Installing Cairngorm For a Flex Project

Ok, so we all know that frameworks are good, and there are a few good ones available for Flex. Today I’ll be focusing on installing the Cairngorm micro architecture for use in a Flex project.

Here are the steps I use for the installation

• Download the Cairngorm framework for free from Adobe Labs http://labs.adobe.com/wiki/index.php/Cairngorm:Cairngorm2.2:Download
• Make sure you choose the Cairngorm 2.2 Source option
• Unzip the archived Cairngorm project to a centralized directory (I unizpped into my web root).
• Import the Cairngorm project into your Flex Builder instance.
  • Open Flex Builder
  • Right-click inside the Navigator panel and choose Import from the context menu OR click File and Choose Import from that menu.
  • You should see an Import diolog box with several folders drill into the “General” folder
  • Choose “Existing Projects into Workspace”
  • Use the browse button to navigate to the directory that you unzipped the Cairngorm project into
  • You should see the Cairngorm project listed under “Projects:”
  • Check the box next to Cairngorm
  • Click the Finish button
  • If you are using Flex Builder 3 Beta 2 you will be prompted to choose a Flex SDK version, I chose the “Used default SDK” option
  • You should now see a library project named Cairngorm in the Navigation panel which means you have successfully imported the framework into your Flex builder
• The next step is to add a linking to Cairgorm in your own Flex project
• If you are starting a new Flex project, follow these steps
  • Create a new project (there are several ways to do this, pick your favorite), make sure you don’t choose finish, but instead choose next several times.
  • When you reach the part of the process that reads “Set the build paths for the new Flex Project”
    • Choose the Library Path tab
    • Click the Add SWC button
    • Browe to the bin folder in the Cairngorm project you recently imported (yourpath/Cairngorm/bin/Cairngorm.swc)
    • Choose the Cairngorm.swc file
    • Click ok
  • Finally click Finish.
• If you have an existing project that you would like to link Cairngorm to, follow these steps
  • Find your project in the Navigation Panel
  • Right click your project
  • Choose the properties option from the context menu
  • Choose the Flex Build Path option from the left column
  • Choose the Library path tab from the Properties dialogue
  • Click the Add SWC button
  • Navigate to the Cairngorm project’s bin folder (yourpath/Cairngorm/bin/Cairngorm.swc)
  • Choose the Cairngorm.swc file
  • Choose Ok

That’s it, you should now have Cairngorm “installed” for your Flex project. A few notes, if you set your project up using the “Server Technology” wizard with Flex Builder 3 Beta 2, you may see an internal build error, to fix this, right click your project, choose properties, choose the Flex Compiler option on the left, and change the Flex SDK version to “Use default SDK(Currently….) ” instead of “Use the server’s SDK”.