A little look at Plex-XML

Many of you may have had read about the Plex-XML framework from Allabout Gmbh.  There have been mentions online (LinkedIn - Plex group or PlexWiki for example).  The guys were at the conference in 2007 and this caused quite a stir in the Plex community.  Well the technology is still going strong.

I decided that I’d take a look.  This is the great thing about having a role which is focused on R&D and application architecture, you get to play with things, this is of course allowed by my employer www.sasit.co.nz who specialise in mission critical systems hosting and development (Harmless plug) so take a  look at the web page.  The pressure comes when you need to back up your decisions, so interesting times.....

My investigation was a case of downloading the relevant stuff from the guys as well as Eclipse (IDE), MySQL (Database), Java JRE (Runtime), Senchas ExtJS (Javascript control library), Tomcat (Web Server) and some drivers etc.  A full list of requirements and how to put this all together is on the Plex-XML website (Wiki).

So after some great support from the guys at Allabout I did end up with a fully working tutorial application.  

A screenshot from the tutorial.

But that’s cheating though isn’t it.  All the hard work was done for me.  I needed to know what all the heaving lifting requirements are in order to evaluate further.  So I then decided to replicate this for one of my own entities from ‘Plex entity entry’ right through to all the configuration files and framework parameters. 

I chose a very basic entity with a numeric key, short description, date, long description (notes) and a status and “NO!!!!”, I am not going to describe every step here as:-

1.       It’s not the scope of this blog post.

2.       It’s already described in the Plex-XML wiki

So I followed the instructions once more and I made quite a few small mistakes with my naming conventions etc so be careful when doing these.  But, I did manage to get it all working once I knew what to change and create.

My new entity :-)

What I liked was the out of the box stuff.  I never coded the date picker or the x of xxx characters remaining stuff.  It just happened!!! J

As I have already alluded to, the pain for me was the configuration files etc and I am chuffed to bits to hear of another company from Germany who have been promoting their utility to help them with the Plex-XML framework.  Te@mconsult.  Check out this link. These two combined make all the difference and I for one can’t wait until the public beta commences.

So ‘all in all’ this was a great experience.  I strongly recommend that everyone takes a look at many of the 3^rd party patterns that are available for CA Plex.  Sure it’s great to be a developer and cut your own, but some of these frameworks and patterns from some of the major players have been on the go for a few years now and that effort vs price (if applicable) really is a “no brainer”.

Thanks for reading.

Lee.

Beginners Guide to the CA Plex Model API using C# .NET

Firstly thank you to Rob Layzell for inspiring this blog.   If it wasn’t for his lab exercises I would have done this Model API exercise and subsequent blog using CA Plex and component import.  Now, whilst this is probably a cool thing using a code generation tool to interrogate and update the code generation tool repository (I am sure there must be a word in the OO world to describe this. JJJ).  In the back of my mind I was also acutely aware that release 7.0 is entering beta testing and the much anticipated C#.NET (WPF) client will soon be upon us.  So there isn’t a better opportunity for me to sharpen the old grey matter with some learning than this. 

I chose to continue with the C# coding for the simple reason that it would be worthwhile me understanding what .NET developers need to do as I will ultimately be looking to target .NET for my future applications.  And, of course, enable me an opportunity to learn Visual Studio, some pigeon C# and understand the inner workings of this environment.  All worthwhile skills for when the 4GL needs a little investigation, tweaking or debuggingJ.

We have had C# for server code generation since release 6.0.  Release 6.1 brought WCF to strengthen this offering.  With 7.0 we will have the client side resolved too with the promise of XAML and WPF.  The web service import is another tool that simplifies the integration and consumption of web services, so, all in all, good times ahead.

So back to Rob's unintended blog influence.  His tutorials for .NET used numerous examples of Visual Studio and C#.NET.  One in particular that took my fancy was Lab 10 and related to consuming the PlexAPI COM component and creating triples in the local model.  The ModelAPI is described as being useful for pattern designers in the online help in order for them to automate much of the configuration and setup for using their patterns.  I also see it as an opportunity to ensure that another level of automation is included in the tool.

Anyhow, seasoned CA Plex developers know we already have metacode to influence the generated code.  We also have patterns and inheritance to ensure consistent design or as I call it, conformity to the application architecture.  There are still of course plenty of areas with regard to modelling that a developer could easily get wrong when entering the triples.

In my last blog I alluded to a small entity creation tool that I am creating (UPDATE – This has blown into a full blown too now).  This is to ensure that the fields and files that I enter into the application model conform to our standards i.e. naming, inheritance, default field lengths, narrative being entered and labels etc.  As we are a new CA Plex (long time 2E shop) I am still working on these standards and experimenting but I will share the code and a sample model on request (note that this does currently have a degree of hardcoding at the moment but more than enough detail for people to get acquainted).

For those that are interested in taking this further and perhaps helping me improve the utility, just drop me your email in the comments section. J

For me this (ModelAPI) is too quickly overlooked but if you are serious about CA Plex and modelling then these are exactly the type of utilities (Add-Ins) that one should be considering.  These will further improve your team’s productivity as it is pretty quick and easy to tailor for your environment once you get your head around the API and the underlying model structure.  Just take a look at the StellaTools from George.

I recommend any CA Plex developer to take some time to understand what you can achieve with this feature.  This is quite an in depth subject so I feel that this will eventually become a four part series, so, if you are keen....

Part II – ‘Model API and the model repository’ will cover the underlying architecture of the model.

Part III – ‘Key Model API commands’ will go into detail about some of the core commands that you will need to understand in order to develop against the COM API and sow some of the theory covered in part II together.

Part IV – ‘Some DotNet Tips and Tricks’ will show some programming tips and I hope should be enough to inspire a few of you to ‘RTFM’ with regard to the Model API.

All feedback is appreciated.  Until then.

Thanks for reading.
Lee.

RTFM

“RTFM!” (Read the effing manual) - that was the polite version.

That’s what I was told when I first started programming.  Not every time (obviously), but on that odd occasion where the question was a repeatedly asked one (by me) or that time the more senior programmer didn't eat his oats in the morning.

To this day I still hear this from the more seasoned developers around me.  But I must say that this phrase (I believe) is in steep decline.  Could it be said that my generation of developers may be the last to utter this immortal programming phrase.  You see (or should I say hear) more and more “RTFM” is being replaced by “Just Google it.”

Today I was working with CA Plex 6.1’s Model API.  I was trying to automate a common task that I perform in my model and ultimately cut down on some keystrokes, mistakes and most importantly, ensure ‘THAT I’ conform to the standards ‘THAT I’ have decided and (hopefully) along the way help the other developers in the team J.

I was working from some excellent examples from CA regarding the Model API and thought I’d try a small example using C# WinForms and Visual Studio 2008.  All I wanted to do was create a new entity with appropriate naming standards, fields and keys all with correct inheritance from our patterns etc.  So breaking the problem domain down into small manageable chunks (isn’t that now known as an agile sprint), I decided to get the Entity Prefix (I like these), Entity Name and Entity Inheritance easily created.  The rest will come as the AddIn matures and I implement all the ideas and wizardry in the roadmap. 

As I have said I am creating this pioneering utility using the Model API (Version 3.0) in Plex 6.1 and I will deploy the final program as an AddIn. I have also used this as an excuse to brush up a little on Visual Studio and C# as we are going to be heavily reliant on this IDE once Plex 7.0 comes out and we are all doing DotNet stuff galore. 

I will blog a little more in the future about how I did this (It is only basic and I am still learning) but I have to say that the Model API 3.0 is quite powerful, just ask George Jeffcock about his Stella Tools. 

Here is a sneak peek at the current screen. 

As you can see it is about as simple as one can get, but, without much knowledge of C# I quickly became stuck, stranded, frustrated, challenged and peeeeeeed off.    Anyhow, forget asking Jeeves or posting on some technical forum.  For older scholars picking up the manual or downloading that e-book PDF you had been considering is also a waste of time and effort. 

If you want to code nowadays, it appears you just “Google it”. 

I am not sure whether this is like

1.       4GL of C# coding

2.       Cheat sheet

3.       Or simply just good common sense to utilise a million experts rather than one book

.......BUT.......

I got the answers I needed pretty quickly and was able to continue with pilot project in earnest.

I have a great mental roadmap for the utility and only time will tell how it matures.  But for all us elder statesman of the Plex community, I'll borrow terminology from one of Ramon Chen’s key marketing phrases from the early days of Obsydian.

“Stop coding, start Googling.”

Thanks for reading. 

Lee.