InfoQ - Netflix Conductor, an Orchestration Engine for Microservices

Netflix has developed an orchestration engine called “Conductor”, and has used it internally in production for the last year . During this time they executed some 2.6 million process workflows, starting with linear ones and ending with dynamic ones running over multiple days. Now they have open sourced Conductor, making it available to all those interested in workflow orchestration.

Read more

DZone - BDD: Cucumber in Action

Cucumber is an open-source tool that is used to support Behavior Driven Development with plain text specifications. Implementations of Cucumber exist for number of platforms, including Java.
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Create an Entando Page Template Bundle

From Entando blog

In the latest Entando versions a new object is coming "Bundles".
BUNDLE! what is this?
Bundles are "off-the-shelf" solutions website which developers can seamlessly add to their portal  ie

• Page Templates

• Type of Contents (ie News, Announcements, ...)

• Widgets

Read it 

Here the link where you can find all the file mentioned in the section:

We need now to update the following files

Regards
Rinaldo

Your portal with Entando

You are curious to see how you can create a portal with Entando, nothing more simple.
I urge you to read this Trumbitta guide "Entando: an unexpected journey. Or, my portal from scratch."

Good Entando to all

Rinaldo 

Entando Wiki

Today I want to talk about the Entando Wiki.
Why?
Well as you know Entando version 3.2 was launched on the web and therefore as each new version it is necessary to review all the technical documentation.

The development team is in the process to complete this process and is has already releasing the most important document to permit you to start developing using this new version.

So click here to access the Entando Wiki page on GitHub.
At the moment available documents are (I changed the order of the list of documents to try to follow a logical order that seems most consistent for me )

General documentation

• Setup a Java development environment for the Entando Platform
  This document explains how to setup a development environment for Java developers. Those who are approaching "Entando" for the first time will find all the software needed in the first place to run, and then a few configuration hints to develop on the Entando platform.
• The Entando Model
  This is an overall view of the model of the platform. Users, Groups, Contents etc. are introduced from an high level perspective, without going too deep in the subject.
• Entando: an unexpected journey. Or, my portal from scratch.
  This guide shows how to create a new portal from scratch in minutes.
• Pattern for application services creation and integration
  This developers-oriented document shows the way and the conventions adopted to create Application Services in the Entando core.
• Plugin Pattern
  This guide explains how to create applications services in form of Entando plugins.
• Entando Rest API Engine
  This guide shows how to implement a REST based service
• Build an Entando portal
  The material contained in this page resumes some of the concepts already seen in the Entando Model, to deepen subjects such as Pages, Contents and Widgets; the aim is to provide quick information to build a portal.
• Entando in production: how to prepare a server, how to deploy your Entando based application
  This step-by-step guide shows to system or network administrators how to setup a basic server where to deploy your project.
• Migration from Entando 3.0 to 3.2
  This step by step guide shows the procedure to port the core of your Entando 3.0 installation to version 3.2

This is a good starting point to begin to develop poprtails and web applications using Entando

Becoming an Entando developer

Did you know that you can write applications that work with content stored in Entando? With our Public API, you can query, update, and delete contents, resources stored in your Entando portals.

Becoming an Entando developer costs nothing and you can create as many API keys as you need. Documentation, sample code, and other resources can be found on the Entando Developer Portal at Entando GitHub

Introduction to Entando Architectural Model

Hi guys,

today I present to you the last post published on the blog Entando:

Entando architectural model is composed by three layers:

• Data Access Layer: It is composed by all the elements which superintend the Persistence Layer. The main component are the DAO classes (Data Access Object) which are the only linking element between the framework and the data sources (Database, Filesystem, LDAP service directory etc.)

• Business Layer: This is the core of the system. Here the concept of Entando service as manager of every macro functionality, takes place. This layer is built upon the Spring Framework, whose listener, during the system start-up, initializes all the services and injects them in the web application context as beans. The Business Layer utilizes the Data Access layer to get the data needed, gives to the higher layer (the Presentation layer) the elements to display and supports it in the execution of actions.

• Presentation Layer: the aim of this layer is to build the graphic interfaces which represent the mean through which the users interact with the system. This layer gives a pure View layer (that is, a JSP without any business logic) and a "slim" controller (which checks the consistency of the data submitted and serves the data produced); both of them provide support to the layer below, the Business Layer. In the Entando framework this layer is divided in two parts:

             - the Portal View, referred to as Front-end
             - the Administration View referred to as Back-end

read more. 

Entando: Pattern for Application Services creation and integration

I suggest you read the new document that will help you to develop new Entando Applications Services
Read the doc

Entando Technical Series - Part 2

As promised I'm back to talk about Entando, today I'll present the second article in the Entando technical series.
I'll  talk about the Entando Core Services.

Before starting I suggest you to take a look at the package com.agiletec.aps.system.services in the Core Engine Entando, you can download it from https://github.com/entando/entando-core-engine

The Entando Core Services layer contains the business logic for the portal platform, the plugin included out of the box, the external data Services, The External Application Services, the UI Control and the REST API public interface.

The following lists present the basic services that are provided by default by Entando

• authorization this is the service that manages and verifies the permissions to access the portal displaying all the necessary methods
• baseconfig this is the service that manage the configuration. The configuration consists of items , identified by a name, and parameters (Parameters can be Simple strings or Complex XML texts)
• cache this is the service that manage the System cache it’s based on the EhCache library.
• category this is the service that manage the Category tree
• controller this is the service that controls the execution of a request from the client. The execution is carried out in sequence by invoking any other services specified in configuration
• group this is the service that manage the user’s group 
• i18n this is the service that provides strings/labels based on the used language(local). The strings/labels are specified by an identification key and the reference language.
• keygenerator as Entando doesn't use the Db sequences generator, for be independent from different players (mySql, Oracle, Postgresql,...) we had create our own sequence service
• lang this is the service that manage the different language used in the portal.
• page this is the service that manage the pages. Pages are held in a tree-like structure, to allow a hierarchical access.
• pagemodel this the service that manage the pagemodel. An Entando portal can have multiple templates, these “templates” are called Page Models (more info http://blog.entando.com/eblog/pages/en/homepage/view_post/?contentId=BLG25)
• role this is the service that manage the different users role present in the portal (for ie administrator, editor, guest, …)
• showlettype this the service that manage the different showlet(*) type used in the portal
• url this is the service that manage URL and creates a full URL to a portal page based on essential information
• user this is the service that manage the users registered in the portal

That's it for now. I expect you all to my next post

(*) Showlets are a key element in the creation of portals with Entando. In short Showlets are dynamic blocks of the portal, all those elements that are expected to want to move, adapt or change in the handling of the pages.(I will talk more in detail about showlet in a later post )

Entando for government

Government agencies need to adopt innovative models and tools to improve quality service to citizens at a reduced cost. This is an overview about how Entando's platform effciently solves issues ...

Entando for government from Entando

Open Data with Entando

Need to know how to manage Open Data with Entando?
Have a look at this slideshare presentation.

Entando and Open Data from Entando

I wish you a Merry Christmas and an Happy New Year

Rinaldo

SOA and Enterprise Inter-Operability with a Portal

Last Post from Sam’s World

Enterprise based portals employ a desirable set of functional characteristics that provide value any number of ways. While ROI and other business calculators are engaged to offer a compelling business argument to the introduction of a company based knowledge repository, my focus will instead lie with efficiencies derived from penetrating the middleware platform of an enterprise. Several benefits provided through the use of web-based portal services & SOA are what I will explore in this post. There is a dominant, myopic perspective in which enterprise portals are viewed as an information architecture and not for what they are – an application. The architecture establishes the foundation for a common view of the data, applications, and a common management interface for content. However, the real benefit of an enterprise portal comes from the convergence, not from the web based display mechanism. This fusion differentiates enterprise portals from a collection of web sites by offering

1. universal access to information,
2. role-based personalization,
3. cross-application workflow,
4. common content management, and
5. centralized user management.

Read the full Post SOA and Enterprise Inter-Operability with a Portal.

Entando Meets Open Data

Last post from Entando Universe :

“Open Data” has become the trend of the moment. Social networks, blogs, magazines on the web speak about about Open Data.
But first of all we need to define what is open data:
“Open Data is data that can be freely used, reused and redistributed by anyone - subject only, at most, to the requirement to attribute and sharealike.” as defined by the Open Definition.
The full Open Definition gives precise details as to what this means:

• Availability and Access: the data must be available as a whole and at no more than a reasonable reproduction cost, preferably by downloading over the internet.

• Reuse and Redistribution: the data must be provided under terms that permit reuse and redistribution including the intermixing with other datasets.

• Universal Participation: everyone must be able to use, reuse and redistribute - there should be no discrimination against fields of endeavour or against persons or groups.

Governments have a broad range of different types of data and most of the government data is public by law, and therefore could be made open and made available for others to use. For this reason Open Data is often associated with Open Government.

Read more  

Enterprise Portals Deliver Unmistakable Value for Today’s Business Needs

New Post from Sam’s World

Organizations that employ and support a distributed workforce increasingly face a dilemma. The absence of critical information often has a negative impact on employees whose livelihoods remain dependent on the access to data housed in company repositories. To address this issue, businesses are increasingly turning to portals to fill this void.

read more

The advantage of Using Rest API’s in Portal Platforms to extend the reach of the portal.

Need to see the slide of my Devoxx presentation?
Visit the Entando page  bit.ly/V8LKyU

Think G-Cloud 2012

Entando will attend to the « Think G-Cloud 2012 » event and it is a Gold Sponsor.

The event will be in London, on Thursday 18th of October at Business Design Centre.
The Think G-Cloud 2012 agenda aims to reflect the dynamism of its subject matter. This programme is designed to keep the interest and relevance of the day focussed right until the end. Often conference numbers trail off after lunch as it is felt the real attractions are in the am sessions. This is not the case with Think G-Cloud. This day is designed to inspire from start to finish.

Entando will hold an interactive workshops  »Open Source Software in Government: The Art of the Possible’ during the seminar section.
more entando.com

Enterprise Portals & Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)

Interesting post (read the post) who tries to put together the ERP and Enterprise Portals. I can add that in addition OpenBravo why we could not insert openERP

I think I would come back to brief the argument to see the possibilities of integrating ERP and Entando

Speak later

New Case Studies for jAPS 2.0 Entando

Some examples about how partners, organizations and governments are using jAPS 2.0 Entando platform:

- "Value Added Program" Case Study by TSC Consulting
- An OSS Portal for the Italian Civil Protection Department
- Prefecture of Catania Case Study by TSC Consulting
- Intramoenia Case Study by MTM-Tech

Matt Casters on Data Integration » Data Modeling

Very Interesting post from Matt Casters about  data modeling
Read it

Open Source Reuse Rating Service

Through LinkedIn, I received an email reporting that Antelink has released the Beta version of it's 'Open Source Reuse Rating Service'.
On their blog you can find a summary about this project and a use case based on the Apache Commons libraries.
Read more...

Rinaldo