Vanity Foul

Vanity Foul
Dedicated to the wanderings of an egotistical mind.

Monday March 30, 2009

Standalone GORM via Java

I spent some time re-jiggering the code, specifically getting Burt's GormHelper to load from the applicationContext.xml. I also pulled the use of domainclasses.txt and listed them directly (I'd rather make the code smarter and have it load anything with the @Entity annotation - but that's beyond the current exercise). Don't forget to change the base-package in the gorm:sessionFactory bean.

    <bean id="gormHelper" class="com.burtbeckwith.gorm.GormHelper">
	  <constructor-arg>
	  	<list>
	  		<value>com.brainopolis.GormAuthor</value>
	  		<value>com.brainopolis.GormBook</value>
	  	</list>
	  </constructor-arg>
	</bean>

I've got a simple GormProxy for a few dynamic GORM methods - save(), findBy() - but you'd probably want to build a proper Interface for the GORM classes to extend. I've built a small demonstration app, complete with new GormHelper, applicationContext.xml, and a couple Test Cases.
( Mar 30 2009, 01:07:25 PM ) Groovy n Grails Permalink
Trackback: http://www.brainopolis.com/roller/trackback/lance/Weblog/standalone_gorm_via_java

Friday March 27, 2009

Using GORM from Java

As the advocate of GORM, it fell to me to prove that it was possible to use GORM from within a Java application. I knew, theoritically, that is was possible, but it took me a couple days to prove it. The few related links I could find were all pre-Grails 1.1, and most were over a year old. Still, based on the shoulders of the giants who went before me, I was able to get it working.

Here is the list of Giants, and the pages the left behind to guide me:

The old Standalone GORM page told me it was possible, just not how.
Many links were found on this Swik page.
The Grails 1.1 Release Notes told me that something important had changed, and I couldn't just use what went before.
Anthony Caliendo was trying to do the opposite, but his struggles were still instructional.
Burt Beckwith's adventures were key, and without his GormHelper I wouldn't have succeeded. I've made changes based on Grails 1.1 GORM.
I'm going to buy Robert's GORM book, but I don't want a PDF and I don't have time to wait for it to come out in 'dead tree.'
Graeme answered my stupid and obvlivious question on the user-AT-grails.codehaus-DOT-org mailing list.
John Mclean provided many complicated posts that once I figure out will make my hack much more elegant.
Finally, the excellent API docs for Grails.

( Mar 27 2009, 01:27:54 PM ) Groovy n Grails Permalink
Trackback: http://www.brainopolis.com/roller/trackback/lance/Weblog/using_gorm_from_java

Thursday March 19, 2009

Parrot 1.0 It's been a long time coming, Parrot 1.0 is finally released. How far behind is Perl 6?
( Mar 19 2009, 06:27:10 AM ) Technology Permalink [Link]
Trackback: http://www.brainopolis.com/roller/trackback/lance/Weblog/parrot_1_0

Monday February 23, 2009

Epoch Time Event

Kottke notices that tomorrow, Feb 13th, at 5:31:30 PM Central Time, the unix clock (which some call "epoch time") will hit 1234567890 (that is the number of milliseconds since 'the beginning', Jan 1 1970 iirc). Some coworkers and I are celebrating at Shamrocks, stop on by and join us.
( Feb 23 2009, 10:34:52 AM ) Technology Permalink [Link]
Trackback: http://www.brainopolis.com/roller/trackback/lance/Weblog/epoch_time_event1

Thursday February 05, 2009

Warning: Zombies Ahead lighten up people

"oh noes, someone might crashed reading about scary zombies whilst driving!" I think the hazard is minimal to non-existent, and I find it ... interesting that the people interviewed are so worked up. Or perhaps the TV station only showed those who were upset, and not the interviewees ROFLMAO?
( Feb 05 2009, 12:17:44 PM ) Entertainment Permalink [Link]
Trackback: http://www.brainopolis.com/roller/trackback/lance/Weblog/warning_zombies_ahead

Wednesday February 04, 2009

Re: Re: Grails Testing Fixtures

I edited the Fixtures plugin:

class FixtureLoader implements ApplicationContextAware {
    
    def classLoader
    ApplicationContext applicationContext
    
    def createBuilder() {
        new FixtureBuilder(applicationContext, classLoader)
    }
    
    void load(String[] fixtures) {
        def bb = createBuilder()
        fixtures.each {
            bb.loadBeans("/fixtures/${it}.groovy")
        }
        applicationContext = bb.createApplicationContext()
    }
    
    void load(Closure beans) {
        def bb = createBuilder()
        bb.beans(beans)
        applicationContext = bb.createApplicationContext()
    }
    
    Object getProperty(String name) {
    	if (applicationContext.getProperty(name)) {
    		return applicationContext.getProperty(name)
    	}
    	return super.getProperty(name)
    }
}

This doesn't completely fix my complaints, but now I've direct access to the object created in the fixture:

   fixtureLoader.load("testing")
   def fooInstance = fixtureLoader.foo1
   def barInstance = fixtureLoader.bar1

I still have the instantiation/relationship issues, but that's due to Spring's BeanBuilder, not the Fixture plugin itself. Perhaps I'll look into what it would take to fix that as well.
( Feb 04 2009, 08:09:21 PM ) Groovy n Grails Permalink
Trackback: http://www.brainopolis.com/roller/trackback/lance/Weblog/re_re_grails_testing_fixtures

Re: Grails Test Fixtures

I'm less happy with Grails Test Fixtures plugin today, as I discovered that it won't do both sides of a relationship properly. If I've got class Foo which hasMany Bar's, and Bar belongsTo Foo:

testing.groovy
beans {
   foo1(Foo) {
      name = "foobar"
      bars = [/* FAILS -> ref(bar1) */]
   }

   bar1(Bar) {
      name = "barbaz"
      foo = foo1
   }
}

I can't say bars = [bar1] because bar1 won't have been instantiated yet. Even trying to use the "deferred" object references fails. And I cannot declare bar1 first, because it won't be able to set it's foo property and will fail to save. So

   fixtureLoader.load("testing")
   def foo1 = Foo.findByName("foobar")
   // foo1.bars will be empty
   def bar1 = Bar.findByName("barbaz")
   foo1.bars = [bar1]

   // now I can start testing

Which brings me to another point: Ruby fixtures would expose foo1 and bar1 as instances for me to use, no lookup necessary (as I understand it). Maybe I'm not doing it right? Will they be there in Grails Fixtures if I use the Spring Application Context?
( Feb 04 2009, 02:07:35 PM ) Groovy n Grails Permalink Comments [1]
Trackback: http://www.brainopolis.com/roller/trackback/lance/Weblog/re_grails_test_fixtures

Tuesday February 03, 2009

Re: What GOP Leaders deem wasteful in Senate stimulus bill

From CNN: "On Monday, House Republican leaders put out a list of what they call wasteful provisions in the Senate version of the nearly $900 billion stimulus bill that is being debated". I have to agree that several of these are questionable, others are defensible with "economic stimulation" in mind.

$2 billion earmark to re-start FutureGen, a near-zero emissions coal power plant in Illinois that the Department of Energy defunded last year because it said the project was inefficient. Sounds like a good idea to me, but also reeks of favoritism since it is in Obama's home state.
A $246 million tax break for Hollywood movie producers to buy motion picture film. WHAT?!
$650 million for the digital television converter box coupon program. From what I hear, the FCC underfunded this program. By $650 million though?
$88 million for the Coast Guard to design a new polar icebreaker (arctic ship). Do we really need a new polar icebreaker? Even though the polar ice is melting faster every year?
$448 million for constructing the Department of Homeland Security headquarters. I'm guessing this has gone way over budget?
$600 million to buy hybrid vehicles for federal employees. Are these fleet or personal? Upgrading the fleet to hybrid's makes sense to me, gifting personal cars doesn't.
$6 billion to turn federal buildings into "green" buildings. This one only makes sense in the scope of economic stimulus, plus it should help get solar into that 'economy of scale' that's needed to tip the pricing into accessible to the populace
$850 million for Amtrak. Again, what?!
$200 million in funding for the lease of alternative energy vehicles for use on military installations. Let the military agencies pay for this out of their normal funding.

It's really tempting to comment on every line item, but I've tried to restrain myself.
( Feb 03 2009, 03:00:55 PM ) Politics Permalink [Link]
Trackback: http://www.brainopolis.com/roller/trackback/lance/Weblog/re_what_gop_leaders_deem

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