[jboss-user] [JBoss Tools] New message: "Re: Tutorial for BPEL simple-invoke"

Peter Johnson do-not-reply at jboss.com
Fri Mar 12 15:12:17 EST 2010


User development,

A new message was posted in the thread "Tutorial for BPEL simple-invoke":

http://community.jboss.org/message/531728#531728

Author  : Peter Johnson
Profile : http://community.jboss.org/people/peterj

Message:
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I recently realized that I misread Feng's first response to my original question, specifically step 2. I thought that Feng was suggesting to add an Invoke action to the BPEL. Which is why I stated that Feng's steps were too simplistic - it takes a lot more that just adding an Invoke action.
 
But Feng was actually suggesting that I import the simple-invoke project into Eclipse and open it. Considering that I wanted a tutorial on how to *RECREATE* the simple-invoke project, I do not see how step 2 would do that.
 
This is one of the things that bugs me about a lot of the open source tutorials that I see. Many of them consist of the steps: "run this ant script and open the browser to this URL. Congratulations, you are now running XXX!" Oh really? And how does this impart knowledge of working with the technology to me? Without an understanding of how to build the app from scratch, I am pretty much left in the dark as to how to tackle a new project using that technology.
 
And the sad thing is that I know the person who developed that technology knows how to use it to to do wonderful things, but unless that knowledge is somehow communicated to us "unwashed masses", the technology will be either ignored or misused.  (I have a working BPEL, but is it really correct or will I have issues later on I attempt to expand on it? I have no idea, because no one told me how the tool is supposed to be used. So I experimented with it and possibly used it the wrong way.) I have had this point pounded into my head by some very patient technical writers who over time helped me realize that without adequate documentation that is written in the user's language (i.e., not in technical jargon) and tells the user how to use the technology to solve his or her problem (i.e., does not just describe how wonderfully the code was architected), that my wonderfully written code that I was so proud of is pretty much useless. 
The current tutorial is a good start. But considering that BPEL is a means for orchestrating web services, the tutorial is woefully inadequate. The minimum tutorial should show how to use the tool to invoke an external web service (i.e., build simple-invoke from scratch). That way the user will know how to use the tool to incorporate web service calls into his or her BPEL.
 
I apoligize if my tirade has offended, I guess my frustration level is really high right now. Is it happy hour yet? I need a beer!

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