Durango is a framework that allows developers to build Adobe® AIR™ applications that can be customized by end-users. Durango allows developers, designers and end-users to easily mashup independent components to create new applications or extend existing Durango-enabled applications. These "mashable" components can be visual or non-visual (e.g., web services). Designers and developers can rapidly create prototype applications and then generate Adobe Flex® MXML source projects for further development. End-users can take parts of their favorite applications and bring them together in new ways.
Features
Drag and drop components
Durango takes care of all the hard work so it is easy for a developer to build a reusable component, to make their application a source or consumer of reusable components, and to enable an application to be a receiver of components. Durango offers the following drag-and-drop functionality:
- Enable identification of reusable components in a running application
- Handle drag-and-drop operations
- Clone the components in the target application
- Hook component into running application
Download and Discuss
Download Durango now
Discuss Durango in the Labs forumsConnect components to each other
Durango also assists end-users and developers in making connections between Durango-enabled components. A component can accept inputs and produce outputs. The framework tries to intelligently connect components together (e.g., a component that provides a text output would be automatically connected to another component that expects a text input). At runtime, the end-user or the developer can inspect these connections and reassign them or disconnect them as appropriate.
Publish and reuse web services
Durango also provides a way to publish and reuse web services. A developer could drag and drop any web service which has been encapsulated into a Flex component (even when that component has no UI) from a palette (or web page) into their application and then enter some basic information such as subscriber keys or attributes/parameters into the service’s "inspector" or "properties panel".
Automatic code generation
Designers and developers can rapidly create prototype applications and then generate Flex Builder projects for further refinement in Flex Builder. If the component developer has elected to publish their source code on the internet, that code will be fetched and incorporated into the project. Otherwise, the component will be included in it’s compiled form.
Getting Started
Follow these steps to get started with Durango:
Download and run the Durango installer
This download will install Durango Desktop Integration, providing context menu access to New > Adobe AIR Application, and the Durango Sample Applications. On Windows, icons for the sample applications are installed to your Desktop. On Macintosh, users are invited to drag the sample applications folder to their Dock for easy access. More information for Macintosh users is presented in the installer summary dialog and in the Durango ReadMe file at /Applications/Adobe/Durango/ReadMe.txt.
- Review the Durango sample applications
- Follow the Creating a Desktop Mashup Application Using Durango tutorial
- Follow the Durango Hello World tutorial to create a Durango-enabled application
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Ask questions and share your feedback in the Durango forum
Please note that your submission of comments, ideas, feature requests and techniques on this and other Adobe maintained forums, as well as Adobe's right to use such materials, is governed by the Terms of Use. - Share your Durango apps in the Adobe AIR Marketplace
Community
Below you'll find references and links to help you participate in the Durango community.
Online Forum
Ask questions and discuss ideas with other Durango users in the Labs forums.
Please note that your submission of comments, ideas, feature requests and techniques on this and other Adobe maintained forums, as well as Adobe's right to use such materials, is governed by the Terms of Use.
Developer Center
Learn more about creating Flex and Adobe AIR applications in the Developer Center.
Resources
If you want to learn more about releases on Labs as well as other Adobe technologies, visiting a user group or connecting with an Adobe Community Expert is a great place to start.
Product Details
Documentation
There are a couple tutorials that describe how to create mashups from existing Durango-enabled applications and document the steps necessary to create a Durango-enabled application.
- Read Creating a Desktop Mashup Adobe AIR Application Using Durango
- Read Durango Hello World tutorial to create a Durango-enabled application
FAQ
- What is Durango?
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Durango is a framework that allows developers to build Adobe AIR applications that can be customized by end-users. Durango allows developers, designers and end-users to easily mashup independent components to create new applications or extend existing Durango-enable applications.
Developers need to download the Durango SDK to use the Durango framework. Durango enabled AIR applications are delivered as AIR (.air) files which end users install. These applications incorporate the Durango framework and are Durango enabled.
- What can developers do with Durango?
- Developers can use the Durango APIs when developing components and within applications. Components can be made reusable by implementing a Durango interface and specifying values for some new metadata tags. Applications can use Durango to accept and display dragged components at runtime.
- What can designers do with Durango?
- With a palette of components, designers can create wire-frame mockups of applications, including behavior, in real time.
- What can consumers or end-users do with Durango?
- Consumers or end-users can create interesting, personalized mashups without needing to know any kind of programming. They can also save and share their new applications.
- What platforms are currently supported by Durango?
- Durango applications and components can be used wherever the AIR runtime is supported. On Windows and Macintosh, additional shell desktop integration is available for creation of new Durango applications and working with application fragments.
- What is the goal in putting Durango on Adobe Labs?
- Durango component reuse represents a completely new way to share code and drive viral adoption of new components and services. We are soliciting your feedback on this Labs release to guide us as we continue to develop the features and capabilities of Durango.
- Can I get any technical support?
- The current Durango release is supported through the Durango discussion forum.
- When will Durango be officially released as a supported Adobe product?
- Durango is an experimental technology. Its release as a supported product depends on a number of factors — robust market demand, viable business models and overall product strategy.
- Where do I publish applications I've built using Durango?
- You can use the Adobe AIR Marketplace to publish your applications.
See answers to more frequently asked questions
System Requirements
The current version of Durango will run on Windows and Mac. Durango has identical system requirements to that of Adobe AIR. If you plan to use Flex Builder, the system requirements are identical to the system requirements for Flex Builder.
Security
Durango only allows applications which are already installed on the system to share functionality. Therefore, the user must first have approved the installation of the hosting application and its components through the Adobe AIR install experience. Both the hosting and receiving applications must opt-in to the component exchange. For content that is transferred from the browser to a hosting Durango application, the content is restricted to a traditional browser sandbox (non-app sandbox). Remote components are not provided with access to the desktop or any of the privileged AIR APIs.
Release Notes
This release of Durango is prerelease software and is designed for evaluation purposes only. The software contained within the installer is not final; but, many portions of the technology are fully implemented and ready for you to try and discuss.
See the Durango release notes for more information and known issues
