XML Parsing in Ruby using Happy Mapper

Part of my job consists in getting a lot of data from different sources. Whether it's a SOAP or REST webservice, a TCP Socket, or simply files on a FTP, most of this data is in XML format.

There are different libraries to parse XML in Ruby. We used to do with XML Object, but the resulting code is really difficult to read and maintain. We prefer Happy Mapper.

It is an XML to object mapping library. You can find the source on Github. I also created a fork to add support for text node in mapping objects. It also includes the changes from David Bolton.

The resulting code is very readable and easy to maintain... and the library can be used in most cases. It's also quite fast since it uses XML Object for the actual parsing. Examples are in the source tree, and the source itself is quite short and easy to understand.

Enjoy easy and happy XML parsing! :)

The iPhone application submission process

Last Friday I submitted for Front Foot our first iPhone application. It's quite exciting to arrive at this stage of the project. I have worked so much on this app, our creative designer Deena Baxter did a really good job! I can't wait to show you the result of that work. But I would first like to share with you different tips you may find useful tp submit your own application. The submission process, once you've understood it, is quite simple. But there some parts that are not very well documented. So here are a couple links you may be interested in reading:

• The brand new Apple Guide for Application Submission
• AdHoc distribution building

When you are compiling in Xcode make sure you use the good building profile and it refers correctly your entitlements for AdHoc distribution, also make sure to use the good provisioning profiles for Distribution and AdHoc distribution.

Now all my workmates have a version of the application on their iPhone, and the application is being reviewed by Apple. Tell you more when it's available!

Welcome to Melion Design's blog

Well hello there!

Let me present myself, I'm Damien, software engineer for Front Foot Media Solutions in Sydney Australia.

Lately I've been working a lot on mobile platforms, whether it's for mobile websites with a strong back-end like Three Mobile's iPhone landing page: Planet 3, or for iPhone native applications.

I really enjoy developing for the iPhone, we focus a lot on ergonomics, providing the good features and making them easy and enjoyable for the user!

I also work on my own projects, and some free lancing as well for really small projects aside from work, which is what Melion Design is about! So don't hesitate to contact me if you want a good front-end and back-end developer for your web app.