• Introduction
• Creating the framework
• Linking the application with the framework

Introduction

Now that we have a working REST project, let's create a framework. A framework in a Project Wonder context is a special folder that contains Java libraries (.jar), other resources (EOModels, images, CSS, etc.) and a Info.plist file. If you are a Cocoa developer, a Project Wonder framework structure have a similar structure as a Cocoa framework.

When a framework is built (with Ant or Maven), the structure is like this:

MyStuff.framework
 --> Resources
 ----> Info.plist
 ----> Java
 ------> mystuff.jar
 ------> some-third-party.jar
 ----> MyEOModel.eomodeld
 ----> Properties
 --> WebServerResources
 ----> someimage.png
 ----> somestyling.css

So why using frameworks? Simple: to be able to use them in more than one project. Putting your EOModel into a framework is a good idea since you can built many different projects for the same business logic.

Creating the framework

So let's make a new framework. In Eclipse, open the File menu, select New and select Wonder Framework. Name it BlogCommon and click Finish.

Now you have another project in your Eclipse workspace. Open it and you will see that the folder structure is the same as for an Wonder application. A framework and an application in Eclipse is almost the same, the difference is the nature of the project and when the project is built, the product will be a bit different.

The next step is to copy the EOModel and its related Java code to the framework. Open the BlogRest project, open its Resources folder, and select BlogModel.eogen and BlogModel.eomodel. Right-click on one of the two files and select Refactor -> Move.

You will see the list of all opened projects in your Eclipse workspace, and we want to copy the two files into the BlogCommon project. Select the Resources folder of the BlogCommon project and click OK.

We need to do similar steps for the Java code. Open the Sources folder of the BlogRest project. Select the your.app.model and your.app.model.migrations packages, right-click on one of the packages, and select Refactor -> Move. For the destination, select the Sources folder, and click OK.

Linking the application with the framework

If you go back to the BlogRest project, you will see compilation errors. We need to link the application project with the framework project. To do so, right-click on the BlogRest project, and select Build Path -> Configure Build Path.

Click the Libraries tab, and you will see the list of Java archives (.jar) and Project Wonder frameworks.

To add BlogCommon to the build path (aka the class path), click on Add Library.

Select WebObjects Frameworks and click Next.

You will see a list of all frameworks that you can add to your project. Check BlogCommon in the list and click Finish. Click OK in the Properties window to go back to the main Eclipse window.

You can see that all compilation errors are now gone. The next thing we need to do is to link the H2PlugIn with the BlogCommon framework. Why? Because since we moved the database model to the framework, the framework needs the JDBC plugin included in the H2PlugIn in its build path. To do so, right-click on the BlogCommon project, and select Build Path -> Configure Build Path.

Click the Libraries tab, and you will see the list of Java archives (.jar) and Project Wonder frameworks. Click on Add Library, select WebObjects Frameworks and click Next. Select H2PlugIn, click on Add Library. Close the Properties window to go back to the main Eclipse window.

You can run the BlogRest application and everything will work. By moving the EOModel to the framework, you will be able to use the model in the next tutorial: building a DirectToWeb application to manage the blog.