Out of Bounds with AJAX

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Out of Bounds with AJAX
Track Advanced AppExchange Developer

• Dave Carroll, Salesforce.com
• Jan Sabelstrom, CaSa Customer Solutions
• Henry Hai, OKERE

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  Corporations technology, operations,
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  forward-looking statements, except as required by
  law.

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Sample Agenda

• Welcome
• Introductions
• SControls and AJAX (client side)
• No-limits Composite SControls (server side)
• Closing

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Salesforce.com AppExchange Developer Network /
Dave Carroll
Principal Developer Program Manager AppExchange
Developer Network
dcarroll_at_salesforce.com
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On-demand App Dev Evolution
Winter 07

• 2003
• sforce launched
• Soap API version 1.0
• Custom fields on some objects
• No Custom objects
• 2004
• API version 4.0
• Custom links and SControls introduced.
• No real SControl story
• 2005
• AJAX Toolkit Beta
• Now we have a story
• AJAX becomes an official buzz-word

• AJAX Toolkit productized
• SControls take the spotlight
• DOJO support included
• SFA/SSS/CRM now using AJAX technologies
• Composite SControls
• SOQL-R - expands AJAX use cases
• And more

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Demos - not your fathers S-Controls!

• Inline SControls
• Opportunity Editor
• Animation and Graphing
• Account Revenue
• Active Detail Pages
• New ways to visualize Related Lists
• New Buttons!
• Make my day
• More Mapping fun
• Related Accounts
• Mashboards

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Yahoo User Interface Sample - Coding!!
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HENRY HAI
HEAD OF TECHNICAL SERVICES
henry.hai_at_okere.com
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OKERE

• Consulting and Systems Integration Firm
• Focused on Software as a Service market
• Delivering client management solutions to
  enterprise organizations
• Experience in all industries, core strength
  Financial Services
• Please visit us at the Financial Services
  Pavilion

INDUSTRY Financial Services
EMPLOYEES 4,500
GEOGRAPHY Global
USERS 585
PRODUCT(S) USED SFA, Service Support, 3
downloaded AppExchange applications
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Concepts in S-Controls and AJAX

• Building a re-usable AJAX List Control
• Accelerate your development
• Native salesforce look and feel
• Customized features
  (Tool Tips, Hot Lists, Icons)
• Available through Snippets
• Call Log S-Control
• Dynamic Content (Meta Data Driven)
• Review contact activity quickly
• Mass activity creation using AJAX
• Leverages new SOQL features
  (Relationship Queries, Order By, Count, Limit)

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Salesforce.com AppExchange Developer Network /
Jan Sablestrom
Managing Director CaSa Customer Solutions, LLC
jan.sabelstrom_at_casallc.com
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About CaSa Customer Solutions

• Full-service CRM Solutions provider
• Strategy
• Process
• Technology
• Talent
• Specialized in Salesforce implementation
• First implementation 2001
• AppExchange go-to-market services
• Market Strategy
• Product Design/Development
• AppExchange Process Management (Listing,
  Certification Posting)
• Support Process and Automation Design
  Implementation
• Associates average over 15 years CRM experience
• Visit us at www.casallc.com

• Marketing
• Sales
• Service Support

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Sample Application OnPoint Direct Response

• What does it do?
• Allows users to build micro-websites to capture
  information from visitors for registration,
  surveys or any business communications objective!
• Data model integration technology creates or
  updates records in Salesforce.com for any object
  or maps to flexible meta-data object
• How Why is AJAX employed?
• Performance improvement
• Pre-loading of org configuration meta data
• Client-server messaging for content
  save/retrieve
• Use of server-side .NET classes (C or VB) to
  perform heavy lifting return primitive and
  complex data types, including .NET library
  classes (e.g., DataTable)
• Simplifies javascript DHTML code on client
• Powerful, simplified client-side object
  management
• Leverage AppEx WSDL class definitions from
  Salesforce.com to DR server to client
• No-Postback form field validation

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Direct Response in Action Demo
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Direct Response AJAX Library Used

• Ajax.NET (AjaxPro)
• First .NET AJAX library, continuous upgrades
  open source community support
• Substantially endorsed by Microsoft prior to
  Atlas
• Strengths Benefits
• Reuse your existing .NET classes
• Abstraction from XMLHttpRequest usage
• Leverage built-in JSON engine to return complex
  data types to client, including .NET objects and
  any serializable custom objects
• Simple implementation
• Include AjaxPro library in project embeds
  javascript file in ASP.NET pages provides web
  service to handle asynchronous calls to server
  and serves as request/response broker to your
  .NET classes
• Register your server-side classes as
  AjaxPro-enabled and then
• Call methods normally from client-side
  javascript!
• Download and information at http//www.schwarz-in
  teractive.de/

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Direct Response Deep (Code) Dive

• Retrieve org meta-data, dynamic ltselectgt
  population

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Direct Response Deep (Code) Dive

• Retrieving/Saving page content meta-data

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AJAX Best Practices Considerations (aka Back
to the Future client-server, that is)

• Define objectives/gains to be achieved
• Usability
• Is dynamic nature beneficial, necessary or just
  flashy
• Consider true value-add to user experience when
  weighing AJAX vs. page postback
• Performance
• Can you or do you need to do things behind the
  scenes and is it worth it
• Component re-use
• Consider complexity of app when determining
  whether to build a hosted versus pure-client
  solution
• Data model defining variability interactive
  nature of your page(s)
• Single or few pages, 100 Salesforce-oriented or
  do not have hosting environment for application
• client-side library Salesforce AJAX Toolkit
  usually the best bet
• Significant composite application business logic
  
• server-side AJAX library, such as Ajax.NET

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AJAX Best Practices Considerations (aka Back
to the Future client-server, that is)

• Beware moving (too much) business logic to the
  presentation layer
• Remember client-server architecture pushed most,
  if not all, biz logic to client decidedly not a
  Web 2.0 concept, but AJAX is causing more of
  this!
• Inherently, some business logic bleeds to the
  client-side javascript, but for debugging,
  patching, re-use and IP protection this should be
  mitigated as much as possible
• AJAX DHTML tied at the hip
• and tools to debug javascript not yet as robust
• and js and CSS implemented differently in
  different browsers
• and with Firefox, Opera, Safari, etc the
  post-Netscape world is not all IE anymore so
  plan development testing time accordingly

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Other Considerations (your CIO Legal will
thank you!!!)

• If using Open Source libraries for AJAX and/or
  DHTML
• Understand nature of OS license (GPL vs. LGPL)
• Evaluate source of code
• Reputation
• Private individual or company? Public or private?
• Evaluate nature of code
• Available how long?
• Number of available alternatives
• Community size, feedback, etc.

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Resources

• AppExchange Developer Network (ADN)
• Comprehensive web site for AppExchange Developers
• Documentation Samples (API, AJAX)
• Developer community forum
• www.salesforce.com/developer
• AppExchange Developer Support (ADS)
• Per-incident, code-level support for developers
  creating solutions on the AppExchange platform
• Support for Custom apps, Custom integrations,
  S-Controls
• 4 hour response time for logged cases
• More info devsupport_at_salesforce.com

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Resources, contd

• Creating On-Demand Applications with AppExchange
• Salesforce.com publication
• Illustrates technologies and concepts required to
  develop AppExchange apps
• AppExchange Laboratory (AppLab)
• 5-day Hands-On Instructor Led Course
• Instruction for how to build, deploy, and install
  native and composite AppExchange apps
• For Developers, IT Managers and Power Users
• More info and to register http//www.salesforce.c
  om/trainingsupport/workshops.jsp

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