Adobe AIR Launchpad

Good news for Flex and AIR developers!

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Adobe Air Launcpad [Source: Adobe

“Adobe AIR Launchpad is a desktop tool that helps Flex developers get started building desktop applications deployed on Adobe AIR. It generates a basic Flex project that can be used to jumpstart AIR application development in Flash Builder.” [Source: Adobe Labs]

Developed by the Adobe Evangelism Team, it is intended to simplify and shorten the creation of AIR applications by generating a Flex Project, including its Flex and ActionScript code. This is done by simply selecting the features you want to implement on you AIR application. Launchpad offers a vast range of settings, from configurations such as http monitoring capabilities, global error handler, idle time detection, etc…, to code options like drag/drop, using sockets, native process, and more. Even with all these features, Adobe makes it clear that AIR Launchpad’s use is limited to, as its name suggests, launching applications. Developers still need to code the functions of the application, using the generated code as a foundation.

The Adobe AIR Launchpad works only with Adobe Flex 4.1 and Adobe AIR 2. Download your Launchpad now at http://labs.adobe.com/downloads/airlaunchpad.html

Flash, Flex, AIR and Livecycle to Leverage Adobe’s Day Acquisition

In an official press release by Adobe Systems Incorporated, the IT Company has announced their plans of acquiring Day Software, a Swiss-owned company focused on delivering Web 2.0 enterprise solutions. Both parties have entered into a definitive agreement in anticipation of the transaction, expected to be finalized by December of this year.

The acquisition, amounting to approximately US$240 million, is a strategic move that will benefit both Adobe and Day. For Adobe, introducing Day’s Web Content Management, Digital Asset Management, and Social Collaboration applications into their product line will especially improve their Digital Enterprise Solutions Business Unit. These applications give Adobe the opportunity “to help organizations transform themselves by enabling them to create, manage, distribute and monetize content while optimizing the web experience for their customers”. On the other hand, Day Software can leverage their applications with the richness and dynamism that Adobe RIA technologies (Flash, Flex, Air) offer, PDF-based solutions, and LiveCycle’s enterprise integration capabilities.

With this acquisition, it is evident that Adobe has its eyes set on capturing a larger market in the IT industry; expanding their efforts from a more creative and media focused market to enterprise and mobile.

Resources:

http://labs.adobe.com/downloads/airlaunchpad.html

http://www.adobe.com/aboutadobe/pressroom/pressreleases/201007/072810AdobetoAcquireDaySoftware.html

Philly has gone Flex!

Philadelphia state has launched a preview version of their newest IT project, Commonsapce.us, an Adobe Flex-based geographical information system (GIS) aimed to promote local business and to aid in economic planning and development. Funded by the William Penn Foundation and developed by Azavea through collaborations with NPower Pennsylvania and Sustainable Business Network of Greater Philadelphia, the web application uses Google Map as the base of the application, GraphServer Framework to correlate routs and travel time, and of course Adobe Flex to build the various GIS functionalities.

Commonspace.us let users select their current location, choose their preferred method of transportation and travel time, and with this information, the application plots a transparent polygon over the transit area it covers. Users can then search for destinations located in that area according to type of business which is then marked by a pin on the map. These searches can be done from different sources such as Philadelphia Live Arts Festival, Philly Fun Guide, and other local organizations that support the project and its cause.

Another feature of Commonspace.us calculates not only the distance of point A to point B, but also the amount of time it takes for the user to get there, whether by walking, biking, or riding public transit. This way, the best possible route is suggested to the user. The application can calculate up to 6 areas and routes, which is very useful for a group of people who are planning to meet up.

Even just on its preview version, CommonSpace.us has already sparked interest among city planners, and state governments have also expressed their intent of creating a similar application for their own cities.

Over the years that Key2Flex has been developing with Adobe Flex, our experience has taught us the importance of having a complete set of Library Projects. For our developers, libraries cut the development time in half and contribute to the improvement of an application’s speed. For our clients, libraries mean having a scalable and flexible base application that could evolve as their company grows. From a non-technical user perspective, it may be difficult to understand their importance since libraries are not what they see directly on their computer screen. What users see are applications.

An application is a complete, cohesive set of modules that are developed to interact with each other. Modules are built by integrating different components which are managed through their libraries, and then defining the business rules behind them in order to accomplish tasks. And finally, a library is a collection of files that gathers all functions and behavior of Flex components.

To illustrate:

Building Blocks of Apps

Following the illustration above, we understand that applications are fundamentally libraries. A single library generates one SWC file which is an SWF that contains ActionScript codes for components, resources, and a manifest file describing the contents of the SWF. At Key2Flex, we have created a separate library for each full component such as grids, graphs, desktop, dashboard etc. By doing so, we are able to avoid hard coding for each and every application we develop. Libraries give developers the ability to reuse the same codes for different applications, while managers are able to save time and resources.

Puzzle Pieces

Modules are created by defining business rules to be applied to the component libraries. As these rules are specific to every client, it cannot be included in the libraries. Of course, the amount of time and work needed to implement these business rules depend on the extensiveness of the client’s requirements. Modules function independently from each other. And because most applications are used to cover the entire workflow of a person/department/company, modules have to be pieced together to form a stable and cohesive application.

The Big Picture

Obviously, the final application encapsulates all the elements that have been developed: libraries, components, modules, and business rules. It is easily identifiable by the user, because it is simply what’s on his laptop or computer screen. For Key2Flex developed applications, we feel that our clients benefit from our use of libraries because we have designed it in a way that would allow quicker integration to other IT solutions they have and future developments they may require.

It’s a Google-filled week of August as the IT giant faces changes left and right with acquisitions and a closure. First of, Google will be pulling the plug on Google Wave, an online communication tool that offers real-time collaboration between users. On a blog post by Urs Holzle, Google’s Senior VP, the company explained that this decision is due to low user adaptation. However, while they will be ending support by the end of the year, they will be extending Wave functionalities to other Google services. They will also open “central parts of the code, as well as the protocols that have driven many of Wave’s innovations, like drag-and-drop and character-by-character live typing, are already available as open source, so customers and partners can continue the innovation we began” [Source: Google Official Blog]. As with all things, the good always comes with the bad. In Google’s case, they seem to have a knack for attracting the good with two new acquisitions at hand. They have just recently closed the deal with Instantiations, creator of Google Web Toolkit designer and Java/Ajax development tools, and Slide, a development company creating widgets commonly used for social media websites.

On the other hand Google Maps could be facing tough competition as Microsoft ups the game by revamping Bing Maps UI using Silverlight technology. The new and improved Bing Maps uses a “combination of both raster tiles and vector graphics rendered in the browser at run time” [Source: Bing Official Blog] and boasts of many visual improvements such as use of cooler colors, desaturation on zooms, lower cognitive load, etc. And while it may not be totally practical on our side of the world, another cool Bing Maps feature calculates your cab fare with its Taxi Fare Calculator App.

On mobile news, Research in Motion Ltd. (RIM) unveiled the new BlackBerry Torch. Described by AT&T as The Best BlackBerry Ever, RIM believes that Torch has the capacity to compete head to head with iPhone and Android as the smartphone has generated a lot of excitement from BlackBerry fans. The Torch features a touch-querty experience slide phone with its signature keyboard, universal search, auto-wrap text zoom features, and is the first to ship with OS6 and BlackBerry’s new browser.

Resources:

http://googleblog.blogspot.com/

http://www.techcrunch.com

http://www.bing.com/community/blogs/maps/archive/2010/08/03/bing-s-bringing-sexy-maps.aspx

http://blogs.blackberry.com/2010/08/blackberry-torch/

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rial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;” href=”http://www.key2flex.com/” target=”_blank”>www.key2flex.com/ Contact: contact@key2flex.com

Key2Flex, a RIA/REA Developer, is the FIRST and ONLY Adobe Solution Partner of the Philippines.

Rich Internet Application, a.k.a. RIA, is a type of Web application that can run independently of browsers, can run on any operating system and, in many ways, works like a traditional desktop application. It is not new, and the buzz has started in 2002. But with a rising competition to offer friendly, fast, and powerful application to their users, RIAs are leading strong evolutions in the business world. Big announcements were made from Morgan Stanley Matrix to SAP or from IBM to FedEx, and this showcases that enterprise-level RIAs are making momentum throughout the economy spectrum.

“The RIA Revolution” featuring Adobe, Microsoft, Mozilla, and Apache

Recognizing the inclination of web evolution to Rich Internet Applications, Mozilla and Apache are following suit to what Adobe and Microsoft has started.

The Veterans:

Adobe

Armed with Flex and AIR, programmers have developed the most number of applications already available on the web with these two Adobe platforms. Not only is Adobe leading by number, Flex and AIR enthusiasts may also argue that the most complex of RIAs are also built with these two platforms. Case in point, Adobe Flex is used to develop complex financial applications which require real-time data feeds and utmost security such as Morgan Stanley’s Matrix. Other big companies that use Flex/AIR for their enterprise applications are JP Morgan, Moody’s, Bloomberg, Bank of America, Time, HBO, ESPN, Volkswagen, and more.

Microsoft

Despite being released later than Adobe Flex, Silverlight has already created a massive following just by the fact that it is created by Microsoft. But not to undermine the software itself, MS buffs have reason to support their brand due to some technical features incorporated in the RIA platform. Smashing Magazine actually identified Silverlight as a better choice when it comes to animation, scripting, video/audio, SEO, and media streaming. [Reference: http://www.smashingmagazine.com...flash-vs-silverlight/] However, what hinders many developers from using Silverlight is that it requires web users to install a Silverlight plug-in for the application to actually run. Compared to Adobe’s Flash player requirement, which has already been installed in almost all machines, this might be a difficult feat for Microsoft to overcome.

The Neophytes:

Mozilla

Mozilla prides itself as an open source software project that can rival the quality of proprietary softwares out in the market. And with a goal of “making the internet better for everyone”, Mozilla is now offering developers their recently released RIA platform, Prism. More similar to Adobe AIR than Flex and Silverlight, Prism intends to remove the divide between web apps and desktop apps by giving users the ability to create a desktop application out of their chosen website. This enables users to actually launch their emails, search engines, blogs, etc. without a browser. As some developers have concluded, Prism’s most significant feature is that it runs on a separate instance.

Apache

Also an open source software provider, Pivot is Apache’s entry ticket into the RIA world. With features similar to Adobe Flex and Silverlight, Pivot is actually leveraging on their choice of development language, Java and XML, which they feel would benefit programmers in terms of learning curve. According to Greg Brown, chair of Apache Pivot’s project management committee, “…we’re seeing tools like [Adobe] Flex and [Microsoft] Silverlight beginning to gain traction; however, both of these require developers who are otherwise happy using Java to switch technologies. Pivot is an attempt to create a modern, rich client development platform in Java.”

The Verdict: Being a Flex Development Studio, we at Key2Flex have an obvious inclination to Adobe Flex. We do believe that Adobe’s track record and dedication to creative and functional software gives them an advantage in the RIA field. However, judging from a different point of view, it is clear that Silverlight is at equal playing fields with Flex and that decision between the two should be made based on the purpose of the application you are planning to build. In the case of the neophytes, Mozilla and Apache clearly have a lot of work to do in terms of software improvement and promotion. In particular, Prism has to emphasize their platform’s usefulness and range while Pivot needs to generate more interest in the market. Even then, while open source could have saved companies a lot of resources, RIA experts speculate that their market entry timing could be detrimental to both companies as most of the major companies have already invested a lot in Flex and Silverlight.

www.key2flex.com/ Contact: contact@key2flex.com

Key2Flex, a RIA/REA Developer, is the FIRST and ONLY Adobe Solution Partner of the Philippines.

rial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;”>Key2Flex, an Adobe Flex Solution Partner, has released today its second “Flex Know-How” video session on youtube and here, of course. Focused on Rich Enterprise Applications (REA) desktop ergonomics and benefits, the video illustrates the advantages of Adobe Flex technology and the expert know-how of the developers of Key2Flex.

In about 2 minutes, Key2Flex strikingly highlights the in-house know-how of its developers in order to achieve productive and optimized Flex developments.

Following the first video which showcased the user experience revolution led by Adobe Flex in the RIAs (Rich Internet Applications,) this session allows Key2Flex to make a point regarding the highly interactive, expressive, dramatically enhanced user interface of a Flex-developed desktop. All in a browser, the user can benefit from a self-personalized desktop environment, as well as multi-window, and transversal tools such as quick search and advanced search.

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Another month, another roundup! So what has gotten the tech world abuzz lately?

Some news on cloud computing, Amazon has recently launched Cluster Compute Instances for their Web Services’ Elastic Cloud Compute (EC2). Specifically created for applications that require handling of large data and workloads, Cluster Compute Instances provides clients with “Quadruple Extra Large 23 GB memory, 33.5 EC2 Compute Units, 1690 GB of local instance storage, 64-bit platform, 10 Gigabit Ethernet”¹. Simply put, that equates 10 times the network throughput of their largest instance before Cluster Compute was launched!

While not all of us can experience the benefits of Cluster Compute, most of us will experience the newest version of Mozilla’s Firefox considering it has been adopted by almost 30% (Source: Mozilla) of the world-wide market. With the release of the first public beta version of Firefox 4, users can immediately see that big changes have been made for this release. For one, Mozilla has decided to veer away from the familiar Explorer type of UI to a more Chrome-like design for ergonomic purposes. Other enhancements include improved support for JavaScript-Ctype library and the addition of WebSockets, “a communication protocol that lets the browser exchange data with a server with an overhead of just two bytes per message”². Mozilla has also improved browser handling of Flash/Silverlight/Quicktime crashes and support for HTML5 and CSS3.

Some good news for Android users, Google just made parking easier! With the launch of the Google Open Spot, people can now mark an open space on the map so others can see where they can park and how long that space has been open. It’s really too good to be true. And that’s exactly what critics say about this Google app. Assuming no one beats you to the open space before you actually get there, Google is heavily relying on people’s initiative to mark a space as “karma points” aren’t exactly the best motivation for an average passerby. So for now, we leave Open Spot as great idea as we wait for Google to come up with a better incentive than good karma.

Reference:

¹http://aws.amazon.com/ec2/#instance

²http://www.itpro.co.uk/625087/firefox-4-beta-1-review-first-look

http://openspot.googlelabs.com/

FlexUnit is a framework used for testing Adobe Flex development and is executed by the developer himself to detect low level development errors. As it only detects these kinds of errors, we at Key2Flex also implement an entire QA process that would assure our clients of the quality of applications we deliver. We do, however, see value in detecting low level errors because it effectively minimizes the number of issues uncovered by our QA and instead lets them focus on errors that could possibly occur during performance and system evaluation, and integration of the application.

FlexUnit Testing is done during the development phase of an application because it requires the developer to create at least one test case per functionality. This is because each time a piece of code encounters an error, the entire code must be refactored to make sure that the changes has not affected the existing functionalities. Refactoring codes means having to revise the codes to improve its overall usability, cohesiveness with the entire code, and adaptiveness to possible future additions and modifications.

To start FlexUnit Testing, begin by adding its library (download here) to your Flex project. You must then create unit tests for each functionality in which you must determine logical assertions applicable to the unit. These unit test will then be run using the Test Runner which is a FlexUnit Testing GUI that is also included in the FlexUnit library. To begin testing, setup a Test Suite then add all the test cases you have created. Finally, when everything has been set up, FlexUnit will begin the testing process which will identify if your assertions on each case is true or false. In cases where an error is detected, the Test Runner will generate details and the developer can easily go back to that specific unit to modify the code.

FlexUnit has been proven to be a very useful testing method because it prevents having to modify the entire code too late in the development process, which could be excruciatingly tedious work. While these added code creating might seem discouraging, FlexUnit provides a way of detecting errors early in the process which in the long run is more beneficial as it allows us to save valuable time and resources.

Nowadays, there are various ways to change the skin and themes of Rich Internet Applications built with Adobe Flex, the most popular being Cascading Styles Sheet.

Better known as CSS, it is used to describe the presentation of the document written in a markup language. CSS designs separate document contents from its formatting of colors, fonts, and look, thus making the characteristics of an author’s document more flexible and manageable. Adobe has developed component kits which enable their design programs (Photoshop, Illustrator, Fireworks, and Flash) to manipulate the look and feel of Flex Components. The team at Key2Flex uses Adobe Illustrator with some Flash to create themes for our Flex Applications. Both of these programs use vectors which is quite handy in terms of stretching, skewing, and transforming – properties widely available in Adobe Flex.

Flex Skinning with Adobe Illustrator

The first step would be to download and install the Adobe Flex Components Kit for Illustrator CS3, which is available here. Now Illustrator needs to be properly setup with its Guidelines set every 10, Subdivision set to 10 as a guide for “the snap to grid” necessary to the proper execution. The stage is set, it’s time to get to business and in a few clicks the Flex skin will be ready… (Click File > Scripts > Flex Skins > Create Flex 3 Skin.)

Two choices are actually offered to the designer: the first is Multiple Flex Components which would contain all the available components; the second is specific Components which would allow you to choose one component to manipulate at a time. If “specific Components” is picked then two radio buttons pop which are Default and Style Name. Default will change the default skin of the component and Style Name will create a new set of skin component which is recommended to first time users.
Once you have selected your component, notice that some layers are locked. No need to worry because all the unlocked items are the things that you need to edit in order to build your skin by simply double-clicking the item to edit in place. You can edit the item itself or delete it and create your own. The items are already labeled so you wouldn’t have to guess which goes where.

Flex Skinning

After editing the component/s save your file as an Adobe Illustrator (.ai) to have it ready in case you still need to apply some changes. Finally you are ready to export the file, go to File > Scripts > Flex Skins > Export Flex 3 Skin then specify the name of the SWF which will contain your custom skin.

Open your Adobe Flex Builder Application and go to File > Import > Skin Artwork to open Import Skin Artwork dialog box and then select SWC or SWF file under the Import Skins Artwork where you can browse your exported SWF from Illustrator which contains your custom skin project. Once confirmed, Flex will automatically create a CSS containing your custom skin with an extension name of .css. The CSS can be renamed but still contain the exported SWF. Adobe Flex adds both the CSS and SWF to your project.

Now you can choose which component to skin by adding <mx:Style> tag to your application file. You can also edit the CSS and change the attributes of the component/s according to your project. Publish your project and see what you have created!

www.key2flex.com/ Contact: contact@key2flex.com

Key2Flex, a RIA/REA Developer, is the FIRST and ONLY Adobe Solution Partner of the Philippines.

So far, 2010 has proven to be a year of company acquisitions not just in the IT world but across different industries. Just recently, Google bought Invite Media, a media buying platform, for a speculated amount of $70 million. The search engine, also very popular with its online advertising tools, extensively utilizes the bidding method for their keyword and ad placements making Invite Media’s “real-time bidding” a perfect addition to its tools. According to Google, Invite Media’s technology is important to the advertising ecosystem they are trying to build, saying “real time bidding technology is an important part of this ecosystem. It enables advertisers and agencies to tailor their bids on an impression-by-impression basis, based on their own data, when bidding on websites that choose to make their ad space available through an advertising exchange.” [Source: DoubleClick by Google] Read the rest of this entry »