To run a Spoon/Kettle job from the command line (convenient for creating a scheduled task) use the following syntax:
kitchen.bat /rep:”REPOSITORY NAME” /job:”JOB NAME” /dir:/LOCATION /user:USER_NAME /pass:PASSWORD /level:Basic
Replace /job: with /file: to run a job from a file if you’re not using a repository.
If Flex has a sweet spot, dashboards would be it. The technology provides a richness that makes engaging UIs very easy to implement.
For those evaluating possible solutions, I’m showcasing a simple architecture for a data warehouse / dashboard project. This particular architecture encapsulates the extract / transform so those are the only steps (simple SQL=>CSV) that need to be recreated for each environment (client) that has different source systems.
After running some OLAP benchmarks it was obvious that a more scalable OLAP solution was needed.
After some quick searching and downloading, I’ve wired up a scalable Flex OLAP UI.
I downloaded and setup Mondrian from Pentaho for my OLAP server. Mondrian supports XMLA making integration easy.
I found a few Flex projects interfacing to OLAP via XMLA. The most robust appears to be Grebulon by the guys over at Sherlock Informatics
Mondrian setup required a few tweaks, as I’m running Java 6:
Added the following JARs
axis.jar
commons-discovery-0.2.jar (removed commons-logging)
jaxrpc.jar
wsdl4j-1.5.1.jar
xalan.jar
Also set the following parameters in tomcat
-Djavax.xml.soap.MessageFactory=org.apache.axis.soap.MessageFactoryImpl
-Djavax.xml.soap.SOAPConnectionFactory=org.apache.axis.soap.SOAPConnectionFactoryImpl
-Djavax.xml.soap.SOAPFactory=org.apache.axis.soap.SOAPFactoryImpl
-Djavax.xml.transform.TransformerFactory=org.apache.xalan.processor.TransformerFactoryImpl
Using the FoodMart as a reference, the setup was very straight forward.
I had to download the Grebulon source as the .swcs had hardcoded in a few references (PivotGrid) to the FoodMart datasource.
Commercially, I’d check out FlexMonster too 
I ran some benchmarks for the OLAP components in Flex. The OLAP components allow you to perform you’re OLAP operations client side out of the box. You *can* utilize the SDK interfaces and move your processing to the backend, should you have too much data for the browser.
That said, the benchmarks below should help define the line for “too much data.”
Record Structure:
Course:String
School:String
GradeLevel:String
SubjectArea:String
Grade:Number (Our measure)
Records / Processing Time (s)
1,000 / 3 sec
5,000 / 12 sec
10,000 / 22 sec
15,000 / 33 sec
20,000 / 43 sec
The processing times listed above are for the *client* side processing time. The data was loaded from the server before starting the benchmark.
I ran the benchmarks at various rollup depths (multiple hierarchies) which the components actually handled very well, the processing time was not significantly affected.
Extending the dataset to 125K+ records caused errors with the script timeouts occurring.
For datasets above 5-10K records, I’d suggest moving the processing to the server and passing the results to the UI. (assuming you’re looking to leverage the OLAP components as provided)
I’ve been diving into both as I’m looking to land some more iPhone projects. I’m really excited with the breath of fresh air the platform provides.
The big question this year….
WWDC 2010 or MAX 2010
MAX has been great, I’ve met some really great members of the community. For those of us who are Flex veterans, the conference seems a bit light, at least that’s the impression I’ve had the past two years.
Looking over the 2009 sessions of WWDC, I’m impressed, looks like a lot of great sessions.
Cheers
Josh
It’s been a busy year getting a J2EE and Data Warehousing education. I’m wrapping up the ETL portion of a large Data Warehousing project. The next phase of the project is building a Flex front-end for the warehouse. I’m looking forward to using the Spark Architecture in Flex 4 for the UI, we should be able to generate some amazing UIs.
Cheers
Josh
Prerequisites
Install Flex Builder
Install LCDS Data Services
Install WTP in Flex Builder
Here’s a simple project that shows you how to create a simple Hello World for Flex + Java via LCDS. I’ll also show you how to debug the server [java] code as we move along.
File->New->Flex Project
Select the target runtime. You will need to click ‘New’ to create one if none are available.
Create a new target runtime if needed.
Be sure to change your Output URL to match the LCDS [tomcat] config (defaults to 8400)
Run->Debug->Other
Again, make sure the URLs are using the correct port
Project->Properties->Flex Server
Okay, are setup is complete now we’re ready to code.
Here’s the MXML
<mx:Application xmlns:mx="http://www.adobe.com/2006/mxml" layout="absolute">
<mx:Script>
<![CDATA[
import mx.controls.Alert;
import mx.rpc.events.ResultEvent;
import mx.rpc.events.FaultEvent;
private function sayHello():void
{
testService.getOperation('sayHelloTo').send(txtName.text);
}
private function onFault(event:FaultEvent):void
{
trace(event);
}
private function onSayHelloToResult(event:ResultEvent):void
{
Alert.show(event.result as String);
}
]]>
</mx:Script>
<mx:RemoteObject id="testService" fault="onFault(event)" destination="helloDest">
<mx:method name="sayHelloTo" result="onSayHelloToResult(event)"/>
</mx:RemoteObject>
<mx:TextInput id="txtName" x="10" y="10"/>
<mx:Button click="sayHello()" x="178" y="10" label="Go"/>
</mx:Application>
Note the destination=”helloDest” line, we’ll have to configure a LCDS destination with this name in a few steps…
Create a simple java class to test against:
public class HelloWorld {
public String sayHelloTo(String name)
{
return "Hello " + name;
}
}
And finally, we need to setup the destination
To do so, edit \WebContent\WEB-INF\flex\remoting-config.xml, adding the following
<destination id="helloDest">
<properties>
<source>HelloWorld</source>
</properties>
</destination>
That’s it, now we are ready to test.
Set a breakpoint on the on ‘return “Hello ” + name;‘ line in you’re java code.
Launch the server in debug mode
Now, launch the flex app [in debug mode if you want to debug the front end as well].
Type your name in the input box and click ‘Go.’
You’ll see your breakpoint being caught, both server [java] side and client side
A quick walkthrough on installing the Web Tools Platform (WTP) in Flex Builder.
Help->Software Updates->Find and Install
Search for new features to install
Select the [Europa] discovery site
Select ‘Web and JEE development’
You may need to click ‘Select Required’
I’m integrating existing Flex functionality with some new COTS [AJAX RIA] software. Looks like I’m golden on two fronts:
I really need to take some time and check out Wayne’s ZendAMF to see what he’s cooked up there, I’ve been far too busy as of late.
Problem:
When running tomcat your receive the following error when connecting to an ODBC data source
java.sql.SQLException: [Microsoft][ODBC Driver Manager] Data source name not found and no default driver specified
Solution:
There are *two* ODBC managers in 64 bit windows. 64 bit ODBC data sources are separate from 32 bit data sources.
The ODBC manager accessed from the Control Panel contains the *64 bit* ODBC data sources.
Launch C:\windows\syswow64\odbcad32.exe to configure the 32 bit ODBC data sources.
If your running a 64 bit app, you’ll have access to the 64 bit data sources. Likewise, if your running a 32 bit app you’ll have access to the 32 bit data sources.
For Java apps, you’ll need to invoke the app with the correct JVM (32 bit or 64 bit) to have access to the desired data sources (32 bit or 64 bit).
On Vista, the 32 bit JVM(s) can be found (by default) at C:\Program Files (x86)\Java\jre6\bin. The 64 bit JVM is at C:\Program Files\Java\jre6
Catalina.bat (used to start tomcat) looks to see if JRE_HOME is defined so make sure this is pointing to the correct JRE or update catalina.bat accordingly.
I’ve had a crazy past few months. If I’ve been slow to reply to your comments – sorry !!!
I’ll be posting regularly again now
Josh
So I ran into a Flex bug recently documented here .
If your using the framework RSL (Runtime Shared Library) and loading modules, you should read the latter link. I was loading multiple modules and noticed that that they all didn’t necessary load. A little searching and I stumbled upon the open bug in JIRA.
One suggested work around was to load the modules sequentially. This works but doesn’t make for the best user experience. In my case the modules were being loaded dynamically and added to a viewstack. I opted to create a ‘lazy module loader’ component that loads the module on creationComplete().
I filled my viewstack with these components, made sure the viewstacks creation policy was set to ‘auto’ and voila, every things is working great. Of course one could avoid this component and add each module to the viewstack directly – in my use case I don’t want the main app to have to compile in [i.e. bloat] all [any of] the modules when, depending on the users auth they modules may not be used.
If your close to the South Bend, IN area, I’ll be heading up a new Adobe Flex User Group (http://groups.adobe.com/groups/3595576894/summary). Tim Eash, another local Flex developer will also help head up the group. We’ll be updating the group site over the next few weeks.
We’ll be meeting monthly at I.U.S.B. starting in January. Many thanks to Dr. Hakimzadeh, director of Informatics at I.U.S.B. for setting up the facilities.
The groups focus is Flex, Air, ActionScript, and Catalyst development. If you have any topics you’d like to discuss just let me know.
I received the following runtime error in a flex project recently:
Error #1065 Variable package::Component_inlineComponent1 is not defined.
I was refactoring away from some static MXML to a dynamically loaded module. I had commented out the static MXML to test the dynamic module. Everything worked great. When I un-commented the previously working static module the #1065 error was thrown.
Problem:
[Cache causing] Error #1065 Variable is not defined error.
Solution:
Project -> Clean
I spent some time updating on of my *first* RIAs today.
The application allows special needs teachers to create IEPs (Individual Education Plans) for students. The teachers fill out various (20+) forms that compose the students’ IEPs.
During the initial interviews, it was identified that the forms would be revised annually and new forms would be added. Dynamically generated forms were *beyond* the project’s scope, so some easy-to-update forms were needed.
So back today, it’s always fun going back to revisit old code. I got a kick out of looking back at the approach taken on the RIA, hence this post. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend this “architecture” but it did make my job today extremely easy/fast to add some new forms & update some existing forms.
The Architecture
I created a Flex component based on MX:Accordian. This component exposes a function ‘getData’ that when called recursively extracts data the user had entered in the form. This includes any data entered in datagrids, combo boxes, etc. The data is returned as a loosely typed ActionScript object.
The object graph is sent to PHP via AMFPHP and persisted in MySQL via a PHP “ORM” class that can persist (& reconstruct) any PHP object graph. The object graph is not serialized rather, a modified preorder tree traversal algorithm is used. This provides for simple SQL queries, when / if needed.
On the PDF form the form field is simply set to the desired attribute name of the object graph.
So today, to add any form fields, I simply drop on an input (textbox for example), give that input an id and set the text property using databinding. (eg. id=”iep_firstName” text=”{dp.iep_firstName}”).
That’s it.
The new field will be persisted with no other work required The field can be added to the PDF should the field need to be printed.
We have 8 Million+ records to date, and things seem to be scaling well.
I’ve read some really great books the past few months and thought I’d post a review.
I’d highly recommend Ralph Kimball’s The Data Warehouse Toolkit.
I’d normally opt for an architecture book over a [dry] database book without a second thought. Well I was pleasantly surprised to find this great resource.
Kimball gives the reader a GREAT introduction to dimensional data modeling. For those ‘big picture’ developers out there, you owe to yourself to take a look at this work.
I’ll leave the lengthy reviews to those more eloquent writes out there
Two thumbs up.
Just blew half an hour tracking down something I *knew* I’d done before. Thought I’d post here for future ‘lapses.’
To return a typed object from PHP to the flashplayer the process is simple, declare a variable called $_expicitType in your PHP class
e.g.
class SummaryVO
{
var $_explicitType = "com.dl.SummaryVO";
$standards = array();
$levels = array()
}
In your corresponding ActionScript class use the RemoteClass metadata tag
package com.dl
{
[RemoteClass(alias="com.dl.SummaryVO")]
public class SummaryVO
{
public var standards:Array;
public var levels:Array;
}
}
Note the values for $_explicitType and alias are arbitrary, they can be what ever you’d like, as long as their the same in AS and PHP (provided your only conerned with PHP=>AS mapping).
Okay, so what happens when you have ‘complex classes’ you’d like to return? Complex meaning a class who’s members are made up of other ‘custom’ class instances.
Let’s say, for example, that in our later code example ‘standards’ was an array of ‘StandardVO.’ The problem I ran into was that I was getting a typed ‘SummaryVO’ back from AMFPHP, however my class members were not typed, just generic objects. I checked and I had taken the necessary steps to use strongly typed SummaryVO and StandardVO classes, yet the StandardVO was coming back as a plain old Object.
We’ll it turned out in my development flurry I hadn’t used a reference to the ‘StandardVO’ class yet!! Simply declaring an instance of StandardVO did the trick (i.e. var placeHolder:StandardVO). You could also you the includes class [...] compiler option.
Moral of the story, be sure the complier includes a reference to any class you want strongly typed from your RPCs.
Here’s a working architecture for modular applications utilizing PureMVC pipes.
This allows you to have modules that load modules that load modules, etc. The modules communicate to each other via Pipes.
The sample diagram illustrates a parent, child, grandchild relationship (An app that loads a module that loads module). You can of course, have multiple siblings.
I’ve come across two [free] tools I find indispensable when working under the Windows platform.
Task arrange
Task arrange allows you to change up, on the fly, the order of programs listed on the taskbar.
Aqua Dock
I’ve moved all of my desktop icons off my desktop and onto the dock. No need to worry about my icons being shuffled around after hooking up to a digital projector for presentations
I found myself in need of ‘flattening’ an XML tree. Basically, I needed a means of storing XML elements in to database to search for results at a latter time. The following PHP code transforms the XML tree into an associative array with the following schema
$phparray['parent.child'][$i] = $value
Where $i would indicate the sibling number. The *combination* of the latter index and the sibling number conveniently constitute a primary key
Okay here’s the code…
$xml = new SimpleXMLElement('
‘);
$vals = array();
RecurseXML($xml,$vals);
foreach($vals as $key=>$value)
foreach($value as $k=>$v)
print(“{$key}[{$k}] = {$v}
\n”);
function RecurseXML($xml,&$vals,$parent=”")
{
$child_count = 0;
foreach($xml as $key=>$value)
{
$child_count++;
$k = ($parent == “”) ? (string)$key : $parent . “.” . (string)$key;
if(RecurseXML($value,$vals,$k) == 0) // no childern, aka “leaf node”
$vals[$k][] = (string)$value;
}
return $child_count;
}
/* OUTPUT
type[0] = Lunch
time[0] = 12:30
menu.entree[0] = salad
menu.entree[1] = chips
menu.maincourse[0] = steak
*/
?>
