What's New

LiveCycle Data Services ES is the next generation of Flex Data Services. The name change reflects an important expansion in the use of these valuable services. In addition to serving the needs of both Flex and Ajax developers, LiveCycle Data Services ES will provide enhanced integration with Adobe’s other LiveCycle server products for document and process management, enabling business to create new ways to engage and reach customers. In addition to the existing features of data services, this release focuses on a few key themes:

• Integrating and adding value to LiveCycle
• Fit and Finish of Data Services 2
• Preparing for the future with Apollo and collaboration
• Making Data Services more approachable

In support of these themes we have a powerful set of new capabilities including:

• A new Flex SDK, which includes updates to the client-side Web Services library.
• Server-side PDF generation capabilities for RIA applications generates properly formatted PDF documents that include graphical assets from Flex applications, such as graphs and charts.
• The Runtime configuration feature provides Server APIs to programmatically create and modify Services, Destinations, and Adapters, and as a result it eliminates the need for the compile-time dependency between clients and the server configuration.
  
• Support for WSRP portal deployment of Flex applications, which makes it easy for developers to deploy a Flex application as a portlet in a portal server without having to do any  portal specific programming.
• Per Client Messaging quality of service (QoS) allowing Flex clients to select custom data access policies for real- time data.
• Ajax Data Services, enabling Ajax applications to take advantage of the data management and messaging capabilities available in Data Services.
• The Flex-Ajax Bridge (FABridge), which is a small library that can be inserted into a Flex application, a Flex component, or even an empty SWF file to expose it to scripting in the browser without any additional coding.
• Improved off-line message queuing, supporting future Apollo development, which allows Flex applications using Data Services to queue outbound messages locally when the client is offline and manage exactly what is sent to the server upon reconnect.
• Groundwork for future Apollo application support, including a local data cache that enables developers to cache client data requests and data changes to the local file system for later retrieval when an application resumes.
• RTMP tunneling (RTMPT) that allows the use of the RTMP protocol in Data Services applications to traverse firewalls and proxies that currently prevent direct RTMP client connections to the server.
• A new SQL adaptor, which dramatically simplifies the development of applications using Data Management Services without having to write any server-side Java code.
• A new JSP Tag Library that enables MXML and ActionScript code to be embedded into a JSP page providing an easier entry for J2EE developers to Flex programming.
• Several important enhancements to core Data Services performance and scalability.

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Getting Started

Starting LiveCycle Data Services ES

(Windows only) Start and stop the JRun server as follows:

• To start the JRun server, select Programs > Adobe > LiveCycle Data Services ES 2.5 > Start Integrated LiveCycle Data Services Server.
• To stop the JRun server, press Control+C, or type the following command in a separate command prompt window: jrun -stop default

(All platforms) Start and stop the JRun server, as follows:

1. To start the JRun server: Open a command prompt window.
2. Change directories to the jrun_root/bin directory under the Flex Data Services installation folder. The default path is C:\lcds\jrun4\bin.
3. Start the JRun server by typing the following command: jrun -start default
4. To stop the JRun server, press Control+C, or type the following command in a separate command prompt window: jrun -stop default
5. With the server running, the samples application is available at: http://localhost:8700/samples

 

Learning Essentials

• If you are new to LiveCycle Data Services, we recommend that you take a look at one of our samples called the 30 Minute Test Drive. This test-drive consists of a series of eight samples kept as concise as possible (typically between 10 and 50 lines of code). Its objective is to give you, in a very short amount of time, an understanding of how LiveCycle Data Services works and what it can do. To access the 30 Minute Test Drive, with your server running, go to http://<hostname>:<port_num>/samples/testdrive.
• We have also provided a number of other LiveCycle Data Services samples that can help you begin developing applications quickly. The samples show you how to use the most basic features, and include examples of best practices to follow when building LiveCycle Data Services applications. To view the samples, with your server running, go to http://<hostname>:<port_num>/samples.

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Release Notes

The LiveCycle Data Services ES Release Notes provide system configuration information, additional getting started information, and a list of the current known issues.

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Documentation

The following documentation is available for LiveCycle Data Services ES:

• LiveCycle Data Services ES Developer's Guide provides the tools for you to develop applications by using LiveCycle Data Services ES. This manual is intended for application developers who are learning LiveCycle Data Services ES or want to extend their programming knowledge for that component. It also provides information about server-side administration of LiveCycle Data Services ES.
• LiveCycle ES ActionScript References provides LiveCycle Data Services ES APIs, LiveCycle ES Form Guide ActionScript APIs, Flex 2 MXML and ActionScript APIs, and Flash Player 9 ActionScript APIs. It supercedes the Adobe Flex 2 Language Reference when using LiveCycle Data Services ES.
• Release Notes, Installation Instructions, and Known Issues.

The Flex 2 documentation that you use with LiveCycle Data Services ES is as follows:

• Getting Started with Flex 2 provides an introduction to Adobe Flex 2 SDK and Adobe Flex Builder 2. This book is intended for application developers who are new to the Flex product line and require an overview of Flex features and capabilities.
• Flex 2 Developer's Guide describes application development basics, such as MXML and ActionScript syntax, creating applications, using Flex components, the Flex data model, error handling, and Flex Charting 2. The LiveCycle Data Services ES Developer's Guide supercedes the Flex Data Services sections of this document.
• Building and Deploying Flex 2 Applications describes the tasks you perform when analyzing, designing, building, and deploying a Flex 2 application.
• Creating and Extending Flex 2 Components provides instructions on creating, using, and extending components.
  
• Migrating Applications to Flex 2 describes how to migrate a Flex application from version 1.0 or 1.5 to version 2 (PDF only).
  
• Programming ActionScript 3.0 provides concepts and usage information for ActionScript 3.0

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Samples

To display the LiveCycle Data Services ES samples home page, open a browser and display the following URL:

• http://localhost:portnumber/samples (portnumber is the HTTP port number; for example, http://localhost:8080/samples)

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Community and Resources

You can access the LiveCycle Data Services ES community and online resources from the following pages:

• LiveCycle Data Services ES Solution Component Overview Page
• LiveCycle ES Developer Center
• LiveCycle ES Support Center
• Adobe Labs Home Page
• Flex.org
• Christophe Coenraet's Blog
• James Ward's Blog

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Additional Licenses and Copyrights

By installing this product, in addition to the Adobe license terms, you also agree to be bound by the third-party terms specified here. Adobe recommends that you review these third-party terms.

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