I sat in on the 360Flex Keynote this morning.  I was absolutely moved by the code jam volunteer coders who put together the Second Harvest Food Bank application.  Also, 360Flex Conferences donated 10 percent of their profits to this non-profit to help provide food to those in need.

As for the remainder of my day, here on the last day of this most excellent conference.

I am attending:

• 10:00 Tony Hillerson & Juan Sanchez’ See the Data, Be the Data
• 1:00 Jun Heider’s Using the Flex Builder 3 Profiler
• 2:30 RJ Owen & Brad Umbaugh’s Diving Deep with Component Lifecycle
• 4:00 Ryan Stewart’s Synchronizaton with Air and LiveCycle DS

Wow, this week has gone fast.  I have had a chance to meet, face to face, a bunch of my twitter friends.  I have had the opportunity to meet several new friends as well, even two who live and work nearby me.  This conference was all about networking when outside of the sessions and I tell you, employment opportunities with Flex abound.  The session content has ranged the entire skill/knowledge set and has been fun, informative, and absolutely interesting.

If you have an opportunity to attend a 360Flex conference then be sure to attend, I have not been dissapointed what so ever.

Another day here at the 360Flex conference and currently sitting in Jeffry Houser’s presentation on How to Build Flex Components.Looks like I am going to be concentrating on components prior to lunch today and then moving into frameworks, databinding and dashboards.

• 8:30 Jeffry Houser’s How to Build Flex Components
• 10:00 Josh Tynjala’s Polishing Components for the Masses
• 1:00 Ben Stucki - How to Build a Framework
• 2:30 Michael Labriola’s Diving in the Data Binding Waters
• 4:00 Tom Gonzalez’ Data Visualization and Dashboards

The really cool think about these tracks today is that the are all in the same conference room as well, that never happens.

I’m actually sitting in the Adobe Keynote at 360Flex being presented by Mark Anders with Adobe. A little late to determine my schedule for today but i wanted to remain flexible and determine what types of information I want to take with me.

10:00 Kevin Fauth’s Ticketmaster Kiosk demo

1:00 Laura Arguello’s Mate Flex Framework presentation

2:30 Ben Clinkinbeard’s Strategies for creating reusable components

4:00 I’m torn, there are two presentations of interest to me today

• Jonathan Branam’s Improve your programming by reading the flex source code
• Jacob Write’s Advanced Actionscript APIs

Edgelink is currently looking for Sr. Level Flex developers for contract to hire opportunities in Portland (Please see below for details). The JAVA requirements are small (20% JAVA/ 80% FLEX). Edgelink is an equal opportunity employer.

To learn more about this opportunity please contact:
Christ Amend
(503) 246-3989
Christi@edgelink.com
The scoop:

A job? An opportunity? A career? Our client is not hung up on the
term you want to use to describe it… After all, that’s just a matter
of semantics, and we’ve got that covered! What our client cares about
is continuing to build a team of dedicated people who are excited
about working for a recognized semantic technology leader. Semantic
technologies are poised to revolutionize the world of information
management and our client is committed to leading the way into this
exciting new space.

Are you interested in being a part of designing, developing,
marketing, and selling next-generation software today? If so, this
could be the place for you. Working for a client is challenging,
rewarding and fun. They value intelligence, flexibility, creativity,
diversity and enthusiasm. They are always on the lookout for
candidates who want to be an integral part of a company where hard
work is acknowledged, rewarded and…Well…Appreciated!

So, if you’re a talented individual who wants to join the ranks of a
fast-paced, dynamic organization and the term “start-up” doesn’t make
you jumpy, drop us a line!

If you are interested in applying to this position, please email a
brief cover letter and resume in Word/.doc format to
christi@edgelink.com.

Requirements:
Environment: FLEX, JAVA, J#, web service API, Flex Component library,
Eclipse RCP

Skills Required (must have):
Java developer
- Bachelors degree required
- 2+ years experience in application server development with Java
- Experience with Java, JSP, XML
- Experience implementing server components including state and
session management
- Object oriented design and development experience is required
- Working knowledge of Web Services, JSON, AMF, Tomcat

Flex Client Developer
• Adobe Flex
• ActionScript 3
• MXML
• OOP
• MVC Experience (Pure MVC or other MVC framework a plus) • XML

Experience with the following is preferred:
• Flash
• Adobe AIR
• HTML/JavaScript/CSS
• Creating custom components for Flex/Flash • AMF, Web Services, or
JSON

• Understand design and implementation of a Flex component
library
used to display Thetus Publisher data in rich and innovative ways in
Flex rich web applications. This includes components for displaying
geospatial data in several different mapping components, time based
data in a custom timeline control, and a layered “paint by numbers”
editing tool similar to a layered image editor.
• Designing and implementing the exception handling mechanism
that
works between the web service API’s and the Flex component library,
including handling of invalid logins and session expiration.
• Technical lead for designing and implementing a web service
API for
easily talking to the Client’s Publisher using any web service
enabled client. This API will be used by the Flex component library
when creating rich Client web applications.
• Designed and implemented an Eclipse RCP based administration
tool
called Timberline used to manage and maintain the Client Publisher.
This included creation of an update site, where patches and optional
downloadable components were made available to customers.

Experience Required (must have): Experience working with similar
types of applications within a young smart team environment with a
preference for small to mid size startup environments.

Plusses (desired skills/experience)
Wrapped Internet Explorer inside of a Net user control to allow IE
to function in edit mode inside of a .Net application Developed an
HTML parser using Java that fixes up HTML and generates XHTML (or
XML) from the HTML data.
Using Java to redesigned and implemented localization and
internationalization support framework Designed and implemented a
source control integration system Managed a small technical team in
the GUI design decisions and development process Designing and
implementing a new C# client Designed and implemented a new mass
email engine Extranet application. Experience writing migration
scripts to convert the old email engine data to the new email engine
data.
Bachelor of Science in Computer Science/ Engineering Strong desire to
learn and understand how to be a great developer to our client and
the Development team

We’ll be looking for the ability to make contributions to the overall
implementation beyond the specific assigned task by using experience
to suggest improvements to design or implementation architecture.
Demonstrated aptitude to rapidly learn new approaches and
technologies. We work on solving problems that aren’t already solved
so creativity and a willingness to work without a complete definition
is essential.

On a current project I had the need to incorporate a button into a Panel title bar which would allow users to launch a new intake form. I also needed to use this panel in four different places. First option was to create a Panel component and absolutely position a button by placing the Panel container within a Canvas container. I really don’t like absolute positioning and before this was considered I had already begun researching extending Panel over on Doug McCune’s Blog. However, related to the problem which I was trying to solve, his really cool example was just a point in the right direction for me. Ultimately, Simeon, reminded me that I had a perfect example available in my Adobe Flex 2 Training from the Source book. So here is how to extend the Panel class and add custom properties to suit your needs, in this case the addition of a button placed in title bar.

package com.douglasReynolds.views.components
{
	import flash.events.Event;
	import mx.containers.Panel;
	import mx.controls.Alert;
	import mx.controls.Button;

	public class NewFormPanel extends Panel
	{
		//declare button var
		private var newFormButton:Button;

		private function doCreateForm(event:Event):void{
			//create an event - just an Alert for testing here
			Alert.show("Button Clicked");
		}
		//override the createChildren method with the properties I need
		protected override function createChildren():void{
			super.createChildren();
			//instantiate new button and assign properties
			newFormButton = new Button();
			newFormButton.label = "New";
			//add event listener for click event and call method
			newFormButton.addEventListener("click", doCreateForm);
			newFormButton.visible = true;
			//add the button to rawChildren
			rawChildren.addChild(newFormButton);
		}
		//update the display and get panel size - dynamic since the form can be resized
		protected override function updateDisplayList(unscaledWidth:Number, unscaledHeight:Number):void{
			super.updateDisplayList(unscaledWidth, unscaledHeight);
			//gap between label and edges of button
			var margin:int = 4;
			//set the button size + margin
			newFormButton.setActualSize(50 + margin, 16 + margin);
			//define vars which determine distance from right and top of Panel
			var pixelsRight:int = 10;
			var pixelsTop:int = 4;
			//define var to width of button
			var buttonWidth:int = newFormButton.width;
			//set x and y properties to be used for positioning of button
			var x:Number = unscaledWidth - buttonWidth - pixelsRight;
			var y:Number = pixelsTop;
			//position the button in the panel
			newFormButton.move(x, y);
		}
		//constructor
		public function NewFormPanel()
		{
			super();
		}

	}
}

Then, all we have to do is use our NewFormPanel in MXML instead of Panel:

<components:NewFormPanel xmlns:mx="http://www.adobe.com/2006/mxml" width="100%" height="100%" xmlns:components="com.douglasReynolds.views.components.*">
     //note the addition of components namespace to NewFormPanel properties
     //all of your normal stuff that you want to put in a panel
</components:NewFormPanel> 

I was contacted today by my friend Shannon Malcom, with Edgelink, about what sounds like an excellent Flex position available in Portland. If this position looks like a good fit then be sure to contact her right away.

To learn more about this opportunity please contact: Shannon Malcom (503) 246-3989 shannon@edgelink.com

Flex Developer - Direct Hire – Portland Oregon

Are you interested in being a part of designing, developing, marketing, and selling next-generation software today? If so, we could be the place for you. Working for us is challenging, rewarding and fun. We value intelligence, flexibility, creativity, diversity and enthusiasm. We are always on the lookout for candidates who want to be an integral part of a company where hard work is acknowledged, rewarded and…well…much appreciated!

So, if you’re a talented individual who wants to join the ranks of a fast-paced, dynamic organization…drop us a line.

Requirements:

• Bachelor of Science in Computer Science/ Engineering
• 1-3 years experience in application server development with Java
• Experience with Java, JSP, XML
• Experience implementing server components including state and session management
• Object oriented design and development experience is required
• Working knowledge of Web Services, JSON, AMF, Tomcat
• Flex Tools Knowledge:
  • Adobe Flex
  • Action Script 3
  • MXML
  • OOP
  • MVC Experience (Pure MVC or other MVC framework a plus)
  • XML

Experience with the following is preferred:

• Flash
• Adobe AIR
• HTML/JavaScript/CSS
• Creating custom components for Flex/Flash
• AMF, Web Services, or JSON
• Using Java to redesign and implement localization and internationalization support framework
• Designed and implemented a source control integration system
• Managed a small technical team in the GUI design decisions and development process
• Designing and implementing a new C# client

In Part I I discussed how we, as developers, are tasked with communication of project requirements. Not only do we need to gather information from our client but we also must ensure that the client has adequately communicated what they think they need. Often times what the client believes what they need is not actually what they really need, or even more often than not, the client doesn’t know how to define their needs at all. I also discussed that through the use of agile techniques, such as user stories, additional work on our part is needed in order to simply train the client in how to create their stories or use cases. For this reason I believe that the best approach is to remain very flexible while minimizing developer time. In order to do this it is necessary to break a project down into sub-components and iteratively develop prototypes which both address visual as well as functional requirements. Flex is an excellent rapid prototyping platform. We can use FlexBuilder to create layouts in very little time. These layout prototypes can be presented to the client in the native environment in which the final application will reside and can be easily modified, saving time on change iterations. Once the layout prototype is developed we don’t necessarily want to have to think about things like how we are going to handle data, after all we are still in design. This, however, doesn’t mean that we can’t develop how we are going to connect to data. We can create an extremely flexible data-ready architecture with Flex and ActionScript using the Cairngorm framework. As mentioned in Part I, the Cairngorm framework provides a layer between the Command (the model calls commands from here) tier and the Service Locater (this is where we call our Remote Services and hook to our data tier). This layer is the Business Delegate and that is what I want to talk about. By leveraging the capabilities of the Business Delegate we can create test data for our applicaton and completely encapsulate the need for changes outside of the delegate once we have completed prototyping and decided on our actual back-end requirements. Actually, when complete, we will know exactly what data requirements and schema will be needed before we begin database design. In effect we will be designing our database as we develop the Business Delegate. This means that we can create a completely functional application, with data, that can be easily modified from prototype to deliverable.
I really recommend a concentrated read on Cairngorm, you may find articles, diagrams,and the docs at the Cairngormdocs site.
I am going to be discussing the Cairngorm event paradigm and Model View Controller (MVC) Framework in the following order:

• The creation of an event which occurs in the View
• The passing of data on the event to the Front Controller
• Calling a Command from the Front Controller
• Writing the Command Class for the event
• Updating the Model from the Command
• Enlisting the Business Delegate from the Command
• Updating the View from the Model

I’ve decided to hold off on the code examples until Part III as I want to break up the large amount of information into smaller, bite-size chucks. In Part III I will begin detailing the list above. I expect that this will end up being around a 10-part series.
<< Previous Next >>

I’ve decided to cease posting my Twitter Digests for now. The posts seem to have a wide readership but tend to dilute the content and purpose of my blog.

Introduction

A common business problem is encountered during prototype development. The problem compounds when your client, whether in-house users or outside customers, does not have allot of experience in defining their requirements. Simply, they just don’t know what they want or don’t know how to explain what they want in such a way as to provide an accurate representation of their needs. I think the majority of users don’t really consider their own needs when using an application and when it comes time to build a new or update an existing application; the individuals either won’t remember or are unable to define what it was that they wish the application to provide. We’ve tried some Agile techniques, such as User Stories but then it becomes necessary to instruct the user’s as to how to write a story about their needs. Regardless of the approach, it is necessary to train the users, to a certain extent, in defining what it is that they want.
One of the best ways in which to coerce the needs out of a user is to use an iterative prototype development methodology which is flexible enough to allow us developers to quickly build functional prototypes that can be changed to meet users newly defined or changing needs in an agile manner. When working with data this can be a complex process as data may not exist, we may not know what the back-end technologies will be, and we might not want to get locked into any particular schema. Still we would like to interpret a user’s needs and develop a prototype which gives the user the ability to ‘play’ with the application and manipulate some data, getting some feedback from the application along the way. In return, most users seem to be able to better define their needs using functional prototypes and can provide better needs information to developers.
So the question arises, ‘How can I develop a functional data-driven application prototype in Flex without needing to know, well, anything about the back-end?’ The answer may be found within the Cairngorm Microarchitecture. As you will see from the diagram, the Business Delegate is found between the Command tier and the Service Locater. As such, every event which passes to Commands from the Front Controller must pass through the Business Delegate prior to requesting the remote service layer. The Business Delegate provides us with a perfect place to place code which will later be replaced with remote service method calls and not have to change anything related to these requests anywhere else in the application.
In Part II I will continue discussion of using the Business Delegate in order to place prototype code which ‘fills in’ for our now non-existent back-end and provide some code examples to illustrate usage.
Part II >>

• Kicking back and watching some HP Goblet of Fire #
• hmmm, interesting http://tinyurl.com/22oqxl mac remote desktop to Windows #
• dang, looks like no worky with intel mac #
• @TuttleTree I was looking at the mactopia RDC beta 2 requirements, @bigmadkev mentioned that beta three was worth a look #
• nice, tweeting from my Win box through RDC from my Mac #
• I used to use RDC from home to office through my VPN but actually had some licensing issues with my ERP at the time - stupid license. #
• I feel one step closer to ridding myself of my Win box. Not really but just feel that way (-; #
• pretty cool personal productivity flex app http://mint.com #
• uhgg!, want to buy music but cant decide #

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