Developing BlackBerry Tablet Applications with Flex 4.5

Chapter 2. Application Layouts

When creating a Flex Mobile project, you have three choices for your layout: Blank Application, View-Based Application, and Tabbed Application (see Figure 2-1). The selection you make when choosing a layout will determine which files Flash Builder 4.5 will auto-generate. The View-Based Application 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’re planning to build your own custom navigation. Choosing this option when creating a new Flex Mobile application within Flash Builder 4.5 will create a only the main application file, as shown in the following code.

<?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 following code, 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"/> ...