Tasks for ActionScript and MXML in Visual Studio Code

The ActionScript & MXML extension for Visual Studio Code automatically provides a number of tasks to build various types of projects. To see a complete list of tasks that are available for your project, go to the Terminal menu and select Run Task.... You may also manually define tasks in .vscode/tasks.json. See below for some examples.

Table of Contents

• Compile tasks
• Clean task
• Adobe AIR tasks
• Adobe Animate tasks

Compile tasks

The following tasks compile an ActionScript project. For projects targeting Adobe AIR or Flash Player, the task will compile a SWF file only. For Apache Royale projects, the task will compile by generating JavaScript that can be run without a browser plug-in.

ActionScript: compile debug - asconfig.json

For an Adobe AIR or Flash Player project, compiles a SWF file that can communicate with the debugger. For an Apache Royale project, produces unminified JavaScript that is readable to humans, and it can be debugged if source maps were also generated by the compiler.

Use the following notation to manually configure this task in .vscode/tasks.json:

{
	"type": "actionscript",
	"debug": true
}

ActionScript: compile release - asconfig.json

For an Adobe AIR or Flash Player project, compiles a SWF file that can be distributed to end users. For an Apache Royale project, produces fully minified and optimized JavaScript.

Use the following notation to manually configure this task in .vscode/tasks.json:

{
	"type": "actionscript",
	"debug": false
}

Clean task

The following tasks clean the build output of a project.

ActionScript: clean - asconfig.json

Deletes all files in the output folder specified in the compiler options.

Use the following notation to manually configure this task in .vscode/tasks.json:

{
	"type": "actionscript",
	"clean": true
}

Adobe AIR tasks

The following tasks package Adobe AIR applications for a variety of platforms.

Adobe AIR: package desktop debug (shared runtime) - asconfig.json

Produces an .air file where the installed application will be able to communicate with the debugger.

Use the following notation to manually configure this task in .vscode/tasks.json:

{
	"type": "actionscript",
	"debug": true,
	"air": "air"
}

Adobe AIR: package desktop release (shared runtime) - asconfig.json

Produces an .air file suitable for distribution to end users. To run this application, they must have the Adobe AIR shared runtime installed.

Use the following notation to manually configure this task in .vscode/tasks.json:

{
	"type": "actionscript",
	"debug": false,
	"air": "air"
}

Adobe AIR: package macOS release (captive runtime) - asconfig.json

Produces an .app file suitable for distribution to end users on the macOS operating system. The application is fully self-contained, and end users do not need to install Adobe AIR separately.

This task is only available on a computer running macOS. Developers cannot run this task on Windows.

Use the following notation to manually configure this task in .vscode/tasks.json:

{
	"type": "actionscript",
	"debug": false,
	"air": "mac"
}

Adobe AIR: package Windows release (captive runtime) - asconfig.json

Produces an .exe file suitable for distribution to end users on the Windows operating system. The application is fully self-contained, and end users do not need to install Adobe AIR separately.

This task is only available on a computer running Windows. Developers cannot run this task on macOS.

Use the following notation to manually configure this task in .vscode/tasks.json:

{
	"type": "actionscript",
	"debug": false,
	"air": "windows"
}

Adobe AIR: package Android debug - asconfig.json

Produces an .apk file that will be able to communicate with the debugger when the application is running on an Android device.

Use the following notation to manually configure this task in .vscode/tasks.json:

{
	"type": "actionscript",
	"debug": true,
	"air": "android"
}

Adobe AIR: package Android release - asconfig.json

Produces an .apk file suitable for distribution to end users through the Google Play Store or the Amazon Appstore.

Use the following notation to manually configure this task in .vscode/tasks.json:

{
	"type": "actionscript",
	"debug": false,
	"air": "android"
}

Adobe AIR: package iOS debug - asconfig.json

Produces an .ipa file that will be able to communicate with the debugger when the application is running on an iOS device.

Use the following notation to manually configure this task in .vscode/tasks.json:

{
	"type": "actionscript",
	"debug": true,
	"air": "ios"
}

Adobe AIR: package iOS release - asconfig.json

Produces an .ipa file suitable for distribution to end users through the iOS App Store.

Use the following notation to manually configure this task in .vscode/tasks.json:

{
	"type": "actionscript",
	"debug": false,
	"air": "ios"
}

Adobe Animate tasks

The following tasks compile or publish an Adobe Animate project.

Adobe Animate: compile debug - MyApp.fla

For an Adobe Animate project, compiles a SWF file that can communicate with the debugger.

Use the following notation to manually configure this task in .vscode/tasks.json:

{
	"type": "animate",
	"debug": true,
	"publish": false
}

Adobe Animate: compile release - MyApp.fla

For an Adobe Animate project, compiles a SWF file that can be distributed to end users.

Use the following notation to manually configure this task in .vscode/tasks.json:

{
	"type": "animate",
	"debug": false,
	"publish": false
}

Adobe Animate: publish debug - MyApp.fla

For an Adobe Animate project, publishes the FLA file in debug mode. Publish includes not only compiling a SWF file, but also any additional tasks configured in Animate's Publish Settings — such as packaging an Adobe AIR app or generating an HTML wrapper to embed a SWF on the web.

Use the following notation to manually configure this task in .vscode/tasks.json:

{
	"type": "animate",
	"debug": true,
	"publish": true
}

Adobe Animate: publish release - MyApp.fla

For an Adobe Animate project, publishes the FLA file in release mode (to be distributed to end users). Publish includes not only compiling a SWF file, but also any additional tasks configured in Animate's Publish Settings — such as packaging an Adobe AIR app or generating an HTML wrapper to embed a SWF on the web.

Use the following notation to manually configure this task in .vscode/tasks.json:

{
	"type": "animate",
	"debug": false,
	"publish": true
}

Further Reading

• Build an ActionScript project in Visual Studio Code
• Package an Adobe AIR application in Visual Studio Code