Feb 14
A little less configuration, or eliminating the need for mappings in the remoting-config.xml file in WebORB for Rails
After reading this post on the Midnight Coders forum about a method for eliminating the need for mapping services in the remoting-config.xml file WebORB for PHP, and driven by my intense dislike of configuration, I thought I would see if the same thing is possible in WebORB for Rails. Turns out it is really easy.
Here is all you have to do:
1. add endpoint="/weborb" to your RemoteObject definition.
2. Make sure that the destination property on the RemoteObject matches the name of the service class that you want to call in Rails.
For example, if you had a service class in your Rails app called IssueService, here is what the RemoteObject would look like in Flex:
<mx:RemoteObject id="issueService" destination="IssueService"
endpoint="/weborb"
showBusyCursor="true"
result="event.token.resultHandler( event );"
fault="event.token.faultHandler( event );">
</mx:RemoteObject>
That’s all you have to do. Now you don’t have to add any mappings to the remoting-config.xml file (note that you still need to keep the file because WebORB looks for it, you just don’t have to do anything with it), and you can get rid of the -services argument in your compiler options.
I’ve set up all of the services in one of my apps like this and everything seems to be working properly. Let me know if you encounter any issues with this, or if you have any questions.

February 14th, 2007 at 12:24 pm
Nice! I was looking for a way to accomplish this.
Thanks,
- ddh
March 7th, 2007 at 2:42 pm
how would you modify flex_issues_tracker2 to work with this?
June 3rd, 2007 at 4:53 am
Hi,
nice tutorials, I have a doubt though.Do i need to use flex data services if i use WebORB to connect flex with Rails?in other words, the example you have created, uses flex data service or not?
I want to develop an application where i dont want to purchase any thing from adobe (i use plain xml to create mxml) and dont want to restrict my scalability by using flex data service express edition.
Thanks
Rishi
June 3rd, 2007 at 6:19 pm
Hi Rishi,
Thank you for your comment.
No, FDS (soon to be LiveCycle Data Services) is not required. The .swc for FDS is included in the issue tracker app because Cairngorm references it. It is not needed if you want to use WebORB.
Derek
August 16th, 2007 at 12:09 am
Derek,
Your tutorials and experiments have been a big help as I try to build way more than I’m capable.
You mentioned to Rishi that you don’t need to start your Flex project with FDS if you’re using WebORB. But you also mention that Cairngorm references it.
What if one is trying to create an Flex (well, really AIR) application that *also* uses Cairngorm? Can the project still be an “Other/None” project and not involve all that configuration for FDS?
Thanks for any thoughts.
Daniel