Interesting HTTPService Feature!

Several hours later I have finally discovered why my RESTful HTTPService call via BlazeDS was never returning a response*. Well it turns out that it actually was…

Thanks to the Firebug plug-in for Firefox I could see that the HTTP GET request had nonsense  e4x style xml attributes in its <amfx> content. I discovered that these xml attributes were actually the name-value pairs of the request property from the previous service call. A response, of sorts, was being returned but (unfortunately for me) not even a sniff of a FaultEvent was being generated even though the <amfx> response’s body was null! It turns out that the HTTPService send method helpfully(?) sets the parameters of the service call to the name-value pairs generated from the request property if the parameters object of the send method call is null! No really here it is…

public function send(parameters:Object = null):AsyncToken
{
 if (parameters == null)
   parameters = request;
...
}

I now reset my request object before any GET calls are issued…

this.request = {};

I hope this helps someone to avoid wasting as much time as I did on something so trivial.

*I would like to publicly apologise to the Java Web Service that I was blaming for the non-appearance of a response from the HTTPService call.

Microsoft recommends Flex!

I was speaking with a potential client last week about a project that requires a Rich Internet Application front end backed by Microsoft SharePoint 2007 services. Surprisingly the client had been advised by their Microsoft consultant that the two most suitable RIA technologies to choose from are AJAX and Adobe Flex! The suggestion that a Microsoft consultancy would recommend Flex with no mention of Silverlight seems ludicrous but as we all know sometimes fact is stranger than fiction!

Flex & Volkswagen

The impressive new Volkswagen site is reported as being promoted with some pride by Volkswagen. You can see the ad here where it announces that ‘http://www.volkswagen.co.uk/, built the same way as we build our cars’.

There have been some negative comments regarding the performance from some people, but who buys a car from a website on impulse? It works well for me but I do agree that Flex may not be the best idea for a website, a rich internet application yes but a complete website?

Can you tell your ACE from your ACP?

Hurrah! I passed the Adobe Flex certification exam and can now call myself an Adobe Certified Professional Adobe Flex Developer (AFAIK that is the full title). Now its a small point but during the 5 days & nights (well one or two) studying for the exam I was under the impression that if successful I would be an Adobe Certified Expert (ACE). Imagine my surprise when on downloading the logo, this one…

I discover that I’m not an expert at all but a professional, an Adobe Certified Professional (ACP)! I can’t help feeling a slight tinge of disappoint. However, that and the scary Glasgow close (communal entrance) that the test centre was located up were the only downsides to taking the exam.

The exam was, as has been commented on elsewhere, quite wide ranging. Taking in J2EE & OO concepts, Design Patterns, UML and other stuff that you might not expect in a Flex Developer’s exam, although its all the better for it. Apart from refreshing my memory on a few things the most I got out of it was working with LCDS, the J2EE server app previously known as FDS. I had used Red5 in the past and intend to use BlazeDS soon so rather than just reading the docs and watching the Lynda.com videos, another top tip from the blogosphere, I thought I’d write a few example apps. I would definitely recommend this approach for this section of the exam. Thanks to Duane’s World for tips on how to install LCDS in Mac OS X.

Overall the biggest thanks goes to Jun who has a very handy detailed Flex Exam Specification on offer. This is a very good summary of the ins and outs of the exam. Something that is strangely missing, at least I couldn’t find it, from the official Adobe blurb.

As seems traditional in this type of blog entry I should tell you what my score was … well if I hadn’t done OK then I probably wouldn’t be telling you but 85% isn’t too bad is it?

Leopard ate my wireless…

After upgrading to Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard) my wireless connections started slowly dying on a regular basis. The fix turned out to be an upgrade to Mac OS X 10.5.2. 

It must be true…

As reported on the BBC techology website AIR is on the rise in 2008… http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7147804.stm

My first useful blog?

This is my second attempt at a blog. My first blog was a result of being encouraged to start one shortly after joining Adobe Consulting. In my first and only post I made rash statements about my blogging intentions. Today that single entry blog is still there for all to see. I like to think that it was my Scottish self-consciousness that stopped me from adding to it rather than a lack of (worthwhile) things to say. You might disagree but this time I think I do have something to say on Flex, AIR, Java & other stuff. Having been helped by countless other blogs I thought I would offer my experiences of building RIAs in the hope that it will add something to someone’s understanding somewhere out there.