© 2006, the trustees of cornell university © 2006, the trustees of indiana university kuali...

© 2006, The Trustees of Cornell University© 2006, The Trustees of Indiana University

Kuali Nervous System

Aaron Godert, Kuali Development Manager

Brian McGough, Kuali Lead Architect


Session Goals

• Overview of the Kuali Nervous System (KNS)

• Strategy behind the KNS

• Component review and code samples

• Conclusions


What is the KNS?

• The core technical module

• Reusable code components that embody functionality

Architecture/Tools

Kuali Nervous System

Kuali Application Exte

rnal

Functional Modules

Technical Module

TechnicalFoundation

Chart of AccountsFinancial Transaction

Processing

Research Administration General Ledger

Accounts Receivables

Contract and Grants

Workflow

CAS

LDAP


Strategy

• A framework to enforce consistency

• Adhere to development standards and architectural principals

• A stable core for efficient development

• Reduce and reuse


Strategy• First shot at team chemistry and co-

located development

• Incur upfront costs– January 2005 to

June 2005– Reconvened in

December 2005 to “tidy up”


KNS Components

Document

MaintenanceDocument Financial

TransactionProcessingDocument

WorkflowIntegration

(Apache Axis)

Attachments(Java IO)

PersistenceServices

(OJB)

MaintenanceData

Dictionary(XML)

TransactionProcessing

DataDictionary

(XML)BusinessObject(POJO)

Lookups

Inquiries

BusinessObjectData

Dictionary(XML)

Data DictionaryServices

(XStream)

Custom Tags(JSTL)

Authentication(Servlet Filter/

CAS)

Authorization(Kuali/Workflow) APC

RulesService

CustomAttributes

DocumentAuthorizer

Service

Notes


KNS Components


Document Components• Requirement: electronic documents to

perform business transactions– Integrate workflow, full audit trail,

notes/attachments

• Two types to start…


Document ComponentsMaintenance Documents


Document ComponentsFinancial Transaction Processing Documents


Document Components

MaintenanceFinancial


Document

• Commonalities led to a document paradigm– Created inheritance structure for all layers:

• Web – Struts actions and forms• Business – business objects• Persistence – DAO, Services, etc


Maintenance Documents

• Could be generalized to dynamically persist, render, and control business objects for maintenance purposes

• Needed a way to describe behaviors of these types of documents

• Several iterations produced the Data Dictionary (DD) concept

Document Components


Data Dictionary

• XML document for describing behaviors of business objects– Attributes – lengths, UI rendering info

(control type)– “Required-ness”– Customization - labels, help content, regex

validation

Document Components


Data Dictionary, Continued• Eventual organization

– Business object data dictionary file• Embraced reuse across documents• Added support for attribute references

– Maintenance document data dictionary file– Transaction processing document data

dictionary file

• Document paradigm led to pluggable business rule classes, authorizer classes, document level help content

Document Components


<attributes> <attributeReference name="chartOfAccountsCode“

sourceClassName="org.kuali.module.chart.bo.Chart“ sourceAttributeName="chartOfAccountsCode" />

<attribute name="accountNumber" forceUppercase="true"> <label>Account Number</label> <shortLabel>Account</shortLabel> <maxLength>7</maxLength> <validationPattern> <alphaNumeric exactLength="7" allowWhitespace="false" allowUnderscore="false" /> </validationPattern> <required>true</required> <control> <text size="10" /> </control> <summary>Account Number</summary> <description>Account Number</description> </attribute> ...

</attributes>

Document ComponentsBusiness Object Data Dictionary Sample


Document Components

Document “Formula” =

DB Table

* POJOs (BOs)

OJB mapping

BO DD file

Document DD file

* Rule plug-in class

* Authorization plug-in class

+ Kuali Enterprise Workflow (KEW) configuration

Kuali Document

* Denotes use of inheritance


Document Components

Document



WorkflowIntegration

(Apache Axis)

PersistenceServices

(OJB)

MaintenanceData

Dictionary(XML)


DataDictionary


BusinessObjectData

Dictionary(XML)


(XStream)

APCRules

Service

DocumentAuthorizer

Service

Authorization(Kuali/Workflow)


Lookups and Inquiries• Requirement: need a way to look up

records and view their details– Kuali Enterprise Workflow’s (KEW)

provided document searching– Needed something to look at the data that

maintenance documents manage

• Lookup – allows for searching against data of record

• Inquiry – “drill down” and view details of records


Lookups and InquiriesLookups


Lookups and InquiriesInquiries


Lookups and Inquiries• Integrated into data dictionary for

dynamic search page and record detail rendering


<lookup> <title>Account Lookup</title> <menubar> <![CDATA[<a href="maintenance.do">Create New</a>]]> </menubar> <instructions>Lookup an Account</instructions> <defaultSort attributeName="accountNumber" sortAscending="true" />

<lookupFields> <lookupField attributeName="accountNumber" required="false" /> … </lookupFields>

<resultFields> <field attributeName="accountNumber" forceInquiry=“true” /> <field attributeName="accountFiscalOfficerUser.personName“ /> <field attributeName="accountManagerUser.personName“ /> … </resultFields></lookup>

Lookups and InquiriesLookup Data Dictionary Sample (BO DD)


<inquiry> <title>Account Inquiry</title> <inquiryFields> <field attributeName="chartOfAccountsCode" /> <field attributeName="accountNumber" /> … </inquiryFields></inquiry>

Lookups and InquiriesInquiry Data Dictionary Sample (BO DD)


Lookups and Inquiries

Document



WorkflowIntegration

(Apache Axis)

PersistenceServices

(OJB)

MaintenanceData

Dictionary(XML)


DataDictionary


Lookups

Inquiries

BusinessObjectData

Dictionary(XML)


(XStream)


RulesService

DocumentAuthorizer

Service


Core Services• Requirement: provide common utilities

to Kuali developers– Employ our SOA architectural principal

• Leveraged Spring IoC– Interface/Implementation– KualiSpringBeans.xml


Core ServicesBusiness Object Service

• Recognized that Spring/OJB integration boiled down to:– PersistenceBroker.store(businessObject);

– PersistenceBroker.queryByCriteria(BusinessObject.class, criteria);


Core ServicesBusiness Object Service, Continued

• Allowed us to significantly reduce the number of DAOs

• Able to use Spring’s AOP Method Results Caching

• Used this service in other components– Lookups– Inquiries


Core ServicesDocument Service• A common set of service methods to

take actions on a document– Similar to the business object service– Persist documents and integrate with

workflow

• Used Spring’s transaction management features

• Samples:– documentService.save(document);– documentService.approve(document);


Core ServicesData Dictionary Services

• Our gateway to business object and document metadata

• Used throughout the KNS– Workflow services – document type

information– Custom tags – access to attribute labels– Business rules – required attribute checks


Core ServicesData Dictionary Services, Continued

• Samples– businessObjectDictionaryService.getLookupTitle(Account.class);

– dictionaryValidationService.validateBusinessObject(account);

– transactionalDocumentDictionaryService.getBusinessRulesClass(transactionalDocument);

– transactionalDocumentDictionaryService.getAllowsCopy(transactionalDocument);


Core ServicesWorkflow Document Services

• Integration point with KEW

• Leverages KEW libraries

• Talks securely to KEW via Apache Axis Web Services


Core Services

Document



WorkflowIntegration

(Apache Axis)

PersistenceServices

(OJB)

MaintenanceData

Dictionary(XML)


DataDictionary


Lookups

Inquiries

BusinessObjectData

Dictionary(XML)


(XStream)


RulesService

DocumentAuthorizer

Service


UI ComponentsCustom Tags

• Allows for reusable pieces of JSP, JSTL, and HTML

• Samples– <kul:lookup businessObjectClassName=“Account” />

– <kul:inquiry businessObjectClassName=“Account” />


UI ComponentsAJAX

• Minimal usage because of our accessibility standards

• Value added

• Using JavaScript XMLHttpRequest()– GET requests sent to a central Struts

action class that handles all AJAX calls


UI ComponentsCSS

• Extensive set of style sheets

• Cohesive and aesthetically pleasing look and feel


<kul:documentPage showDocumentInfo="true" documentTypeName="KualiGeneralErrorCorrectionDocument" htmlFormAction="financialGeneralErrorCorrection" renderMultipart="true" showTabButtons="true">

<html:hidden property="document.nextSourceLineNumber"/><html:hidden property="document.nextTargetLineNumber"/><kul:hiddenDocumentFields />

<kul:documentOverview editingMode="${KualiForm.editingMode}"/><fin:accountingLines

editingMode="${KualiForm.editingMode}" editableAccounts="${KualiForm.editableAccounts}"/>

<kul:generalLedgerPendingEntries/><kul:notes/><kul:adHocRecipients/><kul:routeLog/><kul:panelFooter/><kul:documentControls transactionalDocument="true" />

</kul:documentPage>

UI ComponentsJSP Sample


UI Components

Document



WorkflowIntegration

(Apache Axis)

PersistenceServices

(OJB)

MaintenanceData

Dictionary(XML)


DataDictionary


Lookups

Inquiries

BusinessObjectData

Dictionary(XML)


(XStream)


RulesService

DocumentAuthorizer

Service

Custom Tags(JSTL)


Customization and Configuration Components

• Requirement: the system must be customizable and configurable

• Application Parameter Constants– Extract hard coded business rules checks

out to the DB– Maintained with a maintenance document

• Data Dictionary

• KEW routing rules configuration


• Custom attributes– Custom fields for business objects– Turn on in data dictionary file– Reporting needs, not business rules

• “Pluggable” business rules– Specify business rule implementation in

document’s data dictionary file

Customization and Configuration Components


Customization Components

Document



WorkflowIntegration

(Apache Axis)

PersistenceServices

(OJB)

MaintenanceData

Dictionary(XML)


DataDictionary


Lookups

Inquiries

BusinessObjectData

Dictionary(XML)


(XStream)


RulesService

DocumentAuthorizer

Service

Custom Tags(JSTL)

CustomAttributes


Security Components

Authentication

• WebAuthenticationService

• WebAuthenticationServiceCas– Used CAS for implementation– J2EE Servlet filter uses the service


Security Components

Authorization

• KualiAuthorizationService

• Implemented as two types• Application Roles

– Action Z requires group Y membership for user X– Does user X belong to group Y?

• Document Inherent – Application Role + Document Role + Document

State = Permission


Security ComponentsAuthorization DD File Code Sample…<documentClass> org.kuali.module.financial.document.TransferOfFundsDocument</documentClass><documentAuthorizerClass> org.kuali.module.financial.document.FinancialDocumentAuthorizer</documentAuthorizerClass><authorizations> <authorization action="initiate"> <workgroups> <workgroup>KUALI_ROLE_ADMINISTRATORS</workgroup> </workgroups> </authorization></authorizations>…


Security Components

Document



WorkflowIntegration

(Apache Axis)

PersistenceServices

(OJB)

MaintenanceData

Dictionary(XML)


DataDictionary


Lookups

Inquiries

BusinessObjectData

Dictionary(XML)


(XStream)

Custom Tags(JSTL)


CAS)


RulesService

CustomAttributes

DocumentAuthorizer

Service


Other Components• Notes and attachments

• Data dictionary driven help screens

• Question component for confirmation dialogs

• PojoProcessor plug-in for Struts form processing– Reuse business objects for automatic form

processing and field formatting


Other Components

Document



WorkflowIntegration

(Apache Axis)

Attachments(Java IO)

PersistenceServices

(OJB)

MaintenanceData

Dictionary(XML)


DataDictionary


Lookups

Inquiries

BusinessObjectData

Dictionary(XML)


(XStream)

Custom Tags(JSTL)


CAS)


RulesService

CustomAttributes

DocumentAuthorizer

Service

Notes


Lessons and Dirty Laundry

• Spring transaction management– Don’t mix transactional services with non-

transactional services

• Documentation – “great here, bad there”

• Some inter-module dependencies


KNS Future Potential

• Solves pattern problems in an elegant fashion

• Why just Kuali?


Enablers


Questions?

Technical Q&A SessionTuesday, 4/11 at 9:00AM

Aaron GodertDevelopment Manager

[email protected]

Brian McGoughLead Architect

[email protected]