Working with RestfulX Models

Basic Operations

Displaying model instances in a List

  <mx:List id="projectsList"
    width="100%" height="100%"
    dataProvider="{Rx.models.index(Project)}"/>

Creating a model instance

  private function createProject():void {
    var project:Project = new Project();
    // set properties
    project.name = nameTextInput.text;
    project.notes = notesTextArea.text;
    project.startDate = startDateDateField.selectedDate;
    project.endDate = endDateDateField.selectedDate;
    project.completed = completedCheckBox.selected;
    project.user = User(userComboBox.selectedItem);
    // create
    project.create();
  }

Updating a model instance

  private function updateProject():void {
    // set properties
    _project.name = nameTextInput.text;
    _project.notes = notesTextArea.text;
    _project.startDate = startDateDateField.selectedDate;
    _project.endDate = endDateDateField.selectedDate;
    _project.completed = completedCheckBox.selected;
    _project.user = User(userComboBox.selectedItem);
    // update
    _project.update();
  }

Deleting a model instance

  private function destroyProject():void {
    _project.destroy();
  }

Want a more feature complete example? Check out Pomodo On Rails

Example Configurations

Configuration	Flex/AIR : Remote AR-like DS	AIR : SQLite	Flex/AIR : CouchDB	Flex : GAE
Primitive Attributes1	+	+	+	+
Primary Relationships2 (BelongsTo, HasOne, HasMany)	+	+	+	+
Polymorphic Relationships3	+	+	+	+
Tree-Like Structures/Self-Referential Relationships4	+	+	+	+
Custom Key Relationships5	+	+	+	+
Single Table Inheritance6	+	+	+	+
Many-to-Many Relationships7	+	+	+	+
Conditional Relationships8 (HasOne, HasMany, Many-to-Many)	+	+	+	+
Nested Relationships9	+	–	–	+
Custom Methods10	+	–	–	+
Model Path Prefixes11	+	–	–	+
Nested Models12	+	–	–	+

Nested Relationships, Custom Methods, etc are not supported with SQLite because they are not relevant. They are specific to performance optimization when dealing with remote data sources.

If working with SQLite or CouchDB only you don’t need any servers running and by implication neither ActiveRecord, nor DataMapper, etc are necessary. RestfulX framework persists all of these configurations by itself. Only AS3 examples below are relevant when working with SQLite or CouchDB. If you are using CouchDB make sure to have your CouchDB database running of course.

Code Samples

¹ Primitive Attributes

  package restfulx.test.models {
    import org.restfulx.models.RxModel;
    [Resource(name="simple_properties")]
    [Bindable]
    public class SimpleProperty extends RxModel {
      public static const LABEL:String = "name";
      public var name:String;
      public var amount:int;
      public var price:Number;
      public var quantity:Number;
      public var available:Boolean;
      public var deliveredOn:Date;
      [DateTime]
      public var soldOn:Date;
      [DateTime]
      public var createdAt:Date;
      public function SimpleProperty() {
        super(LABEL);
      }
    }
  }

ActiveRecord Model

  class SimpleProperty < ActiveRecord::Base
  end

ActiveRecord Migration

  class CreateSimpleProperties < ActiveRecord::Migration
    def self.up
      create_table :simple_properties do |t|
        t.string :name
        t.integer :amount
        t.float :price
        t.decimal :quantity
        t.boolean :available
        t.date :delivered_on
        t.time :sold_on
        t.timestamps
      end
    end
    def self.down
      drop_table :simple_properties
    end
  end

² Primary Relationships (BelongsTo, HasOne, HasMany)

AS3

  package restfulx.test.models {
    import org.restfulx.models.ModelsCollection;
    import org.restfulx.models.RxModel;
    [Resource(name="projects")]
    [Bindable]
    public class Project extends RxModel {
      public static const LABEL:String = "name";
      public var name:String;
      [HasOne]
      public var contractor:Contractor;
      [HasMany]
      public var tasks:ModelsCollection;
      public function Project() {
        super(LABEL);
      }
    }
  }
  package restfulx.test.models {
    import org.restfulx.models.RxModel;
    [Resource(name="contactors")]
    [Bindable]
    public class Contractor extends RxModel {
      public static const LABEL:String = "name";
      public var name:String;
      public var address:String;
      public var city:String;
      [BelongsTo]
      public var project:Project;
      public function Contractor() {
        super(LABEL);
      }
    }
  }
  package restfulx.test.models {
    import org.restfulx.models.RxModel;
    [Resource(name="tasks")]
    [Bindable]
    public class Task extends RxModel {
      public static const LABEL:String = "name";
      public var name:String;
      [BelongsTo]
      public var project:Project;
      public function Task() {
        super(LABEL);
      }
    }
  }

ActiveRecord Model

  class Project < ActiveRecord::Base
    has_one :contractor
    has_many :tasks
  end
  class Contractor < ActiveRecord::Base
    belongs_to :project
  end
  class Task < ActiveRecord::Base
    belongs_to :project
  end

ActiveRecord Migration

  class CreateProjects < ActiveRecord::Migration
    def self.up
      create_table :projects do |t|
        t.string :name
        t.timestamps
      end
    end
    def self.down
      drop_table :projects
    end
  end
  class CreateContractors < ActiveRecord::Migration
    def self.up
      create_table :contractors do |t|
        t.string :name
        t.string :address
        t.string :city
        t.references :project
        t.timestamps
      end
    end
    def self.down
      drop_table :contactors
    end
  end
  class CreateTasks < ActiveRecord::Migration
    def self.up
      create_table :tasks do |t|
        t.string :name
        t.references :project
        t.timestamps
      end
    end
    def self.down
      drop_table :tasks
    end
  end

³ Polymorphic Relationships

AS3

  package restfulx.test.models {
    import org.restfulx.models.RxModel;
    [Resource(name="locations")]
    [Bindable]
    public class Location extends RxModel {
      public static const LABEL:String = "lineOne";
      public var lineOne:String;
      public var lineTwo:String;
      public var city:String;
      [BelongsTo(polymorphic="true", dependsOn="Employee, Customer")]
      public var owner:Object;
      public function Location() {
        super(LABEL);
      }
    }
  }
  package restfulx.test.models {
    import org.restfulx.models.RxModel;
    [Resource(name="employees")]
    [Bindable]
    public class Employee extends RxModel {
      public static const LABEL:String = "name";
      public var name:String;
      [HasOne]
      public var location:Location;
      public function Employee() {
        super(LABEL);
      }
    }
  }
  package restfulx.test.models {
    import org.restfulx.models.RxModel;
    [Resource(name="customers")]
    [Bindable]
    public class Customer extends RxModel {
      public static const LABEL:String = "name";
      public var name:String;
      [HasOne]
      public var location:Location;
      public function Customer() {
        super(LABEL);
      }
    }
  }

ActiveRecord Model

  class Location < ActiveRecord::Base
    belongs_to :owner, :polymorphic => true
  end
  class Customer < ActiveRecord::Base
    has_one :location, :as => :owner
  end
  class Employee < ActiveRecord::Base
    has_one :location, :as => :owner
  end

ActiveRecord Migration

  class CreateLocations < ActiveRecord::Migration
    def self.up
      create_table :locations do |t|
        t.string :line_one
        t.string :line_two
        t.string :city
        t.references :owner, :polymorphic => true
        t.timestamps
      end
    end
    def self.down
      drop_table :locations
    end
  end
  class CreateEmployees < ActiveRecord::Migration
    def self.up
      create_table :employees do |t|
        t.string :name
        t.timestamps
      end
    end
    def self.down
      drop_table :employees
    end
  end
  class CreateCustomers < ActiveRecord::Migration
    def self.up
      create_table :customers do |t|
        t.string :name
        t.timestamps
      end
    end
    def self.down
      drop_table :customers
    end
  end

⁴ Tree-Like Structures/Self-Referential Relationships

AS3

  package restfulx.test.models {
    import org.restfulx.models.RubossTreeModel;
    [Resource(name="categories")]
    [Bindable]
    public class Category extends RubossTreeModel {
      public static const LABEL:String = "name";
      public var name:String;
      [BelongsTo]
      public var parent:Category;
      public function Category() {
        super(LABEL);
      }
    }
  }
  package restfulx.test.models {
    import org.restfulx.collections.ModelsCollection;
    import org.restfulx.models.RxModel;
    [Resource(name="facebook_users")]
    [Bindable]
    public class FacebookUser extends RxModel {
      public static const LABEL:String = "name";
      public var name:String;
      [BelongsTo(referAs="friends")]
      public var friend:FacebookUser;
      [HasMany(type="FacebookUser")]
      public var friends:ModelsCollection;
      public function FacebookUser() {
        super(LABEL);
      }
    }
  }

ActiveRecord Model

  class Category < ActiveRecord::Base
    acts_as_tree
  end
  class FacebookUser < ActiveRecord::Base
    belongs_to :friend, :class_name => 'FacebookUser'
    has_many :friends, :class_name => 'FacebookUser'
  end

ActiveRecord Migration

  class CreateCategories < ActiveRecord::Migration
    def self.up
      create_table :categories do |t|
        t.string :name
        t.integer :parent_id
        t.timestamps
      end
    end
    def self.down
      drop_table :categories
    end
  end
  class CreateFacebookUsers < ActiveRecord::Migration
    def self.up
      create_table :facebook_users do |t|
        t.string :name
        t.integer :friend_id
        t.timestamps
      end
    end
    def self.down
      drop_table :facebook_users
    end
  end

⁵ Custom Key Relationships

AS3

  package restfulx.test.models {
    import org.restfulx.models.RxModel;
    [Resource(name="actors")]
    [Bindable]
    public class Actor extends RxModel {
      public static const LABEL:String = "name";
      public var name:String;
      [BelongsTo]
      public var movie:Movie;
      [BelongsTo]
      public var actionMovie:Movie;
      [BelongsTo]
      public var documentary:Movie;
      public function Actor() {
        super(LABEL);
      }
    }
  }
  package restfulx.test.models {
    import org.restfulx.collections.ModelsCollection;
    import org.restfulx.models.RxModel;
    [Resource(name="movies")]
    [Bindable]
    public class Movie extends RxModel {
      public static const LABEL:String = "name";
      public var name:String;
      [HasOne]
      public var leadActor:Actor;
      [HasMany]
      public var actors:ModelsCollection;
      public function Movie() {
        super(LABEL);
      }
    }
  }

ActiveRecord Model

  class Actor < ActiveRecord::Base
    belongs_to :movie
    belongs_to :action_movie, :class_name => 'Movie'
    belongs_to :documentary, :class_name => 'Movie'
  end
  class Movie < ActiveRecord::Base
    has_one :lead_actor, :class_name => 'Actor', :order => 'name asc'
    has_many :actors
  end

ActiveRecord Migration

  class CreateActors < ActiveRecord::Migration
    def self.up
      create_table :actors do |t|
        t.string :name
        t.references :movie
        t.references :action_movie
        t.references :documentary
        t.timestamps
      end
    end
    def self.down
      drop_table :actors
    end
  end
  class CreateMovies < ActiveRecord::Migration
    def self.up
      create_table :movies do |t|
        t.string :name
        t.timestamps
      end
    end
    def self.down
      drop_table :movies
    end
  end

⁶ Single Table Inheritance

AS3

  package restfulx.test.models {
    import org.restfulx.models.RxModel;
    [Resource(name="accounts")]
    [Bindable]
    public class Account extends RxModel {
      public static const LABEL:String = "name";
      public var name:String;
      public function Account() {
        super(LABEL);
      }
    }
  }
  package restfulx.test.models {
    import org.restfulx.models.RxModel;
    [Resource(name="payable_accounts")]
    [Bindable]
    public class PayableAccount extends Account {
      public static const LABEL:String = "name";
      public function PayableAccount() {
        super();
      }
    }
  }
  package restfulx.test.models {
    import org.restfulx.models.RxModel;
    [Resource(name="receivable_accounts")]
    [Bindable]
    public class ReceivableAccount extends Account {
      public static const LABEL:String = "name";
      public function ReceivableAccount() {
        super();
      }
    }
  }

ActiveRecord Model

  class Account < ActiveRecord::Base
  end
  class PayableAccount < Account
  end
  class ReceivableAccount < Account
  end

ActiveRecord Migration

  class CreateAccounts < ActiveRecord::Migration
    def self.up
      create_table :accounts do |t|
        t.string :name
        t.string :type
        t.timestamps
      end
    end
    def self.down
      drop_table :accounts
    end
  end

⁷ Many-to-Many Relationships

AS3

  package restfulx.test.models {
    import org.restfulx.collections.ModelsCollection;
    import org.restfulx.models.RxModel;
    [Resource(name="clients")]
    [Bindable]
    public class Client extends RxModel {
      public static const LABEL:String = "name";
      public var name:String;
      public var city:String;
      [HasMany]
      public var billableWeeks:ModelsCollection;
      [HasMany(through="billableWeeks")]
      public var timesheets:ModelsCollection;
      [HasMany(type="Timesheet", through="billableWeeks")]
      public var incompleteTimesheets:ModelsCollection;
      public function Client() {
        super(LABEL);
      }
    }
  }
  package restfulx.test.models {
    import org.restfulx.collections.ModelsCollection;
    import org.restfulx.models.RxModel;
    [Resource(name="timesheets")]
    [Bindable]
    public class Timesheet extends RxModel {
      public static const LABEL:String = "name";
      public var name:String;
      public var total:Number;
      [HasMany]
      public var billableWeeks:ModelsCollection;
      [HasMany(through="billableWeeks")]
      public var clients:ModelsCollection;
      public function Timesheet() {
        super(LABEL);
      }
    }
  }
  package restfulx.test.models {
    import org.restfulx.models.RxModel;
    [Resource(name="billable_weeks")]
    [Bindable]
    public class BillableWeek extends RxModel {
      public static const LABEL:String = "name";
      public var name:String;
      public var total:Number;
      [BelongsTo]
      public var client:Client;
      [BelongsTo]
      public var timesheet:Timesheet;
      public function BillableWeek() {
        super(LABEL);
      }
    }
  }
  package restfulx.test.models {
    import org.restfulx.models.RxModel;
    [Resource(name="authors")]
    [Bindable]
    public class Author extends RxModel {
      public static const LABEL:String = "name";
      public var name:String;
      [BelongsTo]
      public var book:Book;
      public function Author() {
        super(LABEL);
      }
    }
  }
  package restfulx.test.models {
    import org.restfulx.collections.ModelsCollection;
    import org.restfulx.models.RxModel;
    [Resource(name="books")]
    [Bindable]
    public class Book extends RxModel {
      public static const LABEL:String = "name";
      public var name:String;
      [BelongsTo]
      public var store:Store;
      [HasMany]
      public var authors:ModelsCollection;
      public function Book() {
        super(LABEL);
      }
    }
  }
  package restfulx.test.models {
    import org.restfulx.collections.ModelsCollection;
    import org.restfulx.models.RxModel;
    [Resource(name="stores")]
    [Bindable]
    public class Store extends RxModel {
      public static const LABEL:String = "name";
      public var name:String;
      [HasMany]
      public var books:ModelsCollection;
      [HasMany(through="books")]
      public var authors:ModelsCollection;
      [HasMany(type="Author", through="books")]
      public var randomAuthors:ModelsCollection;
      public function Store() {
        super(LABEL);
      }
    }
  }

ActiveRecord Model

  class Client < ActiveRecord::Base
    has_many :billable_weeks
    has_many :timesheets, :through => :billable_weeks
    has_many :incomplete_timesheets, :through => :billable_weeks, :source => :timesheet
  end
  class Timesheet < ActiveRecord::Base
    has_many :billable_weeks
    has_many :clients, :through => :billable_weeks
  end
  class BillableWeek < ActiveRecord::Base
    belongs_to :client
    belongs_to :timesheet
  end
  class Author < ActiveRecord::Base
    belongs_to :book
  end
  class Book < ActiveRecord::Base
    belongs_to :store
    has_many :authors
  end
  class Store < ActiveRecord::Base
    has_many :books
    has_many :authors, :through => :books
  end

ActiveRecord Migration

  class CreateClients < ActiveRecord::Migration
    def self.up
      create_table :clients do |t|
        t.string :name
        t.string :city
        t.timestamps
      end
    end
    def self.down
      drop_table :clients
    end
  end
  class CreateTimesheets < ActiveRecord::Migration
    def self.up
      create_table :timesheets do |t|
        t.string :name
        t.decimal :total
        t.timestamps
      end
    end
    def self.down
      drop_table :timesheets
    end
  end
  class CreateBillableWeeks < ActiveRecord::Migration
    def self.up
      create_table :billable_weeks do |t|
        t.string :name
        t.decimal :total
        t.references :client
        t.references :timesheet
        t.timestamps
      end
    end
    def self.down
      drop_table :billable_weeks
    end
  end
  class CreateAuthors < ActiveRecord::Migration
    def self.up
      create_table :authors do |t|
        t.string :name
        t.references :book
        t.timestamps
      end
    end
    def self.down
      drop_table :authors
    end
  end
  class CreateBooks < ActiveRecord::Migration
    def self.up
      create_table :books do |t|
        t.string :name
        t.references :store
        t.timestamps
      end
    end
    def self.down
      drop_table :books
    end
  end
  class CreateStores < ActiveRecord::Migration
    def self.up
      create_table :stores do |t|
        t.string :name
        t.timestamps
      end
    end
    def self.down
      drop_table :stores
    end
  end

⁸ Conditional Relationships (HasOne, HasMany)

AS3

  package restfulx.test.models {
    import org.restfulx.collections.ModelsCollection;
    import org.restfulx.models.RxModel;
    [Resource(name="projects")]
    [Bindable]
    public class Project extends RxModel {
      public static const LABEL:String = "name";
      public var name:String;
      [HasOne]
      public var contractor:Contractor;
      [HasOne(conditions="name:2")]
      public var randomContractor:Contractor;
      [HasMany]
      public var tasks:ModelsCollection;
      public function Project() {
        super(LABEL);
      }
    }
  }
  package restfulx.test.models {
    import org.restfulx.models.RxModel;
    [Resource(name="contractors")]
    [Bindable]
    public class Contractor extends RxModel {
      public static const LABEL:String = "name";
      public var name:String;
      public var address:String;
      public var city:String;
      [BelongsTo(referAs="contractor, randomContractor")]
      public var project:Project;
      public function Contractor() {
        super(LABEL);
      }
    }
  }
  package restfulx.test.models {
    import org.restfulx.collections.ModelsCollection;
    import org.restfulx.models.RxModel;
    [Resource(name="clients")]
    [Bindable]
    public class Client extends RxModel {
      public static const LABEL:String = "name";
      public var name:String;
      public var city:String;
      [HasMany]
      public var billableWeeks:ModelsCollection;
      [HasMany(through="billableWeeks")]
      public var timesheets:ModelsCollection;
      [HasMany(type="Timesheet", through="billableWeeks")]
      public var incompleteTimesheets:ModelsCollection;
      [HasMany(type="Timesheet", through="billableWeeks", conditions="name:2")]
      public var randomTimesheets:ModelsCollection;
      public function Client() {
        super(LABEL);
      }
    }
  }
  package restfulx.test.models {
    import org.restfulx.collections.ModelsCollection;
    import org.restfulx.models.RxModel;
    [Resource(name="facebook_users")]
    [Bindable]
    public class FacebookUser extends RxModel {
      public static const LABEL:String = "name";
      public var name:String;
      [BelongsTo(referAs="friends, randomFriends")]
      public var friend:FacebookUser;
      [HasMany(type="FacebookUser")]
      public var friends:ModelsCollection;
      [HasMany(type="FacebookUser", conditions="name:4")]
      public var randomFriends:ModelsCollection;
      public function FacebookUser() {
        super(LABEL);
      }
    }
  }

⁹ Nested Relationships

Serializing to FXML or JSON you can:

  @projects.to_fxml(:include => [:contractor, :tasks])
  @movie.to_fxml(:include => [:lead_actor, :actors])
  @customer.to_fxml(:include => :location)
  @store.to_fxml(:include => :authors)

¹⁰ Custom Methods

You can perform computations/delegate relevant logic to your server and then pass these methods as simple properties to Flex:

AS3

  package restfulx.test.models {
    import org.restfulx.models.RxModel;
    [Resource(name="simple_properties")]
    [Bindable]
    public class SimpleProperty extends RxModel {
      public static const LABEL:String = "name";
      public var name:String;
      public var amount:int;
      public var price:Number;
      public var quantity:Number;
      public var available:Boolean;
      public var deliveredOn:Date;
      [DateTime]
      public var soldOn:Date;
      [DateTime]
      public var createdAt:Date;
      [Ignored]
      public var randomComputedProperty:String
      public function SimpleProperty() {
        super(LABEL);
      }
    }
  }

ActiveRecord Model

  class SimpleProperty < ActiveRecord::Base
    def random_computed_property
      "foobar"
    end
  end

ActionController

@simple_properties.to_fxml(:methods => :random_computed_property)

Alternatively you can express that using default_methods helper.

ActiveRecord Model

  class SimpleProperty < ActiveRecord::Base
    default_methods :random_computed_property
    def random_computed_property
      "foobar"
    end
  end

Then in your ActionController, you can skip the methods array and call:

ActionController

  @simple_properties.to_fxml
  // or
  @simple.properties.to_json

¹¹ Model Path Prefixes

If you are working with a remote data service such as Rails, it is sometimes useful to prepend a string to the generated model URL. You can accomplish this using pathPrefix:

AS3

  package restfulx.test.models {
    import org.restfulx.models.RxModel;
    [Bindable]
    [Resource(name="articles", pathPrefix="admin")]
    public class Article extends RxModel {
      public static const LABEL:String = "name";
      public var name:String;
      public function Article() {
        super(LABEL);
      }
    }
  }

This will produce /admin/articles.fxml URL for POSTS and GETS and so on.

pathPrefix annotation is simply ignored in SQLite mode. You can safely leave it on if necessary for some other Service Providers, it just doesn’t have an effect with AIRServiceProvier.

¹² Nested Models

Let’s say you want to index only a subset of models based on a model they belong to. If your service provider supports these kind of requests, you can pass a nestedBy array with instances of the models you want the requested nested by. nestedBy is supported on all REST/CRUD methods such as index, show, create, etc.

AS3

  Rx.models.index(Task, {nestedBy: [currentProject]});

Where currentProject is a model instance of the project we are going to be differentiating by. This will produce the following URL /projects/123123123/tasks.fxml