Load .ipa assets on other ipa

[filipeo57985347]

Hello!

I need to make an app in air for ios that loads external content (swf's with no code), and what i found on the internet as the best sollution was compiling that content in one another ipa, to be loaded in the main ipa.

First of all, do you agree with that solution? Notice that the external content can't be hosted online.

As this link​ says, the compiling process creates a folder named "externalStrippedSwfs" where all swf's are.

But, in my case, nothing was created (unless the ipa).

How can i load my content, from the .ipa?

Thank you very much!

[Colin Holgate]

I hadn't heard about loading one IPA inside another, and I doubt that it would work.

The normal workflow for codeless external swfs is to do the ADT compiling that produces the codeless swfs, put those on a server somewhere, and then edit a manifest file to say where that server is located.

I have never found time to see if those files could be loaded at a local URL. That is, they would be included files inside the one and only IPA. I think that it ought to work.

Not sure where your compiling problem is happening. Your link is not working here, try this:

External hosting of secondary SWFs for AIR apps on iOS

You can only go over it again and see if you're following the steps exactly.

[filipeo57985347]

I hadn't heard about loading one IPA inside another, and I doubt that it would work.

Well, so, what is your suggestion to load external swf's without hosting them on the web? How do i host them, locally, without compiling them in the main .ipa?

My problem is that my assets have to be hosted locally, but have to be external to the app.

That's so easy, in air for Android....

Thank you very much!

[Colin Holgate]

What is the reason you need the SWFs to be external? If you're just using Loader to load in a new mini game or scene, so that the external games are not in RAM from the start, you could use SWCs instead.

You would take a mini game and in Publishing Settings check the SWC box. Then when you publish you have a SWC version of that mini game, which you add into the main FLA in the ActionScript settings panel (same place you add ANEs and other SWCs).

Each game would have its own document class, and in the main FLA when you want to show a particular game you would just do:

var mc:MovieClip = new Game1() as MovieClip;

addChild(mc);

'Game1' would match the game's document class name. It ought to work as well as a Loader would, and doesn't involve any messy compiling stages.

[filipeo57985347]

Hey!

The solution that you proposed me, envolve bundle all the "mini-games" rigth?

Bundle all, and, in the main ipa code, call it one-by-one. Rigth?

Well, this application will play about 200 videos, and because every weeks there are new videos to load, i need to separate the videos from de video player (which is my app). Do you understand?

I have made it, in Air for Android.

I need to store them in the internal storage, and load them from there.

Storing them is my problem.

Can you help me?

[Colin Holgate]

Are they videos or swfs? Video files are kept external. If they are swfs I don't think you will be able to add new ones, because all of the swfs have to be present at the time that you publish, so that the code from the swf is put into the IPA at compile time.

If these are just animations one of your options would be to export them as HTML5 Canvas, and the use a web view to show them. That gets around all the problems I think, because Apple don't mind if you use Javascript.

As for downloading new content you can only do that into the document folders. You can't download and add new files to the app bundle.

You should look at this ANE:

http://www.myflashlabs.com/product/zip-ane-adobe-air-native-extension/

with that you could have your initial set of animations as a zip file in the IPA, and when the user first launches the app the zip would be extracted to the documents folder. Then when there is an update you would download a new zip file from your server, and use the ANE again to extract the new content into the existing documents folder location.

[filipeo57985347]

First of all, thank you very much!

Are they videos or swfs? Video files are kept external. If they are swfs I don't think you will be able to add new ones, because all of the swfs have to be present at the time that you publish, so that the code from the swf is put into the IPA at compile time.

They are .swf's with no code.

After the ANE unzip all the .swf's to user documents, can't i load them with a loader?

Or its just not possible because i cant transfer a .swf file to an ipad/iphone internal storage?

EDIT:

New approach:

I can't transfer a zip file to iTunes and the files, in my situation, cannot be downloaded from the web.

Isn't a good solution to create a folder in client iPad, transfer .swf's converted to video (with iTunes, or something), and then load it in main .ipa with sometinh like that:

1. var file_lista:File=File.documentsDirectory.resolvePath("/videos/"); 

?

I will not be able to transfer a .swf file neither a zip file to an iPad, anyway...

Am i correct?

EDIT 2:

I have talked about my solution with the conpany and they disapprove because de .swf's have user-interacion, and in a video format, that interaction is lost.

AAAAHH, never ending problem!

Thank you, anywhay