Francisco Tolmasky presented on the latest goodies from 280North at JSConf. In the past we’ve given the 280North guys a bad time for talking about 280Slides and their other stuff using… Keynote. I don’t know if he used Keynote at JSConf, but Francisco published the slides using the 280Slides web-based presentation viewer, which is also embeddable:
(We like the embedded viewer, but did they have to make it swallow common keystrokes? On Firefox OS X, once we embed this IFrame, APPLE-W makes the slide turn white. 10 points for a cool feature, -100 points for hijacking the browser in this context.)
The slides make for a good review of Cappuccino but just include brief mentions of the other interesting bits, such as the new Aristo theme designed by SOFA and the amazing Atlas.
Fortunately, there is a recent video of a talk by Francisco on March 30 to the CocoaHeads user group:
We are really excited about Atlas. The great 280North team have continued their trajectory in first building Objective C for the Web (Objective J), then Cocoa (Cappuccino) , and now Interface Builder (Atlas).
Although we won’t see the live Atlas for a couple more months, Francisco Tolmasky has kindly written up more details for us to look over, including more video:
Read more and you will learn:
The WYSIWYG world of Atlas
The new world of Layout: Atlas provides a new take on web layout that make it easy to define precisely the behavior you want, while simultaneously doing away with existing browser inconsistencies.
Less Glue: A common problem that has plagued layout editors in the past is the need for additional glue code to “talk” to the generated interface.
Model View Controller Built-In: Cappuccino is a Model-View-Controller framework, and Atlas takes this idea to the next level by allowing you to not only create visual elements, but abstract models and controllers as well. By allowing you to interact directly with the objects in your program visually, you can focus on building unique interactions instead of learning a myriad of APIs.
Multi-Platform Support: With Atlas, it is drop dead simple to create a unique and custom interface for different platforms like the web browser and the iPhone.
Dave Reed wrote in to tell us about an article he's written about Microsoft ASP.NET Ajax's utility for adding observability to JavaScript objects. The idea is simple:
The Microsoft AJAX 4.0 preview includes this Sys.Observer class that allows you to be notified of updates to POJO's, provided you use its APIs to modify them.
Sys.Observer provides a mechanism for registering (and de-registering) listeners to be notified when values change in the object:
Eric Popivker has released AutoSuggestMenu 1.1, a .NET component for doing the old-faithful-autosuggest feature that helped to get Ajax on the map (pun intended).
Features
Attaches itself to a specified text box.
Utilizes Microsoft AJAX Extensions and JSON to retrieve data from the server.
Uses paging to iterate through a large number of suggestions
Enables user to use up/down keys or mouse to select appropriate item in auto-complete box.
Easy to add to existing ASP.NET applications.
Customize the look of auto-complete box using CSS.
"Microsoft is joining the OpenAJAX Alliance to collaborate with other industry leaders to help evolve AJAX-style development by ensuring a high degree of interoperability," said Keith Smith, group product manager of the Core Web Platform & Tools to UX Web/Client Platform & Tools team at Microsoft Corp. "By joining OpenAJAX, Microsoft is continuing its commitment to empower Web developers with technology that works cross-browser and cross-platform."
The newest OpenAjax Alliance members include: 24SevenOffice, ActiveGrid, ActiveState, Appeon, Aptana, Arimaan Global Consulting, Custom Credit Systems (Thinwire), ESRI, Getahead (DWR), Global Computer Enterprises, GoETC, Helmi Technologies, HR-XML, iPolipo, Isomorphic Software, JSSL, Lightstreamer, Microsoft, MobileAware, NetScript Technologies, OpenSpot, OpenSymphony (OpenQA), OpSource, OS3.IT, Redmonk, Tealeaf Technology, Teleca Mobile, Transmend, Visible Measures, Visual WebGui and Volantis Systems.
The Alliance is also announcing that the following members have all been awarded OpenAjax Interoperability certificates: Apache XAP, Dojo Foundation, ICEsoft, ILOG, Isomorphic, IT Mill, Lightstreamer, Open Link, Open Spot, Nexaweb, Software AG and TIBCO. The interoperability certificates represent progress by both OpenAjax Alliance and its members towards defining and achieving industry support for OpenAjax Conformance.
So you've been reading up on the boatload of Ajax solutions out there and, with the countless number, it hard to keep track sometimes. A little while back, Microsoft tossed their own hat into the ring with Atlas, an offering to make life easier for ASP.NET users to get in on the Ajax fun. But where to start learning about this new technology? Well, this new article from the Ajax Developers Journal guides you through everything you'll need to get started.
Iimplementing AJAX may not be easy since it involves writing a lot of code in a client-side scripting language like JavaScript and any developer who has worked with one would attest to the fact that developing and debugging complicated client scripts can sometimes be daunting. It can be even more daunting to maintain Web applications where the logic is interspersed between client and server code.
The Atlas framework from Microsoft promises to fill this gap and make it easier for the ASP.NET developer to easily develop interactive AJAX-enabled applications. In this article we'll look at what ATLAS is and focus on the server controls that an ASP.NET developer can use to "AJAX-ify" his applications.
They start off with an introduction to what Atlas is and how it all works including the Atlas Server Controls and the Script Manager. They provide a sample bit of script here to illustrate how things fit together, including the terms/keywords EnablePartialRendering, EnableScriptComponents, ScriptReference, ServiceReference.
Next up is a look at some of the other panels/controls offered - the UpdatePanel (with the ControlEventTrigger and ControlValueTrigger), TimerControl, UpdateProgress, and how to extend and enhance the functionality already there. These include:
Been wondering how to get Atlas and Ajax to play nicely together, but just don't know how to get started? Well, this quick tutorial might be a good place to start. They show (complete with code) how to create a simple quiz for your site.
As my first article on Code Project, I'd like to talk about a little proof of concept I created around AJAX/Atlas techologies. When I saw this screencast, I thought it could be easily used for a simple AJAX quiz system, so here I am :) Code is really simple and there's no error management, but maybe later I'll update this code to create a more complete solution.
Of course, you'll need Atlas installed and some sort of database (they chose SQL Server for ease) to hold the questions, but the rest is all up to the code you enter. They step you through the creation of the tables, the actual markup to generate the page, the web service to handle the user's response, and, finally, the Javascript code to make it all work.
, Cappuccino
