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Kevin Hoyt

Kevin Hoyt

Platform Evangelist
Adobe

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Building the HTML page
  3. A note on security in Adobe AIR
  4. Bringing the maps to Adobe AIR
  5. Saving to the local disk
  6. Copying to the clipboard
  7. Dragging somewhere else
Created:
30 September 2007
Modified:
25 February 2008
User Level:
Intermediate, Advanced
Products:
Adobe AIR

Recreating MapCache on Adobe AIR

Maps appear to be all the rage on the web these days. Google and Yahoo! seem to battle each other for features on an almost daily basis. But online maps have one shortcoming—you can't take them with you. This is where Adobe AIR comes in. Using your existing web development skills and Adobe AIR, you can take an HTML-based web applications to the desktop and integrate it with standard desktop functionality, including local file IO, drag-and-drop and clipboard support, and more. The following video and this article demonstrate how you can integrate web-based and desktop technologies by way of an Adobe AIR sample app that brings Yahoo! Maps to the desktop (see Figure 1).

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Watch Kevin Hoyt demo and explain his sample app, MapCache on Adobe AIR.

You can take online maps with you—with MapCache.

Figure 1. You can take online maps with you—with MapCache.

Note: This idea of taking maps to the desktop isn't new. The inspiration for this article comes from Christian Cantrell's MapCache Adobe AIR application, built using Flex. Note also that this article uses the Yahoo! Maps API, as Google Maps expect to be delivered into a specific website domain. Since an Adobe AIR application runs on the desktop, there is no domain, and Google Maps simple doesn't work.

Requirements

In order to make the most of this article, you need the following software and files:

Adobe AIR

Adobe AIR SDK

Sample files:

Prerequisite knowledge

General experience of building applications with Flex, HTML, or Ajax is suggested.

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About the author

Kevin Hoyt is a platform evangelist with Adobe Systems, Inc. Passionate about engaging user experiences as he is, you'll most often find him meeting with customers, speaking at conferences, presenting online seminars, or just enjoying the chance to share ideas and brainstorm with other developers. When not on the road, Kevin enjoys spending time with his family, photography, and general aviation.