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WebORB Data Management for Flex (WDMF) consists of design-time and run-time environments. The
design-time component (WDMF Designer) is a graphical interface providing the following functionality:
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Creating application data model - a data model is a collection of all
tables used by a Flex client application. Data model typically includes all tables from a database
schema.
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Establishing table/class and column/property mappings - WDMF generates a
class for every table in the data model
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Configuring table relationships - WDMF generates class properties for
related tables. Data for a related table can be lazily loaded simply by accessing a property.
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Configuring client-side and server-side namespace/package name. Generated
code can be placed into a namespace/package name to avoid class collision.
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Running code generator - WDMF designer starts code generator which creates
ActionScript code for the client and either C# or VB.NET code for the server. The server-side code
is automatically compiled into a .NET assembly
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Code deployment - Generated and compiled server-side code can be deployed
into any virtual directory, so the client application can run WDMF-based queries.
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Client-code retrieval - ActionScript code can be loaded in a ZIP file for
further deployment in Flex Builder.
The WDMF Designer is available as a part of the browser-based WebORB Management
Console. In the spirit of increasing developer productivity, WDMF Designer is also made available as a
Flex Builder plugin starting with WebORB v 3.2. The plugin provides all the same functionality shown
above, but simplifies the deployment process. As a result, items 6 and 7 are fully automated.
Additionally, since the plugin runs natively in the Flex Builder environment, it does not require any
additional instances of the WebORB Management Console thus simplifying application development live
cycle.
PLUGIN INSTALLATION |
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| To install the WDMF Plugin, run Flex Builder and select Help
> Software Updates > Find and Install.. as shown below:
Click the "Search for new features to install" radio button, then click "Next >".
Click "New Remote Site" and enter values as shown below:
Name - Midnight Coders
URL: - http://www.themidnightcoders.com/plugins
Click OK and then Finish. Flex Builder loads information about the plugin from the Midnight
Coders site and displays the window shown below. Select all the checkboxes as shown below and
click "Next >". (Note: at the time of writing of this article, the released version of the
plugin is 1.0.10. The version may advance in the future).
Continue through the Wizard to finish installation of the plugin. Flex Builder will prompt
you to restart it upon successful installation of the plugin.
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GETTING STARTED WITH THE PLUGIN |
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- Make sure WebORB for .NET v 3.2 or later is installed. You can verify the installation
by launching the management console at
http://localhost/weborb30
- Open Flex Builder and create a new project. For the simplicity of getting started with
the plugin, you can choose the "Basic" project type - the plugin will modify it accordingly
so it can work with WebORB:
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Select the project in the Navigator panel, open right click menu and select New > Other as
shown below (alternatively you can press Ctrl + N):
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Select the "WebORB Data Management Model" wizard from the WebORB category:
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Enter WebORB Root URL for your WebORB installation and specify the name of the data model to
create. If you created the project with the "Basic" project type, it is important to select
the checkbox to allow the plugin to modify the project. Click Finish to finalize model
creation:
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The plugin creates the data model and open editor. The editor allows to connect to a
database and add it to the data model
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