“Zero Code” Data Access using LiveCycle Data Services Runtime Configuration
When using the LCDS data management service, developers usually create a custom assembler for each destination, or use the Hibernate assembler if they happen to use Hibernate as their persistence framework. Other developers don’t use the data management service at all because of its perceived complexity.
The Data Management Service provides a set of low level APIs on top of which you can build your own higher level / higher productivity framework. The Hibernate assembler provides an example of a “generic assembler”, but you can also create your own. When used in this fashion, the Data Management Service can provide, by far, the most productive way to build data-driven applications.
To illustrate this point, I have been showing a demo at a few conferences this year, and I finally decided to package it. The demo combines a generic assembler and the runtime configuration feature of LCDS to provide a zero (server-side) code, zero configuration strategy to build data-driven applications. The demo goes like this:
Google Maps Collaboration Using Google’s New ActionScript API, Flex, and BlazeDS
![[image]](http://mowser.com/img?url=http%3A%2F%2Fcoenraets.org%2Fapps%2Fgmaprooms%2Fgmaprooms.gif)
Google recently released the Google Maps API for Flash. I took the opportunity to create a Google version of the MapRooms sample application I posted recently. MapRooms works like Chat Rooms. You can create a room, or join an existing one. In addition to chatting, MapRooms allows you to collaborate on a map: the application leverages the real time capabilities of BlazeDS or LCDS to provide map synchronization between users in the room, and allow you to “whiteboard” on top of a map.
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InSync: Automatic Offline Data Synchronization in AIR using LCDS 2.6
LCDS 2.6 allows you to build AIR applications with automatic offline data synchronization. This feature leverages the SQLite relational database system embedded in the AIR runtime, but the advantage is that the data synchronization process is entirely automatic: you don’t have to write SQL statements or synchronization logic to keep your local database in sync with your central database.
I have been getting a number of questions related to this feature, so I decided to build a sample application that demonstrates how it works.
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“LiveHelp / Call Center” Application Source Code
I recently posted an example of a “Live Help / Call Center†application built with Flex and BlazeDS. A number of you have asked me for the source code. So here it is…
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Live Help / Call Center Application with Flex and BlazeDS
I recently posted a number of examples (Yahoo Maps Collaboration and Collaborative Data Entry) showing how to use the BlazeDS / LCDS Message Service to build collaborative applications. In this post, I’m extending the Collaborative Forms application to provide an example of a more complete and real life “Live Help / Call Center” application.
Collaborative Data Entry with Flex and BlazeDS
![[image]](http://mowser.com/img?url=http%3A%2F%2Fcoenraets.org%2Fcollabforms%2Fcollabforms.jpg)
After Yahoo Maps collaboration, here is another example of enabling collaboration in a Flex application using the publish/subscribe messaging infrastructure of BlazeDS.
This example demonstrates “collaborative forms†(or “collaborative data entryâ€). Users in different locations can fill in forms “together†in a real-time and in-context collaboration session: changes made by one user are automatically reflected in the other users application.
Yahoo Maps Collaboration using Flex and BlazeDS
![[image]](http://mowser.com/img?url=http%3A%2F%2Fcoenraets.org%2Fmaprooms%2Fmaprooms.png)
Two years ago, I wrote a simple Google Maps collaboration example. The Flex application listened to Google Maps events to synchronize maps between different users. It also added nice collaboration features such as videoconferencing and a collaborative whiteboard overlaid on top of the map. In addition to demonstrating the real-time messaging capabilities of Flex, this application also illustrated Flex/Ajax integration using External Interface.
Two recent events prompted me to revisit this sample:
So, I updated the sample to work with the Yahoo Maps ActionScript API and BlazeDS (or LCDS). No need to communicate between Ajax and Flex in this version since the rendering of the map is entirely done within the Flex application.
SQLite Admin for AIR 1.0
![[image]](http://mowser.com/img?url=http%3A%2F%2Fcoenraets.org%2Fblog%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2007%2F10%2Fsqladmin.png)
Here is a new version of my AIR-based SQLite Admin application updated for AIR 1.0. You can use this application to examine the structure of a database, create a new database or open an existing one, execute any type of SQL statement, etc.
An interesting aspect of this version is that the application itself uses a database (sqladmincache.db) to keep track of the databases you opened and the statements you executed. This is useful if you want to quickly re-open a recently accessed database, or re-execute a recently executed statement.
The UI is still simple, but uses some new AIR and Flex 3 features such as the AdvancedDataGrid and Native Windows.
Click here to download the source code.
Salesbuilder for AIR 1.0
Now that Flex 3 and AIR 1.0 are generally available, it’s time to upgrade some of the sample applications I have been building during the beta program. So, here is Salesbuilder for AIR 1.0.
Salesbuilder is a Sales Force Automation application written in Flex and deployed on the AIR runtime. It demonstrates local persistence using the embedded SQLite database, data synchronization, native drag-and-drop, and other features such as direct chart manipulation.
Additional Resources:
New Version of SalesBuilder using LiveCycle Data Services
I have often felt that we needed a more real-life/complex sample application to adequately demonstrate LiveCycle Data Services, and specifically the Data Management Service. So, I wrote a new version of Salesbuilder that uses LCDS to persist data at the server side. “Salesbuilder LCDS” demonstrates advanced LCDS features such as associations, lazy loading, etc.
This application will also be packaged as a sample in the next version of LiveCycle Data Services currently in private beta.
