Apache Camel Eclipse Tooling for visual Data Transformation

So Keith Babo, who created the JBoss SwitchYard project, is now leading a team that works on data mapping. This effort is partly Apache Camel as they leverage the Camel Dozer component, and a slick UI that is part of the JBoss Tools for Apache Camel (formerly known as Fuse IDE).

Fuse Data Transformation Tooling as part of the JBoss Tools for Apache Camel

The source code is in the github repository at: https://github.com/fusesource/fuseide. Yes we have not yet moved that to another organization so it still says FuseSource.

During their development they release their work as milestones, and they just released milestone 4. The tooling is build regularly and can be installed using the following instructions.

For the busy people like me, its great they record videos from time to time to demonstrate this in action. So do like me, grab a cup of coffee and watch these 5-10 minute short videos.

• Milestone 4 - New Features 

And if you are interested then there is videos about the various mapping styles currently supported

• Field Mappings
• Variable Mappings
• Custom Mappings 
• Expression Mappings
• “Other” Data Types

Getting started with JBoss Fuse - Where should I start?

Christina Lin, a Fuse evangelist, has created a great blog series of how to get started with JBoss Fuse.

She has done a great job of creating real life use-cases and detailing how to do this step by step, in both text and slides.

JBoss Fuse Blog Series by Christina Lin 

• Workshop part 1 - Camel basic and components
• Workshop part 2 - Data Transformation 
• Workshop part 3 - Enterprise Integration Pattern
• Workshop part 4 - Bean Registry
• Workshop part 5 - OSGi Container
• Workshop part 6 - Fabric8

People who are new to JBoss Fuse is encouraged to take a look at this, as IMHO its easier to follow an use-case, than reading through then 100s of pages of reference documentation that is part of the product.

As Apache Camel is a corner stone of JBoss Fuse, then its often also even easier to get started by just learning some basic Camel first without thinking about Fuse / App Servers / OSGi / Karaf / Blueprint / Fabric / and many other concepts that JBoss Fuse brings to the table. Learn some Camel skills, which you can easily run on your computer locally, from within your Java editor. And then only thereafter take the leap and dive into the world of JBoss Fuse.

To get started with Apache Camel I point people to read this article written by Jonathan Anstey several years ago (don't worry the information is today 100% up to date, as Camel is table and dont throw you under the bus by frequent changes) which really captures well what Camel is and what it can do. For example the foundation of Camel which James Strachan laid out 8 years ago is still the road we travel today. If you are looking for other explanations what Camel is, then there is a good QA on stackoverflow.

Another great starting point to learn Apache Camel is chapter 1 of the Camel in Action book. And this is not the only Camel book, in fact there is 4 known books published.