View from the Edge

Announcing AutoEdge|TheFactory, a new OpenEdge Sample Application

To coincide with the release of OpenEdge 10.2b04 and Savvion 7.6.1 we are pleased to announce a new sample application, AutoEdge|TheFactory which can be found on Progress Communities : http://communities.progress.com/pcom/community/psdn/openedge/architecture/autoedgethefactory

AutoEdge|TheFactory is an extension of the use cases illustrated by the original AutoEdge sample application.  Where AutoEdge is based upon the business functions of an automobile dealer, AutoEdge|TheFactory is based upon the business functions of an automobile manufacturer supplying vehicles to dealers.

The aim of AutoEdge|TheFactory is to introduce the concepts of an OpenEdge Reference Architecture based Business Process Application utilizing OpenEdge BPM.

Recorded guides

To see more about AutoEdge|TheFactory  there are a set of videos that guide you through the installation as well as the design and running of the  application:

• The installation guide is here ; it contains a walk-through of the installation process (approx. 15min)
• A recording describing the design process in SBM Studio is here (approx. 30min)
• A recording running through the process appears here (approx. 12min)

The Source Code

In order to run the complete sample application you will need both OpenEdge 10.2b04 and Savvion 7.6.1 installed.  AutoEdge|TheFactory is developed utilizing the Object Oriented extensions to the ABL in OpenEdge 10.2B so you can install without Savvion in order to get a closer look at the code.

Selected code highlights

• Inversion of Control Container: InjectABL
• Query manipulation and query row keys
• Data request and response
• Enumerations in OOABL
• Structured Error Handling
• Strongly-typed Events
• Object Serialization

 

There is also a wealth of documentation related to the project available that highlights & describes many of the coding techniques & decisions made on the project so far.

 

This is the first of a planned number of releases of AutoEdge|TheFactory over the coming months, you can expect to see more functionality and documentation being added as we work our way through the project.

 

Please feel free to give us feedback, good and bad through the discussion forums attached to the project.

 

Special thanks go to all those people who worked on the project, with particular mention to Peter Judge for his tireless efforts in making this a reality, along with support from a cast of many including Havard Danielsen, Sarah Marshall, Dr. Kamyar and Ken Wilner for his constant feedback, plus those who helped test in the final days before going public.

 

Many Thanks

Mike

Webinar Reminder

Hi

Just a quick reminder about the SaaS & Cloud Webinar that's happening tomorrow, Oct 28th.  See Nancy's post below for more details.

Mike

Is that quicksand in your cubicle...or are you just stuck?

"Dang, now we are in trouble..." - Taggart, Blazing Saddles (1974)

In that opening segment of Blazing Saddles, poor Bart and Charlie find themselves stuck in quicksand.

But what does a 34-year old satirical Western comedy film have to do with you and your application?

Well, you might use Taggart's line when you realize you can't give your business users what they need. Or you can imagine yourself in your cubicle, stuck in quicksand, unsure how to get started (if your imagination is not working for you, see it for real here).

But you don't have to be stuck, the Application Modernization process has three possible phases - Upgrade, Migrate and Transform.

• Upgrade - Loading OpenEdge 10 and deploying it without making any code changes
• Migrate - Adding in new capabilities without making major architectural changes
• Transform - Using new capabilities and new approaches to change the architecture

The difference between each phase is the amount of effort you put into it. The more effort you put into your application, the greater value you will get out of it.

To start climbing out of your quicksand pit, follow these steps:

1. Define your top business priorities - what does the business need to do (or not do) to be successful - next month and in the next year(s)
2. Research new capabilities - what is new in OpenEdge that can help you? (Hint: Search on Upgrade, Migrate and Transform on PSDN Online)
3. Review the common Application Modernization strategies - to determine what solutions are best for you. (If you don't know what they are, then you must have missed our Modernization webinar - but you can see the replay here.) 
4. Determine what the right level of effort is for you - just the right amount to maximize the value to your users
5. Define an incremental plan that works for you - so you can determine the pace and priority

With this proven approach, you can get your foot on the rail and start climbing out of the quicksand.

And if anyone knows how to get quicksand out of a keyboard, please let us all know...

All I want for Christmas is "getting my application to do"...

When I speak with customers, I often hear "if we could only get our application to do"... (well, just fill in the blank for yourself and you get the idea).

The more we talk about their problem, we seem to find out that they really are just unsure of how to get started - of how to start taking the small steps to evolve their application and make it easier for them to "get their application to do" just about anything that they need to for their users.

Application Modernization is the process for systematically evolving your application so you can:

• Preserve the OpenEdge-based business logic you have already created
• Reduce the time and effort you need to spend maintaining your application and
• Open your application to more capabilities and features

I'll be presenting a webinar next week entitled Application Modernization: Your Foundation for Agile Growth.

If you are unsure how to get started "getting your application to do"... well, just about anything... please come and join us. Full details (and some other great materials) can be found at www.progress.com/modernize.

And don't forget to bring your questions - we'll have a live Q&A session during the webinar.

About That Scalability ...

Does scalability only apply to very large deployments ?

Try this, fold a piece of paper in half by bringing the top edge down to meet the bottom edge. Now imagine an OpenEdge application with a 20GB database that uses either wifi or cabled network to run a small business. Imagine the business system occupies that half-sheet of paper, uses 2 watts of power, weighs two pounds, and costs $400 US.

That's reality today. I bought one of those little Eee laptops recently, and was delighted at how easy the linux system is to use, and how easy it integrates with my Windows-dominated infrastructure. Nice job. Linux even runs my spreadsheets and presentations unchanged (you can even change the laptop to XP if you want). What a nice parallel this "mini-system flexibility" is to OpenEdge! The ability to scale down is partly one of architecture and partly discipline in the implementation.

But why scale down? One reason could be new products or new markets. Another reason is to focus on providing a consistent service at a high performance level. Have you seen applications that have just seemed to grow and grow. Application bloat leads to a loss of control over the key function of the software, and it seems that poor usability and uneven performance come right along for the ride. So maybe scaling down is another way at looking for clear boundaries between layers of an application as well as separation of functions in an application environment. That highly connectable 2 pound workstation was no accident! It was drawn from the OLPC (One Laptop Per Child) design effort which is spawning a lot of creativity in the Ultra-Mobile PC market. A solid software architecture has some similarities in terms of defined interfaces, guiding principles, and scalable design.

Does your application scale up? Or down? Or out? Sometimes a "readiness review" of your architecture from scalability or an service-oriented view can lead to a plan that leads into the business roadmap by opening up new options. We hope that the new capabilities in OpenEdge ABL can help you implement that roadmap in a smooth way that phases in the stages you plan for your evolution. Are you trying this approach? How well is this  working for you? The AutoEdge application gives some nice examples of how the ABL supports the scalable OpenEdge Reference Architecture. I was just reviewing a presentation about AutoEdge that will be done for Exchange in Paris. If you are attending, this session could be very useful. Another interesting session shows a racetrack example which illustrates how a SOA environment comes together with Sonic, OpenEdge, and other fine products. Check them out and let me know what you think.

What about Deployment?

From the deployment side we still support efficient storage of data, so that 20GB database on the tiny laptop might hold a surprising amount of business data. we still support compatibility of the database from the little laptop up through large systems too. With OpenEdge 10.1B, every database can grow to have very large tables, wide indexes, and a full range of datatypes. You even get built-in management features like automatic defragging now. On a small database, it is easy to make it run "hands off". For large databases, you get on-line management of table space, schema additions, and the ability to increase some key performance parameters without taking downtime. OpenEdge needs less tuning than those big databases, and we are still the #1 pure-play database for applications that need a capable database "built right in". Our vision is to let your production environment evolve smoothly with a self-tuning, self-healing, and self-provisioning database that handles the transactional business load. What else? Well, improvements in appservers keep coming, as do improvements in the reporting capabilities of OpenEdge SQL. Similarly, support for Sonic keeps getting easier with 10.1C, and we'll talk about that in a separate note. We do take performance and manageability seriously, and the roadmap for this area really features a lot of customer-requested capabilities. We really appreciate your advice and insights into your needs. Please keep them coming! What are your top 5 needs in the database and appserver area?

Whatever happens in the scalability area, one thing remains. Scalability is not about standing still. It's about a dynamic range and that means opportunity for you and for us. Together.