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Wednesday, March 14, 2012

SOA Development Using Javascript

In the past several months I've been putting some thought into the trends that I see emerging in software development frameworks. Working in the IT industry means that things are always moving and survival requires keeping a close watch on trends.
It looks like application development is quickly moving away from servlets, and towards javascript. After prototyping a pure javascript web application using web services I realized that servlets are an antiquated way of designing applications. This blog entry describes an approach I used that worked well for me.

Overview
Here's a diagram from my slide deck that describes what I aimed to accomplish



Although I used SOAP web services, the design works equally well with REST services. I did find a few frameworks like DWR, but these didn't meet my needs since I work in a corporate environment that prefers to not use open source code. Besides, I already had a rich set of in house web services available that I wanted to leverage.

Creating Javascript Objects from XML
Since most of code I typically work with is in java, I've been spoiled with all kinds of frameworks and annotations that render things like web services really easy to deal with. Working with javascript means that I need to find similar tools to facilitate unpacking XML into javascript objects much like JAX-WS does for java. I decided to roll my own using dojo class framework and the FastCode eclipse code generation plugin.

The idea is to follow what JAXB does for java in a javascript environment, namely that given some XML I want to have something parse it and hand me a collection of javascript objects - and vice versa from objects to XML. I accomplished this using the FastCode plugin.

Generating Javascript Code from Java Beans
I started by coding a dojo class that contained the functions necessary to parse XML to JS and back to XML, then wrapped a FastCode template around it:
<template type="Dojo declare class from java bean">
 <description>Create a dojo class from a java bean.</description>
 <variation></variation>
 <class-pattern></class-pattern>
 <getter-setter>getter-setter</getter-setter>
 <allowed-file-extensions>js</allowed-file-extensions>
 <number-required-classes>1</number-required-classes>
 <allow-multiple-variation>false</allow-multiple-variation>
 <template-body>
  <![CDATA[
   dojo.provide("${full_class_name}");
   dojo.require("com.dsixe._BeanBase"); 
   \n
   dojo.declare("${full_class_name}", com.dsixe._BeanBase, { 
   \n
   #foreach ($field in ${fields})
       _${field.name} : null, /* ${field.type} */
   #end
   \n
        /*
            Copy/paste to save some typing:
            
            new ${full_class_name}({
        #foreach ($field in ${fields})
        \t       ${field.name}: null,
        #end
            });
                        
        */
       constructor : function(args) {
   #foreach ($field in ${fields})
       this.setValue(args, "${field.name}");
   #end
       },
   \n
   /* Useful for creating instance after service call */      
        createFromXML : function(xmlData, elementName) {
          var list = [];
            \n        
          if (elementName == undefined){
              elementName = "${class_name}"; this is probably the wrong element name
          }
          \n
          var _list = dojo.query(elementName, xmlData);
          for (var x=0; x < _list.length; x++){
              var inst = new ${full_class_name}();
              var item = _list[x];
   #foreach ($field in ${fields})
            #if (${field.type.endsWith("[]")})
                \n
                // Child element contains XML
              var o_${field.name} = new QUALIFY_YOUR_PACKAGE_NAME_HERE.${field.type}(); fix this line
              var i_${field.name} = o_${field.name}.createFromXML(xmlData, "${field.name}");
              inst.${field.setter}(i_${field.name});
              \n
            #else                
     inst.${field.setter}(this._getValueXML(item, "${field.name}"));
            #end
   #end
     list.push(inst);
    }
    return list;
      },
   \n    
       /* Useful for updates/inserts on large objects */
            createWire : function(elementName){ 
                var wire = new dojox.wire.ml.XmlElement(elementName);
                
        #foreach ($field in ${fields})
        
            #if (${field.type.endsWith("[]")})
                \n
           // Child element contains XML
           var ${field.name}Wire = [];
           for (var x=0; x < this._${field.name}.length; x++){
              var item = this._${field.name}[x];
              ${field.name}Wire.push(item.createWire("${field.name}"));
           }
           wire.setPropertyValue("${field.name}", ${field.name}Wire);
           \n
            #else                
                wire.setPropertyValue("${field.name}", this._${field.name});
            #end
        #end
                return wire;
            },
        \n    
   #foreach ($field in ${fields})
       ${field.getter} : function (){
           return this._${field.name};
       },
       ${field.setter} : function (arg){
           this._${field.name} = arg;
       },
       \n
   #end
   });
  ]]>
 </template-body>
</template>

The java class that I'm using for this blog:
package com.dsixe.blog;  

 public class ContactBean {  

      private String name;  
      private String phone;  
      
      public String getName() {  
           return name;  
      }  

      public void setName(String name) {  
           this.name = name;  
      }  

      public String getPhone() {  
           return phone;  
      }  

      public void setPhone(String phone) {  
           this.phone = phone;  
      }  
 }  

I invoke the plugin using these steps - select template:

 
Choose class:

Pick java fields:

And voila - a nice dojo class that is very nearly complete:
dojo.provide("com.dsixe.blog.ContactBean");
dojo.require("com.dsixe._BeanBase");

dojo.declare("com.dsixe.blog.ContactBean", com.dsixe._BeanBase, {

    _name : null, /* String */
    _phone : null, /* String */

    /*
    Copy/paste to save some typing:
    new com.dsixe.blog.ContactBean({
       name: null,
       phone: null,
    });
    */
    constructor : function(args) {
        this.setValue(args, "name");
        this.setValue(args, "phone");
    },

    /* Useful for creating instance after service call */
    createFromXML : function(xmlData, elementName) {
        var list = [];

        if (elementName == undefined) {
            elementName = "ContactBean"; // !! this is probably the wrong element name
        }

        var _list = dojo.query(elementName, xmlData);
        for ( var x = 0; x < _list.length; x++) {
            var inst = new com.dsixe.blog.ContactBean();
            var item = _list[x];
            inst.setName(this._getValueXML(item, "name"));
            inst.setPhone(this._getValueXML(item, "phone"));
            list.push(inst);
        }
        return list;
    },

    /* Useful for updates/inserts on large objects */
    createWire : function(elementName) {
        var wire = new dojox.wire.ml.XmlElement(elementName);
        wire.setPropertyValue("name", this._name);
        wire.setPropertyValue("phone", this._phone);
        return wire;
    },

    getName : function() {
        return this._name;
    },
    setName : function(arg) {
        this._name = arg;
    },

    getPhone : function() {
        return this._phone;
    },
    setPhone : function(arg) {
        this._phone = arg;
    }

});

Picking Apart the Generated Dojo Class
Let's take a closer look at the code which is almost ready to use, but requires a few tweaks.
The template adds a comment providing an easy way to copy/paste code for a constructor. This seems trivial when there are only two fields, but it can get tiresome when the class contains a dozen or more.
  /*
    Copy/paste to save some typing:
    new com.dsixe.blog.ContactBean({
       name: null,
       phone: null,
    });
 */
The constructor delegates parsing of the fields to the superclass _BeanBase. This allows invoking with a subset of parameters if needed.
    constructor : function(args) {
        this.setValue(args, "name");
        this.setValue(args, "phone");
    },
Create from XML is pretty obvious, it provides a way to convert XML to a collection of javascript objects. This code needs to be reviewed to ensure that the element names match the values returned by the service.
    createFromXML : function(xmlData, elementName) {
        var list = [];

        if (elementName == undefined) {
            elementName = "ContactBean"; // !! this is probably the wrong element name
        }

        var _list = dojo.query(elementName, xmlData);
        for ( var x = 0; x < _list.length; x++) {
            var inst = new com.dsixe.blog.ContactBean();
            var item = _list[x];
            inst.setName(this._getValueXML(item, "name"));
            inst.setPhone(this._getValueXML(item, "phone"));
            list.push(inst);
        }
        return list;
    },
Create wire will convert a javascript class instance into a dojox.wire.ml.XmlElement object which is needed by the ibm_soap dojo library. If I was using a REST service then I guess I'd have to change this code or add another function to the template.
    createWire : function(elementName) {
        var wire = new dojox.wire.ml.XmlElement(elementName);
        wire.setPropertyValue("name", this._name);
        wire.setPropertyValue("phone", this._phone);
        return wire;
    },
The remainder of the code is standard gettter/setters for the fields. I tried my best to make the code as formal as possible without any kind of javascript magic for a few reasons:
  • javascript can get real messy real fast
  • this code is intended for use by java developers who aren't javascript experts
Could it be better? I'm pretty sure it could, but for its intended use, performance and size aren't really an issue. The best part is that the generated code has no strings attached and can be edited at will.

Using the Generated Code
Now that I don't have to get my hands dirty with the XML, I can write some nice clean code against dojo classes. In a nutshell, here's how I invoked a web service operation using ibm_soap:
    wsdlParser = new ibm_soap.util.WsdlParser();
    wsdlParser.parse("contacts.wsdl");
    
    // Create reference to service and set the URL
    myService = new ibm_soap.rpc.SoapService(wsdlParser.smdObj);
    myService.serviceUrl = "/axis2/services/ContactService.ContactInfoPort/";

    var params = new dojox.wire.ml.XmlElement("getAllContacts");
    var deferred = myService.getAllContacts(params);

    deferred.addCallback(function(xmlData) {
        var cb = new com.dsixe.blog.ContactBean();
        var contacts = cb.createFromXML(xmlData, "contact");
        
        // do something useful with the data
    }
In practice, the code is much shorter if I parse the wsdl into javascript upfront. In addition, the service/url is really only defined once in the application. This leaves me with creating the dojox.wire.ml.XmlElement and invoking the service operation.

Nice!

Attachments:
DsixEBlog_WS.war

References:
Fast Code eclipse plugin http://fast-code.sourceforge.net/

Monday, March 12, 2012

Using the Fast Code Eclipse Plugin

I recently discovered an eclipse plugin that I've been needing since I started coding. On several occasions I started down the path of writing my own but quickly got lost in the world of eclipse and ran out of time. Out of the box, the fast code plugin generates many types of code/xml, but the part that I really like is its support for custom templates.

How to Write Your Own Template
Here are the steps that I used to create my own template which generates a spring RowMapper for a JdbcDaoSupport class.

Start with exporting templates using menu Fast Code | Templates | Export Templates:


Choosing templates-config.xml (or all) creates a new project in my workspace:

Next, I altered the exported templates-config.xml file and added my own custom template:
    <template type="Create Spring Detail Mapper">
        <description></description>
        <variation></variation>
        <class-pattern></class-pattern>
        <getter-setter>getter-setter</getter-setter>
        <allowed-file-extensions>java</allowed-file-extensions>
        <number-required-classes>1</number-required-classes>
        <allow-multiple-variation>false</allow-multiple-variation>
        <template-body>
            <![CDATA[
      private class ${class_name}Mapper implements RowMapper <${class_name}>{
          public ${class_name} mapRow(ResultSet rs, int line) throws SQLException {
              ${class_name} inst = new ${class_name}();

                #foreach ($field in ${fields})
                    #if (${field.type.endsWith("String")})
                        inst.${field.setter}(rs.getString(""));
                    #else                
                        inst.${field.setter}(rs.getInt("")); // type not String, assume int
                    #end
                #end
                    return inst;
          }
      }
              

            ]]>
        </template-body>
    </template>
To test the result I import the template back into fast code using menu Fast Code | Templates | Import Templates, then open up a java class that needs the mapper and execute the template using menu Fast Code | Templates | Create New Snippet. Pick my template, class, fields and presto:
    private class ContactBeanMapper implements RowMapper<ContactBean> {
        public ContactBean mapRow(ResultSet rs, int line) throws SQLException {
            ContactBean inst = new ContactBean();
            inst.setName(rs.getString(""));
            inst.setPhone(rs.getString(""));
            return inst;
        }
    }
This may not seem like a big deal because I only have two fields in class ContactBean. It really pays off when I have a dozen or more fields.
I did find a few quirks with the plugin - it looks like the custom templates need to be reloaded every time eclipse is restarted, and the import/export mechanism seems to make a service call to localhost so make sure that the eclipse network proxy preference is configured correctly.

In short - I can create a new template whenever I want to generate some code or configuration file based on the definition of a java class.  In another blog post, I use it to generate a javascript clone of a java bean.

Thursday, March 8, 2012

Debugging Dojo with Chrome

As a web developer I spend many hours working with javascript libraries like dojo. Unfortunately, in many cases the javascript in these libraries is compressed making it very difficult to trace in a debug session.

Chrome is Your New Best Friend
Google's chrome developer tools has many bells and whistles, some of which I've only discovered in the last week. One feature that I think is worthy of mention is the pretty print button, tucked away at the bottom of the page in the status bar.


Click on the button and dojo.js goes from this:


to this:


Some of the variables are still compressed, but now the code becomes legible and breakpoints can be added with ease.

Yes, it also works with JQuery.