Create a Console Application

In this section we will try out the PeopleService using a simple console application.

1. Download the console application project and unzip it in the timetracker directory (C:/timetracker). You will get a new directory called C:/timetracker/console. This directory contains three files - project.xml , maven.xml (Maven project files) and TimeTrackerConsole.java (the console application, under src/java/org/andromda/timetracker/console).
2. Add two new targets in C:/timetracker/maven.xml (the top-level maven.xml file) - these targets allow you to build and run the console application from the C:/timetracker directory. The two new targets are called ttconsole and run . Place these targets after the mda target as shown below:

       
   <!-- ==================================================================
               Runs the MDA component
            ================================================================== -->
       <
   goal
    name=
   "mda"
   >
           <
   maven:maven
   
               descriptor=
   "mda/project.xml"
   
               goals=
   "pom:install"
   /
   >
       <
   /goal
   >
   
       
   <!-- ==================================================================
               Builds the Console component
            ================================================================== -->
       <
   goal
    name=
   "ttconsole"
   >
           <
   maven:maven
   
               descriptor=
   "console/project.xml"
   
               goals=
   "jar:install"
   /
   >
       <
   /goal
   >
   
       
   <!-- ==================================================================
               Runs the Console component
            ================================================================== -->
       <
   goal
    name=
   "run"
   >
           <
   maven:maven
   
               descriptor=
   "console/project.xml"
   
               goals=
   "run"
   /
   >
       <
   /goal
   >
   

3. Review the console application in TimeTrackerConsole.java . Key methods of this application are shown below:

   public
    
   static
    
   void
    main(String[] args) {
       
   // Get services
       serviceLocator = ServiceLocator.instance();
       peopleService = serviceLocator.getPeopleService();
   
       
   // Create people
       PersonVO naresh = createPerson(
   "nbhatia"
   , 
   "Naresh"
   , 
   "Bhatia"
   );
       PersonVO louis = createPerson(
   "lcoude"
   , 
   "Louis"
   , 
   "Coude"
   );
       PersonVO john = createPerson(
   "jsmith"
   , 
   "John"
   , 
   "Smith"
   );
   
       
   // Fetch and show all objects created above
       PersonVO[] people = peopleService.getAllPeople();
       showPeople(people);
   }
   
   private
    
   static
    PersonVO createPerson(String username, String firstName, String lastName) {
       PersonVO person = 
   new
    PersonVO(
   null
   , username, firstName, lastName);
       person.setId(peopleService.createPerson(person));
       System.out.println(
   "Person "
    + person.getId() + 
   " created - "
    + person.getUsername());
       
   return
    person;
   }
   

   As you can see the logic of the console application is very simple. We first need to get a reference to the PeopleService . We do this by using the ServiceLocator , a helper class generated by AndroMDA that uses the Spring framework to locate services. Now we create three people in the database using the PeopleService . Following that we fetch all the people that exist in the database, again using the PeopleService , and display them.
4. Build the console application by executing the ttconsole target as follows: maven -o ttconsole .
5. Run the console application by executing the run target as follows: maven -o run . The console output is shown below.

                   
   C:/timetracker>maven -o run
       ...
       [java] Person 1 created - nbhatia
       [java] Person 2 created - lcoude
       [java] Person 3 created - jsmith
       [java] People:
       [java] 1: nbhatia - Naresh Bhatia
       [java] 2: lcoude - Louis Coude
       [java] 3: jsmith - John Smith
       [java]
   BUILD SUCCESSFUL
   Total time: 8 seconds
   Finished at: Mon Jan 30 01:41:58 EST 2006
   C:/timetracker>
                           
               

6. Drop the database schema in preparation for the following sections of the tutorial where we will add more tables to our timetracker database. To do this, execute the drop-schema target as follows: maven -o drop-schema .

What's Next?

Now that we have a running console application with 1 entity, 1 value object and 1 service, we are ready to implement more TimeTracker functionality. Click here to add a Timecard object to TimeTracker and learn how to model associations in AndroMDA. application.