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Add the Extension

The simplest way to install and manage your AIR native extensions and libraries is to use the AIR Package Manager (apm). We highly recommend using apm, as it will handle downloading all required dependencies and manage your application descriptor (Android manifest additions, iOS info additions etc).

However you can choose to install it manually, as you would have done in the past.

AIR SDK

This ANE currently requires at least AIR 33+. This is required in order to support versions of Android > 9.0 (API 28). We always recommend using the most recent build with AIR especially for mobile development where the OS changes rapidly.

Install​

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Note: All of the commands below should be run in a terminal / command prompt in the root directory of your application, generally the level above your source directory.

If you don't have an APM project setup, expand the guide below to setup an APM project before installing the extension.

Setup APM

Install APM​

If you haven't installed apm follow the install guide on airsdk.dev.

Setup an APM project​

You will need an APM project for your application.

There are many ways to do this and for more options see the APM documentation. Here we will just initialise a new empty project:

apm init

Check your github token​

We use github to secure our extensions so you must have created a github personal access token and configured apm to use it.

To do this create a token using this guide from github and then set it in your apm config using:

apm config set github_token ghp_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

If you don't do this correctly you may find the install will fail.

Install the extension​

Install the extension by running: 

apm install com.distriqt.NetworkInfo

This will download and install the extension, required assets, and all dependencies.

Once complete apm will have created something like the following file structure: 

.
|____ ane
| |____ com.distriqt.NetworkInfo.ane    # NetworkInfo extension
| |____ [dependencies]
|____ apm_packages                      # cache directory - ignore
|____ project.apm                       # apm project file
  • Add the ane directory to your IDE. See the tutorials located here on adding an extension to your IDE.
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We suggest you use the locations directly in your builds rather than copying the files elsewhere. The reason for this is if you ever go to update the extensions using apm that these updates will be pulled into your build automatically.

Application Descriptor​

Updating your application descriptor will insert the required extensionID's and generate the manifest and info additions for your application.

You update your application descriptor by running:

apm generate app-descriptor src/MyApp-app.xml

Change the path (src/MyApp-app.xml) to point to your application descriptor.

caution

This will modify your application descriptor replacing the manifest additions and info additions with the ones generated from apm.

You should backup your application descriptor before running this command to ensure you don't lose any information.

If you need to insert custom data into these sections see the guides for Android and iOS

First step is always to add the extension to your development environment. To do this use the tutorial located here.

Dependencies​

Many of our extensions use some common libraries, for example, the Android Support libraries.

We have to separate these libraries into separate extensions in order to avoid multiple versions of the libraries being included in your application and causing packaging conflicts. This means that you need to include some additional extensions in your application along with the main extension file.

You will add these extensions as you do with any other extension, and you need to ensure it is packaged with your application.

Core​

The Core ANE is required by this ANE. You must include and package this extension in your application.

The Core ANE doesn't provide any functionality in itself but provides support libraries and frameworks used by our extensions. It also includes some centralised code for some common actions that can cause issues if they are implemented in each individual extension.

You can access this extension here: https://github.com/distriqt/ANE-Core.

Extension IDs​

The following should be added to your extensions node in your application descriptor to identify all the required ANEs in your application:

<extensions>
    <extensionID>com.distriqt.NetworkInfo</extensionID>
    <extensionID>com.distriqt.Core</extensionID>
</extensions>

Android​

Manifest additions​

Depending on the functionality you will be using in your application you may require the following permissions added to your manifest additions in your application descriptor:

<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.ACCESS_WIFI_STATE" />
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.ACCESS_NETWORK_STATE" />
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.READ_PHONE_STATE" />

MultiDex Applications​

If you have a large application and are supporting Android 4.x then you will need to ensure you enable your application to correctly support MultiDex to allow the application to be broken up into smaller dex packages.

This is enabled by default with releases of AIR v25+, except in the Android 4.x case where you need to change the manifest additions for the application tag to match the following and use the MultiDexApplication.

Using AndroidX​

This will require the addition of the androidx.multidex extension which contains the androidx.multidex.MultiDexApplication implementation.

<manifest android:installLocation="auto">
    <!-- PERMISSIONS -->

    <application android:name="androidx.multidex.MultiDexApplication">

        <!-- ACTIVITIES / RECEIVERS / SERVICES -->

    </application>
</manifest>

Checking for Support​

You can use the isSupported flag to determine if this extension is supported on the current platform and device.

This allows you to react to whether the functionality is available on the device and provide an alternative solution if not.

if (NetworkInfo.isSupported)
{
    // Functionality here
}