New Flex Course available for everyone

I just finished giving a course on map-based RIA development in Adobe AIR and Flex at Where 2.0. Where often begins with the notion of a location. Service Oriented Architecture allows mashup clients to use location-based services for building rich, interactive media clients. In this course you will build six map-based projects in a largely (85%) hands on learning environment using Adobe Flex and AIR.

Preparation

To take this course, you will need to do the following:
1. Install and configure Adobe Flex Builder 3.0 or later
2. Set up an account with Yahoo Developer Network and get an API key
3. Download the Yahoo SWC file
4. Download the ESRI SWC file
5. Download and take the course from here - http://www.web2open.org/courses/Where2.0.zip

This lab preparation assumes you need to install everything from scratch. While these instructions cover installing a standalone Flex Builder, it is also possible to install Flex Builder as an Eclipse plugin. Please seek out and follow the instructions from the Adobe website if you wish to install the plugin version.

Where possible, notes are augmented for Mac OS X, Linux, and Windows.

A. Installing and configuring Adobe Flex Builder.

1. Go to http://www.adobe.com/cfusion/entitlement/index.cfm?e=flexbuilder3 and download the Flex Builder trial.
2. Open up the disk image and follow the on screen instructions.
3. Note where you set up your workspace. This is where you will place all the files you work on and various libraries needed for this course.
4. Mac OS X: By default, this will be under your ~home_directory/Documents/Flex Builder 3.
5. Windows: By default, this will be under your c:\Program Files\Adobe\Flex Builder 3.

LINUX ONLY

6. For the Linux version, download the plugin from http://labs.adobe.com/downloads/flexbuilder_linux.html.
7. Run the installer either marking it as executable (chmod +x) or by using a shell to execute it (sh flexbuilder_linux_install_a4_081408.bin).

8. When prompted, specify whether to install Flash Player 9 (note that this is an updated version of Flash Player 9 and that Flex Builder Linux will work with earlier versions of Flash Player 9 for Linux). This is the debug version of Flash Player 9, which is required for debugging support and exception display.


B. Set up and account with Yahoo and download the SWC file.

1. Use your browser and navigate to https://developer.yahoo.com/wsregapp/

2. Sign in if you already have an account or register for a new one. If you have already registered for an API key, you can see it via the hyperlink near the top of the page.

9. If you do not have an API key, fill in the form and agree to any license terms.

10. Click “Submit” and a key will be generated for you. Make sure you save it somewhere in a text file on your desktop.

C. Accessing the YahooMaps.swc file.

1. Next, you need to download and install the Yahoo Maps SWC file. Aim your browser at http://developer.yahoo.com/flash/maps/
2. Save the zip to your hard drive and open the archive. You will see a file called YahooMaps.swc inside the zip.

3. Remember the location of this file as you will need it for Labs 2,3,4.

d. Download the ESRI ArcGIS SWC library.

1. Navigate to http://resources.esri.com/arcgisserver/apis/flex/index.cfm?fa=downloadDisclaimer
2. Agree to the terms and conditions of the license and click “Download”.

3. Save the file to your hard drive as you will need it for labs 5,6,7.

4. Unzip the file and you will see a SWC file as shown in the course setup guide.

5. Remember the location of this file as you will need it for labs 4,5,6.
That is all for now – now you can start the labs.