Primary AIR Technologies | 13
desktop, it would not be quite as compelling. Fortunately,
Adobe AIR provides a rich set of programming APIs, as well
as close integration with the desktop that allows developers
to build applications that take advantage of the fact that
they’re running on the user’s desktop.
Adobe AIR Programming APIs
In addition to all of the functionality and APIs already
offered by the Flash Player and WebKit engine, Adobe AIR
provides additional functionality and APIs.
TIP
Adobe AIR APIs are available to both ActionScript and
JavaScript.
Some of the new functionality includes, but is not limited to:
- Complete file I/O API
- Complete native windowing API
- Complete native menuing API (Mac only in beta)
- Online/Offline APIs to detect when service connectivity
has changed - Complete control over application chrome
- Local storage/settings APIs
- System notification APIs that tie into OS-specific
notification mechanisms (not implemented in Beta) - Application update APIs
- SQLite embedded database
Note that functionality may be implemented directly within
the Adobe Integrated Runtime or on the framework layer (in
Flex and JavaScript), or by using a combination of both.