Calling all students!

Here’s an easy way to make USD$500 (grand prize), or USD$250 (five runners up). All you have to do is use the MySQL database (5.1) and the GlassFish application server (v2 Update Release 2) to develop a cool web application and write a review of your experience using these products.

The deadline for this is October 22, 2008. Remember to read the contest details, as it lists eligibility criteria, and how we’re judging the entries.

As a judge, here’s my advice:

• Make me go “wow!”
• Use some of the new features in MySQL 5.1 - think XML, …

If there is one thing that I terribly miss after moving to this country, that would be the variety of Mangoes in India. I've been asked at the United States Customs if I'm importing any mangoes. The fruit's flavor, fragrance and color is just great so I don't blame them at all. There is even International Mango Festival conducted every year since 1987 in Delhi. The festival features more than 550 varieties for visitors to view and taste.

I can talk at lengths about the fruit Mango but this entry is about Mango*. So what is it ?

This TOTD (Tip Of The Day) shows how to create a simple Java Server Faces application using NetBeans IDE 6.1. This is my first ever Java Server Faces application :) Much more comprehensive applications are already available in NetBeans and GlassFish tutorials.

The application is really simple - it allows you to create a database of cities/country that you like. You enter the city & country name on a page and click on Submit. This stores the data entered in the backend database and displays all the stored values in a new page. This application demonstrates simple JSF concepts:

• How to create a JSF application using NetBeans IDE …

A concise compilation of today's news of interest to TheAquarium readers:

GlassFish and MySQL bundle was released a while ago and I finally got a chance to try it out. Here are simple instructions to get you started:

1. Download GlassFish and MySQL co-bundle zip from here.
2. Install the bundle (detailed docs)
   1. Create a temp directory and unzip the contents of bundle there. The contents are:
      
      

      -rw-r--r--   1 arungupta  arungupta   239703 Mar 19 02:57 3RD-PARTY-LICENSE.txt …

TOTD #39 explained how to create an Autocomplete widget (server-powered autocompleting of text fields, similar to Google Suggest) using Prototype/Script.aculo.us libraries with NetBeans, GlassFish and MySQL. This Tip Of The Day (TOTD) builds upon that project and shows how same functionality can be achieved using jQuery Library.

1. Use the NetBeans project created in TOTD #39. Right-clicking on the project, select "New", "JSP...", enter the name as "index2" …

There are several JavaScript libraries that can be embedded in your webapplication to create a visually appealing interface. Script.aculo.us is one of the popular ones and is built on the Prototype JavaScript Framework. The library provides an easy-to-use, cross-browser user interface JavaScripts that allows you to create fancy effects commonly visible on web pages these days.

This blog entry gets you started by using Ajax.Autocompleter that allows for server-powered autocompleting of text fields. Basically, you type a character in a text field and suggestions for possible correct values starting with that character are shown . This is achieved by by sending an Ajax request to the data source on server, passing the typed …