Flex and RailsTony HillersonSoftware ArchitectEffectiveUI360|Flex

Code and Slides:http://github.com/thillerson/preso_code/

A Flex on Rails app in three acts:

A Flex on Rails app in three acts:(for realz this time)

Sample du Jour: Stuff

Why Flex and Rails?

They Make The Great Tag Team!

You Already Know‘Why Flex’

So Why Rails?

(I hope)

Rails is Fun

Get Rid of UnsightlyRed Tape! ===>

Rails is for Creating Services

def index @contexts = Context.find(:all)

respond_to do |format| format.html # index.html.erb format.xml { render :xml => @contexts } end end

Rails is for Agile Development

1 class SomeTable < ActiveRecord::Base2 3 belongs_to :parent_table4 has_many :some_other_table, :dependent => :destroy5 6 validates_presence_of :name7 8 end

Rails is Ruby

http://poignantguide.net/ruby/

Ruby is DynamicAnyone remember ActionScript 1.0?

• dynamically extend classes!• __resolve__ == method_missing• method.apply == method.send

Ruby is Expressive

1.upto(10) do print "Hello Flex Nerds!"end do_something_awesome! unless lame? Person.create :name => "Tony", :lame => true

What are the Options?

XML

XML is the Default Option

# POST /contexts# POST /contexts.xmldef create @context = Context.new(params[:context]) respond_to do |format| if @context.save flash[:notice] = 'Context was successfully created.' format.html { redirect_to(@context) } format.xml { render :xml => @context, :status => :created, :location => @context } else format.html { render :action => "new" } format.xml { render :xml => @context.errors, :status => :unprocessable_entity } end endend

JSON

Javascript Object Notation

JSON is in Rails Tooformat.json { render :json => @context.to_json }

http://as3corlib.googlecode.com

var obj:Object = JSON.decode(jsonString)

AMF

Action Message Format

AMF is the Good Stuff

Buck Thinks it’s Great!

RubyAMF

http://rubyamf.orghttp://rubyamf.googlecode.com

Installing RubyAMF$ script/plugin install http://rubyamf.googlecode.com/svn/current/rubyamf

• New File: app/controllers/rubyamf_controller.rb• New File: config/rubyamf_config.rb• config/initializers/mime_types.rb modified: Mime::Type.register "application/x-amf", :amf• config/routes.rb modified: ActionController::Routing::Routes.draw do |map| map.rubyamf_gateway 'rubyamf_gateway', :controller => 'rubyamf', :action => 'gateway' end

Configuring RubyAMFmodule RubyAMF module Configuration ClassMappings.translate_case = true ClassMappings.assume_types = false ParameterMappings.scaffolding = true ClassMappings.register( :actionscript => 'Task', :ruby => 'Task', :type => 'active_record', #:associations => ["context"], :attributes => ["id", "label", "context_id", "completed_at", "created_at", "updated_at"]) endend

Configuring RubyAMFClassMappings.translate_case = false

public var created_at:Date;

ClassMappings.translate_case = true

public var createdAt:Date; // created_at in rails

Configuring RubyAMFClassMappings.assume_types = true

class Context < ActiveRecord::Base

[RemoteClass(alias="Context")]public class Context {

matches

for free

Configuring RubyAMFClassMappings.assume_types = false

class Context < ActiveRecord::Base

[RemoteClass(alias="Context")]public class Context {

matches

ClassMappings.register( :actionscript => 'Context', :ruby => 'Context', :type => 'active_record', :attributes => ["id", ...])

with registration

Configuring RubyAMFParameterMappings.scaffolding = false

save(context);def save @context = params[0]becomes

ParameterMappings.scaffolding = true

save( {context:context});

def save @context = params[:context]becomes

Connecting to Rails via RubyAMF

<mx:RemoteObject id="contextsService" destination="rubyamf" endpoint="http://localhost:3000/rubyamf_gateway/" source="ContextsController" showBusyCursor="true"/>public function save(context:Context):void { var call:AsyncToken =

contextsService.save({context:context}); call.addResponder(responder);}

Development Workflow

1. Generate and Migrate$ script/generate rubyamf_scaffold context label:string

$ rake db:migrate

class CreateContexts < ActiveRecord::Migration def self.up create_table :contexts do |t| t.string :label t.timestamps end end

def self.down drop_table :contexts endend

def load_all @contexts = Context.find :all respond_to do |format| format.amf { render :amf => @contexts } end end def save respond_to do |format| format.amf do if params[:context].save render :amf => params[:context] else render :amf =>

FaultObject.new(params[:context].errors.join("\n")) end end end end

2. Sample Datawork: id: 1 label: Work

home: id: 2 label: Home

anarco_syndicalist_commune_biweekly_meetings: id: 3 label: Anarcho-syndicalist Commune Bi-weekly Meetings

3. Test

class ContextTest < ActiveSupport::TestCase def test_context_without_label_fails non_label_context = Context.new assert !(non_label_context.save) error_messages = non_label_context.errors.on(:label) assert !(error_messages.empty?) end

class Context < ActiveRecord::Base validates_presence_of :label

4. Configure

ClassMappings.register( :actionscript => 'Context', :ruby => 'Context', :type => 'active_record', #:associations => ["tasks"], :attributes => ["id", "label", "created_at", "updated_at"])

5. Wire<mx:RemoteObject id="contextsService" destination="rubyamf" endpoint="http://localhost:3000/rubyamf_gateway/" source="ContextsController" showBusyCursor="true"/>

<mx:RemoteObjectid="tasksService"

destination="rubyamf" endpoint="http://localhost:3000/rubyamf_gateway/" source="TasksController" showBusyCursor="true"/>

5. Wirepublic function loadAll():void { var call:AsyncToken = service.load_all(); call.addResponder(responder);}

public function save(context:Context):void { var call:AsyncToken =

service.save({context:context}); call.addResponder(responder);}

public function destroy(context:Context):void { var call:AsyncToken =

service.destroy({id:context.id}); call.addResponder(responder);}

5. Wirepublic function execute(event:CairngormEvent):void { var evt:SaveContextEvent = event as SaveContextEvent; var delegate:ContextsDelegate = new ContextsDelegate(this); delegate.save(evt.context);}

public function result(data:Object):void { var result:ResultEvent = data as ResultEvent; var context:Context = result.result as Context; ...}

X. Rinse and Repeat

Resources:http://rubyonrails.comhttp://rubyamf.googlecode.comhttp://thillerson.blogspot.comhttp://thillerson.googlecode.com

Phone: 888.310.5327Email: careers@effectiveui.comWeb: www.effectiveui.com

We’re Hiring!

Thank you!

Resources:http://rubyonrails.comhttp://rubyamf.googlecode.comhttp://thillerson.blogspot.comhttp://thillerson.googlecode.com