Datasheet
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Adobe Flex 2
Figure 7 shows a high-level overview of the services provided by Flex Data Services. When working
with Flex Data Services, developers dene a set of “destinations” using XML conguration les. ese
denitions are used by the built-in service adapters provided as part of the Flex Data Services
application. ese include low-level adapters to connect to Java objects (data access objects), JMS
topics/queues, or ColdFusion components (CFCs) as well as higher level adapters for common
persistence solutions such as Hibernate, Enterprise JavaBeans (EJB), and Spring. e Flex Data
Services adapter architecture is open and customizable, allowing connectivity to any back-end
data system or application.
Once the appropriate destinations have been congured, the Flex developer can access them
through a set of client APIs, either in MXML or ActionScript.
Flex Message Service
All of the data services mentioned previously use the Flex Data Services server message bus for
high-performance data communication and reliability between the Flex client and the server. All
service calls are routed through the message service, including remote procedure call (RPC) calls.
As a result, calls made from within Flex applications are automatically queued when the network is
unavailable, providing a higher level of reliability and the foundation for oine applications. Similar
to a JMS-based messaging system, the Flex Message Service provides developers with complete control
over quality of service, including conguration parameters for reliable message delivery and time to
live, load balancing and clustering, and the ability to set up multiple failover channels per destination.
e Flex Message Service is optimized for communication between Flex clients and Flex Data
Services servers. It is not designed to replace existing messaging systems but rather to extend
those systems to allow thin clients to participate in existing enterprise messaging applications.
e message service integrates with existing messaging systems through a set of adapters. A JMS
adapter is available out of the box. ird-party vendors and developers can also develop their
own adapters for messaging systems that don’t support JMS.
e addition of messaging to Flex applications enables whole new classes of web applications. Real-time
data feeds that integrate with JMS or other messaging technologies can provide highly accurate
stock prices for a rich trader desktop or monitoring dashboard, and asynchronous communications
can be pushed to a Flex application without a client request. e Flex Message Service supports
collaborative applications that include peer-to-peer chat, gaming, or in-context co-browsing. All of
these applications can be deployed using a thin client and the web deployment model.
RPC Services
Flex RPC Services include the Remoting Service and proxies for managing HTTP and SOAP
requests. e Remoting Service provides native connectivity between Flex clients and remote
server-side Java objects. As a result, Flex applications can easily integrate with existing applica-
tion logic, including the Java session object. e Remoting Service handles data marshaling
Figure 7: Flex Data Services 2 capabilities.
RPC services
Data management
Messaging
Web services
HTTP service
Remote object
Data sync
OCC
Paging
Collaboration
Publish/subscribe
Data push
Service adapters
Runtime
compiler
Flex Data Services 2 capabilities
Java™ JMS Hibernate ColdFusion® Custom…










