Eric D. Schabell

Tuesday, November 18, 2014

How To Setup Integration & SOA Tooling For JBoss Developer Studio 8

The release of the latest JBoss Developer Studio (JBDS) brings with it the questions around how to get started with the various JBoss Integration and BPM product tool sets that are not installed out of the box.

In this series of articles we will outline for you how to install each set of tools and explain which products they are supporting.

This should help you in making an informed decision about what tooling you might want to install before embarking on your next JBoss integration project.

There are four different software packs that offer tooling for various JBoss integration products:
  1. JBoss Business Process and Rules Development
  2. JBoss Integration and SOA Development
    3. Missing integration stack?
  3. JBoss Data Virtualization Development
  4. JBoss SOA 5.x Development
This article will outline how to get started with the JBoss Data Integration & SOA tooling and JBDS 8.

JBDS 8 can be obtained through the Customer Portal or via the early access downloads on jboss.org. After installing JBDS, start it up and you will see a welcoming JBoss Central tab with at the bottom a tab to look at the available tool sets labeled Software/Update. 

You will notice that there are no JBoss Integration stacks offered to install upon first inspection. This is due to, at the time of this writing, the integration stacks being early access. 

Eventually they will be shown by default once testing finished and they release, but for now you can obtain them by checking the Early Access box in the bottom right corner. 

JBoss Integration and SOA Development.
This will reveal the integration stack tooling offerings and we will select JBoss Integration and SOA Development.

Click on the Install/Update button to start the installation and restart at the end to complete the process.

If you are interested in what is being installed, it can be examined by digging into the menu as follows:
  • Help -> Install new software... 
    • pull down the menu offered by Work with:
    • select JBoss Developer Studio 8.x - Early Access
    • everything under JBoss Integration and SOA Development will be installed
The specifics.
Stay tuned for more articles in this series that will detail the installation of the remaining JBoss Integration Stack tools.

Other options

In the past we have outlined the use of JBoss BPM and rules tooling for other versions of JBDS:
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Friday, November 14, 2014

How To Setup BPM and Rules Tooling For JBoss Developer Studio 8


The release of the latest JBoss Developer Studio (JBDS) brings with it the questions around how to get started with the various JBoss Integration and BPM product tool sets that are not installed out of the box.

In this series of articles we will outline for you how to install each set of tools and explain which products they are supporting.

This should help you in making an informed decision about what tooling you might want to install before embarking on your next JBoss integration project.

There are four different software packs that offer tooling for various JBoss integration products:
  1. JBoss Business Process and Rules Development
  2. JBoss Integration and SOA Development
  3. JBoss Data Virtualization Development
    4. Missing integration stack?
  4. JBoss SOA 5.x Development
This article will outline how to get started with the JBoss BPM and Rules Development tooling and JBDS 8.

JBDS 8 can be obtained through the Customer Portal or via the early access downloads on jboss.org. After installing JBDS, start it up and you will see a welcoming JBoss Central tab with at the bottom a tab to look at the available tool sets labeled Software/Update. 

You will notice that there are no JBoss Integration stacks offered to install upon first inspection. This is due to, at the time of this writing, the integration stacks being early access. 

Eventually they will be shown by default once testing finished and they release, but for now you can obtain them by checking the Early Access box in the bottom right corner. 

Select JBoss BPM & Rules Development.
This will reveal the integration stack tooling offerings and we will select JBoss BPM & Rules Development.

Click on the Install/Update button to start the installation and restart at the end to complete the process.

If you are interested in what is being installed, it can be examined by digging into the menu as follows:
  • Help -> Install new software... 
    • pull down the menu offered by Work with:
    • select JBoss Developer Studio 8.x - Early Access
    • everything under JBoss Business Process and Rules Development will be installed
The specifics.
Stay tuned for more articles in this series that will detail the installation of the remaining JBoss Integration Stack tools.

Other options

In the past we have outlined the use of JBoss BPM and rules tooling for other versions of JBDS:
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Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Best Way to Recap Devoxx 2014 Mastering xPaaS University Session

Mastering xPaaS Uni Session Devoxx 2014
This week Devoxx BE 2014 kicked off in Antwerp, Belgium with my university session.

It was 3 hours of fun and attracted quite a crowd, though impossible to count a room of that size, estimates were over ~500 attendees.

We walked through IaaS (remember, "I don't care!"), PaaS and xPaaS layers with multiple demos to showcase what you can do within the PaaS and xPaaS layers with OpenShift.
The xPaaS showcased a massive collection of JBoss technology products that cover the myriad of aPaaS, iPaaS, mPaaS and bpmPaaS services.

Several collectible antique OpenShift t-shirts and some stickers were given away to the first attendees to show me working PaaS or xPaaS solutions while participating in the session live.
The slides are of course being hosted on our OpenShift PaaS for your viewing pleasure and if you like you can follow along and work through the examples provided as a self-paced workshop.

The session was recorded and should appear on Parleys.com in the near future.

Initial feedback was fun to watch streaming in on social media.

The slides:



Thanks to all who attended and responded online.

If you missed this university session, there's a free video recording available:




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Wednesday, November 5, 2014

How To Get Rid Of Your Cloud Insecurities

Are you worried about mastering the skills it takes to develop applications in the Cloud?

Do you break out in cold sweats when you hear terminology like PaaS, iPaaS, bpmPaaS, aPaaS, xPaaS, hybrid, instances, deployments, gears, configuration or Cloud?

Are you a bit unsure about what you might have to learn, read or what course to follow to get your development toolbox expanded with the skills necessary to make you productive in the Cloud?

We have the perfect way for you to get rid of all these insecurities in a single session at Devoxx next week in Antwerpen, Belgium.

It is a university session that, as previously mentioned, to get you started mastering xPaaS on OpenShift and it will make you completely comfortable with your very own piece of the Cloud.

If you are not aware of them, these university sessions give you in depth material which is presented in two 75 minute sessions with a 30 minute break between. Just like being back in your university days.

Lucky for you, I have been teaching at a Dutch university as a guest lecturer over the years and have just the right amount of work for you to do in our 'class' next week.  Don't worry, the exam will be optional, but attendees should bring a laptop and join in the fun that will be getting hands on and dirty with xPaaS and OpenShift.

No prior knowledge is required, I will get you up to speed and help you to start mastering the Cloud in no time.

Mastering xPaaS - get down and dirty in the OpenShift Cloud 

Ever wondered about all the new Cloud offerings out there? What is a PaaS? What is this thing Garner keeps calling xPaaS? How can I as a beginner get started in a few hours?  

 Whether your business is running on applications based on Java EE6, PHP or Ruby, the cloud is turning out to be the perfect environment for developing your business. There are plenty of clouds and platform-as-a-services to choose from, but where to start? 

 Join us for three action-packed hours of power where we'll show you how to deploy your existing application written in the language of your choice - Java, Ruby, PHP, Perl or Python, with the project of your choice - jBPM, Ceylon, Switchyard, Drools Planner, Aerogear, GateIn, Drools (Rules / BPM) and more deployed into the OpenShift PaaS in just minutes. All this and without having to rewrite your app to get it to work the way the cloud provider thinks your app should work. 

 If you want to learn about xPaaS and see how investing just a few hours of your time can change everything you thought you knew about putting your business applications in the cloud, this session is for you! 

Date: Monday, 10 November
Location: Room 4
Time: 13:30 - 16:30
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Friday, October 31, 2014

How To Excite the Travel Industry With a BPM Story

Travel agency booking process
One of the most interesting branches for talking about processes is the travel industry.

All across the Internet you will find references to solutions, offerings and products that try to align with the travel industry BPM solutions.

Whether you are talking to an airline, a baggage handler, a bookings agency or anything in between, they all have one thing in common. They are dealing with complex business processes that often have a need to combine rules, events and processes.

Sub-process to calculate totals (rules)
Within the JBoss BPM Suite product you will find exactly that, the tools and theory brought together in a single workbench to make your travel solutions into reality.

In this article we present a brand new JBoss BPM Suite demo project that is simulating a travel agency booking system.

This project was put together by a couple of colleagues in the UK, Niraj Patel and Shepherd Chengeta. I got the chance to spend a few days with them onsite in their offices there and we brainstormed some of the details you will find encapsulated within this project.

It is a job very well done on their part!

The Travel Agency Demo will ask for the customers initial booking information, once submitted various backend services are used to request hotel information and flight information, the final itinerary with full overview is presented for validation or review depending on the rules outcome.

The project includes all of the following:
  • custom task forms built with forms modeler
  • a sub-process example 
  • two separate service tasks
    • hotel availability service
    • flight availability service
  • rules integration
    • DRL rules
    • decision table
    • diverse guided rules
  • multiple testing scenarios
Completed booking information for approval.

The demo will be given to you in a foolproof installation to get you started, then show you a complete online travel agency project you can experiment with, provide a completed travel agency project for your evaluation needs, and follow up later with video content around the creation and execution of this demo.

Quickstart

  2. Add products to installs directory.
  3. Run 'init.sh' or 'init.bat' file.
  4. Start JBoss BPMS Server by running 'standalone.sh' or 'standalone.bat' in the /target/jboss-eap-6.1/bin directory.
  5. Login to http://localhost:8080/business-central
    - login for admin and other roles (u:erics / p:bpmsuite1!)

The form presented initially to submit a travel request can be adjusted in the Number of Travelers field, with 6 giving one path through the process and 2 another, feel free to experiment with this.

Booking a trip to Edinburgh (just one scenario)

  1. Build & deploy project.
  2. Start process with following data in start form:
    Name: [your-name]

Email Adress: [any-email]

Number of Travellers: 6

From Destination: London

To Destination: Edinburgh

Preferred Date of Departure: 2014-06-06

Preferred Data of Arrival: 2014-06-10

Other Details / Notes: [any-text]
  3. Two web services will be run and a sub-process to calculate the cost before deciding it is not needed that this booking be reviewed on pricing, so you will find a task 'Employee Booking' for you to process.
  4. Fill in the form provided for the task, it allows review of all the booking data submitted, generated by services and calculated by the rules. You can request a review to send it back for a pricing review or check the completed box to finish the task and process.
  5. To trigger different path for evaluation, just change the 'Number of Travellers: 2' in initial submission form.
We hope you enjoy this project and all feedback is welcome, including any improvements you might want to push back into the project.




Japanese translation (日本語訳)
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Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Launching Into the Clouds With 2 New OpenShift Primer bpmPaaS Quickstarts

Are you ready for BPM in the Cloud?

That was the question we asked you last week when we presented you with the first two bpmPaaS quickstarts, a generic loan project and a mortgage project.

If you were not yet ready, you will be now with the following two brand spanking new primer bpmPaaS quickstart projects.

Let's get started and help you setup this automated cartridge installation that kick start you with pre-loaded demo projects.

First you need to have an account on OpenShift Online, which you then can upgrade for free to the Bronze level.

HR Employee Rewards
This gives you access to the creation of MEDIUM sized gears which you will need for the bpmPaaS instances you create.

After that you can then create a new application via the online web administration console, where at the bottom of the page you will find a text box labeled Code Anything.

Paste cartridge URI, easy peasy!
This is a field where you can paste in one of the cartridge definitions we provide in the projects listed below.

Just follow each projects readme file instructions and you will be up and running a full bpmPaaS based on JBoss BPM Suite in a matter of minutes.

The projects now available for you in bpmPaaS with more to follow in the same project repository:
There are demo videos when available linked directly from the projects listed above. No excuse now for you not to give the JBoss BPM Suite a try in the Cloud.

Enjoy!
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Friday, October 24, 2014

3 Simple Guidelines to Rule Development, Design and Traceability

(Article guest authored together with John Hurlocker, Senior Middleware Consultant at Red Hat in North America)

In this tips and tricks article we present some background and guidelines for the design cycle encountered when one is working with rules projects.

This article is not the only standard or all encompassing source of how each and every rules and events project will evolve over time.

What it is going to do is provide you with the basics as we have encountered them in many projects in real life organizations. They are meant to give you some confidence as you embark on your very own rules and events adventure within the world of JBoss BRMS.

We will discuss some of the requirements phase around rules development, touch on a few of the design choices that will be encountered and elaborate on the options available for including requirements traceability within the projects.

1. Requirements

A rule author will analyze project requirements to determine the number of rules that will need to be created and also works with the requirements team so they can provide answers to any questions that might arise.

Analyzing rules requirements is the phase where a look at the following questions takes place:
  • Are there any WHEN or THEN conditions that are unclear when reviewing the requirements?
  • Are some of these rules data validations?
  • Can multiple requirements be combined into one rule?
By spending some pre-development time examining and validating the project requirements you will be able to narrow the scope of the work to be done in your development cycles.

These questions have been dealt with in previous articles in the tips and tricks.

2. Design

In the design phases an enterprise rule administrator will need to work with the organization and ask some of the following questions:
  •  Will the organization need to host a central rules repository or would that not be beneficial?
  •  Who owns these rules and is responsible for updating and releasing new versions?
  • Are there common rules that can be reused between groups?  
Centralized JBoss BRMS repository.

A central repository is one JBoss BRMS server available for the entire organization to author, store, and build rules.

It promotes rule reuse, is easier to manage and maintain instead of deploying multiple repositories in an organization.

If a set of rules is going to be shared with other groups then one of the groups will need to take ownership and will be responsible for updating and releasing new versions.

The rule author will need to work with the application team(s) to determine what rule format or formats will be used and which tool will be used to author rules. Some of the questions to be dealt with are:
  •  Should rules be developed in the BRMS Dashboard or through JBoss Developer Studio (JBDS)?
  • What are your rule authors more comfortable with?
  • Who will maintain the rules in the future?
    • Java developers, business analysts
  • Do the requirements work better in one format vs. another?
    •  e.g.  web based data table, business guided rule, DSL
  • What type of testing is required?
  •  JUnit and BRMS test scenarios?
These topics have been laid out in previous articles, please refer to them for a deeper discussion.

Options in meta data for requirements traceability.

3. Traceability

Once the rules and events are being implemented it is vital to have some sort of requirements traceability attached to the rules that links them to the originating requirements.

With JBoss BRMS rule authors can set meta data on the rules for traceability to requirement(s), for instance:
  • Associated requirements can be set on rules in the description section.
  • Associated requirements can also be set as an external link on the rule meta data.
  •  Reports can be generated by pulling meta data information from the repository.
In a future article we will dig deeper into how you can use meta data fields within your rules implementation to trace your requirements and extract this information to generate documentation around these requirements.


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Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Rocket into the Clouds with OpenShift bpmPaaS Quickstarts

Are you ready for BPM in the Cloud?

This is not the first time we have put the various demo projects project into the Cloud, previously we did it on an older version 6.0.1.

This time around we have updated this to setup the project for you on OpenShift using JBoss BPM Suite 6.0.2, the current version of bpmPaaS.

Let's get started and help you setup this automated cartridge installation that kick start you with pre-loaded demo projects.

First you need to have an account on OpenShift Online, which you then can upgrade for free to the Bronze level.

Generic loan process
This gives you access to the creation of MEDIUM sized gears which you will need for the bpmPaaS instances you create.

After that you can then create a new application via the online web administration console, where at the bottom of the page you will find a text box labeled Code Anything.

Paste cartridge URI, easy peasy!
This is a field where you can paste in one of the cartridge definitions we provide in the projects listed below.

Just follow each projects readme file instructions and you will be up and running a full bpmPaaS based on JBoss BPM Suite in a matter of minutes.

The projects now available for you in bpmPaaS with more to follow in the same project repository:
There are demo videos when available linked directly from the projects listed above. No excuse now for you not to give the JBoss BPM Suite a try in the Cloud.

Enjoy!
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