Developing iOS Applications with Flex 4.5

Chapter 2. Application Layouts

When creating a Flex Mobile project, you have three choices for your layout. They are Blank Application, View-Based Application, and Tabbed Application—and can be seen in Figure 2-1. The selection you make when choosing a layout will determine which files Flash Builder 4.5 will autogenerate. The view-based and tabbed application types come with built-in navigation frameworks. Let’s explore each of these.

Figure 2-1. Layout options

Blank Application

The blank application layout is best used when you are planning to build your own custom navigation. Choosing this option when creating a new Flex Mobile application within Flash Builder 4.5 will create only the main application file, as shown in the code below:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<s:Application xmlns:fx="http://ns.adobe.com/mxml/2009"
                  xmlns:s="library://ns.adobe.com/flex/spark">
    <fx:Declarations>
          <!-- Place non-visual elements (e.g., services, value objects) here -->
    </fx:Declarations>
</s:Application>

In the code below I have added a simple Label (you can see the results in Figure 2-2):

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<s:Application xmlns:fx="http://ns.adobe.com/mxml/2009"
                  xmlns:s="library://ns.adobe.com/flex/spark">
    <fx:Declarations>
          <!-- Place non-visual elements (e.g., services, value objects) here -->
    </fx:Declarations>
    <s:Label text="Blank" fontSize="36"
                horizontalCenter="0" verticalCenter="0"/> ...