Simple Question: how to export a SWF?

[miquael]

Hi, i'm quite new to Flex and Flash Builder (have over ten years of Flash experience tho), am on a fast track to learning, and I'm generally unclear about the way to use FB to publish projects (in Flash it is very straight forward).

I'm working on my first FB project for a client, and the situation is a bit unique: I've created a new project, yet, there is no need for the MXML file in this situation, as we have a server side application that utilizes just the product SWF in a much larger remote Flex framework.  So, when I make updates to the local project, I just want to export a new SWF from compiling the ActionScript class files I have created, and then upload the SWF to the remote server for testing.

Yet,when I attempt to simply run the project locally (to export a new SWF), I get errors that I assume are due to the inappropriate use of the MXML file (which is generally blank), and it is not relevant the rest of the ActionScript files (and I do not need it to be).

I have examples of other related projects that have no MXML file at all, so when I tried removing the MXML file, I get an error that simply says: "The file cannot be launched".  And in fact, when I moved the MXML file back, I now get the same error.  It's really hard to know what's going on here.

I thought of setting the primary AS file as the "Default Application", yet the menu option for that is not allowing me to (greyed out).

Can anyone help me understand what to do here? 

[miquael]

Do I need to re-create the project as an "ActionScript Project"?

[John_Hall]

If you're not going to use any of the Flex components, I'd definitely just do Flash or use the FB IDE to create the Flash project. If you're using Flash CS5, you can specify that FB be the default class editor.

[miquael]

I may very well use some Flex components, and the client code framework I am working with requires the use of Flex or FlashBuilder.

what i'm not understanding : is how to simply publish a SWF with a FB project without using the MXML file.

[Anirudh Sasikumar]

Create an ActionScript project, then you should be fine and won't need to have an MXML file.

[miquael]

Okay, yes, I created an ActionScipt project.  Yet, I'm still wondering how I have the project produce a new product SWF?  When I either run or debug the project, it will show me the results running in a browser, yet the SWF file does not appear to be updated (if I look at the publication time of the file, it is still showing the time that the project was created, not the time that i just ran the project).  What is up with that?

[Anirudh Sasikumar · Accepted solution]

When Project -> Build Automatically is on, every time you make a change to a file that is in some way used by your main Application AS file, the output SWF will get built in the bin-debug folder.

When you do Project -> Export Release, a release quality version of the SWF will be generated in the bin-release folder.

[miquael]

Thank you!!