ESME Blog

As we wrote yesterday here on our blog, you can now access ESME via existing Twitter clients.

I tried using an iPhone today against the Stax deplyoment with the latest Apache code drop.
On Laconi.ca’s app wiki, there are a few different apps to choose from. After trying out a few I eventually ended up using LaTwit. € 2,49 in the iTunes App Store.

Below is a screenshot of my timeline on the iPhone:



If you want to try it yourself, you need to do the following:
1. Create a user on the ESME server at Stax
2. Click on the manage token link and create a token. This is is your password for using the iPhone client

3. In the account settings in LaTwit:

Add the ESME API URL in the field “Server API URL” in this format: esmecloudserverapache.dickhirsch.staxapps.net/twitter

Add the username which you created in step 1.

Add the password (token) which you created in step 2.

4. Remember to enable the account before you finish.

5. You should now see the public timeline.

Please note that we have not yet done everything in the Twitter API, so some things still aren’t working (for example following users). Other functional characteristics of Twitter like DMs aren’t yet part of the ESME architecture.

Please also note that the Web UI at Stax doesn’t work properly, so bear with us. The Stax deployment is the latest code drop from Apache which means it might include bugs.

ESME has a REST API that is necessary for clients to access data / functionality. There was some degree  of debate / criticism – some of it rather critical  – of this initial interface. Ethan Jewett has blogged about a suggestion for a new REST API for ESME which not only provides an examination of main points of REST-related debate but also the foundation for a new REST API.  Ethan is planning on moving the discussion over to the Apache wiki for further discussion.

Please join us in creating the best possible REST API for ESME.

Note: I don’t currently have the link for the page in Apache wiki with the discussion but I will update this blog when I have the link.

One of the main tasks for the first sprints since we joined Apache has been support of the Twitter API .  The main reason for this functionality is the ability to use existing twitter clients to access ESME. Well, Vassil Dichev  has been working hard to this important task up and running. Using Twitter clients, it is now possible to send messages, receive the public and private timelines as well as view friends/followers.

The use of other Twitter clients to access ESME isn’t always possible, because the client’s configuration must be changed so that the application accesses the Esme server rather than the main Twitter server. Unfortunately, this switch isn’t always possible, because the server which is the basis for messages is usually hardwired.  Those applications that can also access laconi.ca  servers can also be made to access ESME servers

I’ve tried it using Twhirl against the Stax deplyoment with the latest Apache code drop and was pleased to see that it works.

If you want to try it yourself, then you to do the following steps.
1. Create a user on the ESME server at Stax
2. Click on the manage token link and create a token. This is is your password for using the Twitter client
3. Create a new account with twhirl using the laconi.ca type not the identica.ca type.

Use this synatx “apachedick@esmecloudserverapache.dickhirsch.staxapps.net”. Instead of “apachedick” use your own user_id.
4. Click on ”Connect” and set password using your token from step 2.

5. You should now see the public timeline.

I’ve only tried accessing ESME via twhirl. If anyone has success using other clients, then please add a comment.

Please note that we have not yet done everything in the Twitter API, so some things still aren’t working (for example following users). Other functional characteristics of Twitter like DMs aren’t yet part of the ESME architecture.

Please also note that the Web UI at Stax doesn’t work properly, so bear with us. The Stax deployment is the latest code drop from Apache which means it might include bugs.

Daniel Koller has released a few preliminary details on his latest load test based on the latest Apache-based source.  This time he focused on the REST API and compared a one-server configuration to a configuration with three server.

The first picture shows the environment with one server:

The second picture shows three servers:

What is interesting is the comparison of these results with the initial load tests that were based on an older version of Scala with a notorious memory bug. In the first tests, the performance curve was very chaotic. The new version of ESME is much more stable and shows more expected performance behavior.

We’ll publish more details on these latest performance test soon.

Darren Hague has moved the ESME Client based on the Java Api from the Google Code repository to our Apache repository. He also added additional methods including the critical ”getMessages” method which was previously missing. It is now possible to easily create bots that integrate with existing environments.  Darren has also provided a test application (with code) that shows how to use the API.

The JAVA API is still a work in progress but the most important parts are now present.

ESME got a nice mention in Mark Yolton’s (Senior Vice President of the SAP Community Network ) keynote at “Open Source Meets Business” (OSMB) conference. Take a look at Mark’s blog about his presentation (slides are here). The slides are interesting, because they describe the changing relationship between open- and closed-source software. This discussion is obviously relevant to the manner in which ESME evolves.