NoDans Series on ModelGlue Reloaded Part 5

This was also a short entry. The main purpose here is to change the free form text for the Contact Types to a Select box. We do this by creating a MAP with ENTRIES in Coldspring.xml and then calling a method getContactTypes() on the ContactService bean. Once we have the collection of values we set the variable "ContactTypes" for later use un the final view (frmContact.cfm). Direct Link to MindMap of Part 5 (opens full Size)

NoDans Series on ModelGlue Reloaded Part 4

This was an easy and short one. Part 4 deals with the validation of the form. We have two main objectives here

1. Check the values provided against our validation rules
2. Display error messages if the values don't pass validation

Direct Link to MindMap of Part 4 (opens full Size)

NoDans Series on ModelGlue Reloaded Part 3

I'm finding Mindomo a bit of a pain to work with, there are some restrictions on the application that are starting to get me. However, I still think it is a good tool and has a lot of potential, not only that but I want to keep consistent with the MindMaps. I didn't want to recreate the first one I did and I didn't want to do this third part in some other system.
I think I'll just finish the whole series using Mindomo and then look for other more interesting options.

Anyhow, I went through part 3 of the series from Dan Wilson's blog and I broke all the information on 4 sections.

1. Create the Bean that will hold data from the form.
2. Create the Form that will gather data on the front end.
3. Create the Action handler for the form once data is submitted.
4. Something I called ColdSpring Magic. Dan creates a Service and wires the whole thing using Coldspring and Model Glue.

Dan uses a cool code generator called ROOIBOS.

I tried to put as much detail as possible but you can only go so far with mindomo.
Direct Link to mindmap of Part3 (opens full Size)

Apparently Mindomo has a set width and height, therefore if you open all branches at the same time some text will get cut off. I recommend keeping (2) and (3) open and then when you are ready for (4) collapse (2).
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I want to make something clear, I'm doing this to help me understand how a ModelGlue application works. I'm using Dan Wilson's series since it is easy to digest and covers all the basics. I don't claim to be an expert on ModelGlue, this is a compliment effort to what Dan Wilson has on his website. You still have to read the entries on Dan's blog but hopefully all the verbose will make more sense if you have a graphical way of connecting things.



If anybody has questions about the mindmap please let me know.
çB^]\..

NoDans Series on ModelGlue Reloaded Part 1 & 2

When I have to work on complex stuff,tackle a new project or learn a new technology, I usually create a Mind Map on a big piece of paper. I started looking for options on the Internet that I can use from anywhere and that can help me diagram fairly complex concepts. I found www.mindomo.com and I like it!! the fact that the application was created in FLEX is even better. Anyways, I've finished the series of 10 tutorials from Dan Wilson. I learned a lot of things related to ModelGlue and I decided to do the whole 10 exercises again and this time create my usual Mind Maps so I can absorb things in a graphical way. I'll start posting the different Parts and the related MindMap, hopefully this Maps will be a complement to anybody trying to learn ModelGLue and following Dan's tutorials. Here are the two first Parts of the series. If anybody has questions/comments about the Maps please let me know. Direct Link to Parts 1-2 (opens full Size) çB^]\..

Useful XML beautifier for ColdSpring and ModelGlue files

I'm following Dan Wilson's 8th entry on ModelGlue and after a while I noticed that some of my files, specially the ColdSpring.xml and ModelGlue.xml under the config folder were getting really big and ugly. I don't spend too much time trying to line up everything on the XML files, right now I'm trying to get through the series and start building my own small application. Anyhow, I saw that the XML files were getting messy, a little time on the Internet produced this great resource xml lint online converter. Simply navigate to the page, click on the Browse button, find the Coldspring or ModelGlue files that you are trying to beautify and voila!! You get a nicely formatted XML file for the viewing pleasure of human eyes. On the resulting page you can view the source and then copy/paste the whole thing back to your ColdSpring or ModelGlue files. As usual, BACKUP your files before doing this!! Even better put the files in favorite flavor of source control CVS/SVN and then try to make them pretty. çB^]\..

Giant steps on ModelGlue

It seems to me that I was over my head when I started looking at the Model-Glue Series from Ray Camden. I started looking for more information on the web and I found two great resources, Dan Wilson and Doug Boude. These two guys have great information on Model Glue. Right now I'm making giant steps on Model Glue thanks to the following

• The ModelGlue Event Lifecycle in Laymans Terms (Doug Boude)
• Yet Another ModelGlue QuickStart (Doug Boude)

Great video posting here, it explains a lot about the ModelGlue Framework and how things connect between Model, Views and Controllers. I recommend people trying to learn ModelGlue check the video.

• So You want to create a ModelGlueUnity application (Dan Wilson)

This series is just amazing, I had done the two initial parts and I liked them because they are easy to understand and the reading is simple but packed with a lot of information. I started following Posting #3 of the series and I was blown away by the reference to Rooibos Generator. Are you kidding me? I spent so much time doing the getters and setters before that now that I found this nifty app I don't know if I'll ever do it again. Great stuff, really great stuff. Once I get a good understanding of the whole thing and I'm done with the tutorials I'll have to create a small app from scratch and post here all the steps. çB^]\..

Model Glue and the MasterJedi Series

For the last two days I've been following the Model Glue Series from Ray Camden as a way to get my feet wet. I like Ray's work overall and I think that if I had followed the series from the beginning it would've been much easier to follow. Sadly I'm stuck and trying to figure out somethings on part 7, it doesn't help that I'm using Model-Glue 2.0 Unity and the series is written for an earlier version without any ColdSpring. I decided that at some point I'll start a website explaining basic concepts related to Model-Glue and Coldfusion in general in a graphical way. I like to code as much as the next guy but to me a graphic or a diagram can save a lot of grief and also helps me understand the big picture of things instead of trying to create the whole thing bottom-up. ShowMeCF.com , graphicalCF.com? çB^]\..