If you like your code clean and with proper doc block comments, Flex Formatter is a handy plugin for Flex Builder 3.  The plugin installs in Eclipse by simply dragging the files into the plugin directory, however with Flex Builder you can install from a remote install site hosted on the google code site.

To install in Flex Builder 3:

  1. Help -> Software Updates -> Find and Install…
  2. Choose “Search for new features to install” and click Next
  3. Click “New Remote Site” button and enter the following in the dialog:
    • Name = Flex Pretty Print Command:
    • URL = http://flexformatter.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/FlexFormatter/FlexPrettyPrintCommandUpdateSite/
  4. Click Finish and complete the process of installing the plugin

After installing and restarting Flex Builder you’ll have five new icons in your toolbar.  These allow you to add doc block and clean up spacing for selected sections or an entire file.

The settings for Flex Formatter are found along with all of the other Eclipse preferences.  You can choose to have files formatted automatically on save, specify locations to exclude and a few other options.

The Auto Format settings allows you to configure the template used when cleaning your code.  This allows you to specify exactly how you like your files formatted.  This is an extremely useful feature for organizations that enforce a certain code style.