Open source Push Server

• PushSharp: [C#] :A server-side library for sending Push Notifications to iOS (iPhone/iPad APNS), OSX (APNS 10.8+) Android (C2DM and GCM - Google Cloud Message), Chrome (GCM) Windows Phone, Windows 8, Blackberry (PAP), and Amazon (ADM) devices!
• A good getting started guide with PushSharp
• PushSharp.Web: [C#] A web wrapper for PushSharp
• Original article behind this
• AeoroGear UnifiedPushSeerver: [JAVA]: Easy and promising - does have a Openshift gear and can be tested over Openshift
• aerogear-push-server-push-notifications-made-easy guid from Openshift
• Pushd:[Node.js] :Pushd is a pluggable "unified" push server for server-side notification to mobile native apps, web apps etc. With pushd you can send push notifications to any supported mobile platform, web app or HTTP server from a single entry point. Pushd takes care of which device is subscribed to which event and is designed to support an unlimited amount of subscribable events.
• Loopback.io: [Node.js]: Loopback is basically a nodejs framework to easily create api - but it does have component to create push servers.
• Node-Push-Server: [Node.js]: It looks like a stripped down version of Pushd.

PHP SOAP client to consume JAX-WS

For couple of days I was googling and researching for a descent solution to my problem to access and consume the services exposed over a JAX-WS from my php application. Actually, I have to write a client so that I can save data from my php application (A subscriber application info management system for the telco company I am working for) to IN database where I have to do so over a JAX-WS interface.
Usually, I woud've followed my previous post. But it din work in this case- the problem and a basic setup is I got from the following location:
http://www.lampjunkie.com/2010/03/get-phps-soapclient-to-speak-with-javas-jax-ws/
But that either din resolve my problem entirely; as my JAX-WS needs a BASIC HTTP AUTHENTICATION to access it. So, following was my solution :

Note:
From php manual I must quote that you must set uri and location directives while invoking webservice with wsdl.I mean when you create the SoapClient object.

Now, that is how I retrieved data from the web service. Next, I will try to save the data and will share how I do it.

Reference:

1. php manual for soap client. A must read with care of the all the options.
2. soapUI. A must have tool while working with soap - to easy analyze things.
3. wsf/php. A framework for php to easily play with enterprise level web services. I will write my experience with it some other time.

Liferay : Installing on Tomcat as a non-root webapp context and using MySql

Started playing with liferay. Want to create an intranet application for a group of companies.

Liferay : Quoting from the liferay website,"Liferay Portal is an enterprise web platform for building business solutions that deliver immediate results and long-term value. Get the benefits of packaged applications and an enterprise application framework in a single solution."
Liferay portal includes :

• Content & Document Management 
• Web Publishing and Shared Workspaces 
• Enterprise Collaboration 
• Social Networking and Mashups 
• Enterprise Portals and Identity Management 

Here I am going to share the resource and procedure I followed to setup Liferay community edition locally on my PC. [BTW, I am using windows 7]

Requirements :

• JDK 1.6 [I think you know where you'll get it :) ]
• Tomcat6 
• Liferay 6.0.5 Community Edition WAR bundle 
• Liferay Portal Dependencies 6.0.5
• Two extra libraries to copy at tomcat lib directory jta.jar and mail.jar

Procedures :

1. Unzip Liferay 6.0.5 WAR bundle file and copy all content into %TOMCAT_HOME%/webapps/liferay folder.[certainly you'll need to create the liferay folder within webapp folder :)]
2. Unzip and copy all Liferay Portal dependencies 6.0.5 to %TOMCAT_HOME%/lib/ext [if the ext directory is not there, please do create it]
3. Include the ext in your catalina properties ; update the following line on %TOMCAT_HOME%/conf/catalina.properties : 
   common.loader=${catalina.base}/lib,${catalina.base}/lib/*.jar,${catalina.home}/lib,${catalina.home}/lib/*.jar,${catalina.home}/lib/ext/*.jar
4. Copy the two libraries (jta.jar and mail.jar) to %TOMCAT_HOME%/lib/ext
5. Create liferay.xml file into %TOMCAT_HOME%/conf/Catalina/localhost folder. It looks like this:
   
   <Context path="/liferay" crossContext="true">
   
   <Resource
   name="jdbc/LiferayPool"
   auth="Container"
   type="javax.sql.DataSource"
   driverClassName="com.mysql.jdbc.Driver"
   url="jdbc:mysql://localhost:3306/liferaydb?useUnicode=true&amp;characterEncoding=UTF-8"
   username="root"
   password=""
   maxActive="20"
   />
   
   </Context>
   
   In my case, DB user is “root” with empty password. You must create an empty DB in MySQL, for example “liferaydb”. Please also note the bold text.
6. Create portal-ext.properties into %TOMCAT_HOME%/webapps/liferay/WEB-INF/classses folder. It looks like this:
   
   jdbc.default.jndi.name=jdbc/LiferayPool
   portal.ctx=/liferay
   
   
7. If you are using MySQL as database server instead of HSQL, you must copy mysql jdbc lib into %TOMCAT_HOME%/lib/ext folder.
8. Run startup.bat/sh, you will see in console when liferay creates and populates the portal database automatically. Now, you can open browser window and enter the folow URL http://localhost:8080/liferay. Use test@liferay.com and test as user and password respectively.

Resources :

• Wikipedia
• Liferay website
• Community support