Sabre Red 360

23.4
SDK

Getting Started with the Sabre Red 360 Software Developer Toolkit

Intro

Welcome to the Getting Started guide for the Sabre Red 360 Developer Toolkit, also known as SR 360 SDK. The objective of this guide is to give you a quick overview of the Sabre Red App ecosystem and development practices, as well guidance on prerequisites and installation to help you get ready.

Purpose of the Sabre Red 360 SDK

The purpose of the Developer Toolkit is to allow customization and build solutions for runtime integrations within Sabre Red's point-of-sale products and the Sabre Red platform (GDS). Sabre Red products, mainly Sabre Red 360 and Sabre Red Web, are used by Travel Consultants in different business scenarios to fullfil different needs of serving the travel industry.

Who Is the Sabre Red 360 SDK For?

The intended audience for the SDK are Software Developers and software divisions inside the travel business industry who wish to plan, code, test, and deploy applications to the Sabre Red Marketplace, known as Red App Developers.

Feel free to check out some of our developer resources:

Sabre Red App Centre

The Sabre Red App Centre (RAC) is the world's first B2B travel app marketplace, your one-stop shop to the Sabre Red point-of-sale product suite. RAC supports the Sabre Red user base with complete solutions from publishing and selling, to provisioning apps through the Sabre Red App Centre.

  • Red App Certified Developer Program: Allows developers to sell Sabre Red apps on the Marketplace. Apply here.
  • Private Sabre Red Apps: A program that supports Travel Agencies who wish to customize their Sabre Red point of sale (POS) products, but do not want to have a presence on the Marketplace. Consult your Sabre Account Manager for more information and details.
  • Red App Proposal: A place to submit your Red App ideas. Once approved, the build, certify, and publish processes take place. Welcome to the Marketplace! Click here for more info.
  • Shop, order, and activate: Once published, control where Travel Consultants browse and shop for your Red Apps on the marketplace. Click here for more info.

Supported Sabre Red Products

Evolution of Human interaction with the Travel Industry using Sabre Products

A window to conduct travel business

This is where it happens. Careers are born and evolve within Sabre's point of sale user interfaces, and both jargon and technology stacks are created due to its influence. Human-facing applications that allow the travel industry to conduct business is the area of interest for anyone who wishes to develop using the SDK, no matter how you heard about it in the first place. If you've heard of these terms, chances are the SDK is right for you: Emulator, EMU, Blue Screen, Green Screen, Graphical View, GV, Next Generation View, Classic View, Next Generation Display, NGV, SR, SRW, NSRW, SR360.

Sabre Red 360

The POS desktop computer application.

Red Apps plug into and can subcribe and respond to business events, extend workflows, contribute to the UI (windows, containers, menus, and more). On Sabre Red 360, the main user window (focus of attention) is called the Next Generation Display, and Red Apps complement business workflows conducted there.

The technology stack behind Desktop Red Apps includes Java + Eclipse RCP (Rich Client Platform) and OSGI.

Sabre Red Web

The POS web browser application.

Sabre Red Web runs in an internet browser, and consists mainly of the Next Generation Display previously mentioned. Here, Red Apps are implemented using a modular design, and extend business workflows, consume APIs and services, and use UI widgets to customize the user interface.

Red Apps targeted specifically for Sabre Red Web are known as Web Red Apps. The technology stack behind Web Red Apps includes Typescript and NodeJS, backed by some popular Javascript frameworks/libraries like JQuery, React, and Backbone.

SDK Support

The Sabre Red 360 SDK warrants support to extend the current Sabre Red POS product line. The SDK evolves at a monthly pace, so it's important to stay up-to-date on release notes and technology stack updates.

Although the SDK supports backward compatibility of legacy/native systems, evolving with the technology stack allows Red App to syncronize with the latest and greatest add-ons currently available. An outdated Red App could become blocked when the user base is migrated to the newest versions of Sabre Red POS products.

Development Environment

In order to build Red Apps, you must configure your operating system with tools and resources that fit the needs of your customers. Both Desktop and Web Red Apps could (and usually will) coexist under the same project, so you can expect to work interchangeably in both IDEs.

Eclipse IDE

This is the main development Environment for Sabre Red POS products. It is based on the Eclipse Platform (Java RCP/OSGI - Rich Client Platform/Open Services Gateway Initiative). This platform offers the possibility to simulate (with testing and debug capabilities) Sabre Red 360 and Sabre Red Web Applications on your local machine, including Red App plug-ins.

Installation

Ensure that your computer has Java JDK and Eclipse IDE installed, and that you have downloaded and set up the SDK files:

  1. Download all pre-requisite resources from the (SDK resources page).
  2. Download and Install JDK.
  3. Download and Install Eclipse IDE.
  4. Download and extract the SDK (Montlhy Release Plan).

Configuration

A new Target Platform should be configured on Eclipse IDE when you download a new version of the SDK. The SDK contains:

  • A Java class library with all the plug-ins needed to emulate the Sabre Red 360 runtime
  • Public APIs and Service Interfaces available when coding for Red Apps
  • A customized set of Eclipse Tools for the creation of Red App plug-ins, and the ability to export (publish) Red App bundles to the Marketplace

Follow the steps below to configure a new Target Platform on Eclipse IDE:

  1. Configure the Target Platform.
  2. Configure run/debug settings.
  3. Install Red App Dev Tools.

Create or Load Red App Plug-In

The Eclipse IDE workspace allows you to have multiple plug-in projects (or Red Apps) opened simultaneously, after which you can configure the projects to run or not on the run/debug settings.

The SDK comes with handy sample code for the most important features. Refer to the SDK_root/samples folder for further information. You can also use the SDK Wizard Tools to create a new Red App project.

  1. Import projects to the Eclipse IDE workspace: Select file > import > existing projects into workspace, then choose the project file (.zip) or directory to import.
  2. Use the Red App Wizard: Select file > new > other, then choose Red App Development group and a project option from the list. Refer to the help documentation for detailed instructions.

Run, Test, and Debug the Sabre Red 360 Application

During the development stages of your Red App, you will be running a Sabre Red POS product like your end users (Sabre EPR in CERT Environmnent), but with the ability to run automated tests and debug/inspect your Red App during runtime. With the auto-build feature, some changes in the code could be reflected immediately without a need to restart the platform.

  1. Request CERT access to the Sabre Platform by consulting with your Account Manager. Sandbox Mode allows you to sign in without authentication on the CERT environment, but with very limited workflow/content integration possibilities.
  2. Start Sabre Red 360 under Eclipse IDE (Developer Mode): Select run > run/debug as, and select the run configuration that you created during setup. You'll be presented with SR 360 sign-in dialog. Enter your CERT credentials to start using the application.
  3. Keep up-to-date on SDK Releases: Refresh Run/Debug Settings.

Export Bundle For Publishing

After you have finished the development of your Red App plug-in, the next step is to generate a digitally signed file containing the Red App to be submitted to certification, beta testing, and final publishing on the Marketplace.

Note: You must have acquired and configured a Java application certificate for this process.

  1. Secure the Red App bundle with a digital certificate.
  2. Export the Red App bundle by selecting file > export > Red App Development section > Red App bundle, then follow the on-screen instructions. Refer to the help documentation for in-depth instructions.

Sabre Concierge Tool

The Sabre Concierge Tool is used to build Web Red Apps with plug-ins specifically targeted for the common user interface (UI) shared amongst Sabre Red 360 and Sabre Red Web.

The technology stack behind Web Red Apps consists of Typescript and a set of Javascript Libraries and Frameworks that support the POS Application on Web. The suggested IDE (or Code editor), is either Visual Studio Code or InteliJ IDE.

Installation

Sabre Concierge is based on Node.JS and NPM, but an installer is included in the SDK for convenience; it installs the node, npm, Concierge tool, and all base libraries). Chrome+Developer Tools are a must when debugging.

  1. Locate and run the Concierge Installer: ../WebSDK-Root/ConciergeInstaller[OS][Version] or ../SDK-Root/webmodules/tools/ConciergeInstaller[OS][Version].

    Optional: Or, install Concierge manually: Open the command prompt at the Concierge folder (../SDK-Root/webmodules/tools/offline-bundle/) then run npm install -g sabre-concierge[version].tgz. In the same folder, run a ngv install command to install offline libraries.

  2. Update Concierge: We recommend cleaning up the previous install of Concierge. Use the uninstaller if available, or issue ngv uninstall -all, then npm uninstall -g sabre-concierge.
  3. Update your WebModule projects after updating the Concierge version by removing ./node_modules ./build and ./core folders from the project root, then issue ngv build (or ngv upgrade if required).

Configuration

There's no additional configuration needed for the Concierge Tool, aside from the [\users-home\].npmrc file to set up a proxy/networking (npm could validate some packages). A command line terminal can also come in handy. Luckily, some IDEs already have them integrated!

Create or Load Web Red App

The Sabre Concierge Tool comes with a "pre-fabricated" Web Red App project scaffold (files and directories), which is replicated when creating new Web Red Apps. It's important to observe the file structure rooted at ./[YOUR MODULE ID]-web-module/, where the package.json resides; this is the folder where you should point your IDEs and also to run most of the Concierge commands.

  • ngv init: Use this command to create a new Web Red App project and file structure.
  • Web Red App Project Structure
  • Samples Gallery: Refer to [SDK-Root]/samples/com.sabre.redapp.example3.*

Run, Test, and Debug Sabre Red Web

The Sabre Red Web application is run from the browser. Simply point to the Sabre Red Web URL, and "hot plug" your Web Red Apps (hosted locally) into the running platform. As you code your Web Red App using Typescript code, it needs to be "transpiled" into Javascript so it can be loaded on the browser. For that purpose and other common development flow tasks, you'll be using the ngv command line tool provided by Concierge.

  • ngv build: Compiles Web Red App projects rooted at the current directory.
  • ngv run: Compiles and publishes the local http content server to "hot plug" your Web Red App into the Sabre Red Web instance running in a browser.
  • ngv test: Run tests prepared for the Web Red App (jest).
  1. Point your internet browser (Chrome) at Sabre Red Web CERT URL.

"Hot-plug" Web Red App into the Sabre Red Web instance:

  1. On the right sidebar, click the jigsaw icon to open the Red App Development pane, and enter the URL created by the ngv run command (defaults to http://localhost:8080).
  2. Click on the + (plus) button and then click Apply. This will reload the front-end and the specified Web Red App(s).

Publish Your Bundle

Once you finish developing your Web Red App, the next steps are:

  1. Submit for certification
  2. Perform beta testing in the CERT/PROD environments
  3. Publish to the Marketplace

Notes: Your Web Red App bundle must be digitally signed with an application certificate, so make sure you have a Java keystore file prepared and accessible.

The ngv export command creates a Web Red App bundle to be submitted through the publishing process on the Sabre Red App Centre.

What's Next?

Once you have installed your IDE of choice and have become familiar with the development environment, its time to understand what's possible with a Red App, and the supporting pillars of features that allow you to customize your SR360 POS operation and business workflows.

SDK Documentation

The Sabre Red 360 Developer toolkit comes with bundled "offline" help files to support development efforts. Check the folder where you extracted the SDK files and look for index.html, located under the [SDK_ROOT]/documentation folder.

Red App Use Case Studies

[Use case scenerios - Coming soon]() contains article links highlighting different scenarios where a Red App was used and which API/features were used from the SDK.

Getting to Know APIs and Services

[GTK SDK Articles - Coming soon]() contains links to SDK APIs & the services feature grid, where you can find references to the main pillars supporting the Red App development ecosystem.

Help and Support

Contact @redappssupport for any development-related issues, from setting-up an IDE, to navigating the Red App publishing process.

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