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About the HTMLLoader class

The HTMLLoader class of Adobe AIR defines the display object that can display HTML content in an AIR application. SWF-based applications can add an HTMLLoader control to an existing window or create an HTML window that automatically contains a HTMLLoader object with HTMLLoader.createRootWindow(). The HTMLLoader object can be accessed through the JavaScript window.htmlLoader property from within the loaded HTML page.

Loading HTML content from a URL​

The following code loads a URL into an HTMLLoader object (add the HTMLLoader as a child of the stage or other display object container to display the HTML content in your application):

import flash.html.HTMLLoader;

var html:HTMLLoader = new HTMLLoader;
html.width = 400;
html.height = 600;
var urlReq:URLRequest = new URLRequest("https://www.adobe.com/");
html.load(urlReq);

An HTMLLoader object's width and height properties are both set to 0 by default. You will want to set these dimensions when adding an HTMLLoader object to the stage. The HTMLLoader dispatches several events as a page loads. You can use these events to determine when it is safe to interact with the loaded page. These events are described in Handling HTML-related events in AIR.

Note: In the Flex framework, only classes that extend the UIComponent class can be added as children of a Flex Container components. For this reason, you cannot directly add an HTMLLoader as a child of a Flex Container component; however you can use the Flex mx:HTML control, you can build a custom class that extends UIComponent and contains an HTMLLoader as a child of the UIComponent, or you can add the HTMLLoader as a child of a UIComponent and add the UIComponent to the Flex container.

You can also render HTML text by using the TextField class, but its capabilities are limited. The Adobe® Flash® Player's TextField class supports a subset of HTML markup, but because of size limitations, its capabilities are limited. (The HTMLLoader class included in Adobe AIR is not available in Flash Player.)

Loading HTML content from a string​

The loadString() method of an HTMLLoader object loads a string of HTML content into the HTMLLoader object:

var html:HTMLLoader = new HTMLLoader();
var htmlStr:String = "<html><body>Hello <b>world</b>.</body></html>";
html.loadString(htmlStr);

By default, content loaded via the loadString() method is placed in a non-application sandbox with the following characteristics:

  • It has access to load content from the network (but not from the file system).

  • It cannot load data using XMLHttpRequest.

  • The window.location property is set to "about:blank".

  • The content cannot access the window.runtime property (like content in any non-application sandbox can).

In AIR 1.5, the HTMLLoader class includes a placeLoadStringContentInApplicationSandbox property. When this property is set to true for an HTMLLoader object, content loaded via the loadString() method is placed in the application sandbox. (The default value is false.) This gives content loaded via the loadString() method access to the window.runtime property and to all AIR APIs. If you set this property to true, ensure that the data source for a string used in a call to the loadString() method is trusted. Code statements in the HTML string are executed with full application privileges when this property is set to true. Only set this property to true when you are certain that the string cannot contain harmful code.

In applications compiled with the AIR 1.0 or AIR 1.1 SDKs, content loaded via the loadString() method is placed in the application sandbox.

Important security rules when using HTML in AIR applications​

The files you install with the AIR application have access to the AIR APIs. For security reasons, content from other sources do not. For example, this restriction prevents content from a remote domain (such as http://example.com) from reading the contents the user's desktop directory (or worse).

Because there are security loopholes that can be exploited through calling the eval() function (and related APIs), content installed with the application, by default, is restricted from using these methods. However, some Ajax frameworks use the calling the eval() function and related APIs.

To properly structure content to work in an AIR application, you must take into account the rules for the security restrictions on content from different sources. Content from different sources is placed in separate security classifications, called sandboxes (see Security sandboxes). By default, content installed with the application is installed in a sandbox known as the application sandbox, and this grants it access to the AIR APIs. The application sandbox is generally the most secure sandbox, with restrictions designed to prevent the execution of untrusted code.

The runtime allows you to load content installed with your application into a sandbox other than the application sandbox. Content in non-application sandboxes operates in a security environment similar to that of a typical web browser. For example, code in non-application sandboxes can use eval() and related methods (but at the same time is not allowed to access the AIR APIs). The runtime includes ways to have content in different sandboxes communicate securely (without exposing AIR APIs to non-application content, for example). For details, see Cross-scripting content in different security sandboxes.

If you call code that is restricted from use in a sandbox for security reasons, the runtime dispatches a JavaScript error: "Adobe AIR runtime security violation for JavaScript code in the application security sandbox."

To avoid this error, follow the coding practices described in the next section, Avoiding security-related JavaScript errors.

For more information, see HTML security in Adobe AIR.