but FlashDevelop isn't able to run Java, make sure the path to Java's /bin directory is in your PATH: http://java.com/en/download/help/path.xml
How do I change auto-generated code?
You can change the "snippets" that are generated by modifying the files they are read from:
- From Menu: "Tools" > "User Config Files..."
- Then from the explorer folder that opens go to: "\Snippets\as3\generators\"
If you want to modify a snippet for a language other than ActionScript 3, go to the appropriate folder. (e.g., for Haxe go to \Snippets\Haxe\generators\ )
Why do I get a "Could not generate timestamp" error when creating an AIR app?
This is a known issue. Change packager.bat so this:
call adt -package %OPTIONS% %SIGNING_OPTIONS% %OUTPUT% %APP_XML% %FILE_OR_DIR%
becomes this:
call adt -package -tsa none %OPTIONS% %SIGNING_OPTIONS% %OUTPUT% %APP_XML% %FILE_OR_DIR%
Details on the forum thread.
When I try to debug I receive a "Unable to load DLL 'jvm.dll'" or "BadImageFormatException" error
This is due to how Java registers its dependencies. Make sure you have the 32-bit version of Java 1.6+ installed and add Java bin directory, ie. "C:\Program Files (x86)\Java\jre6\bin", to your PATH environment variable. This also enables you to call Java directly from command line without the absolute path.
