Specifications

129ADOBE FLEX 3
Building and Deploying Adobe Flex 3 Applications
The mxmlc command-line compiler does not generate an HTML wrapper. You must create your own wrapper to
deploy a SWF file that the mxmlc compiler produced. The wrapper is used to embed the SWF object in the HTML
tag. It includes the
<object> and <embed> tags, as well as scripts that support Flash Player version detection and
history management. For information about creating an HTML wrapper, see “Creating a Wrapper” on page 311.
The mxmlc utility uses the default compiler settings in the flex-config.xml file. This file is in the
flex_sdk_dir/frameworks/ directory. You can change the settings in this file or use another custom configuration
file. For more information on using configuration files, see “About configuration files” on page 134.
The mxmlc compiler is highly customizable with a large set of options. For information on the compiler options,
see “About the application compiler options” on page 139.
You can also open the mxmlc compiler with the
java command on the command line. For more information, see
“Invoking the command-line compilers with Java” on page 133.
About the component compiler
You use the component compiler to generate a SWC file from component source files and other asset files such as
images and style sheets. A SWC file is an archive of Flex components and other assets. For more information about
SWC files, see “About SWC files” on page 174.
In some ways, the component compiler is similar to the application compiler. The application compiler produces
a SWF file from one or more MXML and ActionScript files; the component compiler produces a SWC file from
its input files. SWC files are compressed files that contain a SWF file (library.swf), asset files, and a catalog.xml file.
You use the component compiler to create the following kinds of assets:
Component libraries. Component libraries are SWC files that contain one or more components that are used by
applications. SWC files also contain the namespace information that describe the contents of the SWC file. For
more information about component libraries, see “About SWC files” on page 174.
Run-time shared libraries (RSLs). RSLs are external shared assets that can be separately downloaded and cached
on the client. These shared assets are loaded by any number of applications at run time. For more information on
RSLs, see “Using Runtime Shared Libraries” on page 195.
Themes. Themes are a combination of graphical and programmatic skins, and Cascading Style Sheets (CSS). You
use themes to define the look and feel of a Flex application. For more information on themes, see “Using Styles
and Themes” on page 589 in Adobe Flex 3 Developer Guide.
You open the component compiler in the following ways:
Flex Builder Library Project compiler. Flex Builder uses the component compiler when you create a Library
Project. (The application compiler is used for Flex Projects and ActionScript Projects). For more information, see
“Using the Flex Builder component compiler” on page 130.