StarRez on Rails

Presented at the StarRez User Conference hosted by Memphis in 2011. Covers the basics of the StarRez API plus introduced a Ruby wrapper.

Transcript

1. StarRez o Ra Using REST Web Services, Reporting API, & Ruby on Rails Da e Ree T tter:@ree ree @ ou g. u.e u
2. He o… Daniel Reedy Assistant Manager of Information Technology University Housing, Southern Illinois University Carbondale Server Administration Web Development Security Policies & Audits PCI Compliance General Tech Support
3. Sout er I o U er t Carbo a e Just a Few Hundred Miles Up River
4. SIUC U er t Hou g ❖ 4606 Residence Hall Spaces ❖ 868 Apartment Spaces ❖ 3 Commons Buildings
5. Hou g Locat o Nine Locations Across Campus
6. StarRez H tor RFP Process 2003 StarRez Conversion Spring 2010 StarCom Install Fall 2003 Went Live & First Check-out Spring 2004 Maintenance Module Fall 2008 First Move-in with StarRez Fall 2010 Live with StarAppWeb for Contracts Fall 2004
7. W D e P c StarRez?
8. Po er to t e Stu e t
9. Po er to t e Stu e t Elevate the student’s involvement in the process Empower them to directly influence their life on campus Eliminate uncertainty in contracting and room selection (With Luck) Increase their satisfaction with their housing …We found a few shortcomings though…
10. W at D We Do?
11. Ro e our O
12. Ro e our O Emergency Contact Update Room Maintenance Reports for Custodial Staff Room Selection Early Arrival Lists
13. Prob e No control of the database design Lack of sanity checks Code maintenance
14. I T ere a Better Wa ?
15. StarRez API
16. StarRez API REST Web Services and Reporting API Eliminated the need for direct access to the database Provided appropriate sanity checks Exposed relationships between tables Decreased the amount of code maintenance
17. REST Arc tecture REpresentational State Transfer (REST) Establishes a “language” used to communicate with a service Resources are nouns and have a URI Uses HTTP methods as the verbs: GET, POST, PUT, and DELETE Allows us to perform the core database functions (CRUD)
18. Exa e: E erge c Co tact
19. Exa e: E erge c Co tact
20. Exa e: E erge c Co tact StarRez REST Ser ce Ca u F re a I ter et Stu e t La to Web Ser er https://{server}/services/Update/EntryAddress/123? ContactName=John%20Doe
21. Exa e: Ma te a ce Re ort
22. Exa e: Ma te a ce Re ort
23. T ere a Catc … A single screenshot makes it looks easy The StarRez APIs speak code only ATOM or XML formats You still have to process this information
24. Exa e: Ma te a ce Re ort
25. Exa e: Ma te a ce Re ort <IncompleteMaintRequestsByBuilding> <Record> <ID>98090</ID> <Room_Space>BTMS0206</Room_Space> <Room_Type>Asst  Hall  Director</Room_Type> <Item>Air  Conditioning</Item> <Description>TEST  -­‐-­‐  THIS  IS  A  TEST  REQUEST.</description> <Completed/> <Room_Location_Section_ID>185</Room_Location_Section_ID> <Complete_Date/> <Occupant_Entry_Name/> <Date_Reported>6/14/2011  15:29</Date_Reported> <Category>Air  Conditioning</Category> <Room_Space_ID>6593</Room_Space_ID> <Job_Status>Job  Submitted</Job_Status> </Record> </IncompleteMaintRequestsByBuilding> https://{server}/services/getreportbyname/IncompleteMaintRequestsByBuilding.xml/? RoomLocationSectionID=185&_top=500
26. I T ere a Better Wa ?
27. StarRez & Rub o Ra
28. StarRez & Rub o Ra Ruby on Rails: Open Source Project Object-Oriented Web Framework Convention over Configuration Metaprogramming Features REST is completely integrated
29. StarRez o Ra API Wra er Wrapping the REST calls in a Ruby object Uses the same conventions that already exist in Rails Allows new developers to dive right in without learning the REST URI structure. One module definition for all the tables
30. StarRez o Ra API Wra er We took this: https://{server}/services/select/Entry.xml/68607 And made it this: entry  =  Entry.find(68607) We can then run simple methods: entry.name_first  #  =>  “John” entry.name_last  #  =>  “Doe” entry.gender_enum  #  =>  “Male”
31. L e De o trat o
32. W at’ Next?
33. Furt er I tegrat o
34. Furt er I tegrat o Resident Assistant Portal Non-Contract Applications Enhance Object Relationships Desktop scripting
35. Lear More Ruby: http://www.ruby-lang.org Rails Framework: http://www.rubyonrails.org StarRez API Wrapper: https://github.com/danreedy/StarRezApi
36. Co tact Me Daniel Reedy Email: dreedy@housing.siu.edu Twitter: @reedy Voice: 618.453.2301