September 27, 2007

FlexUnit for Ant now supports Mac OS X

A big thank you to Tom Sugden who has added support for Mac OS X.

For more details on how to use FlexUnit for Ant please see my earlier blog. There is also documentation on the flexunit Ant task parameters at the end of this blog. You can download FlexUnit from Adobe Labs.

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Posted by pmartin at 10:45 PM | Comments (5)

MAXchalking on Client-side Data Modelling in Flex with Data Management Services

At MAX myself an Tom Sugden will be doing a "chalk-and-talk" session. The "chalking" will last for 10-20 minutes. During this time we hope to bang a few heads together to help us answer three questions we have with the design of our client-side model.

We will start by providing you with some context, not much mind you as the clock is ticking. We will quickly move to draw up our design pattern for the managed-model and talk you through the problems it solves.

Posted by pmartin at 10:10 PM | Comments (0)

AC will be lurking in the corridors of MAX

Adobe Consulting will be holding a series of "chalk and talk" sessions at MAX this year. These include:

• Client-side Data Modelling in Flex with Data Management Services with Peter Martin and Tom Sugden
• eForms architectures with Venkata Adidam and Herve Dupriez
• Combining Flex and LiveCycle ES with Danny Saikaly
• LiveCycle Data Services with Brian O'Connor

The idea behind "chalk and talk" is to reflect what goes on in the "war room" of any project, when the developers gather around the whiteboard to discuss their ideas on how the software will be designed. I am sure these sessions will be fun and informal and gives us all the opportunity to put our ideas forward.

Posted by pmartin at 09:00 PM | Comments (0)

September 26, 2007

I am bitterly disappointed with MAX

Today I have been scheduling the sessions I want to see while I am at MAX and I am bitterly disappointed. There is so much good stuff!! It has not been easy to prioritise and I wish we had more time to see more. How about making MAX five days next year? My choices this year are leaning towards AIR, plus a few other things on the side. So here are my top picks for MAX 2007:

• Working with Persistent Data in in Adobe Integrated Runtime (AIR)
• Customizing the Flex Framework
• Flex on Rails
• Advanced LiveCycle Data Services For Developers
• Adobe Integrated Runtime (AIR) Tips and Tricks
• Flex Roadmap
• Boot Camp for Adobe Integrated Runtime (AIR)
• Building Stunning Flex Applications with Flex Builder and Creative Suite 3
• Building Rich Internet Applications Cairngorm and LiveCycle Data Services - so good I am going to it twice
• Adobe Integrated Runtime (AIR) Security

I will be speaking "Building Rich Internet Applications Cairngorm and LiveCycle Data Services". If you are interested in LiveCycle Data Services please make sure you also check out Jeff Vroom's talk on "Advanced LiveCycle Data Services For Developers" - I've seen his presentation and it looks good. Be warned though, Jeff is also presenting at the same time as me on the Wednesday (who did the scheduling?), so make sure you make it to his first session on the Tuesday (9:15am). Jeff is "Mr Data Services" to the point I have named a section in my presentation after him. So if you want hear some "Vroomisms" please make sure come along to both our sessions.

My final recommendation would be Steven's Webster's talk on "Design-Led Innovation: Creating Disruptive Experiences". I would go myself, but why go to Chicago to hear Steven speak when I see and hear him most days in Edinburgh (and I have heard it many times before)? Joking aside, this will be an engaging session and Steven will blend Flex, AIR and LiveCycle to show how you can deliver compelling solutions the Adobe Consulting way.

Posted by pmartin at 11:51 PM | Comments (1)

August 16, 2007

Speaking at MAX 2007 on Cairngorm "Enterprise"

I am going to be at MAX 2007 in Chicago speaking about our ideas and current thinking that is shaping the future release of Cairngorm "Enterprise". The title of my session is "Building Rich Internet Applications with Cairngorm and LiveCycle Data Services. My session is a case study on an Adobe Consulting project that has used Cairngorm "Enterprise". The session will focus on how we have used Data Management Services and take a look inside Cairngorm "Enterprise". I hope to see you there.

Alistair McLeod will be giving the same presentation in Barcelona.

Posted by pmartin at 05:57 PM | Comments (0)

May 04, 2007

SOA Single Point of Entry Anti-Pattern

Contrary to the title of my blog post, my objective here is not to play a game of buzzword bingo or to talk in three-letter acronyms (TLAs) – although we may have some fun along the way and may even invent some new TLAs.

My objective is to introduce you to an architecture we are increasingly coming across and to set out a structured argument as to why I consider this to be an anti-pattern. If you want a definition of an anti-pattern take a look at Wikipedia.

It was during a conversation with Alistair McLeod that he termed this an “SOA Single Point of Entry Anti-Pattern” so the credit or discredit must fall at Ali’s feet :)

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Posted by at 10:18 AM | Comments (5)

February 16, 2007

FDS Plugin V2

I am please to say V2 of my FDS Plugin is now available for download on the Flex Exchange. Thanks to all those who took the time to downloaded the BETA and for reporting the bugs you found. In particular the following bugs have been fixed:

• The plugin will now run with Java 1.4.
• The paths in the project are correct on Mac OS X.
• The 'user_classes' folder is now included in the project classpath.
• If you compile locally the Web Tools Plaform WAR export will now include the Flex generated files (e.g. *.swf) and the Flex source files if selected.

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Posted by at 09:48 AM | Comments (12)

January 17, 2007

Continuous Integration with CruiseControl + FlexUnit + XDoclet2

Last year I blogged about XDoclet2 and FlexUnit and Ant . In this entry I am going to look at setting up CruiseControl for continuous integration. I have setup my CruiseControl server on Linux so I will do my best to make sure these instruction also apply to Windows. I also used Perforce as my source control repository so I have included the extra steps that are required to get CruiseControl working with Perforce. CruiseControl supports many other repositories such as Subversion and CVS. Please refer the the CuriseControl configuration reference for more details.

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Posted by at 07:34 PM | Comments (3)

FlexUnit for Ant Update#4

You can download a new release of FlexUnit for Ant. This version fixes a bug with the toDir property and also removes the need to create a configuration file under the FlashPlayerTrust folder to allow the SWF to run in the local trusted sandbox. The Ant task will now send a policy file to the Flash Player to allow the data to be sent over the socket - should make life a little easier.

For more details on how to use FlexUnit for Ant please see my earlier blog. There is also documentation on the flexunit Ant task parameters at the end of this blog. You can download FlexUnit from Adobe Labs.

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Posted by at 05:11 PM | Comments (3)

January 09, 2007

FDS Plugin 2 (Beta)

A number of people of have been asking me when a new version of my FDS plugin will be released to support Flex 2.0.1, Eclipse 3.2 and the Mac. Now that Flex 2.0.1 is released I am happy to say I have made a beta version of the plugin available. So please install it and let me know what you think. More importantly if you find a bug send me an email, pmartin@adobe.com.

This is a complete re-write and I have done my best to address the issues that I saw in the previous versions. In particular I have removed the dependency on Java 5 and externalized Flex Data Services (you now need to have FDS installed on your your local machine).

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Posted by at 10:48 AM