How to pass in parameters to a Flex Air app at startup

Air applications ((extended)desktop, (extended)mobileDevice, (extended)TV ) can accept custom startup parameters.

To retrieve passed in parameters in a web based pure AS3 applications, you need to use:

LoaderInfo(this.root.loaderInfo).parameters

LoaderInfo(this.root.loaderInfo).parameters

In Flex applications:

Application.application.parameters

Application.application.parameters

In AS3 Air applications you can retrieve the passed in params via an InvokeEvent listener:

NativeApplication.nativeApplication.addEventListener
               (InvokeEvent.INVOKE, onInvokeEvent);

NativeApplication.nativeApplication.addEventListener
               (InvokeEvent.INVOKE, onInvokeEvent);

In Flex Air application you need to listen to InvokeEvent.INVOKE

Flex 4 Parameter example

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<s:WindowedApplication xmlns:fx="http://ns.adobe.com/mxml/2009"
                       xmlns:s="library://ns.adobe.com/flex/spark"
                       xmlns:mx="library://ns.adobe.com/flex/mx"
                       width="200" height="200">
    <fx:Declarations>
        <s:ArrayCollection id="airParams" />
    </fx:Declarations>
 
    <s:invoke>
        <![CDATA[
        var invocation:InvokeEvent = InvokeEvent(event);
        for each(var argument:String in invocation.arguments)
            airParams.addItem(argument);
        ]]>
    </s:invoke>
 
    <s:List dataProvider="{airParams}"
            width="100%" height="100%" />
 
</s:WindowedApplication>

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<s:WindowedApplication xmlns:fx="http://ns.adobe.com/mxml/2009"
                       xmlns:s="library://ns.adobe.com/flex/spark"
                       xmlns:mx="library://ns.adobe.com/flex/mx"
                       width="200" height="200">
    <fx:Declarations>
        <s:ArrayCollection id="airParams" />
    </fx:Declarations>

    <s:invoke>
        <![CDATA[
        var invocation:InvokeEvent = InvokeEvent(event);
        for each(var argument:String in invocation.arguments)
            airParams.addItem(argument);
        ]]>
    </s:invoke>

    <s:List dataProvider="{airParams}"
            width="100%" height="100%" />

</s:WindowedApplication>

Test it from the command line:

1. Multiple parameters:
   
   adl InvokeExample-app.xml ./ -- hello world

   adl InvokeExample-app.xml ./ -- hello world

   

2. Multiple multi-word parameters:
   
   adl InvokeExample-app.xml ./ -- "green eggs" "and ham"

   adl InvokeExample-app.xml ./ -- "green eggs" "and ham"

   

3. Speechmarks – simply escape them out:
   
   adl InvokeExample-app.xml ./ -- "\"green\" eggs" "and ham"

   adl InvokeExample-app.xml ./ -- "\"green\" eggs" "and ham"

   

Test it with custom file extension

You can register custom file extensions with your air app. When you open a file with a registered extension, the OS will open your air app and pass in the full path of the file as a parameter.

1. Add your file extension in your application descriptor xml:
   <fileTypes>
      <fileType>
        <name>InvokeExample</name>
        <extension>meow</extension>
        <contentType>text/xml</contentType>
      </fileType>
    </fileTypes>

   <fileTypes>
      <fileType>
        <name>InvokeExample</name>
        <extension>meow</extension>
        <contentType>text/xml</contentType>
      </fileType>
    </fileTypes>

2. Publish & install your app.
3. Create a test file and double click on it: