I reached a wall recently when trying to add external SWF files to my AIR package via Flex for added functionality and it took me a few days to figure it out. Flash CS5 gives you the option straight forward in the Properties panel under AIR settings. FlashBuilder is perceptively not as friendly. My problem was that in Dev, I kept all of my external SWF files in the bin-debug folder where I could easily load a file by calling it’s name as a string in a relative path:
swfLoader.load( “my_external_file.swf” );
But as soon as I did an “export release build” the AIR app could not find that file being that it was not included in the exported AIR package. The files need to be included or removed during the export dialogue process. To view a list of files being included or excluded do the following process:
- Go to “Project” on the top menu.
- Select “Export Release Build”.
- Fill in necessary fields, click “Next”.
- Fill in necessary fields, click “Next”.
- The AIR file contents screen should give you a list of files to include/exclude.
- Click “Finish”.
If your files are not included on the list, then you need to place a copy of the file(s) in the “src” folder of the project (this is where I went wrong). Retry the above steps and you should be golden. Export your AIR app and you will now have access to your external included files on the root of your app.
Cheers.








