4Typical Project Procedures

4.1Intricacies of the UML Model

The model is attained in the same way as other typical projects. Nonetheless some differences do crop up:

• There is no automatic generation of "genericFinder". In a typical project, if we had to fill a list (table, drop-down list, etc.) for a single application on the mock-up, BLU AGE would automatically generate a “genericFinder” you to fill the list by moving back up through the set of elements in the (data)base. In the case of a generation using Flex, one would have to implement this service on the model and invoke it in a screen activity diagram.
• There is no control of the navigation through the UML model. In a typical project, one can use the “AS_EXTSCREENS” partition to define the navigation. This ability corresponds to the “request” principle that we find in web/HTML technologies. But in the case of Flex, we are dealing with events. This difference implies that the setting off of these events will allow, for example, the display of a particular view. The declaration (of these events) will have to be made on the “mxml” side of things. So there is no point in modeling that particular navigation. The control flux of returns in the screen activity diagrams will always be redirected towards the action representing the view that is modeled in the “AS_SCREEN” partition.

4.2Modelization and Generation Procedures

4.2.1Model Creation and First Generation : GenerateMxml = new

Once the UML model has been obtained, we can make a first generation by setting the value of the property "GenerateMxml" to "new".

To goal of this change will be to generate the following projects:

• "Entities" Project containing the persistance layer (Hibernate),
• "FlexLibrary" Project containing the Actions Scripts files necessary for the development of "mxml" pages. This project also contains the set of connectors enabling it to communicate with the server part in JAVA,
• "Service" Project containing the service layer (Spring),
• "Web" Project containing the presentation layer. This project referenes the flexLibrary project. This is where we can generate the empty "mxml" files that can then by configured.
• Once the generating has taken place, you will be able to notice the following elements in your Eclipse environment:

  

Figure 1 : Generated Projects

N.B : As of Ver 3.5.2, When adding a specific library, the build.xml file does not take it into consideration. it is problematic for the swc(flach/flex) libreries. Therefore the reference of these files should be added in the generated build.xml

4.2.2Configuration of Views and Re-Generation: GenerateMxml = save

The views (the "mxml" files) are directly configured in the web project by using Flash Builder 4. This allows you to test them directly in a web navigator. These views use components generated through the « flex-libraries » project. These components are generated from the UML model and enable you to simply use the instances and actions defined in the screen activity diagrams.

Thanks to the "save" value of the "GenerateMxml" property, at every generation, "mxml" files configured through the web project are copied into the “mockup” folder of the BLU AGE project.

4.2.3Configuring the Workflow in View of the Instantiation of an Existing Project: GenerateMxml = copy

When we want to initiate an existing project, it becomes necessary to change the variable "GenerateMxml" to "copy". This change tells the generator that the « mxml » files to use for the web project are those in the « mockup » folder of the BLU AGE project.