The AIR SDK is the set of tools used to package and deploy your AIR application. It comes bundled in the tools, so no additional installation is needed. The tools take care of accessing these files without any development on your part.
The AIR SDK consists of the following:
AIR Developer Tool (ADT)
ADT is a multipurpose tool written in Java. It requires Java 1.5 or later, and is used to package the AIR application for Android devices. It creates a different package based on the target defined: apk for distribution, apk-emulator for the emulator, or apk-debug to debug locally or on the device. ADT creates the self-signed digital code certificate used to sign the application with an option to expand the validity period to conform to Android specifications. It installs, uninstalls, and launches the application on the Android device.
The ADT tool is called adt or adt.bat and is located in the bin folder. adt.jar is the executable file called by adt or adt.bat and is located in the lib folder.
AIR Debug Launcher (ADL)
ADL is used to test your AIR application during development without packaging it. It uses the runtime included in the SDK, and prints trace statements and runtime errors. It is also used to start a Flash Debugger (FDB) session.
The ADL tool is called adl or adl.exe and is located in the bin folder.
AIR runtime
The AIR runtime is used to launch and test your application during the development and debugging process, before you install the application on the device. It contains the emulator and device versions for both desktop and Android devices.
The AIR runtime is called Runtime.apk and is located in the runtimes folder.
Frameworks
The Frameworks directory includes all the AIR core libraries.
Adobe recently made available some documentation on using the command-line tool for ADT. We will cover these commands. If you need an explanation or a refresher on using the command-line tool, please refer to “Using the Command-Line Tool”