Universal RIA

Twas the Night before Christmas Future

2010-12-22T17:17:00.001-05:00

Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the world,
Not a smartphone was silent, not even a Bold.
The stockings were hung by the chimney with glee,
In hopes that there are filled with Tablets and Apple TV.

The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of iPhones danced in their heads.
Mamma playing with her Google TV, and I with my Roku,
We just settled in for a long night of streaming Hulu.

When out on the Net, arose a battle on Twitter,
I logged into my Android to participate in the chatter.
Away to Facebook I flew like Adobe to Flash,
Tore open my status and threw out a blast.

With my bandwidth on the verge of rising to heaven,
It gave me the lustre of HTML5 running on IE7.
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a Blackberry Playbook running everything, even AIR.

With a new device in hand, so lively and quick,
I logged into Foursquare in just a few clicks.
More rapid than scope creep, my friends appeared online,
And we chatted about the future of mobile design.

"Now Android! now, Apple! now, RIM and Nokia!
On, VIA! On, Roku! on iPad and Revue!
Off “To the Cloud!”, To the top of my Netflix Queue!
We knew the world would be changing, for me and for you.

Always focus on the user and develop engaging apps,
We pondered the verge of a technology collapse.
Where will we be in 6 months, a year or even more?
Will all of my devices be for sale, in a local antique store?

And then, in a twinkling, I spawned an idea,
A vision of tomorrow, so far but so near.
As I saw in my head, and heard in my ear,
Our future is endless, a bold new frontier.

The innovation was changing, for good or for bad,
The consumer of evolution, for all to be had.
From apps to devices, from movies to TV,
The merge is inevitable, for all of us to see.

One device for everything, as the platforms come free,
An Android PC with an iPhone TV ?
Many displays to connect, many outputs to support,
Internet replaces cable as the new media court.

Our smartphones will rule, all power in one device,
Our massive TVs streaming media, naughty and nice.
Cable rendered useless with each passing year,
Our choices get simpler, as we live without fear.

The software is ready, the users will come,
Prepare to innovate for all, not just for one.
A revolution in platforms, as we stand proud and tall,
Our content rendered relevant, to one and to all.

Experience remains focused, on the end user,
The apps will take shape with each function and gesture.
The change is innovation, a gift not a curse,
As your backpack is replaced, with a pocket or purse.

As I look to my kids, both spoiled and loud,
Users of the future, device savvy and proud.
Under the tree lies innovation, that is soon to ignite,
"Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night!"

LC DS 3.0 with Hibernate & Mate....

2010-03-29T22:55:00.001-04:00

A link to my presentation on LCDS 3.0 with Hibernate & Mate...

Capital Flash Camp - April 16 — Washington, DC

2010-03-28T10:33:00.001-04:00

The Capital Flash Camp is a full-day event focusing on the Adobe Flash Platform. Enhance your skills in ActionScript and Flex while learning from local and national industry experts. Flash Camp will provide an introduction to the Flash Platform as well as covering advanced topics for existing Flex and ActionScript developers. In addition to great training, there will also be many giveaways as well as a chance to network with other developers in the community. Reserve your seat now!

Flex Camp Wall Street - Nov (16th & 17th)

2009-10-31T10:31:00.002-04:00

Leveraging LCDS 3.0 with Flex 4.0, Hibernate & Mate

Take a look at what LiveCycle Data Services 3.0 has to offer. This is a deep dive into the LC DS - Data Management Services capabilities with Hibernate. We will walk through the features and core architecture of an LC DS Data Management Services application that utilizes collaboration, paging and Hibernate. The sample application is written with Mate and shows how to use a DataService with the “Presentation Model” pattern. The application will work with the LC DS Samples “out-of-the-box” and will be available for you to look at and download immediately after the session.

http://www.flexcampwallstreet.com/

Flex 4 - LC DS 3.0 - Data Service Manager - Mate – Presentation Model Example

2009-10-25T18:14:00.002-04:00

This example is based on the previous post but instead uses a "DataServiceManager" Class to handle all operations associated with the "DataService" connected to LCDS 3.0. The actual "DataService" is injected through a Mate "EventMap" but the rest of the application is pretty much the same. I like this model a little better because the Presentation Model doesn't have to know anything about how the DataService deals with the server.

Here is a link to download the source:

http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/2044424/mate_dataservicemanager_lcds.zip

Flex 4 - LC DS 3.0 - Hibernate - Mate – Presentation Model Example

2009-10-24T21:21:00.001-04:00

I wrote a simple Flex 4.0 application that shows how to use Mate & the Presentation Model pattern against LC DS 3.0. This sample uses LC DS Data Management Services with the HibernateAssembler. It is built to run against the “hibernate-contact” destination and should run against the LC DS 3.0 Samples WAR without any changes to the server. In this example I drew the logic out of the views in the Hibernate example and injected the DataService into the Presentation Model with Mate using an EventMap. It is all very simple but should be a good example to imagine how far you can take this type of client side architecture and how extensible it really is.

Here is a link to download the source:

http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/2044424/mate_lcds_flex.zip

MAX - Adobe TV - Leveraging JPA with LC DS & BlazeDS

2009-10-24T14:58:00.003-04:00

In case you missed the MAX Session, here is the link to watch the presentation...

http://tv.adobe.com/watch/max-2009-develop/leveraging-jpa-with-blazeds-and-livecycle-data-services/

SpatialKey On-Demand Location Intelligence Software Now Available

2009-09-29T19:34:00.000-04:00

SpatialKey blends business intelligence and mapping, letting decision makers create and share interactive reports in minutes.

WESTFIELD, MA. — September 28, 2009— Today, the SpatialKey (http://spatialkey.com) business unit of Universal Mind (http://universalmind.com) announced the release of its location intelligence software, SpatialKey On-Demand. SpatialKey On-Demand enables decision makers to create and share map-based, interactive analyses and reports. SpatialKey is an easy-to-use, software as a service (SaaS) enterprise solution that is priced for departmental-level budgets. It can be deployed and used in minutes by end users without training or IT support. SpatialKey On-Demand has successfully concluded a beta period, and is available today. Users can sign up for a free 30-day trial at: http://spatialkey.com/signup.

Leveraging JPA with BlazeDS and LiveCycle Data Services

2009-09-29T13:59:00.001-04:00

MAX Presentation:

The Java Persistence API (JPA) was introduced to provide vendor neutral persistence to Plain Old Java Objects (POJOs). In this session, we will introduce JPA and show how the RIA developer can leverage JPA Annotations with LiveCycle Data Services, Spring, and BlazeDS to create a powerful persistence architecture through annotated domain objects.

Speakers: Brian O'Connor, Chris Scott, Ryan Campbell
Wednesday - October 7th @ 3:30pm
Room: 512

Flex Camp in Boston - December 12th, 2008

2008-10-23T10:04:00.003-04:00

In case you missed the last Boston Flex User Group Presentation I gave on Flex/Cairngorm/AIR & LCDS you have another opportunity to see it again at Flex Camp on December 12th. This looks like it will be the one hour version but with some new information as well. The agenda looks packed with great speakers and topics. They have lined up Tim Buntel, Christophe Coenraets, Andrew Powell, Jeff Tapper, and Mike Nimer for different presentations. It should be a very interesting and informative day.

Check out the agenda:

http://www.flexcampboston.com/page.cfm/agenda

Hope to see you there...

Using a DataService in AIR to cache complex Data without LCDS Data Management (Part II)

2008-10-16T14:50:00.011-04:00

Ok, as I said in the previous post, one of the most powerful features of a DataService in AIR is its ability to cache complex data either automatically or by calling DataService.saveCache(). Usually this is done by calling the fill() method on a DataService/Assembler while connected to LCDS and retrieving a Collection of managed Value Objects. In most cases the Value Objects have a nested hierarchy. To save this data for offline use in AIR you can simply set "autoSaveCache" to "true" on the DataService or you can call DataService.saveCache() explicitly.

I personally have a need to know when a fill() operation has finished downloading data to AIR from an Assembler. The ResultEvent associated with the AsyncToken on the fill() call is not a reliable indicator. Hopefully this will change in future versions of Flex/AIR/LCDS.

So, if you have a need to store data for offline use in AIR and can't use LCDS Data Management then simply use Remote Objects. This is how it works....

Create a DataService in AIR like this: (You can also just create this in ActionScript)

mx:DataService id="sampleDataService"

destination="sample"

autoCommit="false"

autoSaveCache="false"

autoConnect="false"

autoMerge="false"

cacheID="sampleId"

autoSyncEnabled="false"

Compile it against data-management-config.xml if you want but it doesn't matter because you will never connect this DataService to LCDS Data Management.

Here is the trick....

A DataService will store data to SQLite if you call DataService.saveCache(). The restriction is that it stores the data to disk but only associated with how you called "fill()". In order to get the data back while offline you simply need to call fill() again the same EXACT way with the same arguments.

When you call fill() on a DataService you will pass the method an ArrayCollection; at the very least. So, call fill() when you are disconnected. This will associate the ArrayCollection to the DataService's fill() call. Then you can make a RemoteObject call that returns an ArrayCollection of complex Value Objects. Add the contents of this RemoteObject Collection to the collection associated with the fill() call on the DataService. Then call DataService.saveCache().

You have successfully associated the data from the remote object call with the DataService and if you close the AIR Application, open it again and call fill() the same way you originally did the data is available for you to use offline.

In summary:
1. Create an ArrayCollection called "dataServiceAC"
2. Call DataService.fill(dataServiceAC);
3. Call RemoteObject.getData() and get an ArrayCollection called remoteAC.
4. Add the contents of remoteAC to dataServiceAC.
5. Call DataService.saveCache();
6. Close the application.

If you need the data again when you re-open the AIR Application simply call fill() again the same EXACT way you did before...

I have this up and working and it seems to be a good solution when you need an indication that your data in available or finished loading.

Warning!!! Caching data to SQLite through a DataService may have performance issues depending on the complexity of the data and the number of rows. I am noticing is gets slow at around 20K rows with simple data and at about 4K rows with complex data or data with a complex nested hierarchy.

BlazeDS vs. LCDS - Channel/Protocol Recommendations

2008-10-16T12:22:00.006-04:00

I have used this information to help make recommendations to clients for different architectural configurations.

Rather than duplicate information here is the official link to this information:

http://livedocs.adobe.com/livecycle/8.2/programLC/programmer/lcds/help.html?content=lcconfig_1.html

Choose the "Channel & Endpoint Recommendations" Link....

Conclusion

The NIO AMF/HTTP endpoints in LCDS 2.6 use the same client-side Channel classes as their servlet-based endpoint counterparts in BlazeDS. They just scale better than the servlet based endpoints. If the web app is not servicing general servlet requests, you can configure the servlet container to bind non-standard HTTP/S ports leaving 80 and 443 free to be used by your LCDS NIO endpoints. Because LCDS is a super-set of BlazeDS, you still have access to the servlet-based endpoints if you want to use them instead.

Reasons to use the servlet-based endpoints could be because you need to include 3rd party servlet filter processing of requests/responses or need to access data structures in the application server's HttpSession.

IMPORTANT: The NIO HTTP endpoints are not part of the servlet pipeline, so while they provide a FlexSession in the same manner that RTMP connections do, these session instances are disjoint from the J2EE HttpSession.

Security

Many people wonder how to secure an RTMP Connection. While there are many options one that I have found works well if to develop an SSO mechanism which keeps HTTP Session in Sync with RTMP Session in LCDS using Context and Session Listeners; using a java.security.Principal in a HashMap as the sync token. I have to give credit to Peter Martin for pioneering this solution. This can be complex but can serve as a way to secure your RTMP connections against the same security constraints that your HTTP Requests must adhere to.

Using a DataService in AIR to automatically cache complex data in SQLite without LCDS Data Management

2008-10-15T18:28:00.003-04:00

One of the most powerful features of a DataService in AIR is its ability to cache complex data either automatically or by calling DataService.saveCache(). The data is persisted to SQLite automatically with this call and typically the data that is cached is the data found in the ArrayCollection returned from the fill() method.

Well, what if you simply wanted to automatically save a complex hierarchy of Value Objects in an ArrayCollection but you didn't want to use LCDS Data Management and build Assemblers for your application. What if you just wanted to use BlazeDS?

Well, you can....

I figured this out because you cannot rely on any event, not even the ResultEvent, from LCDS to tell you that a fill() has finished loading data to your AIR Application...I needed a notification.

I built a solution that does exactly this....details to follow soon...

Using LCDS Data Management with Flex/AIR & Cairngorm

2008-10-15T08:42:00.026-04:00

Last night I gave a presentation on LCDS Data Management and how to use it with Flex, AIR & Cairngorm. I wanted to post the presentation and source code so that you can learn from it. The presentation is self explanatory and the Flex Project easily integrates with the LCDS 2.6 Samples WAR. The Flex Project and Presentation cover the following subjects:

The differences between BlazeDS & LCDS
Channel Options for both technologies
What is Data Management?
How to connect Flex/AIR to LCDS
Default fill() versus Page fill() Assemblers
Performance considerations when writing Assemblers
Offline capabilities and caching with AIR
Tips & Tricks from lessons learned

The sample application is easy to install. Simply follow these steps:

Deploy the LCDS 2.6 Samples WAR to JBOSS and make sure it works. Simply explode the WAR and place it in the “deploy” directory. (You don't have to use JBOSS)
Open the project zip file, import the project into FlexBuilder 3 and change the build directory to a location in the Samples WAR.
Compile the Java Classes into the WEB-INF/classes directory of the Samples WAR.
Point the “-services” compiler directive in the Flex Project at the services-config.xml file in the “config” directory of the project. Also, either integrate the destinations in data-management-config.xml and remoting-config.xml into your WAR config Flex files located in WEB-INF/flex or copy over them. You may have to eliminate a few destinations if you copy over them.
Compile and run…

The project has good examples for calling two types of Assemblers, a Default Fill and Page Fill Assembler. It also shows how to implement a DataService “Manager” rather than a “Command – Delegate” Pattern for dealing with Data Services in Flex/AIR and also custom sorting and filtering across both Assemblers. There is also an example of using a “DataServiceTransaction” to update a destination through a Remote Object and propagate changes to each client.

Note: You will need to wait about 60 seconds before these links become active to download these files....be patient...thanks...

(If the links are broken please email me and I will send you the files directly....)

LCDS Presentation

LCDS Sample Project

Please email me with any questions and let me know if you run into other issues installing the project. I will update the post based on your feedback...

Boston Flex User Group

2008-09-24T09:18:00.005-04:00

My first post....

I am presenting at the Flex User Group on October 14th. This will be an informative talk on how to use LCDS with Flex & Cairngorm. If you want to learn how to handle large data sets and model data services with Cairngorm then come on down....

http://www.bostonfug.org/

Sample Code & Presentation will be posted here after the talk. See you all at MAX 2008 in SF!!!