The document discusses building rich internet applications (RIAs) using Adobe Flex and AIR with a PHP/Zend Framework backend. It describes a project to modernize a legacy DOS-based dealer management system (DMS) by creating an internet-based version that provides data sharing and analytics capabilities. Flex and AIR were chosen for the user interface to provide a desktop-like experience, while PHP/Zend Framework handles the backend functionality. Challenges included a lack of server push capabilities and no hardware support in AIR. These issues were addressed through custom data transfer code and a Java server (Merapi) that could communicate with hardware devices.

1. John Coggeshall
Building RIA
Applications in PHP

2. 2 John CoggeshallPresentation Title
Introductions
• Welcome!
• About me
• CTO of Automotive
Computer Services (ACS)
• Core PHP 5 Dev
• Author, Speaker

3. Agenda
• Building RIA Applications! (Duh)
• Specifically…
• A bit of history of the project
• Building RIA applications using Adobe Flex/AIR with
Zend Framework
• Challenges in creating RIA applications that reflect
client-side applications
• Demos,Technical Discussions, etc.
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4. History
• ACS has a single product
called a DMS (Dealer
Management System)
• Originally Built in DOS-
based Foxpro (1992)
• Migrated toVisual Foxpro
(2004)
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5. History
• Software runs off of
a Samba share on a
slackware server
• Every modifies the
same “local” database
file
• Cross-location
interaction via Remote
Desktop
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6. We’re Doomed!
• Besides the obvious technical limitations of
the system, our product had problems that
hold up our business:
• No data sharing
• No ability to sell to large mega-dealerships that
require data sharing
• No data analytics
• Data… Data… data… data…. problems
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7. Our Solution..
• The solution:An internet-based DMS
• PHP / Zend Framework to the rescue!
• One problem: Our Customers
• Very fickle about technology
• Were largely very happy with DOS applications
• Our solution needs to really feel like a desktop
application, without being one
• We’re still doomed!
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8. We’re Saved!
• Adobe AIR / Flex to the
Rescue!
• With Flex / AIR for the user-
interface and PHP/ZF on the
backend we are able to
accomplish all of our goals
• Flex/AIR provides the user-
experience demanded by our users
• PHP / ZF provide the server-side
magic
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9. Our Development Stack
• Zend Studio for Eclipse
• PHP / ZF development
• Adobe FlexBuilder 3 plugin for Eclipse
• Front-end Development
• VMWare development server
• To host PHP application – whenVMware behaves
• Compile/Run Flex Front-end Locally
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10. Server Setup
• MySQL Database
• Some stored procedures for complex
manipulations
• Multi-Protocol architecture
• Supports RPC calls via “REST-ish” XML services as
well as the Adobe AMF format via the Zend_Amf
component of Zend Framework
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11. Frontend Setup
• Adobe Flex and AIR runtime (duh)
• Fundamentally a PureMVC-based architecture
• (slowly moving away from that)
• A fair amount of custom code for data-transfer
over the AMF protocol
• We can’t use the standard Flex RemoteObject
facilities (only works with something like
BlazeDS)
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12. Code!

13. Not without problems
• Flex and AIR work pretty well with PHP, but
there are a lot of problems
• Lack of Server-push technology available on the
PHP side makes saving data pretty painful
• Have to devise your own saving mechanisms and
keep them consistent
• Lack of Server-push makes collaboration painful
across clients
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14. Hardware == Painful
• As powerful as AIR is a platform, it has a
serious flaw
• NO support for hardware on any level means all of
those bar-code scanners, driver’s license scanners,
custom printers we use suddenly can’t be used
• … Okay, now we’re really doomed.
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15. PHP^H^H^HJava!!
• Of all things, Java comes to the rescue!
• The Merapi project
• http://www.merapiproject.net
• Provides a Java “server” that runs alongside the
AIR application
• AIR can communicate with Merapi through a
socket, serializing objects back and forth and
making RPC calls
• Merapi can communicate with hardware for us
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16. Deployment
• New Problem: Deployment
• AIR has great facilities for this
• ANT-based build system builds AIR packages,
deploys codebase on server(s)
• Future: CruiseControl for CI / Testing
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17. Final Thoughts..
• Flex/AIR is the right tool for our job
• Even though it’s NOT the right tool for our job
(yet)
• Offers a much more compelling user experience
than we could produce with JS/HTML/CSS
• Definitely not the right tool for every job
• Of course, the PHP side just works™ for
the most part
• Questions?
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18. We’re Hiring!
• Thank you!
• Interested in
working on a
project like this?
We’re hiring!
• See our full-page ad
in the conference
program and visit
us at the Job Fair!
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