Tech blog

Updated various links to the SkyFoundry website.

Check out our LinkedIn post for the holidays!

An optimised SkySpark connector for the Belimo Cloud.

This updated connector is compatible with SkySpark v3.1.1.

Transform your Axon functions, Views, and Apps, into custom SkySpark extensions.

Minor update to support pod.depends meta data.

Thanks to Nathan of Trove Consulting for the suggestion.

We find this makes it much easier to find the information about our growing eLearning range.

Take a look!

Fantom Pod Manager (FPM) provides a targeted environment for building, testing, and running Fantom applications.

Read the docs on eggbox.fantomfactory.org

Perfect for training teams, reducing your overheads on creating individual orders. We are very pleased to offer our extra training support services for a minimum order of just 10 eLearning seats.

Check out our new YouTube video - all about our new Pod Builder!

A compiler for SCSS and SASS. Updated the internal libraries to jsass/5.10.4 and libsass/3.6.4 and patched jsass to remove deprecation warnings.

Check out Eggbox for more details.

Our new explainer video for Axon Encryptor shows how easy it is to encrypt your Axon and keep your code secure.

Created a bespoke extension for SkySpark and HttpClient that auto-authenticates HTTP requests to the Also Energy Cloud API and obfuscates credentials from console and log views.

New icons for our commercial software on StackHub.

Reworded Q8.2.9 to be clearer.

We have updated this in module 8.2 of SkySpark Engineer.

Thanks to feedback from Darius Minus.

Now runs on SkySpark v3.1, and a new afHttpConfig() function allows config to be set for the current session.

New support for custom HTTP client plugins, updated the underlying HTTP Client library to v2.0.4.

Fixed a bug relating to Digest authentication and another where the afHttpUriPlusQuery() function would throw an NPE.

Thanks to feedback from David Binstock

Provides integration with Axon Encryptor and compatibility with SkySpark v3.1.

Re-write of the original Axonator code.

Axon Encryptor runs on SkySpark v3.1, splits the runtime code into its own extension, and provides seamless integration with Pod Builder.

A dark mode theme for the Fantom F4 IDE, based on the "doom-vibrant" theme for Doom Emacs.

Check out GitHub for more details.

The web address for our training connector has changed.

We have updated this in module 5.2 of SkySpark Engineer and module 11 of Engineer Journal.

All of our existing users have been notified about the change via email.

Fantom Factory was a sponsor of this year's SkyPosium 2021.

Although we could not be there in person, we made sure that would not stop us from leaving an impression, by delivering an incredible video talking first and foremost about everything that we do, as well as a little bit about us and our team.

See our article for more details.

Updated and re-compiled 8 custom client connectors, extensions, and pods so they continue to work with the new SkySpark v3.1 release.

BugFix: Removing a Trio file from the Folio View did not delete the actual file on the file system. Now it does!

Thanks to feedback from Ian Habermann of AFM.

The Axon Docs v0.2.2 is now fully compatible with SkySpark 3.0.29!

Fixed an error when a previously documented function could not be found.

Thanks to feedback from Simon Challet.

Updated the Haxall article to link to our new build of Haxall v3.1.1.

The code behind this TechLog page has been updated so TechLog entries may also show display images.

The rule writing section of our SkySpark Engineer course (7.6 - Assigning Spark costs) has been updated to add help on how to recompute a spark rule.

Thanks to feedback from Javier Betancourt.

With the release of Fantom 1.0.77, we have updated our Windows Installer.

Download it from the Fantom website!

The disMacros section (4.7) of our SkySpark Engineer course has been updated to give a better example and clearer instruction.

Thanks to feedback from Javier Betancourt.

Read the amazing backstory of our Alpha Colony! We've released a fun freebie comic book for you to enjoy on our MARS training platform!

We use the Alpha Colony scenario for consolidatory training techniques AND to make these boring subject matters actually enjoyable!

See our LinkedIn post for information, or go directly to our training site and create a free account to access it right now!

Our new version of this Axon eLearning course (and the accompanying Axon Journal) is designed specifically for the new open source HAXALL platform.

• Tailored and tested for the new open source HAXALL platform.
• Updated content including images and description changes

Completely agnostic of using any commercial products, learn how to use Axon as it relates to the key technology elements of Haxall, such as the Folio database.

See our news article for more details!

The new Axon Docs v0.2.0 brings continued compatibility with SkySpark 3.0.28+ !

All functions have been re-tagged to conform to the new library split in the later SkySpark versions. And tabbing out of Axon Docs and back in again doesn't lose your settings any more.

And... Axon Docs is still compatible with older SkySpark versions too!

Delivered and deployed a suite of SkySpark Rules, utilising our software development expertise and dedicated strategy to testing.

Updated the embedded Fantom runtime to Fantom 1.0.76, fixed many long standing bugs, and fully enabled Dark Mode.

Download the latest release from GitHub.

A JSON to Fantom object mapping library.

API updates.

Updated questions relating to the Energy Profile View (module 7) to give clearer answers.

Thanks to James Gessel for the feedback.

Added a fix for a ValDef validation bug in SkySpark 3.0.29, see the SkyFoundry forum for details.

Thanks to Leroy Simms of ABI Advantage LLC for reporting.

We've re-evaluated our course achievements; assigned more appropriate names, and designed fresh new badges for each.

The achievements:

• Lift Off! - Correctly answer your first exercise
• Space Odysse - Successfully complete ALL the exercises
• Astro Vision - Watch any video from start to end
• Celestial Cinema - Watch ALL the videos from start to end
• Ace of Space - Pass a checkpoint with the top score of 100%
• Galaxy Brain - Pass ALL checkpoints with the top score of 100%
• Mission Accomplished - Pass the final assessment of the course
• Maximum Velocity - Pass the final assessment, first time, with a score of 100%
• Saving the Planet - A special achievement for completing ALL optional material.

More than that, we've also reallocated their XP points so harder achievements are worth more XP. Can't say fairer than that!

This MASSIVE boost to the SkySpark Analyst eLearning course is a refresh for SkySpark 3.0.29 and incorporates:

• A whole new module
• 5 new topics
• 20 new questions
• New achievement badges and XP allocation
• fresh new videos (no more creepy hand pointer - sigh) Not to mention a complete overhaul of all the existing content, exercises, checkpoints, and an updated final assessment!

Updated Pod Builder to work with the latest (3.0.29) version of SkySpark.

It sounds easy, but involved investigating and solving some backwards binary compatibility problems with the various versions of SkySpark! Phew!

Thanks to Carlos Garcia for reporting the incompatibility.

Fantom Pod Manager dynamically resolves pod dependencies, providing a targeted environment for building, testing, and running Fantom apps.

Fix for shifting transitive dependency trees during dependency resolution.

Finished development on a SkySpark Connector for the Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) Share My Data API.

Finished development on a SkySpark Connector for the FlowWorks REST API complete with optimised HTTP 1.1 keep-alive connections!

After reviewing the general demand of our own students, we've just increased our eLearning access to 8 weeks!

See our LinkedIn Post for more details.

Renders Fantom objects as HTML forms complete with client and server side validation.

API updates.

Added more help to the hint in Q11.2.1 of Axon Programmer.

Thanks to April Slotterback for the feedback.

This 2 minute video introduces each of our training courses, to help you choose your SkySpark learning journey!

Has been released.

It is an implementation of the JSON-RPC v2.0 specification.

BiqSave of Norway is now listed as a Fantom Factory eLearning distributor!

See Our Resellers for details.

Tweaked the wording around Spark Costs in section 7.6 of SkySpark Engineer.

Thanks to Jay Radia for the feedback.

Now contains Axon functions to build, install, and upload pods - allowing Pod Builder to be scripted.

Thanks to Ian Habermann of AFM for the suggestion.

Corrected a slight mis-understanding in Q6.4.4 regarding the Energy app.

Thanks to Brandon DeLorenzo for the feedback.

Reworded some question hints in "Module 5 - Connectors" to add extra help.

Thanks to Samuel Weisenberg for the feedback.

Released an updated analytics dashboard page for the Sonrai Air Quality Fantom web application.

Added an extra explanation around lambda function arguments and updated the model answer for Q8.3.2.

Thanks to Andrew Lynch for the feedback.

Re-released our Haystack Connect PitchFest presentation for all to see!

Released the FREE course companion to SkySpark Engineer.

Fantom Factory was a Silver sponsor at the 2021 Haystack Connect virtual conference, and delivered a high energy video in the PitchFest event.

If there had been votes for the best PitchFest presentation, we would have surely won!

To give potential customers the extra confidence they really are about to purchase quality eLearning, we've added an average 5 star rating to all our course summaries. The ratings are calculated real time from all our customer course reviews.

And yes, all our courses really DO average 5 out of 5 stars!

Released a FREE SkySpark extension and an external synthesised Haystack data source to complement our SkySpark Engineer training course.

After talks with SkyFoundry, we no longer facilitate sales of SkySpark 10 point licences from Active Facility Monitoring.

Instead, you must purchase licences yourself from your SkySpark resller... or Active Facility Monitoring.

Released a new dashboard and chart page for the Sonrai Air Quality Fantom web application.

Clarified questions Q4.7.3 and Q4.7.4.

Thanks to Mike Robbins for the feedback.

Thanks to John Ang for feeding back improvements:

• Altered Q2.2.1 to make it more realistic with regard to Project Haystack tags
• Explained how whitespace around values in .trio files is optional
• Fixed Q2.5.3 to follow SkySpark conventions for IO files.
• Made assessment Q8 more lenient.

Thanks to John Ang for feeding back these following improvements:

• Tweaked the punctuation in Q3.1.1 and Q3.1.2
• Fixed typo in 5.2 Get, Set, D'Oh code example
• Reworded Q5 in Checkpoint 8.4 to be a little clearer
• Fixed a typo in a code example in topic 9.3 Functions requiring lambdas
• Replaced usage of hisClear() in revision question Q11.2.1 with a more correct hisRemove()

Made various (authentication) updates to our SkySpark extension that allows SkySpark instances to report their health and status to a central monitoring station via the SkySpark Connector framework.

Desgined and released new Fantom Factory FAT Logos for situations that require a smaller aspect ratio.

In conjunction with Active Facility Monitoring we now offer SkySpark 10 point licences for sale to accompany our training courses.

We are happy to sponsor a pre-recorded talk of Fast Track COVID-19 Alternative Care Facility (ACF) by Ryan McClain of Pinnacle Engery Services Inc.

Work completes on our fantastic new short video that really showcases what our new SkySpark Engineer training looks like!

> Introducing our SkySpark Engineer eLearning course <

Axon Programmer 2.1 is released, boasting:

• Updated and tested for SkySpark 3.0.28 (from v3.0.25)
• New video giving an overview of the Axon Command Console
• Links to the new SkyFoundry documentation

Completed a major update and re-design of our internal HTTP Client library.

It now handles persistent (keep-alive) connections as defined by HTTP 1.1 making data transfer up to 3x faster!

The new connection agnostic design also paves the way for a new HTTP 2.0 implementation.

Another great company, IoT Warez, joins the ranks as a Fantom Factory eLearning distributor!

See Our Resellers for details.

Frantically updated 100s and 100s of documentation links across all our 9 courses after SkyFoundry updated their website to conform too Haystack 4.

Eeek!

The first public release of SkySpark Engineer 1.0.

Learn how to use Project Haystack (v4) Tagging, Site Builder, the Folio Database, filter expressions, Connectors, and Rules.

Create new project, site, and equip records, bind points, import and collect history, tune Connectors, set up Rules, and view Sparks.

SkySpark Engineer has it all!

Oh, and Happy Birthday Emma! :D

Released an updated Kiosk mode page for the Sonrai Air Quality Fantom web application.

Fixed a typo in Axon Journal.

Thanks to Willem Timmers for the feedback.

Fantom Factory are happy to welcome Intellastar as the latest reseller of our eLearning courses.

See Our Resellers for details.

We were ecstatic to be informed that Fantom Factory were shortlisted as a finalist in the 2021 Digital City Awards for the category Best Use of Technology - Education!

See Digital City Awards 2021: The Shortlist for details.

Released a mobile microsite for the Sonrai Air Quality Fantom web application.

Fantom Factory are delighted to welcome Ecosave as a reseller of our eLearning courses.

See Our Resellers for details.

Refactored the mechanism in which website Articles are loaded to accommodate a more flexible directory structure.

Course expiry dates are now shown in the dashboard - under the Course Descritption tab.

Delivered updates to our SkySpark extension that completely clones an existing SkySpark project - and updates ALL deeply nested references.

Axon Command Console updated to have an explicit "Test Code" button, making it more obvious to distinguish between "Practice" and "Answer" modes.

Updated F4 FPM Plugin to use the new version of FPM.

Manages pods and their dependencies, providing a targeted environment for building, testing, and running Fantom apps.

Heavily refactored FPM config parsing and made locating repositories more natural and linux friendly.

Courses' progress bars often displayed a higher percentage complete than they should.

They now reset themselves to what they should be, the next time they update.

Updated extension so Jobs and Logs are compatible with both SkySpark 3.0.27 and earlier 3.0 releases.

Rewrote course descriptions and added a preview of our new SkySpark Engineer course.

BuildingFit were always excited to be Fantom Factory distributor, but now they have a whole page on their website dedicated to out eLearning products!

See Fantom Factory Courses for details.

Sterling Bay's 333 N. Green St. property is the first in Chicago to receive the WELL Health & Safety Rating thanks to our development of the Sonrai Indoor Air Quality web application.

See the video report in WELL Health & Safety rating verifies workplace safety during COVID-19 by AB7 News for details.

Kira, Glitch, Leroy, and Astrid have all been re-designed by our new illustrator and now reside on Alpha Colony.

SkySpark Analyst, Axon Programmer, Watt's Up, and the Tutorial have been updated with new content and story enhancements to better show the new style and character emotions.

Training seriously doesn't get any better than this!

Enhanced form feedback of failure messages and tweaked the Google reCAPTCHA logic.

Tweaked exercise Q3.2.5 and checkpoint Q3.6.5.

Thanks to Yandre Lozano for the feedback.

Created an internal SkySpark extension to import and view all our user data in funky Fantom Views.

This helps us greatly with monitoring students, code, and fixing problems.

We're watching you!

A BSON specification implementation.

Optimised reading and writing BSON documents.

Finished adding new pages and grooming page layouts

Content has been split up into multiple pages to make finding information easy and straight forward. The new pages are:

• Why learn with us
• What is Alpha Colony
• Customer Reviews (live)
• Resellers
• FAQs
• Fantom Software Services
• Programming Portfolio
• Tech Log

Utilities and software patterns commonly associated with data objects.

Minor updates.

An IoC library for providing injectable config values.

Read config from secret.props by default.

Transform your Axon functions, Views, and Apps, into custom SkySpark extensions.

Bug fix.

Thanks to Carlos Garcia for reporting.

We are now able to offer official trial versions of our courses, with restricted course assessments and a limited access time period.

Amended the Mars Dashboard to show trial versions and display new messages.

New look and updated information for our welcome aboard instructions for courses - and extensions!

Redesigned our online course shop page, and with new Time Capsules.

This is the start of a larger piece of re-design work.