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Participant
September 9, 2011
Answered

.ipa package from Flash Builder 4.5.1

  • September 9, 2011
  • 1 reply
  • 1333 views

Can someone explain to me what is in the .ipa package for Apple iOS?

I opened the package and I don't see Objective C code.  Does the iOS just contain a SWF?

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Correct answer Joe ... Ward

So forgive the ignorance on my part, but I'm to assume then that ultimately for all platforms, the .swf file IS the compiled code.  In the case of iOS platform it is further translated into a binary that can be read by iOS.

At no time are there any native Objective C files that I can see that are created in iOS and at no time are there native .java for Android?

Further, any tweaking at all to the code MUST be done in Flash Builder and recompiled using that application?

I appreciate the clarification in advance.

--Paul


Correct. The SWF file is the compiled code. Only on iOS is the ActionScript bytecode converted into machine code. On other platforms, the AIR virtual machine operates on the ActionScript bytecode directly. And there is never any generated Objective C or Java code.

You can write and compile ActionScript in a number of ways besides Flash Builder. Flash Professional has it's own code creation and compilation tools. You can also use the command line compilers in the Flex SDK and an IDE (or code editor) of your choice.

1 reply

pmarker34Author
Participant
September 9, 2011

Err the .ipa package does that just contain a Swf?  How would I see what was generated if I wanted to retain all native code prior to deployment?

Participating Frequently
September 9, 2011

On iOS, the ActionScript bytecode is translated into an intermediate format and then converted into an iOS binary. This intermediate format isn't retained and isn't human readable.

pmarker34Author
Participant
September 9, 2011

So forgive the ignorance on my part, but I'm to assume then that ultimately for all platforms, the .swf file IS the compiled code.  In the case of iOS platform it is further translated into a binary that can be read by iOS.

At no time are there any native Objective C files that I can see that are created in iOS and at no time are there native .java for Android?

Further, any tweaking at all to the code MUST be done in Flash Builder and recompiled using that application?

I appreciate the clarification in advance.

--Paul