Also, one can debug their Java service code by using the usual tools (that is remote debugging using eclipse and tomcat, for example).

There are a few options for debugging.

1) we have a URL parameter: debug=1 that will print out everything that’s going on related to your application and our RIA framework.

2) You can use Firebug (in Firefox) to see messages going back and forth between the UI and its services (including message contents). It’s also good for general client-side debugging.

3) You can also add generic logging for your messages in the UI via our script widget. It would look something like this:

This logs all messages that are sent to and received from remote listeners (services):

<app:script on=”r:~.* then execute”>
Logger.info(”Received remote message type: ” + this.type + ‘ data: ‘ + this.data);
</app:script>

This logs all messages that are sent to and received from local listeners :

<app:script on=”l:~.* then execute”>
Logger.info(”Received local message type: ” + this.type + ‘ data: ‘ + this.data);
</app:script>

The DWR/Prototype combo is certainly a viable option. We actually bundle Prototype with Appcelerator, so you can use it. We can also work with JQuery.

We are trying to offer developers an alternative to the piecemeal approach to building RIA + SOA applications. Ultimately, I believe a fully integrated platform will win out; it’s just a question of which one.

Thanks for your comment!

I am a pretty big fan of the prototype/dwr combo. That would look like this on the client side (hopefully the code renders alright):

function changeOne(){
dwr.updateOne($(”comboOne”).value, {callback: newTwo});
}

function newTwo(newOptions){
util.addOptions($(”comboTwo”), newOptions, “value”, “text”);
}

Its a few more characters (I could have packed it all in tight certainly) but super clear at a glance and really clean to debug on both ends.

The server side then looks like this:

@RemoteProxy(name = “dwr”)
public class DwrController{

@RemoteMethod
public List updateOne(String value){
return myManager.getNewOptions(value);
}
}

It is indeed Java-only, but a nice combo if working in that environment. I think Prototype makes Javascript rather fun to work with.