Flex and Rails Tony Hillerson
Software Architect
with RubyAMF EffectiveUI
RailsConf

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

Sample du Jour: Stuff

Why Flex and Rails?
They Make The
Great Tag Team!

[SKIP INTRO]

What are the Options?

XML

XML is the Default
Option

# POST /contexts
# POST /contexts.xml
def 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
end
end

JSON
Javascript Object Notation

JSON is in Rails Too
format.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.org
http://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

Con guring RubyAMF
module 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\"])
end
end

Con guring RubyAMF
ClassMappings.translate_case = false
public var created_at:Date;
ClassMappings.translate_case = true
public var createdAt:Date; // created_at in rails

Con guring RubyAMF
ClassMappings.assume_types = true
class Context < ActiveRecord::Base
matches
[RemoteClass(alias=\"Context\")]
public class Context {
for free

Con guring RubyAMF
ClassMappings.assume_types = false
class Context < ActiveRecord::Base
matches
[RemoteClass(alias=\"Context\")]
public class Context {
with registration
ClassMappings.register(
:actionscript => 'Context',
:ruby => 'Context',
:type => 'active_record',
:attributes => [\"id\", ...])

Con guring RubyAMF
ParameterMappings.scaffolding = false
def save
becomes
save(context); @context = params[0]
ParameterMappings.scaffolding = true
def save
save(
@context =
becomes
{context:context}
params[:context]
);

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 Work ow

1. Generate and Migrate
$ script/generate rubyamf_scaffold context label:string
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
end
end
$ rake db:migrate

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 Data
work:
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 Context < ActiveRecord::Base
validates_presence_of :label
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

4. Con gure
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:RemoteObject
id=\"tasksService\"
destination=\"rubyamf\"
endpoint=\"http://localhost:3000/rubyamf_gateway/\"
source=\"TasksController\"
showBusyCursor=\"true\"
/>

5. Wire
public 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. Wire
public 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

The Future

Gem
Plugin + Gem
C Extension

Gem
Plugin
C Extension

An Impassioned Plea

Resources:
http://rubyamf.googlecode.com
http://groups.google.com/group/rubyamf
http://github.com/thillerson/rubyamf

Your
Bob
Father
You
Thanks!
Tony Hillerson
http://slideshare.com/thillerson
http://github.com/thillerson
http://thillerson.blogspot.com
http://effectiveui.com
Twitter: thillerson
Brightkite: thillerson
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