Phil Haigh

Naveen Sampra wrote:When I use the rendered attribute, the action listener method does NOT get invoked :
<h:commandLink id='save_button_id' action="#{pageBean1.saveConfigAndForward}" rendered="#{pageBean1.hasSavePrivilege}"> <h:graphicImage url='/image/save.gif' styleClass='regImgROff'/>Save </h:commandLink>
Any ideas why this might happen ?

Remember that because you are invoking an action, the JSF lifecycle must execute first. Therefore the view is reconstructed, validations fire, values injected etc... it sounds to me like your commandLink is not being rendered because pageBean1.hasSavePrivilege evaluates to something other than true after the view has been reconstructed.

You can prove this one way or the other by hardcoding the pageBean1.hasSavePrivilege method to always return true and leaving the rendered property 'as is' rather than removing it. If clicking on the link causes the action to be invoked, then this is definitely your problem. A simple fix is to add a hidden field to the page and a set method to your bean, so that the previously calculated value of hasSavePrivilege is restored:
<h:inputHidden id="#{hasSavePrivilege}" value="#{pageBean1.hasSavePrivilege}" />
and:
public void setHasSavePrivilege(boolean hasSavePrivilege) { this.hasSavePrivilege = hasSavePrivilege; }
Now when you click the link the property will be restored by JSF for you, rendered will evaluate to true and the action will be invoked.

Hope that helped.

You 'book' and pay for part II in the same way as you booked and paid for part I. Part III is free. Book it as soon as you submit your assignment. You can read more about the overall process here.

Good luck.

All,

I'd like to announce the release of version 0.1 of rss4jsp, an all-new content syndication tag library built on top of Project Rome. rss4jsp allows developers to quickly and easily embed RSS feeds into their JSP pages with no requirement to write a single line of Java, or to have a detailed understanding of format of the feed they are consuming.

I created rss4jsp after a fruitless search for an equivalent open source tag library (that used Rome) for one of my web sites, and hope that you will find it a useful addition to your toolbox!

All the popular RSS and Atom formats including RSS 0.90, RSS 0.91 (Netscape and Userland), RSS 0.92, RSS 0.93, RSS 0.94, RSS 1.0, RSS 2.0, Atom 0.3, and Atom 1.0 are supported thanks to the comprehensive nature of Project Rome.

Currently there is a basic set of tags providing core functionality; the library will be extended and matured over the next three months before being released as production standard code.

You can download rss4jsp here: http://sourceforge.net/projects/rss4jsp - currently there are full distributions of the tag library and a samples project. The subversion repository has not yet been populated (although this will happen in the next few days) and I'm still working on backfilling the JavaDoc, which will also be resolved soon. If you want an early look at the source then you'll find it in the download.

To see a working implementation of the tag library visit http://www.fantasy-f1.net/home/goFeedsPage.do and there is a getting started tutorial at http://www.surfsoftconsulting.com/tiki-read_article.php?articleId=9

rss4jsp is open source software licenced under the Apache Licence, Version 2.0

Originally posted by Ranganathan Kaliyur Mannar:
When it comes to questions related to Design Patterns, most of the mock exams just give the answer and for explanation, just quote the test from GOF. This is really irritating, because most of the times you feel there are 2 possible answers. We obviously need to 'understand' why one has been chosen over other. Hope, the mock exam creators and writers take note of this and provide proper explanation for the answer in future.


Ranga.

I raised this with Whizlabs when I sat the exam and got no response. The only thing you can take away from this is that the questions are badly phrased.

I didn't find anything that ambiguous when I sat the real part 1.

Originally posted by ShreeRam Manivannan:
HI, Any stright forward answers for this question?.

ShreeRam,

The straight answer is that you as architect decide which approach you are going to use, and justify that choice.

There may be a particular requirement that means you are driven to select one apporach over the other. If there isn't then you should be looking to justify your choice in terms of non-functional requirements.

None of the assignments have a single solution that you are expected to 'find', the examiners are looking for 'appropriate' choices and reasoned technical argument (expressed through your assumptions and design decisions) to back up those choices.

This applies to all the choices you make during the assignment - either there is a constraint within the information you are given that guides you down a route (stateless versus stateful, container managed persistence versus bean, etc) or there is not. When there is not you are expected to make an 'appropriate choice' and justify it in terms of the JEE architecture.

That is, after all, at the core of being a software architect.

Originally posted by Swamy Kumar:
Thanks for the responses.

Regarding the messaging option - it could work out if an application is the trigger, so that we could introduce an MDB in the recipient application. However, the trigger here is a manual file change.

One solution to your problem would be to run a non-JEE (but possibly Java) daemon process (or on unix, a cron job) that watches for changes in your file and then pokes the JEE system to act on that change. This avoids the need to create and manage threads in you JEE application and is a neat and simple solution.

I disagree with Lann Lu's assertion that 'everything will be fine'. It would be very easy to tie the server in knots if you start playing with thread synchronisation, for example. And as you are working outside the EJB specification, what you get working on one application server may not work as predicted - or at all - on another one. Potentially brittle code and it has a bad smell to it.

Are the non functional requirements same as the systemic qualities. By definition systemic qualities are properties of a system that establish the quality of service that the system can deliver. I'm assuming this would be part of SCEA 5. Thank you.

Non-functional requirements and systemic qualities are not the same thing but do overlap. Non-functional requirements include performance, scalability, reliability, availability, extensibility, maintainability, managability and security whereas systemic qualities are only related to the performance of the application - most particularly scalability but also reliability and availability. Any decent book on architecture can explain non-functional requirements for you in more detail.

No problem with diagrams being big, you won't be significantly penalised.

Not sure about getting other people to review though. Assignment is supposed to be entirely your own work.

No, the time you take to complete the assignment is not part of the marking criteria.

Phil.

All,

Finally found out that I've passed parts II and III with 81%. Dropped three marks on the class diagram and 16 on the component diagram, which is the one I use least often.

<rant>
why oh why do you dowload/upload the assignment at one web site and then have to check your results in a second? Neither of which is related to the third - prometric - where you book part III
</rant>

Just glad it is all over. I spent a bit more time than recommended and probably went into a bit too much detail but WTH it got me there

Phil.

Hi,

First you need to purchase the exam voucher - http://www.sun.com/training/catalog/courses/CX-310-301A.xml
Then you'll get details on where and how to download (and, eventually, upload) your assignment.

Good Luck!
Phil.

I concur with Rafael. I recently passed parts II and III (81%) and the best thing you can do is treat it as the real thing. There are no trick questions, just take the information you are given and go through the architecture and design process.

In addition to documenting your decisions, you should also document your assumptions and as your understanding of the assignment improves, go back and check/refine them. This is important too, because your decisions are based on (a) the information given and (b) your assumptions where the information is lacking.

I had to revise/drop assumptions as my understanding of the assignment improved. It is easy to miss, or mis-read, bits of the assignment.

Good luck!
Phil.

IMHO,

You need to learn enough about EJB to pass the part 1 exam.

In the part 2 assignment you are designing a J2EE solution and you should choose appropriate technologies and be able to justify them. It is ulikely that you'll get a problem that is not appropriate to EJB given its central position in J2EE.

Remember, you don't have to be able to program EJB, just know enough about what they are for and how they work to pass part 1 and you'll know when it is appropriate to use them when you are doing part 2. I've not programmed any EJBs for several years and only touched EJB briefly in the early days but this did not hinder my completion of the SCEA.

Are you ready?

To set the scene, I have many years software engineering under my belt, the last seven have been pure Java/J2EE.

Well, here are a few thoughts:

Part 1: IMHO Part 1 can be passed by anybody prepared to read enough. It's a classic 'cram and pass' exam but the subject matter is wide, so the more Java experience you have the better.

I prepared for it inside a month and passed with 85%.

Part 2: This requires that you have sufficient experience designing software using J2EE to complete it in a reasonable timeframe. You need to be comfortable with UML - there is a fair bit of modelling involved - and have enough experience to make the architectural and design decisions and know why you are making them. Understand what patterns to apply and where, and again why.

I took about 80-90 hours over six weeks to prepare my submission.

Part 3: Is basically about justifying your design. Knowing why you took the decisions you did, demonstrating that you understand your own submission. I'm sitting that tomorrow morning...

In summary, if you only have your 3 years of Java/J2EE to call on, and mostly in design and code, you will pass part 1 but may struggle to complete part 2 to the required standard.

If on the other hand you have prior non-Java experience and some experience of architecting a solution (writing a Software Architecture Document solo, or as the lead) then you should be OK.

Books: I used the Mark Cade book and Head First EJB, most of my EE experience was around the web tier (not much EJB), it provides an excellent condensed guide, you should be prepared to read in further using other material (e.g. the O'Reilly Head First series) on any subject you aren't comfortable you know. Remember you need to know how to architect and design, not code in minute detail.

Good Luck.

Your test centre should have provided you with a print-out, stamped with an embossing stamp to prove it is genuine, which proves you have taken and passed the exam.

You won't get anything from Sun until you complete and pass all three parts of the qualification.