1. SQL Repository: uses the Generic SQL Adapter(GSA) to perform a mapping between ATG and data stored in a SQL database.

2.Versioned Repository: is an extension of SQL repository used in ATG Content Administration. It has versions for every set of data.For example a price for a product is edited, new entry will be made with a new version number instead of editing the price.

The SQL repository is implemented through the atg.adapter.gsa package. The main ATG component in the SQL repository is an instance of the atg.adapter.gsa.GSARepository class, which implements the interfaces atg.repository.MutableRepository and atg.repository.content.ContentRepository and which extends the class atg.repository.RepositoryImpl.

Lets keep aside the hardcore theory for now and move to more practical aspects of repositories.

A repository is a collection of repository items. In general, a repository item corresponds to the smallest uniquely identifiable entity in the underlying data store. Each repository item is made of properties and these properties store the data and thus makes a repository item. These properties of a repository item are defined inside the repository’s ITEM DESCRIPTORs. Properties of repository items may be single-valued or multi-valued.

Its still confusing…??? be patient,towards the end there is a something informative which will help you enhance your understanding.

What is an Item Descriptor?
Lets keep it simple with the help of an SQL Repository, for example, each database table have its own repository item descriptor. Sometimes a JOIN of multiple tables into a single item descriptor.

Points to Note:
ATG repositories support Java collections and hence we can store a List, Map or  Arrays.
ATG repositories allow one-one, one – many and many- many relationships.

Here is what i have promised: how to setup a repository..??

We have a database table (eg:  tb_tango).
Now create a property file which specifies the repository mapping xml file, class file, data Source etc. Lets name it as “dummyPropFile.properties“. The mapping xml(repositoryMapping.xml) file specifies the repository item desciptors. And the final step is registering the repository with dynamo(I have explained it in another post(question-5)).

Table name and details

create table tb_tango{
id Varchar2(30),
prof varchar2(255),
fname varchar2(50)
}

“dummyPropFile.properties”

$class=atg.adapter.gsa.GSARepository
definitionFiles=Folder Structure/repositoryMapping.xml
XMLToolsFactory=/atg/dynamo/service/xml/XMLToolsFactory
transactionManager=/atg/dynamo/transaction/TransactionManager
idGenerator=/atg/dynamo/service/IdGenerator
dataSource=/atg/dynamo/service/jdbc/dataSourceFile

* The “dataSourceFile”  is yet another property file where the JDBC connections and database driver,server name, user, password etc are specified.

“repositoryMapping.xml”

<!DOCTYPE gsa-template PUBLIC "-//Art Technology Group, Inc.//DTD General SQL Adapter//EN"
        "http://www.atg.com/dtds/gsa/gsa_1.0.dtd">
<gsa-template>
<item-descriptor name="tango">
	<table name="tb_tango" type="primary" id-column-name="id">
		<property name="id" column-names="id" data-type="string"/>
		<property name="profession" column-names="prof" data-type="string"/>
		<property name="firstname" column-names="fname" data-type="string"/>
	</table>
</item-descriptor>

</gsa-template>

1. SampleBean.properties
The component which bridges the java file with the jsp file.This name is used to import the java class into the jsp. In our example we are keeping it simple, nothing abstruse will be written in that.

$class= rootfolder.SampleBeanJ

The “rootfolder” is the location where the java class resides.And its in this SampleBeanJ we will write our actual application logic.

2. SampleBeanJ.java
SBJ is written like any other java class, it starts with the package information, then the imports, then the class declaration with access specifiers and extentions if any.

package rootfolder;
import java.io.IOException;// not actually required in our case, written just to stick to the standard format.
public class SampleBeanJ
{
	private String varFromBean;

	//getter method
	public String getVarFromBean() {
		return varFromBean;
	}
	//setter method.
	public void setVarFromBean(String varFromBean) {
		this.varFromBean = varFromBean;
	}
}

How the variable “varFromBean” is getting/setting a value is a different issue and we will discuss it in some other session. Our prime focus is on how to use a bean variable in a jsp, also the various methods of handling the bean variables.

Lets take a look at our “ttt.jsp”
Dont forget to include the dsp tag libs at the very beginning. Also the tag libs for the jstl(Jsp Standard Tag Library).
3. ttt.jsp

<%@ taglib uri="/dspTaglib" prefix="dsp" %>
<%@ taglib uri="http://java.sun.com/jstl/core" prefix="c"%>
<dsp:page>
<dsp:importbean bean="rootfolder/SampleBean"/>
//comment : the attribute bean specifies the property file, which in turn points to the java file.(The ATG component centric architecture)
<%
String jspVar1 = "foo";
//comment : Java code inside the JSP is kept inside <% and %> characters (just like expressions, but without the = sign at the start of the sequence.)This block of code is known as a "SCRIPLET".A scriptlet contains Java code that is executed every time the JSP is invoked.
%>
<dsp:getvalueof bean="SampleBean.varFromBean" idtype="java.lang.String" id="jspid">
<%
jspVar1 = jspid;
//comment: the "jspid" has the value of the private string variable"varFromBean" in the SampleBean class.
%>
</dsp:getvalueof>
<%if("foo".equals(jspVar1)){%>
<c:out value="foo from the jsp itself"></c:out>
<%}else{%>
<dsp:valueof bean="SampleBean.varFromBean"/>
//comment:value of the variable will be printed.
<%}%>
</dsp:page>

Here we see a method of using the variable in a bean inside the jsp.There are different other ways also to do the same. I will try to explain those in other posts. Hope this one helps.

Properties of Category and Products as defined by ATG Commerce Framework

Category Properties
ancestorCategories	Set of categories which are higher in the catelog hierarchy than this category.
childCategories	List of all Categories which comes under this Category.
childProducts	List of all products that are children of the category.
creationDate	The date on which the Category was created.
displayName	Is the name ACC displays for the category.
endDate	Date the category will no longer be available.
parentCategory	Specifies the default parent category for the category .
root	Specifies whether this category is the starting of the hierarchy, its a boolean value.
Product Properties:
ancestorCategories	Generated Set of categories that are higher in the catalog hierarchy than the product.
childSKUs	List of all SKUs that are children of the product.
creationDate	Date on which the product was created.
description	Descriptive text for display with the product.
displayName	Product name displayed by the ACC.
endDate	Date the product will no longer be available.
parentCategory	Specifies the default parent category for the product.

Afraid of his/her dad catching you red handed with a mobile message as evidence?? –Tiger text at your service

The above can be a TV/Radio ad in coming days. A new service named TIGER TEXT is awaiting its launch. Tiger Text app or rather a service is intended for phones powered by Google Android or Microsoft windows operating systems, i-Phone OS as well as Blackberries are expected to support this stealth messaging. TT allows the user to send messages which can be set to auto delete after a specified period of time, 1 minute to 30 days. The user can select the life span of a message, and the count down starts from the point when the message is read by the receiver. The interesting facility is the expired message will be deleted from both phones and even from the server, once expired there is no way anybody can retrieve the message. One more thing is one cannot forward the message to themselves, thus making the message entirely untouchable. The self destructive message will be a very effective way of secret messaging and brings in safety for any messages which are mend to be private. Though i-Phone provides the app free with the phone it requires a monthly subscription for using the features, 250 text costs 1.49USD.

Due to this covert nature of this application the launch of the service is being delayed in India. Department of Telecommunications (DoT)is finding it difficult to negotiate with Indian Law Enforcement Agencies. As of now no operator is providing this facility in India, but in a matter of time it will be launched in the huge Indian Telecommunication market. In the US Of A the TT App providers promises to co-operate with any legal inquiries upon demand.
Another Cool Feature:
TigerText shows the status of each message with small icons. When the message is received, the sender will see an orange box with a tick mark.When the message is opened by the recipient, the sender will see a green circle with a tick mark. No more “I didn’t get your text”;  now you will be able to track the messages you send.
The service has around half a million followers who downloaded it. A stream of business users like bankers and even corporates are using TT. To use it both sender and receiver must have the App. There is an enterprise version which is in demand among various firms which want their employees to be in contact privately. Hollywood-celebrities, television industry, screenwriters etc are among the user groups in demand.

Here are some FAQs i read in an official  website on Tiger Text App:

“How does Tiger Text work?
When sending a regular text message or picture over mobile phones, you have no control over how long it will live on the recipient’s phone or the cell phone servers. TigerText is different because, even though it looks and feels like a normal text message, the sender controls when the message is deleted. Reclaim the privacy of your text messages and pics.
Why is it called Tiger Text??
Tigers are notoriously difficult animals to track. TigerTexts are difficult to track as well. ”

So here comes another new technology….

1. Station/Airport
2. Vehicle
3. Office
4. Restaurant
5. Theatre

A sample scenario will give a deep insight into the uses of NFC technology. Read and you will find it interesting,

John woke up a bit late and in a hurry forgot his wallet, thankfully he didnt miss his NFC enabled phone. At the railway station he taps the reader to open the turnstile. A ticket poster helped him get a train ticket by just swiping his phone. Just before boarding the train he found a poster on the station wall, about a concert at the nearest theater. The train was about to go and but he managed to touch the N-mark on the poster with his phone and detailed information about the concert is transferred onto his phone. SMS,3G, internet etc helped him book two seats for the concert.

John reaches office and finds that his id card was in his walet, but his NFC enabled phone came to his rescue again, the phone touch unlocked the security for him. He paid for his lunch using the credit/debit card stored in his phone. Post lunch he had a meeting with business partner, now a days NFC is so common that he exchanged business card with his prospective customer by touching their phones. John finishes his days chores and meets his girl friend at the concert. They enjoyed the concert and later visited a shopping mall where they enjoyed a nice dinner, again credit cards enabled in phone helped him pay the bills. When he reached home he found his phone was missing , he misplaced it somewhere. John immediately placed a call to his mobile service provider and cancels all his NFC services so that his identity is not misused.

I hope the story helped in understanding how NFC is going to revolutionize the mobile phone as well as the wireless gadget market. NFC enabled phones has started hitting the US and UK retail market. Google Nexus S, Samsung Galaxy S II, Nokia C7 etc are the few phone which has the NFC models available. HTC has also announced their NFC enabled gadget towards the 3rd quarter of 2011. Google has hit the market hard with its Gingerbread OS, which has the NFC technology in it. Google NFC has already captured the stage but Nokia with symbian will be in race soon. All we as end users can hope is superior life style and ease in day to day activities.

The encouragement and motivation ipl brings in is immense, ipl-4 showcases that very well. Here are a few names which are bright prospects for Indian Cricket.

Paul Chandrashekar Valthaty: is an Indian who currently plays for Kings XI Punjab in the Indian Premier League. He was part of the Indian under 19 squad in 2002, but there was no high-profile cricket for him after that, in the 2009 ipl season Rajasthan Royals picked him and he played a few matches there. This time with Kings-11 he is tremendous. His century against CSK didn’t impress me; reason was simple there are many one timers. But Valthaty proved me wrong with his prowess as an allrounder, 4 wickets and an elegant 75.

Ambati Thirupathi Rayudu: is another Indian who plays for Mumbai Indians from the last season of ipl itself.He also was a part of the 2002 under 19 squad. Now batting alongside the maestro he is learning lots of things. His scoring shows the improvment, he is another name which got recognition. Sachin even shared his man of the match with him to encourage the young talent. Mumbai head coach Robin Singh says-”It seems Sachin is slowly imparting his passion towards cricket to the youngsters.”

Two batsmen emerged in ipl-4 , but a promising new pace bowler is not yet in vicinity. L.Balaji is the only indian bowler who showed international cricketing standards.(No need to mention Zaheer, he is already part of national team) Balaji is back after a career threatening injury and his 3 wicket hawl against Royals gives a positive sign. Hopefully some interesting matches and names will prop in coming days.

Using the benefits of Cloud computing, one can use applications and software installed from an internet accessible server. It also can be extended to storage of data and providing infrastructural services to applications running at your place. So basically the main services provided by a cloud computing architecture can be summed up into three- Provide applications/software through cloud, provide storage space on the cloud servers and provide infrastructural services and support to applications/software running at your premises. To provide all these services, a platform is required and that is what the Windows Azure Platform is. It basically is the platform through which the developer will access the services and data in the Cloud. It is a group of cloud technologies, each with a task of providing services to application developers. Let’s get down to some details and components of the Windows Azure Platform.

Central to the Windows Azure Platform are the Microsoft Data Centers. The Windows Azure Platform allows users to access the applications deployed and the data stored in the Microsoft Data Centers. These can be thought of as normal Data Centers available in our organizations, only that it’s much bigger in storage capacity and performance. Often the applications are deployed on some data center within the organization and the local machines can access them through the internet or intranet. These Microsoft Data Centers-6 in all, spread across Asia, North America and Europe form the core of the Azure Platform.

The Windows Azure Platform is composed of the following four parts:

 With the Windows Azure Platform, developers are provided with all means to use the benefits of Cloud Computing. Whether it be deploying and using applications in the cloud, storing data in the Cloud or providing infrastructural services, the Windows Azure Platform helps you.

DSP:DROPLET tag: helps you invoke a servlet bean from a JSP page. The programming logic will be encapsulated in a java class(bean) which is used in the jsp.

ForEach Droplet: (“atg.droplet.ForEach” is the class, Component is “atg/dynamo/droplet/ForEach”) help us to iterate through the elements of an array which we specify. The droplet helps us to specify the HTML before and after the array processing also to specify the HTML if the array is empty.

Example:

<dsp:droplet name="/atg/dynamo/droplet/ForEach">
  <dsp:param name="array"  bean="/Employee.technologies"/>
  <dsp:oparam name="outputStart">
    <p>Employee and corresponding technologies</p>
  </dsp:oparam>
  <dsp:oparam name="output">
    <li><dsp:valueof param="element"></dsp:valueof></li>
  </dsp:oparam>
  <dsp:oparam name="outputEnd">
    <p>List finished</p>
  </dsp:oparm>
</dsp:droplet>

Here “Employee” is a bean and “technologies” is returning a set of values(various technlogies the particular employee know).Say atg,java,jsp,javascripts.
The output will be like:
Employee and corresponding technologies
atg
java
jsp
javascripts
List finished

INPUT PARAMETERs in the droplet:
1.   array: parameter can be a collection, enumeration, Iterator, map or array.
2.  sortProperties
This is an optional parameter and holds a string that specifies the order the items in the array are rendered.
A + and – will sort the properties in acsending and descending order respectively. The Syntax varies depending on the type of item in the array,
- If its a JavaBean specify the sortProperties in a comma seperated list of property names.
- If the array constitutes a Strings, numbers or dates; just mention a + or -
- While sorting values of a map and we have to sort according to the key, give “_key” along with +/- to indicate the sort order.
Eg: (in the above order)

<dsp:param name="sortProperties" values="+name, - age"/> (This will sort first by an alphabetical ordering of name and then by descending order of age.)
<dsp:param name="sortProperties" values="+"/>
<dsp:param name="sortProperties" values="+_key"/>

<dsp:param name="color" bean="/myProfile/Color.favoriteColor"/>
<dsp:param name="color" value="Blue"/>
<dsp:param name="color" param="favColor"/>

DSP VALUEOF tag : renders a value in a bean property or page parameter. “BEAN”, “PARAM”,”VALUE” are the attributes used with the tag. Of these three “BEAN” or “PARAM” is mandatory
Sample usage:

<dsp:page>
<dsp:importbean bean="/sample/Employee"/>
<html>
<body>
Name: <dsp:valueof bean="Employee.name"/>
Age: <dsp:valueof bean="Employee.age"/>
</body>
</html>
</dsp:page>

Here valueof will help render the value of employee from the “Employee” imported in the beginning.To include a default value, remove the final back slash, add an end tag (</dsp:valueof>), and insert your default value between that start tag and end tag.
<dsp:valueof bean=”Employee.name”>Default Value</dsp:valueof>

DSP SETVALUE tag: helps the page developer to set a bean property or page parameter with a constant value, value copied from another bean property, param value; “BEAN” or “PARAM” is mandatory attributes with the setvalue tag, these are destination values. The source attributes are BEANVALUE, PARAMVALUE and VALUE. If no source value is specified a NULL is assigned to destination.
Eg:
A fixed value :

<dsp:setvalue bean=“Employee.Designation” value=“analyst” />
A component property value :

<dsp:setvalue bean=“Employee.Designation” beanvalue=“/EmployeeDetails/EmployeeId.Designation” />
A parameter value :

<dsp:setvalue bean=“Employee.Designation” paramvalue=“empDesig” />
“empDesig” : is a page parameter previously set to some value, this will be copied to “Designation” property.

DSP INCLUDE tag: lets you include a page fragment inside a JSP file.It also helps to pass page parameters from the parent page to the included page. SRC or PAGE are the required attributes.One must use one of these attributes to specify which page needs to be included.

Tag Converters:
Allows the formatting of the tags.They let you specify how data in forms is interpreted and displayed, and to control when exceptions are thrown. Various tag converters are date, required,maxdate,mindate,nullable,number etc. The converters can be used in two different ways:
Explicit Converter:
<dsp:valueof bean=”Employee.DOB” converter=”date” date=”M/dd/yyyy”/>
Here the “converter” specifies the type of attribute later date=”M/dd/yyyy” specifies the format in which the bean value to be rendered.Output will look like 5/08/1986. Instead if we give date=”MMM dd,yyyy”, the output will be MAY 08,1986.
Implicit Converter:
Avoids the “converter” attribute and directly gives the format.
<dsp:valueof bean=“Employee.DOB” date=“M dd yyyy”/>