Upcoming pureXML Bootcamps and some related resources

We have a number of pureXML Bootcamps coming up in the next while in McLean, Virginia and Manhattan, NY. We keep the latest details on upcoming bootcamps on the pureXML wiki.

I participated in a couple of bootcamps last week - one was two days and the other was an abbreviated half-day session. Feedback from the customers that attended was very positive. Its was an enjoyable time for myself - as there were many questions and the days were quite interactive.

A few new resources have become available recently to help with working with XML and pureXML:

• I have a new article up on developerWorks. This article is meant to serve as a quick reference/cheat sheet as you get up and running in writing queries for DB2 pureXML. It provides coverage of working with XQuery and SQL/XML.
  
• Not too long ago - the WebSphere Application Server Feature Pack for XML was released. Some articles and supporting materials to check out include an article on developerWorks as well as a RedPaper that is under development.

pureXML Devotee Community Call - XML Use Cases

There's a pureXML Devotee Community call on Tuesday May 18th covering XML use cases - looking at customer strategies and experiences. Details, including call in number and accessing charts for the talk are available at developerWorks. Note that this page also provides details on additional future calls, as well as recordings from past calls.

These calls are free and provide an excellent resource for learning more about how to work with xml in your datastore.

Software and Cars

With the amount of software that is currently found in today's automobiles - amazing to see in this article (http://bit.ly/aeWLlm) that the NHTSA does not employ any electrical or software engineers.

With the effort going into chasing down the gremlins (is it ok to discuss gremlins in a car that isn't a gremlin?) in the Toyotas - I'd expect that we'll start to hear much more about electrical and software engineers being involved in judging, measuring and auditing the safety of automobiles.

Lee.

Jython and WAS

Spent some time today working on updates to a lab related to the use of web services on WebSphere Application Server (WAS). In the past, to complete the lab, students would have to manually deploy a WAR file - which was tedious and could be a pain if they were not familiar with WAS admin tasks.

To streamline the effort, I'm investigating replacement of the manual steps with the creation of a Jython script to automate the deployment of the WAR file. I've worked with WAS in the past, but hadn't tried to do any admin scripting or worked with Jython.

I found a few resources on the topic:

1. WAS v6.1 System Management and Configuration Redbook
2. WebSphere Application Server V7 Administration and Configuration Guide
3. Sample Scripts for WebSphere Application Server Versions 5 and 6 - in particular the Admin script samples in Jython
4. WAS Info Center - in general, as well as a specific page on Command Assistance
5. IBM Techdocs White Paper: Using Jython Scripting Language with WSADMIN

Probably not that surprising, didn't find one resource that gave me the answer I wanted when I wanted it. Took a bit of digging through these resources. However - if I was starting again (or helping someone else to do this) - I'd suggest taking a look at the Techdocs White Paper, then look at the Command Assistance page at the info center. The White Paper provides a nice overview of Jython and using it to administer WAS. Then, use the Command Assistance to build the commands that you want.

The Command Assistance works inside of the WAS Admin Console - essentially, whenever you perform a task manually, you can ask to see the script that is used to complete the task. So you can perform the set of tasks that would go into your script - capturing each of the Jython statements needed, and then save them to a .py file.

Lee.

Upcoming SOA Architect Summits

I've been working with a number of SME's from across IBM in updating the SOA Architect Summit. We had our first delivery with the new content earlier this week in Sacramento. All reports in so far indicate that it was a very successful day - content and speakers were great, and customers that attended found that it was an excellent decision to attend.

We have two more Summits scheduled for the quarter - one in Ottawa (Feb 24th) and another in Pittsburgh (Mar 10th). Additional summits will be scheduled at additional locations world-wide through the remainder of the year.

The links above will guide you to the registration and agenda pages for the two upcoming deliveries. Note that we've also created a customizable agenda for the event - so you'll see that there are some differences in the sessions offered and flow at each location.

The event is free to attend - and the content focuses on discussing the aspects of architecting a successful SOA solution within an enterprise. This is an educational offering first and foremost - our goal is to help highlight the issues, nuances and details an architect will deal with in creating their solutions.

Lee.

End of the Beginning

About a week ago, Celso and I submitted our final manuscript for our PBE book to the publisher. We now move into a production phase - focusing on editing, cleaning up graphics, and getting the manuscript to look like a book. We also have some additional work to do in wrapping up and packaging some collateral that we will be making available as associated downloads. Domain name for a website is registered, and now we have some work to do in setting up the site and publishing our collateral.

The effort and time to get to this point was much more than what was anticipated when we set out to write a book. However, I'm not sure how we could have shortened the time or lessened the effort. Much knowledge was acquired along the way, the manuscript is better now than it was six months ago - incorporating reviews, rewrites, edits and feedback.

I've always been impressed with those that can write and create a book. However, having gone through the process - my amazement and admiration has grown.

And - this is really just the end of the beginning. Sure there's been a great deal of effort, but now how do we leverage this investment? We'll be involved in promoting the book, building and supporting the associated website (and downloadable collateral), discussing the book, some additional conference presentations, and leveraging the book in our day-to-day work efforts.

If you're interested, Amazon has pre-order (.com, .ca) links up at the moment. I'll also post updates as we get closer to the release date.

Lee.

SOA Sandbox - WebSphere Application Server Community Addition

As an update to my earlier post regarding the SOA Sandbox wanted to share that a new trial and associated exercise focusing on WebSphere Application Server Community Edition (WAS CE) has been made available.

WAS CE is a light-weight, freely available Java EE 5 application server - based on the Apache Geronimo project. Typically we'd look to use WAS CE where the focus for the project is on simplicity and cost - looking to move to more advanced application servers (WebSphere Application Server) as security, scalability and manageability become more important.

In summary the exercise: "demonstrates how a developer can build, deploy and test dynamic web applications using WebSphere Application Server Community Edition v2.1 (WAS CE) and Eclipse. You will leverage Eclipse Galileo to setup, deploy, and test a web services application against WAS CE. In addition, you will also explore the capabilities of the Eclipse Web Services tool for generating web services, as well as embedded tooling in WAS CE that aid in creating WSDL files and source."

The exercise is in the section of the Sandbox focused on the SOA Reuse Entry Point.

Again - with this being in the Sandbox - no need to download or configure the application server nor the development tooling. Quick and easy to get going - and available for free. A great way to gain hands-on experience and learn more about creating SOA solutions.

Lee.