After your projects are built into applications (see Building Projects), you can run and debug them in Flex Builder.

Use debugger version of Flash Player

To use the Flex Builder debugging feature, you must run the debugger version of Flash Player. This version is available as a browser plug-in or ActiveX control, or as a stand-alone version. This is the version that is installed with Flex Builder, but it is also available as a download from the Adobe web site.

The installers for the debugger version of Flash Player are located in the flex_builder_install/Player directory.

You can programmatically determine which version of Flash Player you are running by using the Capabilities.isDebugger() method. For more information, see Determining Flash Player version in Flex in Building and Deploying Adobe Flex 3 Applications.

Use launch configurations to run and debug applications

A launch configuration defines the project name, main application file, and the path to the run and debug versions of the application. Flex Builder contains a default Flex application launch configuration that is used to create launch configurations automatically for each of your projects. For more information, see Managing launch configurations.

Customize launch configurations

You can customize the launch configurations that Flex Builder creates automatically for you. For example, you can switch the main application file or modify the path to point to the SWF file rather than the HTML wrapper file so that you can run and debug your applications directly in the stand-alone Flash Player instead of a web browser. You can also create separate launch configurations for each of the application files in your project. For more information, see Creating or editing a launch configuration.

Run and debug applications in a browser or the stand-alone Flash Player

By default, the launch configuration specifies that the run and debug paths point to the HTML wrapper files in the output folder of your project; therefore, your applications are run and debugged in Flash Player running in a web browser. Instead you can run and debug your applications in the stand-alone Flash Player (see Running the application SWF file in the stand-alone Flash Player). You can also override the system default web browser setting and run your applications in any browser you have installed (see Changing the default web browser).

Run debugging tools from the code editor

The Flex Debugging perspective provides all the debugging tools you expect from a robust, full-featured development tool. The debugging tools allow you to:

• Set and manage breakpoints
• Determine how to suspend, resume, and terminate the application
• Step into and over code
• Watch variables
• Evaluate expressions

For more information about the Flex Builder debugging tools, see Debugging your applications.

For more information about code editing, see About code editing in Flex Builder.

Activate the Debugging perspective at a breakpoint

You add breakpoints to executable lines of code in the code editor. When you begin a debugging session, the application runs until the first breakpoint is hit. The Flex Debugging perspective is then activated and you can inspect the state of and manage the application by using the debugging tools. For more information, see Starting a debugging session.

Compare debug and non-debug versions of your Flex application

By default, Flex Builder generates debug versions of your Flex application's SWF file and stores them in your project's bin-debug directory. This application is larger than the non-debug version because it includes additional code and metadata that the debugger uses.

To generate a non-debug version of your Flex application, you can do one of the following:

• Select Project > Export Release Build. This creates a non-debug SWF file or AIR file in the bin-release directory.
• Add -debug=false to the Additional Compiler Arguments field. This generates a non-debug SWF file no matter where you export it to.

For more information about Export Release Build, see Export Release Build.