[FlexJS} RBLs and SWCs

[Alex Harui <ah...@adobe.com>]

Mike, Fred,

I spent more time looking at the RBL code from Randori.  It could be that
I haven’t fully understood the code, but it appears so far that RBL are a
higher-level container of things, and I’m currently thinking I can do
everything I need in a SWC.

Do you guys remember what the advantages of RBL are over SWC?  AFAICT, RBL
is really a whole SDK: a set of SWCs and related files.  I am thinking I
just want to use SWC because Flash Builder understands it.  It sounds like
you did a lot of work to make IntelliJ understand RBL.  I can’t imagine
trying to get Flash Builder to understand RBL.

So, I think I only need to add more files (JS files) to the SWC just like
defaults.css and assets can go in a SWC already.  And teaching FalconJX to
find its JS files in those SWCs.

Anyway, let me know your thoughts.  I’m packing it in for tonight.

Thanks,
-Alex

Re: [FlexJS} RBLs and SWCs

[Alex Harui <ah...@adobe.com>]

On 4/17/15, 4:57 AM, "Michael Schmalle" <te...@gmail.com> wrote:

>You're correct Alex, rbls were a full SDK OR user library. You could say
>we
>developed that global container to make plug and play with IntelliJ
>instant. Two years, my brain is a bit hazy.
>
>My design decision was, the SWC compiler did a job, we had other compilers
>that did other jobs. For myself it didn't make sense messing with the SWC
>compiler.
>
>Maybe it was a bad decision who knows, it's history now.

I don’t think it was a bad decision given the parameters at the time.  For
example, compatibility with Flash Builder was probably not a requirement
for Randori.  But, IMO, it is for FlexJS, and I would say that even if I
wasn’t an Adobe employee.

It also appears that deploying RBLs essentially bypasses the need for an
SDK Installer.  For FlexJS, it still wants to leverage the Adobe SDKs so
having a single bundle from Apache is still not possible.

Anyway, the SWC format supports file bundling already, so I think I am
just going to leverage that.  Right now there aren’t any other files that
need to be handled that aren’t associated with a SWC, and any we find are
likely to be bundled into the release distributions and handled by the
Installer.

I sure wish I could find a way to get you and Fred involved.  I don’t
remember why IntelliJ doesn’t officially support FlexJS, but helping
IntelliJ get that right would be awesome.

Thanks for the info,
-Alex

Re: [FlexJS} RBLs and SWCs

[Michael Schmalle <te...@gmail.com>]

You're correct Alex, rbls were a full SDK OR user library. You could say we
developed that global container to make plug and play with IntelliJ
instant. Two years, my brain is a bit hazy.

My design decision was, the SWC compiler did a job, we had other compilers
that did other jobs. For myself it didn't make sense messing with the SWC
compiler.

Maybe it was a bad decision who knows, it's history now.

Mike

On Fri, Apr 17, 2015 at 2:34 AM, Alex Harui <ah...@adobe.com> wrote:

> Mike, Fred,
>
> I spent more time looking at the RBL code from Randori.  It could be that
> I haven’t fully understood the code, but it appears so far that RBL are a
> higher-level container of things, and I’m currently thinking I can do
> everything I need in a SWC.
>
> Do you guys remember what the advantages of RBL are over SWC?  AFAICT, RBL
> is really a whole SDK: a set of SWCs and related files.  I am thinking I
> just want to use SWC because Flash Builder understands it.  It sounds like
> you did a lot of work to make IntelliJ understand RBL.  I can’t imagine
> trying to get Flash Builder to understand RBL.
>
> So, I think I only need to add more files (JS files) to the SWC just like
> defaults.css and assets can go in a SWC already.  And teaching FalconJX to
> find its JS files in those SWCs.
>
> Anyway, let me know your thoughts.  I’m packing it in for tonight.
>
> Thanks,
> -Alex
>
>