I've run into some problems trying to handle large text files in AIR (300+ MB in size). I can open a filestream and read the file just fine and even store it into a string variable. the problem occurs when i try to manipulate this data. Im trying to get each line as an element in an array so i can manipulate this data.

Here's what i've tried:
1. read the file into a string variable and perform a split looking for the newline character (\n). this freezes the program

2. i've tried reading the file in one byte at a time and putting each line into an array AS it is being read from the filestream. This not only takes long but eventually freezes.

3. i've tried splitting the final string variable which contains the entire text file into chunks to process it separately.

4. i've even tried putting the file contents into a sqlite database, but this also freezes.


At this point, im not sure what my options are. Is AIR even equipped to manipulate data at this level? I could use a point in the right direction, any help is appreciated.