Actionscript Debugging Working in GEDIT (Sort of...)

In my previous post I described how to write a shell script for Gedit under linux that would compile an actionscript/mxml project. I have come up with a reasonably good method for outputting trace statements to the Gedit console. Here is the script that I use to do it:

#!/bin/sh

EHOME=`echo $HOME | sed "s/#/\#/"`
DIR=$GEDIT_CURRENT_DOCUMENT_DIR
FILE=$GEDIT_CURRENT_DOCUMENT_NAME
EXT='swf'

echo "Compiling: " $GEDIT_CURRENT_DOCUMENT_PATH
echo '--------------------'

SWF=${FILE%as}${EXT}

cd ${DIR%${FILE}} > /dev/stderr

export PATH=/home/experimentalized/developer/sdks/flex_sdk/bin:$PATH
mxmlc -debug=true -static-link-runtime-shared-libraries=true ${FILE}
gnome-open ${SWF}

echo "Waiting for Flash Player to connect"
sleep 4

OUTPUTDIR=/home/experimentalized/.macromedia/Flash_Player/Logs/flashlog.txt

TOTALLINES=`sed -n '$=' ${OUTPUTDIR}`
LINE=1
CURRENT=`sed -n "${LINE}{p;q}" ${OUTPUTDIR}`

while [ "true" ]
do 
 if ps ax | grep -v grep | grep flashplayerdebugger > /dev/null
 then
  TOTALLINES=`sed -n '$=' ${OUTPUTDIR}`
  if [ "$TOTALLINES" -ge "$LINE" ]; then
   CURRENT=`sed -n "${LINE}{p;q}" ${OUTPUTDIR}`
   LINE=$(( $LINE + 1 ))
   echo ${CURRENT}
  fi
 else
  break
 fi
done

exit 0

 The script initially does the same as the one in the previous post, but sets -debug to true. When the flash debug player runs it outputs data to a log file. This file is called flashlog.txt and is stored in ~/.macromedia/Flash_Player/Logs/ by default on linux. The script runs through lines in the trace output and echos them to the console one at a time. When it notices that the flash player is closed, it exits and when it reaches the last available line it stops tracing. It does in fact work (although there is a bit of latency as debugger writes to file -> is read by script isn't instantaneous). It may not be great for things like ENTER_FRAME events, and current mouse position, but it is enough for me. Just install it in the same way as I did in the previous post and set a key-shortcut like control-alt-d for debugging.

I think I'm finally happy with my flash setup on Linux which is great (although code completion isn't there so I may take a look into that). Here are some screenshots:

Compiling Flash from GEDIT

In the previous post I discussed an option for developing flash on Linux, using the free flex sdk, and free software. The main problem I found was that every time I wanted to compile and run a file, I had to type some commands in the terminal. I'm pretty lazy when it comes to programming and I'm sure most of you agree that it helps to get everything working as fast as possible.

To solve the issue I wrote a simple shell script which compiles and runs .as files, just like adobe flash does. This tutorial is for Linux users, if you're using windows I'd suggest using something like flashDevelop, which should do all of this for you anyway, if you're using Mac OS and can run Gedit from the terminal, it is an option but probable isn't ideal.

So first off, if you haven't got it yet install Gedit and follow my previous tutorial  at:

http://experimentalized.blogspot.com/2010/11/developing-flash-on-linux.html.

Once everything is set up head into Gedit and go to Menu > Edit > Preferences > Plugins and enable the "External Tools" plugin. If you don't have it you'll have to install it.

Exit Preferences and go to Menu > Tools > Manage External Tools...

Click the icon with a green +, to create your own 'tool'. The idea is that when you run the tool, a shell script runs mxmlc on your currently open document, and then opens the generated swf in the flash debug player.

In your new tool copy and paste the following

#!/bin/sh

EHOME=`echo $HOME | sed "s/#/\#/"`
DIR=$GEDIT_CURRENT_DOCUMENT_DIR
FILE=$GEDIT_CURRENT_DOCUMENT_NAME
EXT='swf'

echo "Compiling: " $GEDIT_CURRENT_DOCUMENT_PATH
echo '--------------------'

SWF=${FILE%as}${EXT}

cd ${DIR%${FILE}} > /dev/stderr

export PATH=PATH_TO_FLEX_SDK/bin:$PATH
mxmlc ${FILE}
gnome-open ${SWF}

replacing PATH_TO_FLEX_SDK with the complete path to your flex sdk (which you may have set up in the previous tutorial). If you haven't installed gnome-open use sudo apt-get install gnome-open in a terminal window.

You can set up a shortcut key to run the script. Then go back to your project class and run the command! If everything has worked you should see a window with your newly compiled swf running inside it!

There are a few problems with the script currently. Firstly the mxmlc compiler compiles to your src directory (wherever the actionscript file is). Second, there is still no debugging, which is a real shame. Gedit allows stdout to be displayed in the editor, so I am thinking of a way of displaying trace arguments right in Gedit. This would be an ideal solution to free and simple flash editing.

Here are some images showing Gedit compiling flash: