AWS Flow Framework for Ruby: SplitMerge Sample Application
==========================================================

The *SplitMerge* sample demonstrates a [parallel split][] followed by a [simple
merge][] workflow pattern. It spawns a number of worker activities which are
then merged using `wait_for_all`.

[parallel split]: http://docs.aws.amazon.com/amazonswf/latest/awsrbflowguide/programming-workflow-patterns.html#programming-workflow-patterns-synchronization
[simple merge]: http://docs.aws.amazon.com/amazonswf/latest/awsrbflowguide/programming-workflow-patterns.html#programming-workflow-patterns-simple-merge

Prerequisites
-------------

The *AWS Flow Framework for Ruby* is required, which can be obtained and
installed using the information here:

* https://aws.amazon.com/swf/flow/

If you already have [Ruby][] and [RubyGems][] installed, you can install the
framework by opening a terminal window and typing:

[ruby]: https://www.ruby-lang.org/
[rubygems]: http://rubygems.org/

~~~~
gem install aws-flow
~~~~

For more information about setting up the AWS Flow Framework for Ruby, see
[Installing the AWS Flow Framework for Ruby][docs-installing] in the *AWS Flow
Framework for Ruby Developer Guide*.

[docs-installing]: http://docs.aws.amazon.com/amazonswf/latest/awsrbflowguide/installing.html

Download the sample code
------------------------

To view or download the code for all of the AWS Flow Framework for Ruby recipes
and samples, go to:

* https://github.com/awslabs/aws-flow-ruby-samples

Configure the sample
--------------------

This sample requires a little bit of configuration. Open the
`splitmerge_utils.rb` file and modify the following line:

~~~~ruby
BUCKET = "swf-private-beta-samples"
~~~~

Replace the value `swf-private-beta-samples` with an S3 bucket name associated
with your AWS account. For more information about how to create S3 buckets, see
the [Amazon S3 Getting Started Guide][s3gsg].

[s3gsg]: http://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonS3/latest/gsg/GetStartedWithS3.html

Run the Sample
--------------

**To run the SplitMerge sample:**

1.  Open *three* separate terminal windows and, in each one, change to the `lib`
    directory in the location where you cloned or unarchived the sample code.
    For example:

    ~~~~
    cd ~/Downloads/aws-flow-ruby-samples/samples/split_merge/lib
    ~~~~

2.  In each command-line (terminal) window, execute the following commands,
    substituting your AWS Access keys for the example values.

    On Linux, OS X or Unix:

    ~~~~
    export AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID='your-access-key'
    export AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY='your-secret-key'
    export AWS_REGION='your-aws-region'
    ~~~~

    On Windows:

    ~~~~
    set AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID=your-access-key
    set AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=your-secret-key
    set AWS_REGION=your-aws-region
    ~~~~

3.  Execute the following commands, one in each of the terminal windows:

    ~~~~
    ruby splitmerge_activity.rb
    ruby splitmerge_workflow.rb
    ruby splitmerge_workflow_starter.rb
    ~~~~

For More Information
--------------------

For more information about the Amazon Simple Workflow service and the Amazon
Flow Framework for Ruby, consult the following resources:

* [AWS Flow Framework for Ruby Developer Guide][rbflow-dg]
* [AWS Flow Framework for Ruby API Reference][rbflow-api]
* [AWS Flow Framework][flow-main]
* [Amazon Simple Workflow Service][swf-main]

[rbflow-dg]: http://docs.aws.amazon.com/amazonswf/latest/awsrbflowguide/
[rbflow-api]: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/amazonswf/latest/awsrbflowapi/
[flow-main]: http://aws.amazon.com/swf/flow/
[swf-main]: http://aws.amazon.com/swf/