Enterprise JavaBeans ™

Developer’s Guide

Borland ®
™
VERSION 6 JBuilder
Borland Software Corporation
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 Contents
Chapter 1 Chapter 4
Introduction 1-1 Setting up the target application
Documentation conventions . . . . . . . . . . . 1-1 server 4-1
Note to Macintosh users . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-3 The created libraries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-3
Contacting Borland developer support . . . . . 1-4 Adding application server files to your
Online resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-4 project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-4
World Wide Web . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-4 Making the ORB available to JBuilder . . . . . . 4-4
Borland newsgroups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-5 Selecting an application server . . . . . . . . . . 4-4
Usenet newsgroups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-5 Setting up JDBC drivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-5
Reporting bugs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-5 Creating the .library and .config files . . . . . 4-6
Adding the JDBC driver to projects . . . . . . 4-7
Chapter 2
Programming for the Java™ 2 Chapter 5
Platform, Enterprise Edition 2-1 Creating EJB 2.0 components with
Why are J2EE applications desirable? . . . . . . 2-1 JBuilder 5-1
Benefits of the multi-tier model. . . . . . . . 2-3 Introducing EJB modules . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-1
How JBuilder can help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-5 Creating an EJB 2.0 module . . . . . . . . . . 5-2
Client tier technologies . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-5 Creating a module with the EJB
Middle-tier technologies. . . . . . . . . . . . 2-6 Module wizard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-2
Other J2EE technologies . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-7 Creating an EJB module from
Preparing to deploy J2EE applications . . . . 2-8 existing deployment descriptors . . . . . 5-4
Learning about J2EE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-8 Displaying the EJB Designer. . . . . . . . . . . . 5-5
Creating session beans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-7
Chapter 3 Viewing a bean’s source code . . . . . . . . . . . 5-8
An introduction to EJB development 3-1 Modifying the bean . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-9
Why we need Enterprise JavaBeans . . . . . . . 3-1 Editing bean attributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-9
Roles in the development of an EJB Adding a new field . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-9
application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-2 Removing a field . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-10
Application roles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-2 Adding a new method . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-10
Infrastructure roles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-3 Removing a method . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-11
Deployment and operation roles . . . . . . . 3-4 Creating message-driven beans . . . . . . . . . 5-12
EJB architecture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-4 Creating entity beans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-13
The EJB server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-5 Creating entity beans from an
The EJB container. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-5 imported data source . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-13
How an enterprise bean works . . . . . . . . 3-6 Importing a data source . . . . . . . . . . 5-13
Types of enterprise beans . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-7 Modifying the imported data
Session beans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-7 source schema . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-15
Entity beans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-7 Generating the entity bean classes
Message-driven beans . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-7 and interfaces. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-17
Remote and local access . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-8 Editing entity bean properties . . . . . . 5-17
Developing enterprise beans . . . . . . . . . . . 3-8

i
 Creating entity bean relationships . . . . . . 5-23 Changing the build properties for a bean. . . 8-3
Using the relationship inspector to Compiling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-4
specify a relationship . . . . . . . . . . . 5-24 The generated JAR file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-4
Removing a relationship . . . . . . . . . . 5-27 Editing deployment descriptors. . . . . . . . . . 8-5
Adding a finder method . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-28 Verifying descriptors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-6
Adding an ejbSelect() method . . . . . . . . 5-28
Adding a home business method. . . . . . . 5-29 Chapter 9
Exporting a data source . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-30 Testing an enterprise bean 9-1
Removing beans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-30 Creating a test client . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-1
How the EJB Designer names EJB files . . . . . 5-30 Using the test client application . . . . . . . . . . 9-4
Fixing errors in your bean . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-31
Testing your enterprise bean. . . . . . . . . . . . 9-5
Viewing the deployment descriptors . . . . . . 5-32
Preparing to debug WebSphere
Displaying the Deployment Descriptor
applications remotely . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-8
editor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-32
Setting IDE options for the EJB Designer . . . . 5-33
Taking the next step . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-33
Chapter 10
Deploying enterprise beans 10-1
Chapter 6 Creating a deployment descriptor file . . . . . 10-2
Creating EJB 1.x components with The role of the deployment descriptor . . . . . 10-2
The types of information in the
JBuilder 6-1 deployment descriptor . . . . . . . . . . . 10-3
Introducing EJB modules . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-1 Structural information. . . . . . . . . . . 10-4
Creating an EJB 1.x module . . . . . . . . . . 6-2 Application assembly information. . . . 10-5
Creating an EJB 1.x module with Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-5
the EJB Module wizard . . . . . . . . . . 6-2 Application server-specific
Creating an EJB module from existing
properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-6
enterprise beans. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-3
Creating an EAR file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-6
Creating an enterprise bean. . . . . . . . . . . . 6-4
Deploying to an application server . . . . . . . 10-7
Creating a session bean . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-6
Deploying one or more JAR files . . . . . . 10-7
Creating an entity bean . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-7
Deploying to non-Borland servers. . . . . . 10-8
Adding the business logic to your bean . . . 6-9
Setting deployment options with
Exposing business methods through
the remote interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-11 the Properties dialog box . . . . . . . . . . 10-8
Generating the bean class from a remote Hot deploying to an application server . . . 10-9
interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-12
Creating the home and remote interfaces Chapter 11
for an existing bean . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-14 Using the Deployment Descriptor
editor 11-1
Chapter 7 Displaying the Deployment Descriptor
Creating EJB 1.x entity beans editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11-2
from an existing database table 7-1 Viewing the deployment descriptor of
Creating entity beans with the EJB Entity an enterprise bean. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11-2
Bean Modeler . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-1 Changing bean information . . . . . . . . . . . 11-4
Enterprise bean information . . . . . . . . . . . 11-5
Chapter 8 General panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11-5
Message Driven Bean panel . . . . . . . . . 11-8
Compiling enterprise beans and Environment panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11-9
creating JAR files 8-1 EJB References panel . . . . . . . . . . . . .11-10
Compiling the bean . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-1 Resource references panel . . . . . . . . . .11-12
Changing build properties for an EJB Security Role References panel . . . . . . .11-13
module. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-1

ii
 Properties panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11-14 Writing the session bean class . . . . . . . . . . 13-2
Security Identity panel. . . . . . . . . . . . 11-18 Implementing the SessionBean
EJB Local References panel . . . . . . . . . 11-20 interface. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-2
Resource Env Refs panel. . . . . . . . . . . 11-21 Writing the business methods . . . . . . . . 13-3
Server-specific Properties panel . . . . . . 11-22 Adding one or more ejbCreate()
Container transactions . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11-23 methods. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-3
Setting container transaction policies . . . 11-23 How JBuilder can help you create a
WebLogic 6.x Transaction Isolation session bean . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-4
panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11-25 The life of a session bean . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-6
Working with data sources . . . . . . . . . . . 11-26 Stateless beans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-6
Setting isolation levels . . . . . . . . . . . . 11-28 Stateful beans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-6
Setting data source properties . . . . . . . 11-28 The method-ready in transaction
Adding security roles and method state . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-8
permissions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11-30 A shopping cart session bean . . . . . . . . . 13-10
Creating a security role . . . . . . . . . . . 11-31 Examining the files of the cart example. . 13-10
Assigning method permissions . . . . . . . 11-31 The Cart session bean . . . . . . . . . . . . .13-11
Adding container-managed persistence Adding the required methods . . . . . 13-12
information for EJB 1.1 components . . . 11-34 Adding the business methods . . . . . 13-13
Finders panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11-35 Item class . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-15
Specifying WebSphere 4.0 finders. . . . 11-37 Exceptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-15
Verifying descriptor information . . . . . . . . 11-38 Required interfaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-16
The home interface . . . . . . . . . . . 13-16
Chapter 12 The remote interface . . . . . . . . . . . 13-17
Using the DataExpress for The Cart deployment descriptor . . . . 13-18
EJB components 12-1 Chapter 14
The DataExpress EJB components . . . . . . . . 12-2
Components for the server . . . . . . . . . . 12-2 Developing entity beans 14-1
Components for the client . . . . . . . . . . . 12-2 Persistence and entity beans . . . . . . . . . . . 14-1
Creating the entity beans . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-2 Bean-managed persistence . . . . . . . . . . 14-2
Creating the server-side session bean . . . . . . 12-3 Container-managed persistence . . . . . . . 14-2
Adding provider and resolver Primary keys in entity beans. . . . . . . . . . . 14-2
components to the session bean. . . . . . . 12-3 Writing the entity bean class . . . . . . . . . . . 14-3
Writing the setSessionContext() method. . . 12-4 Implementing the EntityBean interface . . . 14-4
Adding an EJB reference to the Declaring and implementing the
deployment descriptor . . . . . . . . . . 12-5 entity bean methods. . . . . . . . . . . . . 14-5
Adding the providing and resolving Creating create methods . . . . . . . . . 14-5
methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-5 Creating finder methods . . . . . . . . . 14-7
Calling the finder method . . . . . . . . . . . 12-6 Writing the business methods . . . . . . 14-7
Building the client side . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-7 The life of an entity bean . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14-8
Handling relationships . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-9 The nonexistent state . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14-8
The sample project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-9 The pooled state . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14-8
The ready state. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14-9
Chapter 13 Returning to the pooled state . . . . . . . . 14-9
A bank entity bean example . . . . . . . . . . 14-10
Developing session beans 13-1 The entity bean home interface . . . . . . 14-10
Types of session beans. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-1
The entity bean remote interface. . . . . . .14-11
Stateful session beans . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-1
An entity bean with container-
Stateless session bean . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-2
managed persistence . . . . . . . . . . . .14-11

iii
 An entity bean with bean-managed Chapter 17
persistence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14-13
The primary key class . . . . . . . . . . . . 14-18
Developing enterprise bean clients 17-1
Locating the home interface . . . . . . . . . . . 17-2
The deployment descriptor . . . . . . . . . 14-18
Getting the remote/local interface . . . . . . . 17-2
Deployment descriptor for an
Session beans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17-2
entity bean with bean-managed
Entity beans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17-3
persistence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14-20
Finder methods and the primary
Deployment descriptor for an
key class . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17-3
entity bean with container-
Create and remove methods . . . . . . . 17-4
managed persistence . . . . . . . . . . 14-20
Calling methods. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17-4
Removing bean instances . . . . . . . . . . . . 17-5
Chapter 15 Referencing a bean with its handle . . . . . . . 17-6
Developing message-driven beans 15-1 Managing transactions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17-7
How message-driven beans work . . . . . . . . 15-2 Discovering bean information . . . . . . . . . . 17-8
The life of a management-driven bean Creating a client with JBuilder . . . . . . . . . 17-9
instance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15-2
Writing a message-driven bean class . . . . . . 15-3 Chapter 18
Implementing the
MessageDrivenBean interface. . . . . . . . 15-4
Managing transactions 18-1
Characteristics of transactions . . . . . . . . . . 18-1
Implementing the MessageListener
Transaction support in the container . . . . . . 18-2
interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15-4
Enterprise beans and transactions . . . . . . . 18-3
Writing the onMessage() method . . . . . 15-4
Bean- versus container-managed
How JBuilder can help you create a
transactions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18-3
message-driven bean . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15-5
Local and global transactions . . . . . . . . 18-4
Message-driven bean deployment
Using the transaction API . . . . . . . . . . . . 18-5
descriptor attributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15-6
Handling transaction exceptions . . . . . . . . 18-6
Using the SonicMQ Message Broker
System-level exceptions . . . . . . . . . . . 18-7
with message-driven beans . . . . . . . . . . . 15-7
Application-level exceptions . . . . . . . . . 18-7
Handling application exceptions . . . . . . 18-7
Chapter 16 Transaction rollback . . . . . . . . . . . . 18-8
Creating the home and remote/local Options for continuing a transaction . . 18-8
interfaces 16-1
Creating the home interface . . . . . . . . . . . 16-1 Appendix A
The EJBHome interface . . . . . . . . . . . . 16-2 Creating JMS producers and
The LocalHome interface . . . . . . . . . . . 16-2
Creating a home or local home interface
consumers A-1
Using the JMS wizard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-2
for a session bean . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16-3
Publish\subscribe message systems . . . . A-3
create() methods in session beans . . . . . 16-3
Point to point message systems . . . . . . . A-4
Creating a remote home or local home
Completing the code . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-5
interface for an entity bean . . . . . . . . . 16-4
create() methods for entity beans . . . . . 16-5
Finder methods for entity beans . . . . . 16-5
Index I-1
Creating the remote or local interface . . . . . . 16-7
The EJBObject interface . . . . . . . . . . . . 16-8

iv
 Chapter

1
Introduction
Chapter1

The Enterprise JavaBeans Developer’s Guide explains how to create

enterprise beans with JBuilder and use them in building distributed
systems. JBuilder has a set of designers, wizards, and tools that greatly
simplifies the creation, testing, and deploying of enterprise beans. You can
create enterprise beans for deployment to the Borland Enterprise Server
5.0, the Borland AppServer 4.5, the BEA WebLogic Servers 6.x and 5.1, the
IBM WebSphere Application Servers 3.5 and 4.0, and the Sun-Netscape
iPlanet Application Server 6.0.

Documentation conventions
The Borland documentation for JBuilder uses the typefaces and symbols
described in the table below to indicate special text.
There are special considerations on the Macintosh platform. Please see
“Note to Macintosh users” on page 1-3 for more information.

Introduction 1-1
Documentation conventions

Table 1.1 Typeface and symbol conventions

Typeface Meaning
Monospace type Monospaced type represents the following:
• text as it appears onscreen
• anything you must type, such as “Enter Hello World in the
Title field of the Application wizard.”
• file names
• path names
• directory and folder names
• commands, such as SET PATH, CLASSPATH
• Java code
• Java data types, such as boolean, int, and long.
• Java identifiers, such as names of variables, classes, interfaces,
components, properties, methods, and events
• package names
• argument names
• field names
• Java keywords, such as void and static
Bold Bold is used for java tools, bmj (Borland Make for Java), bcj
(Borland Compiler for Java), and compiler options. For example:
javac, bmj, -classpath.
Italics Italicized words are used for new terms being defined, for book
titles, and occasionally for emphasis.
Keycaps This typeface indicates a key on your keyboard, such as “Press
Esc to exit a menu.”
[] Square brackets in text or syntax listings enclose optional items.
Do not type the brackets.
<> Angle brackets in text or syntax listings indicate a variable string;
type in a string appropriate for your code. Do not type the angle
brackets.
Angle brackets are also used in HTML tags.
Additionally, angle brackets are used for JBuilder and JDK
directories. For example, <jbuilder> is a placeholder for the
current version of the JBuilder directory, such as jbuilder6, and
<.jbuilder> represents the current JBuilder directory for storing
JBuilder settings, such as .jbuilder6. Also, <jdk> is used as a
placeholder for the current JDK directory.
... In code examples, an ellipsis indicates code that is missing from
the example. On a button, an ellipsis indicates that the button
links to a selection dialog box.

1-2 Enterprise JavaBeans Developer’s Guide

 Documentation conventions

JBuilder is available on multiple platforms. See the table below for a

description of platforms and directory conventions used in the
documentation.

Table 1.2 Platform conventions and directories

Item Meaning
Paths All paths in the documentation are indicated with a forward
slash (/).
For Windows platforms, use a backslash (\).
Home directory The location of the home directory varies by platform and is
indicated with a placeholder, <home>.
• For UNIX and Linux, the home directory can vary. For
example, it could be /user/<username> or /home/<username>
• For Windows 95/98, the home directory is C:\Windows
• For Windows NT, the home directory is C:\Winnt\
Profiles\<username>
• For Windows 2000, the home directory is C:\Documents
and Settings\<username>
<jbuilder> directory The <jbuilder> directory contains the JBuilder installation,
including program files, documentation, libraries, JDK,
samples, and other files. This directory is named after the
current version of JBuilder, such as jbuilder6.
<.jbuilder> directory The <.jbuilder> directory, where JBuilder settings are stored,
is located in the home directory. This directory is named
after the current version of JBuilder, such as .jbuilder6.
jbproject directory The jbproject directory, which contains project, class,
source, backup, and other files, is located in the home
directory. JBuilder saves files to this default path.
<jdk> directory The <jdk> directory represents the current Java Development
Kit, for example, jbuilder6/jdk1.3/ would be represented in
the documentation as <jbuilder>/<jdk>/.
Screen shots Screen shots reflect the Metal Look & Feel on various
platforms.

Note to Macintosh users

JBuilder is designed to support Macintosh OS X so seamlessly that
JBuilder will have the look and feel of a native application. The Macintosh
platform has conventions of appearance and style that vary from
JBuilder’s own; where that happens, JBuilder supports the Mac look and
feel. This means that there are some variations between what JBuilder
looks like on the Mac and how it is presented in the documentation. For
instance, this documentation uses the word “directory” where Mac uses
the word “folder.” For further information on Macintosh OS X paths,
terminology, and UI conventions, please consult the documentation that
comes with your OS X installation.

Introduction 1-3
Contacting Borland developer support

Contacting Borland developer support

Borland offers a variety of support options. These include free services on
the Internet, where you can search our extensive information base and
connect with other users of Borland products. In addition, you can choose
from several categories of support, ranging from support on installation of
the Borland product to fee-based consultant-level support and extensive
assistance.
For more information about Borland’s developer support services, see our
web site at http://www.borland.com/devsupport/, call Borland Assist at
(800) 523-7070, or contact our Sales Department at (831) 431-1064.
When contacting support, be prepared to provide complete information
about your environment, the version of the product you are using, and a
detailed description of the problem.
For support on third-party tools or documentation, contact the vendor of
the tool.

Online resources
You can get information from any of these online sources:

World Wide Web http://www.borland.com/

FTP ftp.borland.com
Technical documents available by anonymous ftp.
Listserv To subscribe to electronic newsletters, use the
online form at:
http://www.borland.com/contact/listserv.html
or, for Borland’s international listserver,
http://www.borland.com/contact/intlist.html

World Wide Web

Check www.borland.com regularly. The JBuilder Product Team will post
white papers, competitive analyses, answers to frequently asked
questions, sample applications, updated software, updated
documentation, and information about new and existing products.
You may want to check these URLs in particular:
• http://www.borland.com/jbuilder/ (updated software and other files)
• http://www.borland.com/techpubs/jbuilder/ (updated
documentation and other files)
• http://community.borland.com/ (contains our web-based news
magazine for developers)

1-4 Enterprise JavaBeans Developer’s Guide

 Contacting Borland developer support

Borland newsgroups
You can register JBuilder and participate in many threaded discussion
groups devoted to JBuilder.
You can find user-supported newsgroups for JBuilder and other Borland
products at http://www.borland.com/newsgroups/

Usenet newsgroups
The following Usenet groups are devoted to Java and related
programming issues:
• news:comp.lang.java.advocacy
• news:comp.lang.java.announce
• news:comp.lang.java.beans
• news:comp.lang.java.databases
• news:comp.lang.java.gui
• news:comp.lang.java.help
• news:comp.lang.java.machine
• news:comp.lang.java.programmer
• news:comp.lang.java.security
• news:comp.lang.java.softwaretools
Note These newsgroups are maintained by users and are not official Borland
sites.

Reporting bugs
If you find what you think may be a bug in the software, please report it in
the JBuilder Developer Support page at http://www.borland.com/
devsupport/jbuilder/. From this site, you can also submit a feature
request or view a list of bugs that have already been reported.
When you report a bug, please include all the steps needed to reproduce
the bug, including any special environmental settings you used and other
programs you were using with JBuilder. Please be specific about the
expected behavior versus what actually happened.
If you have comments (compliments, suggestions, or issues) with the
JBuilder documentation, you may email [email protected]. This is for
documentation issues only. Please note that you must address support
issues to developer support.
JBuilder is made by developers for developers. We really value your
input, because it helps us to improve our product.

Introduction 1-5
1-6 Enterprise JavaBeans Developer’s Guide
 Chapter

Programming for the Java™ 2

Chapter2
2
Platform, Enterprise Edition
The Java™ 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition (J2EE™) is an architecture for a
Java development platform for distributed enterprise applications. It was
developed by Sun Microsystems, with input from the development
community, including Borland. J2EE platform products, such as the
Borland Enterprise Server, offer the developer the capability of building
applications with these benefits:
• Reliability and scalability, so business transactions are processed
quickly and accurately.
• Excellent security to protect users’ privacy and the integrity of the
enterprise’s data.
• Ready availability, to meet the increasing demands of the global
business environment.
JBuilder is a Java integrated development environment that, when
coupled with a supported application server from companies such as
Borland, BEA, IBM, and Sun-Netscape, greatly simplifies and speeds the
development of J2EE applications.

Why are J2EE applications desirable?

In the early 1990s, information systems frequently used a client-server
architecture. The user interface to the application usually ran on a desktop
computer. This was the client tier. The enterprise data being accessed by

Programming for the Java™ 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition 2-1

Why are J2EE applications desirable?

the client resided in a database and was “served up” by a server. This
approach initially promised improved scalability and functionality.

Through hard experience, however, the development community learned

that building and maintaining a flexible distributed system is very
difficult using the client-server model. For example, the business logic of
the application was in the client application. Every time that logic needed
modification, the revised application had to be installed on every client
machine in the enterprise. Maintenance became a nightmare. These
applications also had to manage transactions, be concerned with security,
and process the data efficiently, all the while presenting an attractive,
easy-to-understand interface to its users. Few developers have talents in
all these areas. While a client-server architecture might be adequate for
some environments, most of today’s global companies demand
considerably more than the client-server model can deliver.
Once the limitations of the client-server approach became apparent, the
development community began seeking a better way. The result is the
multi-tier model.

In the multi-tier model, the logic involved in presenting the user interface
of the application to the user lives on the middle tier. The business logic is
now on the middle tier also. When changes are needed, they can be
updated in one place instead of on each client machine.

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 Why are J2EE applications desirable?

This expanded diagram shows you the various components you might
find running on the various tiers:

The client in a J2EE application can be an HTML page or applet running in

a browser, a Java application on a desktop machine, or even a Java client
on some portable device, such as a PDA or cell phone.
The middle-tier can have JavaServer Pages™ or servlets running on a web
server. These elements usually make up the server-side presentation logic.
An EJB container provides a runtime environment for Enterprise
JavaBeans™, which contain the business logic of application. Both a web
server and an EJB container provide services to the components that run
on them. Because these services are always available, programmers don’t
have to include them in the components they write.
The Enterprise Information System (EIS) tier is a repository for the
enterprise’s data. Usually it consists of the data in a relational database
system.
Few J2EE applications have all of these components. They can be mixed
and matched in very flexible ways to meet the needs of the enterprise.

Benefits of the multi-tier model

The multi-tier approach adopted by the J2EE platform has several
benefits:
• It reduces the complexity of distributed development with a simplified
architecture and the sharing of the work load among roles.

Programming for the Java™ 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition 2-3

Why are J2EE applications desirable?

The business logic of the application runs in the middle tier running in
an Enterprise JavaBean (EJB) container and/or on a web server. These
containers and servers can handle many of the difficult tasks for
developers. For example, an EJB container can handle transactions,
instance pooling, and data persistence without requiring the EJB
programmer to write the logic to perform these tasks. A web server can
create and pool instances of servlet classes and handle multiple threads
and socket connections. Instead of writing the code to do these things, a
member of the development team specifies the desired behavior at
deployment time.
Members of the development team play different roles. Each is a
specialist in one or more areas. For example, the content of an HTML
page or stylesheet would likely be created by a graphic designer or
webmaster. A senior developer might be responsible for the business
logic of the application encapsulated within Enterprise JavaBean
components. A web developer might develop the user interface and
presentation logic using JavaServer Pages (JSPs) and servlets. An
application assembler takes the various components of the application
and puts it all together, often creating an Enterprise Archive (EAR) file
and creating the deployment descriptor that explains how the
application is to be deployed. The application deployer and
administrator deploy the application. By partitioning the work this
way, each step of the development/deployment process is handled by
someone skilled in their area while no one has to be an expert in every
area.
• It is highly scalable allowing the development of systems to meet many
different needs that can change quickly.
When demands on the system increase, the logic can be updated easily
in one place on the middle tier without having to load new logic on
every client machine.
• New applications can integrate well with existing information systems.
JDBC, a J2EE technology, is a Java API to SQL databases, permitting the
access to any type of tabular data that might exist in the enterprise. The
Java Naming and Directory Interface (JNDI) allows applications that
use Java technology to access enterprise naming and directory services.
The developing J2EE Connector architecture will give Java applications
connections to heterogeneous legacy systems. The Java Message
Service (JMS) is the Java API for sending and receiving messages
though enterprise messaging systems. CORBA services are called using
JavaIDL.
• Security is enhanced.
J2EE technologies are designed with security in mind. For example,
only users in assigned roles can access certain methods in enterprise
beans. Who can access these methods isn’t coded in the enterprise

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 How JBuilder can help

beans themselves. Instead this information is set in the enterprise

beans’ deployment descriptors, which are used by the deployer to
establish their behavior after they are deployed.
• Developers can choose from a variety of development tools, servers,
and components to develop the applications they need.
The development team can select the solutions that are best for their
needs, without becoming locked into the offerings of a single vendor.

How JBuilder can help

JBuilder Enterprise Edition has many features to help your team develop
J2EE applications. These are the technologies JBuilder has to help you
develop the client tier:

Client tier technologies

• Applets
Applets are a special kind of Java application that are downloaded and
run by a web browser on a client machine. To begin developing an
applet in JBuilder, start with the Applet wizard. For information about
working with applets, see the Web Application Developer’s Guide.
• Java user interface applications
JBuilder has several features that can help you develop an application
that runs on a client machine. Begin a Java application using the
Application wizard. Continue designing your user interface by using
JBuilder’s UI designer. You create your UI by adding UI components
from JBuilder’s component palette. For information on working with
JBuilder’s UI designer, see “Designing User Interfaces: Introduction” in
Designing User Interfaces with JBuilder.
If you want to create your own JavaBean components to use in your
user interface, BeansExpress can simplify the task for you. For
information about using BeansExpress, see “Building Applications:
Creating JavaBeans with BeansExpress” in Building Applications with
JBuilder. JBuilder’s DataExpress components for EJB make it easier for
you to build client applications using database-aware visual
components such as dbSwing or InternetBeans Express. For more
information about DataExpress for EJB, see Chapter 12, “Using the
DataExpress for EJB components.”
Both a web server and/or an EJB container can run on the middle tier.
JBuilder ships with Tomcat, a servlet container that can be used as a
web server, and with the Borland Enterprise Server 5.0, which contains
the EJB container. You can build applications for these servers or you

Programming for the Java™ 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition 2-5

How JBuilder can help

can set up JBuilder to enable you to develop applications for BEA

WebLogic 5.1 and 6.x, IBM WebSphere 3.5 and 4.0, Sun-Netscape
iPlanet 6.0, and Borland AppServer 4.5 servers.

Middle-tier technologies
These are the middle-tier J2EE technologies that use a web server:
• Servlets
A servlet is a server-side Java application that can process requests
from clients. The servlet responds to the request by generating dynamic
output that is sent back to the client. You can begin developing servlets
with JBuilder’s Servlet wizard. To find out more about servlets and
developing them, see “Working with servlets” in the Web Application
Developer’s Guide.
• JavaServer Pages (JSPs)
An extension of servlet technology, JSPs offer a simplified way to
develop servlets. Like servlets, they generate dynamic output that is
sent back to the client’s web browser. Begin developing JSPs with
JBuilder’s JavaServer Page wizard. To find out more about JSPs and
developing them, see “JavaServer Pages (JSP)” in the Web Application
Developer’s Guide.
InternetBeans Express is a component library that supplements the
servlet and JSP technology available in JBuilder. This library makes it
easy to present and manipulate data from a database so you can build
data-aware servlets and JSPs.
This is the middle-tier J2EE technology that uses an EJB container:
• Enterprise JavaBeans (EJBs)
Enterprise JavaBeans are server-side components that contain the
business logic of the application. JBuilder assists you in building EJB 1.x
and EJB 2.0 components. Start building enterprise beans by using the
EJB wizards on the EJB page of the object gallery (File|New|EJB). For
building EJB 2.0 components, JBuilder offers the EJB Designer, a
Two-Way Tool™ that allows you to design your beans visually all the
while keeping your code, deployment descriptors, and design
synchronized. For more information about building, testing, and
deploying enterprise beans, see Chapter 3, “An introduction to EJB
development.”
As you create your enterprise beans, JBuilder is building your EJB
deployment descriptors. You can use JBuilder’s Deployment Descriptor
editor to modify them as you wish. For more information about the
Deployment Descriptor editor, see Chapter 11, “Using the Deployment
Descriptor editor.”

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 How JBuilder can help

All the web application components and enterprise bean components can
be combined and delivered in an EAR (Enterprise Archive) file. JBuilder
has an EAR wizard to help you create your EAR files.

Other J2EE technologies

While not confined to a particular architectural tier, these technologies are
enablers that make things work:
• Java Database Connectivity (JDBC)
JDBC is the standard used to access your database on the Enterprise
Information Systems (EIS) tier. It defines a Java API you use to write
SQL statements that are sent to your database.
JBuilder includes DataExpress, a component library for accessing data
in your database. It connects your application to your database using
JDBC drivers.
JBuilder also includes JDataStore, an all-Java embedded database and
component library. You access JDataStore using JDBC.
Entity beans, enterprise beans that access rows in your database, also
connect to your data using JDBC.
• Java Message Service (JMS)
JMS is an enterprise messaging service that routes messages between
components and processes in a distributed application.
The Borland Enterprise Server includes SonicMQ 3.5, a JMS
implementation. Also JBuilder supports EJB 2.0 components, which
include message-driven beans. Message-driven beans integrate JMS
into enterprise beans. JBuilder also includes a JMS wizard. See
Chapter 18, “Creating JMS producers and consumers” for information
on creating classes and applications that can create and consume JMS
messages.
• Remote Method Invocation (RMI)
RMI is the standard Java applications use to call remote objects on a
network. EJBs use RMI. For more information about RMI
programming, see “Exploring Java RMI-based distributed applications
in JBuilder” in the Distributed Application Developer’s Guide.
• Java Naming and Directory Interface (JNDI)
All J2EE servers use JNDI, a Java naming service used to locate
distributed objects.

Programming for the Java™ 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition 2-7

Learning about J2EE

• Extensible Markup Language (XML)

Although not really a J2EE technology, XML is widely used by other
J2EE technologies. For example, web components and enterprise beans
have their deployment descriptors written in XML. These deployment
descriptors describe how the components behave once they are
deployed.
JBuilder has several XML features that help you accomplish common
programming tasks you might encounter in your J2EE projects. For
information about JBuilder’s XML features, see “Introduction” in the
XML Application Developer’s Guide.

Preparing to deploy J2EE applications

As you create your web applications and enterprise beans and compile
them, JBuilder can create the WAR (Web Archive) and EJB-JAR (EJB
Archive) files for you automatically. You can choose to bundle the
components of a J2EE application together into an EAR (Enterprise
Archive) file. JBuilder provides an EAR wizard to help you do this.

Learning about J2EE

If you’ve read this far, you’ve been exposed very briefly to many concepts
and, with all the acronyms to identify J2EE technologies, an alphabet
soup. To develop a deeper understanding of J2EE benefits and concepts,
begin your explorations on Sun’s www.java.sun.com web site. This
http://java.sun.com/j2ee/docs.html link takes you to Sun’s J2EE
documentation home page where you can find an abundance of useful
information.
If you’re new to J2EE programming, look at the J2EE tutorial at
http://java.sun.com/j2ee/tutorial/index.html. For an in-depth
discussion of J2EE programming and the recommended programming
practices to use in your J2EE applications, don’t miss the very detailed
J2EE Blueprints, found at
http://java.sun.com/j2ee/blueprints/index.html. J2EE Blueprints is an
integral part of J2EE itself. Although you are unlikely to sit down and read
all of it at one time, you’ll find it useful when you need to understand
deeper concepts and are looking for the best ways to approach J2EE
development. This material is also available in book form as Designing
Enterprise Applications with the Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition written by
Nicholas Kassem and the Enterprise Team of Sun.
http://java.sun.com/j2ee/blueprints/aboutthebook.html links you to
information about the book.

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 Learning about J2EE

You’ll find additional documentation and specifications for the various

J2EE technologies on the Sun site. There are also excellent third-party
books, but because J2EE is a developing product, be aware which versions
of the various technologies they address.

Programming for the Java™ 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition 2-9

2-10 Enterprise JavaBeans Developer’s Guide
 Chapter

An introduction to EJB
Chapter3
3
development
The “Enterprise JavaBeans (EJB) specification” formally defines a Java
server-side component model and a programming interface for
application servers. Developers build the components, called enterprise
beans, to contain the business logic of the enterprise. Enterprise beans run
on an EJB server that provides services such as transaction management
and security to the beans. Developers don’t have to worry about
programming these low-level and complex services, but can focus on
encapsulating the business rules of an organization or system within the
beans, knowing that the services are available to the beans when they are
needed.
While the Enterprise JavaBeans specification is the ultimate authority on
the EJB framework, it’s primarily useful to vendors such as Borland who
build the EJB servers and containers the beans run in. This book will help
you, the JBuilder developer, learn what you want to know about
developing enterprise beans with JBuilder.

Why we need Enterprise JavaBeans

The client-server model of application development has enjoyed
considerable popularity. The client application resides on a local machine
and accesses the data in a data store such as a relational database
management system (RDMS). This model works well as long as the
system has only a few users. As more and more users need access to the
data, these applications don’t scale well to meet the demands. Because the
client contains the logic, it must be installed on each machine.
Management becomes increasingly difficult.

An introduction to EJB development 3-1

Roles in the development of an EJB application

Gradually the benefits of dividing applications into more than the two
tiers of the client-server model becomes apparent. In a multi-tier
application, only the user interface stays on local machines while the logic
of the application runs in the middle tier on a server. The final tier is still
the stored data. When the logic of an application needs updating, changes
are made to the software of the middle tier on the server, greatly
simplifying the management of updates.
But creating reliable, secure, and easily managed distributed applications
is notoriously difficult. For example, managing transactions over a
distributed system is a major task. Fortunately, using components that
follow the EJB specification to build distributed systems relieves much of
the burden by:
• Dividing the development of a distributed system into specific tasks
that are assigned to specialists.
For example, if the application is an accounting system, the enterprise
bean developer would need to understand accounting. The system
administrator must know about monitoring a deployed and running
application. Each specialist assumes a particular role.
• Making EJB server and container services available to the enterprise
bean and application developers.
The EJB server provider and EJB container provider (who are often the
same vendor) handle many of the more difficult tasks so the developers
don’t have to. For example, the container an enterprise bean runs in can
provide transaction and security services to the bean automatically.
• Making enterprise beans portable.
Once a bean is written, it can be deployed on any EJB server that
adheres to the Enterprise JavaBeans standard. Each bean is likely to
include vendor-specific elements, however.

Roles in the development of an EJB application

The work of developing a distributed EJB application is divided into six
distinct roles. Each role is assumed by an expert in their domain. By
dividing the work this way, the task of creating and managing a
distributed system becomes much easier.

Application roles
Those who assume the application roles write the code for the enterprise
beans and the applications that use them. Both roles require an

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 Roles in the development of an EJB application

understanding of how the business runs, although at different levels.

These are the two application roles:
• Bean provider
Bean providers (also called bean developers) create the enterprise
beans and write the logic of the business methods within them. They
also define the remote home or local home and remote or local
interfaces for the beans and they create the beans’ deployment
descriptors. Bean providers don’t necessarily need to know how their
beans will be assembled and deployed.
• Application assembler
Application assemblers write the applications that use the enterprise
beans. These applications usually include other components, such as
GUI clients, applets, JavaServer Pages pages (JSP), and servlets. These
components are assembled into a distributed application. Assemblers
add assembly instructions to the bean deployment descriptors.
Although application assemblers must be familiar with the methods
contained within the enterprise beans so they can call them, they don’t
need to know how those methods are implemented.
JBuilder users who are interested in Enterprise JavaBeans are usually bean
providers and application assemblers. Therefore, this book is written
primarily for them. JBuilder has wizards, designers, and other tools that
simplify the development of enterprise beans and the applications that
use them.

Infrastructure roles
Without a supporting infrastructure, the enterprise beans and the
applications that use them cannot run. Although the two infrastructure
roles are distinct, they are almost always assumed by the same vendor.
Together they provide system-level services to the enterprise beans and
provide an environment in which to run. These are the two infrastructure
roles:
• EJB server provider
EJB server providers are specialists in distributed transaction
management, distributed objects, and other low-level services. They
provide an application framework in which to run EJB containers. EJB
service providers must provide, at a minimum, a naming service and a
transaction service to the beans.
• EJB container provider
EJB container providers provide the deployment tools required to
deploy enterprise beans and the runtime support for the beans. A
container provides management services to one or more beans. They

An introduction to EJB development 3-3

EJB architecture

communicate for the beans with the EJB server to access the services the
bean needs.
In almost all cases, the EJB server provider and the EJB container provider
are the same vendor. The Borland Enterprise Server provides both the
server and the container.

Deployment and operation roles

The final steps in the development of an EJB distributed application are to
deploy the application and to monitor the enterprise computing and
network infrastructure as it runs. These are the deployment and operation
roles:
• Deployer
Deployers understand the operation environment for distributed
applications. They adapt the EJB application to the target operation
environment by modifying the properties of the enterprise beans using
the tools provided by the container provider. For example, deployers
set transaction and security policies by setting appropriate properties in
the deployment descriptor. They also integrate the application with
existing enterprise management software.
• System administrator
Once an application is deployed, the system administrator monitors it
as it runs, and takes appropriate actions if the application behaves
abnormally. System administrators are responsible for configuring and
administrating the enterprise’s computing and networking
infrastructure that includes the EJB server and EJB container.

EJB architecture
Multi-tier distributed applications often consist of a client that runs on a
local machine, a middle-tier that runs on a server that contains the
business logic, and a backend-tier consisting of an enterprise information
system (EIS). An EIS can be a relational database system, an ERP system, a
legacy application, or any data store that holds the data that needs to be
accessed. This figure shows a typical EJB multi-tier distributed system
with three tiers: the client; the server, the container, and the beans
deployed on them; and the enterprise information system.

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 EJB architecture

Figure 3.1 EJB architecture diagram

Because our interest is how to develop enterprise beans, our focus is the
middle tier.

The EJB server

The EJB server provides system services to enterprise beans and manages
the containers in which the beans run. It must make available a
JNDI-accessible naming service and a transaction service. Frequently an
EJB server provides additional features that distinguish it from its
competitors. The Borland Enterprise Server 5.0 is an example of an EJB
server.

The EJB container

A container is a runtime system for one or more enterprise beans. It
provides the communication between the beans and the EJB server. It
provides transaction, security, and network distribution management. A
container is both code and a tool that generates code specific for a

An introduction to EJB development 3-5

EJB architecture

particular enterprise bean. A container also provides tools for the

deployment of an enterprise bean, and a means for the container to
monitor and manage the application.
The EJB server and EJB container together provide the environment for
the bean to run in. The container provides management services to one or
more beans. The server provides services to the bean, but the container
interacts on behalf of the beans to obtain those services. Almost always the
EJB server and the EJB container are made by the same vendor and are
simply two parts of an application server, such as Borland Enterprise
Server 5.0.
Although it is a vital part of the Enterprise JavaBeans architecture,
enterprise bean developers and application assemblers don’t have to think
about the container. It remains a behind-the-scenes player in an EJB
distributed system. Therefore, this book goes no further explaining what a
container is and how it works. For more information about containers,
refer to the “Enterprise JavaBeans Specification” itself. For specific
information about the Borland EJB container, see the Borland Enterprise
Server’s Enterprise JavaBeans Programmer’s Guide.

How an enterprise bean works

The bean developer must create these interfaces and classes:
• The remote home or local home interface for the bean
The home interface defines the methods a client uses to create, locate,
and destroy instances of an enterprise bean.
• The remote or local interface for the bean
The remote or local interface defines the business methods
implemented in the bean. A client accesses these methods through the
remote interface.
• The enterprise bean class
The enterprise bean class implements the business logic for the bean.
The client accesses these methods through the bean’s remote interface.
Once the bean is deployed in the EJB container, the client calls the create()
method defined in the home interface to instantiate the bean. The home
interface isn’t implemented in the bean itself, but by the container. Other
methods declared in the home interface permit the client to locate an
instance of a bean and to remove a bean instance when it is no longer
needed.
When the enterprise bean is instantiated, the client can call the business
methods within the bean. The client never calls a method in the bean
instance directly, however. The methods available to the client are defined
in the remote or local interface of the bean, and the remote or local

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 Types of enterprise beans

interface is implemented by the container. When the client calls a method,

the container receives the request and delegates it to the bean instance.

Types of enterprise beans

An enterprise bean can be a session bean, an entity bean, or a
message-driven bean.

Session beans
Session beans can be either stateful or stateless. Stateless beans don’t
maintain state for a particular client. Because they don’t maintain
conversational state, stateless beans can be used to support multiple
clients.
A stateful session bean executes on behalf of a single client. In a sense, the
session bean represents the client in the EJB server. Stateful session beans
can maintain the client’s state, which means they can retain information
for the client. The classic example where a session bean might be used is a
shopping cart for an individual shopping at an online store on the web. As
the shopper selects items to put in the “cart,” the session bean retains a list
of the selected items.
Session beans can be short-lived. Usually when the client ends the session,
the bean is removed by the client.

Entity beans
An entity bean provides an object view of data in a database. Usually the
bean represents a row in a set of relational database tables. An entity bean
usually serves more than one client.
Unlike session beans, entity beans are considered to be long-lived. They
maintain a persistent state, living as long as the data remains in the
database, rather than as long as a particular client needs it.
The container can manage the bean’s persistence, or the bean can manage
it itself. If the persistence is bean-managed, the bean developer must write
code that includes calls to the database.

Message-driven beans
The EJB 2.0 specification introduced message-driven beans. They behave
as a Java Message Service (JMS) listener, processing asynchronous
messages. The EJB container manages the bean’s entire environment.

An introduction to EJB development 3-7

Remote and local access

Message-driven beans are similar to stateless session beans because they

maintain no conversational state. Unlike session and entity beans, clients
don’t access them through interfaces. A message-driven bean has no
interfaces, just a bean class. A single message-driven bean can process
messages from more than one client. A message-driven bean is essentially
a block of application code that executes when a message arrives at a
particular JMS destination.

Remote and local access

An EJB 2.0 component can be accessed remotely or locally. Clients that
access a remote bean use the bean’s remote and remote home interfaces. A
remote home is often referred to as the home interface. A client with
remote access to a bean can run on a different machine and use a different
Java Virtual Machine (JVM) than the bean itself. In method calls to a
remote bean, parameters are passed by value, which helps maintain loose
coupling between the client and the bean.
A client with local access to a bean must run in the same JVM as the bean
it accesses. A local client won’t be an external client application, but rather
another enterprise bean or web component. In method calls to a local
bean, parameters are passed by reference, resulting in a tighter coupling
between the calling bean or web component and the called bean.
Like the remote interface, the local interface provides access to the bean’s
business methods, while its local home interface provides access to the
methods that control the life cycle of the bean as well as its finder
methods. Often entity beans that have a container-managed relationship
with other entity beans have local access to them.
Because beans with local interfaces must run in the same JVM, there is no
need for remote calls. Therefore, the overhead of serializing and
transporting objects is reduced. Usually this means greater performance.

Developing enterprise beans

The next few chapters explain how to use the JBuilder wizards, designers,
and tools that make it easier and quicker to create your enterprise beans. It
assumes that you understand what enterprise beans are, how they work,
and what their requirements are.
If your EJB knowledge is sketchy or you want more information about EJB
development before you begin using JBuilder’s EJB wizards and tools,
start reading Chapter 13, “Developing session beans” and the chapters
that follow it before beginning this chapter.

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 Developing enterprise beans

Developing Enterprise JavaBeans with JBuilder has several steps:

1 Setting up the target application server.
2 Creating an EJB module for EJB 1.x components or creating an EJB
module for EJB 2.0 components.
3 Creating an EJB 1.x component and its interfaces or creating an EJB 2.0
component and its interfaces.
4 Compiling enterprise beans and creating a JAR file.
5 Editing the deployment descriptors.
6 Reading a test client application.
7 Testing your enterprise bean.
8 Deploying to an application server.

An introduction to EJB development 3-9

3-10 Enterprise JavaBeans Developer’s Guide
 Chapter

Setting up the target

Chapter4
4
application server
Before you begin creating Enterprise JavaBeans, you must set up the
application server to which you are going to deploy your enterprise beans.
To set up JBuilder to target one or more application servers,
1 Choose Tools|Enterprise Setup.
2 Select the Application Servers page.

Setting up the target application server 4-1

Setting up the target application server

3 Select the Borland Enterprise Server 5.0 page and specify the directory
where the Borland Enterprise Server 5.0 is installed. This is usually in
the /BorlandEnterpriseServer directory.

If you want to target a WebLogic, WebSphere, iPlanet server or the

Borland AppServer 4.5 (BAS 4.5) instead, select the WebLogic,
WebSphere, iPlanet, or BAS 4.5 page for the version you are targeting
and specify the directory where you have the application server
installed. For WebSphere, you must also specify where the IBM JDK
that ships with WebSphere is installed. Also, WebSphere 4.0 requires
that you specify the location of where DB2 is installed. For WebLogic
6.x, the BEA home directory is required and WebLogic 6.1 requires an
admin password.
Note For WebSphere 3.5, you must install the WebSphere FixPack2 to get the
latest version of the JDK.
4 If you want to use the application server you are setting up as the target
application server for your current project, check the Apply Settings
For Selected Modified Application Server To Current Project check box.
5 Choose OK.

4-2 Enterprise JavaBeans Developer’s Guide

 The created libraries

The created libraries

When you close the dialog box, one or more libraries are created for you
automatically that contain all the application server files you will need for
enterprise bean development for the application server of your choice.
These are the libraries created for you, listed by application server:

Borland • Borland Enterprise Server 5.0 Client: All JARs needed to

Enterprise Server 5.0 run a client.
Borland • BAS 4.5 Client: All JARs needed to run a client.
AppServer 4.51
WebLogic 5.1 • WebLogic 5.1 Client: All JARs needed to run a client.
• WebLogic 5.1 Deploy: JARs needed to run the WebLogic
5.1 deploy tool.
WebLogic 6.x • WebLogic 6.x Client: All JARs needed to run a client.
• WebLogic 6.x Deploy: JARs needed to run the WebLogic
6.x deploy tool.
WebSphere 3.5 • WebSphere 3.5 Client: JARs need to run a client. The
deployed JARs for WebSphere 3.5 are automatically
added to this library definition.
• WebSphere 3.5 JetAce: JARs used to compile enterprise
beans and create stubs.
WebSphere 3.5 XMLConfig: JARs needed to run the
WebSphere 3.5 deploy tool.
WebSphere 4.0 • WebSphere AES 4.0 Client: JARs needed to run a client.
Single Server • WebSphere AES 4.0 ExtDirs: JARs used during server
startup.
• WebSphere AES 4.0 EjbDeploy: JARs used to compile
enterprise beans and create stubs.
WebSphere 4.0 • WebSphere AE 4.0 Client: JARs needed to run a client.
Advanced Edition • WebSphere AE 4.0 ExtDirs: JARs used during server
startup.
• WebSphere AE 4.0 XmlConfig: JARs used to run the
WebSphere 4.0 deploy tool.
• WebSphere AE 4.0 EjbDeploy: JARs used to compile
enterprise beans can create stubs.
iPlanet 6.0 Check the online help for the most up-to-date information.

You must close and then restart JBuilder to enable the EJB wizards. If you
want to make the VisiBroker ORB available to JBuilder, you can wait until
you complete that step before shutting down and restarting JBuilder.

Setting up the target application server 4-3

Adding application server files to your project

Adding application server files to your project

Next you must add a library that contains your application server files to
your project. Every time you begin a new project, you must take this step.
If you checked the Apply Settings For Selected Modified Application
Server To Current Project check box in the Enterprise Setup dialog box,
you can skip this step for now because JBuilder already added the correct
library to your current project. The next time you start a new project,
however, you must take these steps to add a library to your current
project:
1 Choose Project|Project Properties and make sure the Paths tab is
selected.
2 Click the Required Libraries tab.
3 Click the Add button to display the Select One or More Libraries dialog
box. Which libraries are available depends on which application
servers you have installed and you set up using Tools|Enterprise
Setup.
4 Select the appropriate library. For example, if your target is the Borland
Enterprise Server 5.0, select the Borland Enterprise Server 5.0 Client
library and click OK twice to close the dialog boxes.

Making the ORB available to JBuilder

When you use Tools|Enterprise Setup to set up the Borland Enterprise
Server 5.0, your CORBA settings are automatically set up for you at the
same time. You can see your current settings on the CORBA page of the
Enterprise Setup dialog box. You might want to use this page to set the
VisiBroker SmartAgent port to a unique number. Also, to add a command
to start the SmartAgent to the Tools menu, check the Add The VisiBroker
SmartAgent Item To The Tools Menu option.
You must still perform one step: starting the VisiBroker SmartAgent. This
handles the initial bootstrap issues such as how the client locates the
naming service and so on.
To start the SmartAgent, choose Tools|VisiBroker SmartAgent.

Selecting an application server

JBuilder can target one of multiple application servers. To select an
application server for your project,
1 Choose Project|Project Properties.

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 Setting up JDBC drivers

2 Click the Servers tab.

3 Click the ... button and a Select Application Server dialog box appears.
Which application servers are available in the dialog box depends on
which application servers are supported by JBuilder, have been added
using JBuilder’s OpenTools API, or have been added using the Add
button in this dialog box.

4 Select the application server you are building your beans to run on. The
Borland Enterprise Server 5.0 is the default server.
The Generic AppServer 1.0 choice is a generic option. It represents a
basic application server that supports EJB 1.1 and/or EJB 2.0
development. Select it if the application server you use is not currently
supported by JBuilder. You will probably want to edit the resulting
deployment descriptor with tools supplied with that application server
to get the exact settings you want. You could also choose this option if
the you aren't targeting a specific application server.
5 Choose OK to close the dialog box.

Setting up JDBC drivers

To enable JBuilder’s EJB wizards and EJB Designer to access a database,
you must install the JDBC driver supplied by the database vendor and set
up the driver in JBuilder. Install a JDBC driver following the vendor’s
instructions.
To begin setting up the driver in JBuilder, select Tools|Enterprise Setup to
display the Enterprise Setup dialog box. Click the Database Drivers tab to
display the Database Drivers page. Use this page to add a new database
driver to JBuilder.

Setting up the target application server 4-5

Setting up JDBC drivers

Creating the .library and .config files

There are three steps to adding a database driver to JBuilder:
• Creating a library file which contains the driver's classes, typically a
JAR file, and any other auxiliary files such as documentation and
source.
• Deriving a .config file from the library file which JBuilder adds to its
classpath at start-up.
• Adding the new library to your project, or to the Default project if you
want it available for all new projects.
The first two steps can be accomplished from the Database Drivers page:
1 Open JBuilder and choose Tools|Enterprise Setup. Click the Database
Drivers tab which displays .config files for all the currently known
database drivers.
2 Click Add to add a new driver, then New to create a new library file for
the driver. The library file is used to add the driver to the required
libraries list for projects.
Note You can also create a new library under Tools|Configure Libraries, but
since you would then have to use Enterprise Setup to derive the .config
file, it is simpler to do it all here.
3 Type a name and select a location for the new file in the Create New
Library dialog box.
4 Click Add, and browse to the location of the driver. You can select the
directory containing the driver and all it's support files, or you can
select just the archive file for the driver. Either will work. JBuilder will
extract the information it needs.
5 Click OK to close the file browser. This displays the new library at the
bottom of the library list and selects it.
6 Click OK. JBuilder creates a new .library file in the JBuilder /lib
directory with the name you specified (for example,
InterClient.library). It also returns you to the Database Drivers page
which displays the name of the corresponding .config file in the list
which will be derived from the library file (for example,
InterClient.config).
7 Select the new .config file in the database driver list and click OK. This
places the .config file in the JBuilder /lib/ext directory.
8 Close and restart JBuilder so the changes to the database drivers will
take effect, and the new driver will be put on the JBuilder classpath.

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 Setting up JDBC drivers

Important If you make changes to the .library file after the .config file has been
derived, you must re-generate the .config file using Enterprise Setup, then
restart JBuilder.
Now that JBuilder can see the database driver, you must add the database
driver library to the Required Libraries list in Project|Properties, or
Project|Default Properties.

Adding the JDBC driver to projects

Projects run from within JBuilder use only the classpath defined for that
project. Therefore, to make sure the JDBC driver is available for all new
projects that will need it, define the library and add it to your default list
of required libraries. This is done from within JBuilder using the following
steps:
1 Start JBuilder and close any open projects.
2 Choose Project|Default Project Properties.
3 Select the Required Libraries tab on the Paths page, then click the Add
button.
4 Select the new JDBC driver from the library list and click OK.
5 Click OK to close the Default Project Properties dialog box.
Note You can also add the JDBC driver to an existing project. Just open the
project, then choose Project|Properties and use the same process as above.

Setting up the target application server 4-7

4-8 Enterprise JavaBeans Developer’s Guide
 Chapter

Creating EJB 2.0 components

Chapter5
5
with JBuilder
This chapter explains how to use JBuilder to create components that are
compliant with the Sun Microsystems’ Enterprise JavaBeans 2.0
specification. For information about how to create components that are
compliant with the Enterprise JavaBeans 1.1 specification, see Chapter 6,
“Creating EJB 1.x components with JBuilder.”
To help you create your EJB 2.0-compliant beans, JBuilder 6.0 introduces
the EJB Designer, which provides a rapid application development (RAD)
environment for EJB 2.0 development. The EJB Designer is a true
Two-Way Tool™ that allows you to design your enterprise bean visually
as JBuilder generates the code from your design. You can make changes to
your design either through the EJB Designer, or by editing the generated
source code directly. Your source code and your design remain
synchronized. As you work with the EJB Designer, your deployment
descriptors are being created for you, preparing your bean for
deployment to your target application server.

Introducing EJB modules

Each enterprise bean you create must belong to a JBuilder EJB module. An
EJB module is a logical grouping of one or more beans that will be
deployed in a single JAR file. In previous versions of JBuilder, an EJB
module was known as an EJB group. They are the same thing. An EJB
module contains the information that is used to produce the deployment
descriptor(s) for that JAR file. You can edit the content of an EJB module
using the Deployment Descriptor editor.

Creating EJB 2.0 components with JBuilder 5-1

Introducing EJB modules

Once you have an EJB module and have edited it to your liking with the
Deployment Descriptor editor, you can Make or Build an EJB module to
produce the JAR. JBuilder uses the deployment descriptor to help identify
the class files to be packaged.
An EJB module can be one of two formats: XML or binary. Because an EJB
module in XML format is essentially a text file, it’s easier to work with if
you are using a version control system. An EJB module in binary format is
essentially the deployment descriptors in a .zip archive.
You can have more than one EJB module in a project. All the EJB modules
in a single project use the same project classpath and JDK, and they are
configured for the same target application server.
If you haven’t done so already, follow the instructions in Chapter 4,
“Setting up the target application server.” You must follow the steps to
add a library containing your application server files to each EJB project
you undertake.

Creating an EJB 2.0 module

There are two ways to create an EJB module:
• Use the EJB Module wizard to create an EJB module when you haven’t
created your enterprise beans yet.
• Use the EJB Module From Descriptors wizard to create an EJB from the
deployment descriptors of existing enterprise beans you have.
If you don’t have an open project before you begin an EJB module wizard,
JBuilder displays the Project wizard first. After you create a new project,
the EJB wizard you selected then appears.

Creating a module with the EJB Module wizard

If you haven’t created your enterprise beans yet, begin by creating an EJB
module. To create an EJB module,
1 Choose File|New and click the Enterprise tab.
Note: If the EJB wizards on the Enterprise page are disabled, you don’t have
the Enterprise version of JBuilder installed.

5-2 Enterprise JavaBeans Developer’s Guide

 Introducing EJB modules

2 Double-click the EJB Module icon and the wizard appears:

3 Specify the name of the EJB module.

4 Specify the format of the new module.
Your choices are binary, which internally stores the deployment
descriptors in .zip format and was used before JBuilder 5, or XML,
which stores the deployment descriptors in XML format. XML format
allows users to merge changes if they are checking them into a source
control system. Using the XML format is recommended.
5 Specify the version as EJB 2.0 compliant using the Version drop-down
list.
The EJB 2.0 compliant option is disabled if your target application
server does not support EJB 2.0
6 Specify the name of the JAR file your enterprise bean(s) will be in.
JBuilder entered a default name that is the same as the name of your
EJB module. You can simply accept that name or specify another.
JBuilder also entered a path based on your project path. You can change
it to your liking or accept the default path.
7 Click OK to create the EJB module.
The EJB Designer appears. For example, if you are starting a project
named BeansProject and you specified MyBeanModule as the name of the EJB

Creating EJB 2.0 components with JBuilder 5-3

Introducing EJB modules

module, the EJB Designer, the project pane, and the structure pane would
look like this:

Creating an EJB module from existing deployment descriptors

If you already have existing EJB 2.0 deployment descriptors for enterprise
beans you created previously, add them to an EJB module by following
these steps:
1 Choose File|New and click the Enterprise tab.
2 Double-click the EJB Module From Descriptors wizard icon and the
wizard appears:

5-4 Enterprise JavaBeans Developer’s Guide

 Displaying the EJB Designer

3 Specify the name of your new EJB module.

4 Specify the format of the new module.
Your choices are binary, which internally stores the deployment
descriptors in .zip format and was used before JBuilder 5, or XML,
which stores the deployment descriptors in XML format. XML format
allows users to merge changes if they are checking them into a source
control system. Using the XML format is recommended.
5 Specify the name and path of the JAR file your enterprise bean will be in.
JBuilder entered a default name that is the same as the name of your
EJB module. You can simply accept that name or specify another.
6 Click Next and specify the directory that contains the existing
deployment descriptor(s) you want to make up the module.
(Frequently this is in the META-INF directory of a JAR.) When you do,
the wizard lists the deployment descriptors in the specified directory in
the Usable Descriptors Found field.

7 Click Finish to create the EJB module that contains the deployment
descriptors for the existing bean(s).

Displaying the EJB Designer

You use the EJB Designer to develop EJB 2.0 enterprise beans. There are
two ways to display the EJB Designer to begin creating an enterprise bean:
• Use the EJB Module wizard to create a new module. If you choose
EJB 2.0-compliant as the Version of EJB module you are creating, the
wizard displays the new module it creates in the project pane and
displays the EJB Designer, ready for you to begin a new enterprise
bean. See “Creating a module with the EJB Module wizard” on page 5-2
for more information.

Creating EJB 2.0 components with JBuilder 5-5

Displaying the EJB Designer

• Use the EJB 2.0 Designer wizard. These are the steps you follow:
1 Choose File|New, click the Enterprise tab, and double-click the EJB
2.0 Designer.
2 Select the EJB module you want the bean you create to become part
of from the list of Available EJB Modules.
Only the available EJB 2.0 modules appear in the list. If you don’t
have a module yet, you can choose the New button, which starts the
EJB Module wizard. When the wizard completes, the EJB 2.0
Designer wizard continues.
3 Click OK.
The EJB Designer appears. For example, if you are starting a project
named BeansProject and you specified MyBeanModule as the name
of the EJB module, the EJB Designer, the project, pane, and the
structure pane would look like this:

Any time another view, such as the Source view or a Deployment

Descriptor panel, is present, you can switch to the EJB Designer view by
using one of these two methods:
• Double-click the EJB module’s node in the project pane and click the
EJB Designer tab in content pane.
• Click the EJB module’s tab at the top of the content pane. This option is
available only if the module is open in the current project.

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 Creating session beans

Creating session beans

To create a session bean,
1 Right-click the EJB Designer pane and choose New Session Bean (if this
is your first bean in this EJB module, the context menu may be already
displayed so you won’t have to right-click):

A representation of the session bean appears in the EJB Designer

named Enterprise<n> and three files appear in the project pane:
These are the generated files that appear in the project pane:
• Enterprise<n>—The remote interface of the session bean.
• Enterprise<n>Bean—The bean class of the session bean.
• Enterprise<n>Home—The home interface of the session bean.
2 Click the representation of the bean in the EJB Designer on the top row,
the name of the bean. An inspector appears:

Creating EJB 2.0 components with JBuilder 5-7

Viewing a bean’s source code

3 Within the inspector, change the name of the bean to a name of your
choosing.
The files in the project pane are renamed to reflect the name change.
4 Use the Interfaces drop-down list to select from Remote, Local, or
Remote/Local.
Selecting Remote means that the EJB Designer generates the bean class
with a remote home and remote interface. This is the default value.
Selecting Local means that the EJB Designer generates a bean class with
a local home and a local interface. Because the EJB Designer generates
the Remote interfaces by default for session beans, selecting Local
changes the name and content of the bean’s files in the project pane to
reflect a bean that can be accessed locally only. The local home interface
name will have LocalHome appended to it, and local interface name will
have Local appended to it.
If you select the Remote/Local option, all the remote and local files will
appear in the project pane giving you a total of five bean files.
5 Specify the type of session bean in the Session Type field: Stateless or
Stateful.
6 Specify the Transaction Type: Container (for container-managed) or
Bean (for bean-managed).
7 If you want the bean to implement the SessionSynchronization interface,
set the Session Synchronization attribute to true. This option is
available for stateful session beans only. For more information about
the SessionSynchronization interface, see “The SessionSynchronization
interface” on page 13-8.
8 Click the Classes And Packages button to make any changes to the
package name, bean name, interface names, and bean class name. Click
OK.
Changes you make appear in the project pane.

Viewing a bean’s source code

At any time as you work within the EJB Designer, you can double-click a
generated file (.java) in the project pane to see its source code. Or you can
right-click the bean representation in the EJB Designer and choose View
Bean Source in the context menu; JBuilder displays the source code for the
bean class. To return to the EJB Designer, double-click the EJB module
node in the project pane.

5-8 Enterprise JavaBeans Developer’s Guide

 Modifying the bean

Modifying the bean

So far, JBuilder has generated just skeleton classes for the bean you are
developing. Continue working within the EJB Designer to make the bean
what you want. You can add new fields and methods and modify their
attributes. At any time you can switch directly to the source code for the
bean and add new code and modify existing code. All your changes will
be represented in the EJB Designer when you switch back to it.

Editing bean attributes

Edit bean attributes by clicking the element of the bean you want to modify.
When you do, an inspector appears that you can use to make your changes.

Adding a new field

To add a new field to a bean,
1 Right-click the bean representation in the EJB Designer and choose Add
New Field:

A new field titled untitledField<n> appears in the bean. The field’s

inspector appears:

Creating EJB 2.0 components with JBuilder 5-9

Modifying the bean

2 Use the inspector to modify the attributes of untitledField<n>, including

the name of the field:
• Give the field a meaningful name using the Field Name field.
• Specify the Java type of the field you are declaring in the Type box:
for example, java.lang.String. You can use the ... button to browse to
a Java object.
• Specify where the getter and setter access methods are declared in
the drop-down lists: in the local interface, in the remote interface, in
both interfaces, or in no interface.
To complete your field, double-click the bean class in the project pane
to display the source code. Find where the field’s getter and setter
methods are defined and add any additional logic you might want.

Removing a field
To remove a field from a bean, right-click the field in the bean
representation and choose Remove Field.

Adding a new method

To add a new method to a bean,
1 Right-click the bean representation in the EJB Designer and choose Add
New Method:

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 Modifying the bean

A new method titled untitledMethod<n> appears in the bean. The

method’s inspector appears:

2 Use the inspector to modify the attributes of untitledMethod<n>:

1 Give the method a meaningful name in the Method Name field.
2 Specify the return type for the method by typing in an appropriate
Java return type or by clicking the ... button to browse to a Java
object.
3 Enter any arguments you want passed to the method in the Input
Parameters field. You declare the arguments as you would in code;
for example, Integer age. Separate multiple entries with commas.
4 Use the Interfaces drop-down list to specify where you want the
method declared: in the home interface (the remote home), the local
home interface, the home and local home interfaces, the local
interface, the remote interface, the remote and local interfaces, or in
no interface at all.
3 To complete your method, double-click the bean class in the project
pane to display its source code. Find the skeleton method you just
added in the source and, in the method’s body, write the logic of the
method.

Removing a method
To remove a method from a bean, right-click the method in the bean
representation and choose Remove Method.

Creating EJB 2.0 components with JBuilder 5-11

Creating message-driven beans

Creating message-driven beans

To create a message-driven bean, begin by right-clicking the EJB Designer
and choosing New Message-Driven Bean:

A representation of the message-driven bean appears in the EJB Designer

along with its inspector:

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 Creating entity beans

Most of the properties displayed in the inspector are deployment

descriptor attributes. For information about some of these properties, see
Chapter 15, “Developing message-driven beans.”
As with session beans, you add new fields and methods by right-clicking
the bean representation and selecting a menu item from the menu that
appears. Use the inspectors that appear when you click a field or method
to modify field and method attributes. See “Modifying the bean” on
page 5-9 for complete details.
Note that you won’t be able to specify interfaces when you add a new
method because message-driven beans don’t have interfaces.
To complete the bean, switch to the source code for the bean class. Find
the onMessage() method in the class and in the method’s body, add the
logic that responds to an incoming message.

Creating entity beans

The EJB Designer creates entity beans with 2.0 container-managed
persistence (CMP). It does not support entity beans with either 1.1 or 2.0
bean-managed persistence (BMP).
You can begin creating your entity beans in one of two ways:
1 Import an existing data source into the EJB Designer and use it to create
entity beans.
2 Right-click the EJB Designer and choose New Entity Bean. Add and
modify fields and methods as you would with session and
message-driven beans.

Creating entity beans from an imported data source

Within the EJB Designer, you can import an existing JDBC data source and
then use it to create your entity beans.

Importing a data source

When you import a data source, you are actually importing the structure
of the data source, or its schema. You can then modify the schema to meet
your needs.
To import a data source,
1 Right-click the DataSources node in the structure pane and choose
Import Schema From|Database, or right-click the EJB Designer pane
and choose Import Schema From|Database.

Creating EJB 2.0 components with JBuilder 5-13

Creating entity beans

The Database Schema Provider dialog box appears:

2 Specify a JDBC data source.

Enter the information that’s needed to connect to a JDBC data source.
To use an existing connection, click the Choose Existing Connection
button and select a connection. Other required information for this
page is then filled in automatically except the password, which you
must enter yourself if your connection requires one.
If you don’t have an existing connection or want to create another,
select a driver from the Driver drop-down list and specify an URL. The
drivers that appear are those you set up using Tools|Enterprise Setup
on the Database Drivers page. See “Setting up JDBC drivers” on
page 4-5 for more information.
Specify the Username for the data source, and if a password is required,
type in the password. Select any extended properties you need. Finally,
specify a JNDI name for the data source.
3 Specify which Schemas And Table Types options you want.
If you check the All Schemas option, all schemas the user has rights to
for the connection will be used. If you leave All Schemas unchecked,
just the schemas with the same name as the username are used,
potentially reducing the time required to make the connection and load
the data.
Check the Views option if you want to have views loaded into the EJB
Designer. If you don’t want to load views, leave the Views option
unchecked.

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 Creating entity beans

The EJB Designer attempts to connect to the specified data source. If the
attempt to connect succeeds, the specified data source appears in the
structure pane:

4 Open the new node in the structure pane to see the tables in the data
source you have imported:

Modifying the imported data source schema

Once you have imported a data source, you can make changes to it before
you use it to create your entity beans. Right-click elements in the structure
pane to see the options available to make changes. These are the options
for the various elements:
• For the top data source node, use the right-click context menu to add a
table, edit data source properties, or to rename or delete the imported
data source.
Choosing Edit DataSource Properties displays the DataSource
Properties dialog box that you can use to edit the properties that give
you access to the data source:

• For table nodes, use the context menu to add a column to the table, edit
table properties, or to rename or delete the table node from the data
source.

Creating EJB 2.0 components with JBuilder 5-15

Creating entity beans

Choosing Edit Table Properties displays a CMP Properties dialog box

you can use to specify the container-managed persistence property
settings you want your entity bean to have. These properties are
specific to the Borland application servers only:

For help understanding the meaning of these properties, click the Help
button in the dialog box.
• For column nodes, use the context menu to edit column properties, or
to rename or delete the column node from the table.
Choose Edit Column Properties to change the data type of the column
and specify if the column is a primary key. These properties are specific
to the Borland application servers only:

Choosing Edit Column CMP Properties displays a CMP Properties

dialog box you can use to specify the container-managed persistence
property settings you want the column to have:

For help understanding the meaning of these properties, click the Help
button in the dialog box.

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 Creating entity beans

Generating the entity bean classes and interfaces

Once your data source is as you want it, you’re ready to generate the
entity bean classes and interfaces. Right-click a table you want to use to
create an entity bean and choose Create Entity Bean. A bean
representation appears in the EJB Designer and the entity bean classes and
interfaces appear in the project pane. These are the files that are generated:
• <Entity>
The local interface of the entity bean.
• <Entity>Bean
The bean class of the entity bean.
• <Entity>Home
The local home interface of the entity bean.
Note that the EJB Designer’s file-naming convention for an entity bean
differs from that of a session bean. While a client application can access
remote session beans, usually entity beans should be accessed through
session beans only. The entity bean the session bean accesses is therefore
likely to be local to it. So the interface that declares the business methods is
usually the local interface for an entity bean and the remote interface for a
session bean. The interface of an entity bean that is named with just the
name of the entity is the local interface. For a session bean, it is the remote
interface. Likewise, the interface that ends with the Home suffix for an
entity bean is the local home interface, while for a session bean it is the
remote home interface. For more information, see “How the EJB Designer
names EJB files” on page 5-30.

Editing entity bean properties

As with session beans and message-driven beans, you can use the EJB
Designer’s inspectors to edit the properties of your entity bean. Click the
top row of the bean representation in the EJB Designer to make this
inspector appear if it isn’t already visible:

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Creating entity beans

The Bean Properties in the inspector determine the name of the bean,
allow you to specify a different name for your schema, establish the names
of the bean classes and interfaces and where they are located, and
determine whether the bean has remote interfaces (home and remote),
local interfaces (local home and local, or both the remote and local
interfaces (home, remote, local home, and local).
Click the Properties button to view the CMP Properties:

The CMP Properties in the inspector set the container-managed

persistence properties of the bean. These properties are specific to Borland
application servers. They determine which table’s schema the bean is
being created from and determine how the container manages the bean’s
persistence. The following table explains the Borland container-manager
persistence properties:

ejb.maxBeansInCache
Specifies the maximum number of beans in the Option A cache (see
ejb.transactionCommitMode which follows). If the cache exceeds this
limit, entities will be moved to the ready pool by calling ejbPassivate().
The default setting is 1000.

ejb.maxBeansInPool
Specifies the maximum number of beans in the ready pool. If the ready
pool exceeds this limit, entities are removed from the container. The
default setting is 1000.

ejb.transactionCommitMode
Indicates the disposition of an entity bean with respect to a transaction.
The values are:
• A or Exclusive — This entity has exclusive access to the particular table
in the database. Thus, the state of the bean at the end of the last
committed transaction can be assumed to be the state of the bean at the
beginning of the next transaction. The beans are cached across
transactions.

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• B or Shared —This entity shares access to the particular table in the

database. However, for performance reasons, a particular bean remains
associated with a particular primary key between transactions to avoid
extraneous calls to ejbActivate() and ejbPassivate() between
transactions. The bean stays in the active pool. This setting is the
default.
• C or None — This entity shares access to the particular table in the
database. A particular bean does not remain associated with a
particular primary key between transactions, but goes back to the ready
pool after every transaction. This is generally not a useful setting.

Referencing another table

Table References let you reference another table and map columns in that
table to fields in this entity bean. Table references are available for entity
beans that target the Borland Enterprise Server only.
To create a table reference,
1 Click the Add button next to the Table Reference box in the entity bean
inspector. The Table Reference editor appears:

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Creating entity beans

2 Use the right drop-down list to specify the table you want to reference:

Click and hold down the mouse button on a column in the left table you
want to link to a column in the right table. Drag a line to the column
you want to link to:

If you need a third table to make the connection between two tables as
you might in a many to many relationship, click the Add Cross Table
button and select the table that has fields that can be used to link to
both tables. Then click and drag between the columns of the three
tables to complete the table reference.

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You can link multiple columns if it makes sense to do so. Choose OK

when you are done.
The table reference you created appears in the Table References box:

3 In the entity bean representation, click one of the fields you want to
map to a column in the referenced table to display its field inspector.
4 In the Column Name drop-down list, select the column you want to
map the field to:

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Creating entity beans

Adding WebLogic 6.1 field groups

If your target application server is WebLogic 6.1, the entity bean inspector
looks like this:

Note that a Field Groups box appears in the inspector. A field-group

element represents a subset of the container-managed persistence fields
and the container-managed relationship fields of an entity bean. For more
information about field groups and how they are used, consult your
WebLogic documentation.
To add a field group,
1 Click the Add button.
The Field Group editor appears:

2 Give the new group a name in the Field Group Name field.
3 Check the fields you want to be included in the group.
4 Click OK.

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Entity bean field and method inspectors

The inspector for an entity bean field looks like this:

Use the inspector to change the field name, if you wish. You can specify
the field’s type, specify whether its value will be persisted, specify
whether the field is a primary key for the table, specify if you want the
field’s value set in the ejbCreate() method in the bean class, specify where
the field’s access methods are defined, and map the field to the
appropriate column in the table.
The method inspector for entity beans is the same one used for session
and message-driven beans. See “Adding a new method” on page 5-10 if
you want more detail.

Creating entity bean relationships

You can create relationships between EJB 2.0 entity beans. For example, if
you have an Department table and an Employee table, you might want to
create a relationship that reflects which employees are in which
departments. In this example, you would right-click the Department bean
representation in the EJB Designer pane and choose Create Relationship.
When you do, a new field appears in the Department bean. Then click the
Employee bean and a line connects the two beans. The new field added in
the Department bean is now named employee to reflect the new
relationship.
By default, the EJB Designer creates relationships by looking for columns
(or fields) with the same name in the two tables you are connecting. Often
the two tables won’t have a common column name. You, therefore, must
specify how the relationship is to be created.

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Creating entity beans

Using the relationship inspector to specify a relationship

To specify how the relationship is to be created, click the new field that
has been added to the bean you began specifying the relationship from. A
relationship inspector appears:

Click Edit Table Reference to display a table reference editor:

If the two tables have one or more columns with the same name, the table
reference editor will show lines drawn between the common columns of
the two tables. If no common column names exists, you must draw a line
between the columns you want to use to create the relationship. For
example, if the Department table had a column called DEPT_NO, and the
Employee table had a column called DEPT, you would click and drag from the
DEPT_NO column of the Department table to the DEPT column of the Employee
table. When you release the mouse button, a line appears between the two
columns, indicating the relationship.
For many-to-many relationships you need a third table to make the
connection between two tables. For example, you might have an Employee
table that includes a column named EMP_NO. You might also have a Project
table that includes a column named PROJ_ID. By themselves, the two tables

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have no columns you can use to create a relationship directly. If you had a
Employee-Project table that consisted of two columns, EMP_NO and PROJ_ID,
you could create a relationship between the Employee and Project table. In
this case, in the table reference editor, you would click the Add Cross
Table button. From the drop-down list that appears between the two
tables, you would select the table that contains the columns to make the
connection between the two tables. In this case, you would select the
Employee-Project table. Then you would click and drag between the EMP_NO
columns of the Employee table and the Employee-Project table, and do the
same between the PROJ_ID columns of the Project table:

Click OK when you are done with the Edit Table Reference editor to
return to the new field’s inspector. You can use this inspector to specify if
the relationship is one to one, one to many, or many to many.
You can also specify whether the relationship is unidirectional or
bidirectional. If you select bidirectional, a new field also appears in the
second bean. For example, if you have a Employee entity bean and a Project
entity bean, you might want to create a relationship that allows an
employee to have multiple projects as well as keeping track of all the
employees on a single project. In this case, the direction of the relationship
is bidirectional. Therefore, the Employee bean will have a new field named
project, and the Project bean will have a new field named employee.
Use the CMR Field Properties in the inspector to specify in which
interface(s) the getter and setter access methods are declared. The Return
Type is the return type of the getter method and the type of the parameter
passed to the field’s setter method.

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Creating entity beans

Specifying a WebLogic relationship

When you are targeting WebLogic 6.x, you create the relationship as
described in “Using the relationship inspector to specify a relationship”
on page 5-24 with a few differences. The relationship inspector looks like
this:

Click the Edit RDBMS Relation button to display the WebLogic RDBMS
Relation Editor. If, in the relationship inspector you specified the
Multiplicity as One to One or One to Many, the editor looks like this:

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If you specified Many to Many as the value of the Multiplicity field, the
editor looks like this:

In this case, you select the table in the middle that contains the columns
that join the other two tables. Then click and drag between the columns
that establish the relationship:

Removing a relationship
To remove a relationship between two entity beans, right-click the new
field that was added to the entity bean when the relationship was created
and choose Remove Relationship on the context menu.

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Creating entity beans

Adding a finder method

Finder methods allow the client to access the results of an EJB QL query.
EJB QL is the query language for container-managed persistence query
methods defined in the EJB 2.0 specification. An EJB QL query is a string
that must contain a SELECT clause and a FROM clause, and may include a
WHERE clause.
To add a finder method to an entity bean,
1 Right-click the name of the bean in the bean representation in the EJB
Designer and choose Add New Finder on the context menu that
appears.
A new finder method appears at the bottom of the bean along with the
finder’s inspector.
2 Use the inspector to give the finder a new name.
3 Specify whether the finder should return an instance of the bean, a
java.util.Collection, or java.util.Set.
4 Specify the parameters passed to the finder, giving both the data types
and the parameter names as the value of Input Parameters. For
example, java.lang.String lastName.
5 Specify whether the finder should be declared in the home or local
home interface or both in the Home Interfaces field.
6 If you choose to enter a query, enter an EJB QL statement. For example,
SELECT DISTINCT OBJECT(o)
FROM Order AS o, IN(o.lineItems) AS 1
WHERE 1.shipped = FALSE
Some application servers also permit you to use proprietary extensions.
Check your application server documentation for more information
about specifying queries.
The finder’s inspector may have additional fields, depending on your
target application server. If you need help filling in these additional fields,
consult your application server documentation.
For more information about writing queries with the EJB 2.0 query
language, see Enterprise JavaBeans Query Language in the J2EE tutorial
on the Sun web site at
http://java.sun.com/j2ee/tutorial/1_3-fcs/doc/EJBQL.html.

Adding an ejbSelect() method

EJB QL is also used to create abstract ejbSelect() methods. Such methods
allow you to use EJB QL to find objects or values related to the state of an
entity bean without exposing the results to the client.

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To add an ejbSelect() method,

1 Right-click the name of the bean in the bean representation in the EJB
Designer and choose Add New Select on the context menu that
appears.
A new select method appears at the bottom of the bean along with the
method’s inspector.
2 Use the inspector to give the method a new name. The EJB Designer
will add a prefix of ejbSelect to the method name you specify. For
example, if you specify the name AllLineItems in the inspector, the EJB
Designer places an abstract ejbSelectAllLineItems() method in the bean
class.
3 Specify whether the method should return an instance of the bean, a
java.util.Collection, or java.util.Set.
4 Specify the parameters passed to the ejbSelect() method, giving both
the data type and the parameter name as the value of Input Parameters.
For example, java.lang.String lastName.
5 Enter an EJB QL statement. An EJB QL query is a string that must
contain a SELECT clause and a FROM clause, and may include a
WHERE clause.
For more information about writing queries with the EJB 2.0 query
language, see Enterprise JavaBeans Query Language in the J2EE tutorial
on the Sun web site at http://java.sun.com/j2ee/tutorial/1_3-fcs/doc/
EJBQL.html. Also consult your application server documentation.

Adding a home business method

EJB 2.0 components can have business methods, also called ejbHome
methods, declared in the home interface. To create a home business
method,
1 Right-click the entity bean representation in the EJB Designer and
choose Add New Method.
2 Specify the name of the method, its return type, and its parameters as
you would when creating any other method using the method’s
inspector.
3 Specify the Interface value as Home, Local Home, or Home/Local
Home.
When you specify a home interface, the EJB Designer declares the
method in the home interface(s) you specified with the method name
you specified. It also adds the method to the bean class with a prefix of
ejbHome.

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How the EJB Designer names EJB files

Exporting a data source

If you’ve modified a data source, you might want to use it to create
database tables that reflect the changes you’ve made. Right-click the data
source’s node in the structure pane and choose Export Schema To|
Complete SQL DDL (DDL stands for Data Definition Language.) In the
dialog box that appears, specify a name for the file. You can then use that
file to create a database that uses your modified data source.

Removing beans
To remove one or more EJBs from the EJB Designer,
1 Select the bean representation in the EJB Designer:
• To select a single bean, click it.
• To select multiple beans, Ctrl-click each bean you want to select.
2 Right-click one of the selected beans and choose Remove Selected EJBs
or press the Delete key.

How the EJB Designer names EJB files

The names of the files JBuilder generates when you use the EJB Designer
to create enterprise beans varies depending on the type of enterprise bean
you are creating. In JBuilder, session beans are remote by default and
entity beans are local by default. Therefore, the EJB Designer generates a
remote home interface for a session bean and a local home interface for an
entity bean. In each case the name of the home interface, whether remote
for a session bean or local for an entity bean, will be <Bean Name>Home.
Likewise, the interface that declares the business methods is the remote
interface for a session bean and the local interface for an entity bean. For
example, if you decide to generate both the local and remote interfaces for
a session bean named Component, these are the files the EJB Designer
generates for you:
• ComponentHome — the remote home interface
• ComponentBean — the bean class
• Component — the remote interface
• ComponentLocalHome — the local home interface
• ComponentLocal — the local interface

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 Fixing errors in your bean

If you do the same thing for an entity bean with the same name of
Component, these are the files the EJB Designer generates for you:
• ComponentHome — the local home interface
• ComponentBean — the bean class
• Component — the local interface
• ComponentRemoteHome — the remote home interface
• ComponentRemote — the remote interface

Fixing errors in your bean

While you are working between the EJB Designer and your source code to
create your bean, it’s possible you might introduce a syntax error in your
code. If you do, when you display the EJB Designer, an error message
appears in the message pane and the bean representation of that bean
appears crossed out.

To rapidly go to the offending line in your source code, double-click the

error message. Fix the error in your code, then return to the EJB Designer.
Your bean representation should now appear normally.
To remove the EJB Designer Errors tab in the message pane, right-click the
tab and choose Remove EJB Designer Errors Tab.

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Viewing the deployment descriptors

Viewing the deployment descriptors

As you work with the EJB Designer to build enterprise beans and modify
their attributes, the deployment descriptors for your beans are being
created for you. To see the XML source code of the deployment
descriptors, click the EJB DD Source tab at the bottom of the content pane.
You’ll see another series of tabs at the bottom of the content pane. Which
tabs are present depend on which application server you are targeting:

Displaying the Deployment Descriptor editor

JBuilder provides a Deployment Descriptor editor that allows you view
the current settings and edit them. A bean’s deployment descriptor
information is spread among several panels. There are multiple ways to
display the Deployment Descriptor editor:
1 Double-click the EJB module in the project pane and click the EJB DD
Editor tab at the bottom of the content pane. The panel that appears lets
you set a few JAR file attributes.
2 To view and edit the deployment descriptor information for a single
bean, expand the EJB module node in the project pane and double-click
the bean in the EJB module’s list of beans. The General panel of the
Deployment Descriptor editor appears. You can click any of the other

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tabs at the bottom of the Deployment Descriptor editor to view other

panels.
3 To view and edit the deployment descriptor for a single bean while you
are working on it in the EJB Designer, right-click the top of the bean
representation in the EJB Designer and choose Open DD Editor in the
context menu that appears.
To return to the EJB Designer, double-click the EJB module node in the
project pane.
For more information about using the Deployment Descriptor editor, see
Chapter 11, “Using the Deployment Descriptor editor.”

Setting IDE options for the EJB Designer

You can modify the font and change the color of elements of the EJB Designer:
1 Choose Tools|IDE Options.
2 Click the EJB Designer tab.
This page appears in the IDE Options dialog box:

3 Make your selections to change the screen elements as you wish and
click OK when you are done.

Taking the next step

Now that you’ve designed your beans, you’re ready to compile them. See
Chapter 8, “Compiling enterprise beans and creating JAR files.”

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 Chapter

Creating EJB 1.x components

Chapter6
6
with JBuilder
This chapter explains how to use JBuilder to create components that are
compliant with the Sun Microsystems’ Enterprise JavaBeans 1.1
specification as well as EJB 1.0 components created with WebSphere 3.5.
For information about how to create components that are compliant with
the Enterprise JavaBeans 2.0 specification, see Chapter 5, “Creating EJB 2.0
components with JBuilder.”

Introducing EJB modules

Each enterprise bean you create must belong to a JBuilder EJB module. An
EJB module is a logical grouping of one or more beans that will be
deployed in a single JAR file. In previous versions of JBuilder, an EJB
module was known as an EJB group. They are the same thing. An EJB
module contains the information that is used to produce the deployment
descriptor(s) for that JAR file. You can edit the content of an EJB module
using the Deployment Descriptor editor.
Once you have an EJB module and have edited it to your liking with the
Deployment Descriptor editor, you can Make or Build an EJB module to
produce the JAR. JBuilder uses the deployment descriptor to help identify
the class files to be packaged.
An EJB module can be one of two formats: XML or binary. Because an EJB
module in XML format is essentially a text file, it’s easier to work with if
you are using a version control system. An module in binary format is
essentially the deployment descriptors in a .zip archive.

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Introducing EJB modules

You can have more than one EJB module in a project. All the EJB modules
in a single project use the same project classpath and JDK, and they are
configured for the same target application server.
If you haven’t done so already, follow the instructions in Chapter 4,
“Setting up the target application server.” You must follow the steps to
add one or more libraries containing your application server files to each
EJB project you undertake.

Creating an EJB 1.x module

There are two ways to create an EJB module:
• Use the EJB Module wizard to create an EJB module when you haven’t
created your enterprise beans yet.
• Use the EJB Module From Descriptors wizard to create an EJB from the
deployment descriptors of existing enterprise beans you have.
If you don’t have an open project before you begin an EJB module wizard,
JBuilder displays the Project wizard first. After you create a new project,
the EJB wizard you selected then appears.

Creating an EJB 1.x module with the EJB Module wizard

If you haven’t created your enterprise beans yet, begin by creating an EJB
module. To create an EJB module,
1 Choose File|New and click the Enterprise tab.
Note If the EJB wizards on the Enterprise page are disabled, you don’t have
the Enterprise version of JBuilder installed.
2 Double-click the EJB Module wizard icon and the wizard appears:

3 Specify the name of the EJB module.

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4 Specify the format of the new module.

Your choices are binary, which internally stores the deployment
descriptors in .zip format and was used before JBuilder 5, or XML,
which stores the deployment descriptors in XML format. XML format
allows users to merge changes if they are checking them into a source
control system. Using XML is recommended unless you are sharing the
file with an older version of JBuilder.
5 Specify the version as EJB 1.x compliant. The options available to you
depend on which application server is your target.
6 Specify the name of the JAR file your enterprise bean(s) will be in.
JBuilder entered a default name that is the same as the name of your
EJB module. You can simply accept that name or specify another.
JBuilder also entered a path based on your project path. You can change
it to your liking or accept the default path.
7 Click OK to create the EJB module.

Creating an EJB module from existing enterprise beans

If you already have existing Borland enterprise beans, add them to an EJB
module by following these steps:
1 Choose File|New and click the Enterprise tab.
2 Double-click the EJB Module From Descriptors wizard icon and the
wizard appears.

3 Specify the name of your new EJB module.

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Creating an enterprise bean

4 Specify the format of the new module.

Your choices are binary, which internally stores the deployment
descriptors in .zip format and was used before JBuilder 5, or XML,
which stores the deployment descriptors in XML format. XML format
allows users to merge changes if they are checking them into a source
control system. Using XML is recommended unless you are sharing the
file with an older version of JBuilder.
5 Specify the name and path of the JAR file your enterprise bean will be
in.
JBuilder entered a default name that is the same as the name of your
EJB module. You can simply accept that name or specify another.
6 Click Next and specify the directory that contains the existing
deployment descriptor(s) you want to make up the module.
(Frequently this is in the META-INF directory of a JAR.) When you do,
the wizard lists the deployment descriptors in the specified directory in
the Usable Descriptors Found field.

7 Click Finish to create the EJB module that contains the deployment
descriptors for the existing bean(s).

Creating an enterprise bean

The JBuilder object gallery contains two wizards you can use to create 1.x
enterprise beans: the Enterprise JavaBean 1.x wizard and the EJB 1.x
Entity Bean Modeler. The Wizards menu contains another: the EJB 1.x
Bean Generator. This section discusses creating an enterprise bean with
the Enterprise JavaBean 1.x wizard. To read about using the EJB 1.x Entity
Bean Modeler to create entity beans, see Chapter 7, “Creating EJB 1.x
entity beans from an existing database table.”

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The Enterprise JavaBean 1.x wizard and the EJB Entity Bean Modeler
create the home and remote interfaces at the same time the bean class is
created. If you prefer to begin your enterprise bean development by
creating your remote interface first, see “Generating the bean class from a
remote interface” on page 6-12 for information about using the EJB 1.x
Bean Generator to generate your bean class from a remote interface you
have created.
To begin creating an enterprise bean with the Enterprise JavaBean 1.x
wizard,
1 Choose File|New and click the Enterprise tab.
2 Double-click the Enterprise JavaBean 1.x wizard icon.
The wizard appears.

3 In the drop-down list, select the EJB module you want your enterprise
bean to belong to. Choose Next to display page 2 of the wizard.
If you don’t have an EJB module defined before you start the Enterprise
JavaBeans wizard or you want to create another, click the New button
to start the EJB Module wizard. You must have at least one EJB module
defined in your project before you can create an enterprise bean. Once
you’ve created an EJB module with the EJB Module wizard, select the

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Creating an enterprise bean

new module and choose Next to continue with the Enterprise JavaBean
1.x wizard.

4 Specify the class name of your bean class, the package it will be in, and
the bean’s base class.
Next you must decide whether you are creating a session bean or an entity
bean.

Creating a session bean

If you are creating a session bean,
1 Click either the Stateless Session Bean or Stateful Session Bean.
2 If you select a Stateful Session Bean, you can also choose to implement
the SessionSynchronization interface by checking the Session
Synchronization check box.

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3 Click Next to go Step 3.

4 Specify names for the Home Interface Class, the Remote Interface Class,
and the Bean Home Name; JBuilder suggests default names based on
the name of your bean class.
5 Click Finish.

Creating an entity bean

If you are creating an entity bean,
1 Select either the Bean Managed Persistence Entity Bean option or the
Container Managed Persistence 1.x Entity Bean option. (If WebSphere
3.5 is your target application server, the second option is Container
Managed Persistence 1.0 Entity Bean.)
2 Specify a Primary Key Class.

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Creating an enterprise bean

3 Click Next to go Step 3.

4 Specify names for the Home Interface Class, the Remote Interface Class,
and the Bean Home Name; JBuilder suggests default names based on
the name of your bean class.
5 Click Finish.
After you click the Finish button, JBuilder creates the bean class and its
home and remote interfaces. You’ll see them appear in the project pane.
Examine the source code of the bean class and you’ll see that the class
implements the SessionBean interface if it’s a session bean, and it
implements the EntityBean interface if it’s an entity bean. JBuilder has
added methods with empty bodies for the methods all enterprise beans
must implement. You can add code to these method bodies to supply the
logic your bean requires when these methods are called.
The home interface extends the EJBHome interface and contains a create()
method needed to create the bean. The remote interface extends EJBObject
but is empty otherwise because you have yet to declare any business logic
methods for your bean.
Although you can begin your entity beans using the Enterprise JavaBeans
wizard, the preferred way to create entity beans is to use the EJB 1.x Entity
Bean Modeler. Entity beans you create with the Enterprise JavaBean 1.x
wizard aren’t likely to pass verification with the Deployment Descriptor
editor until you complete the bean more fully.
Note For WebSphere 4.0 Advanced Edition, the mapping descriptors aren’t
generated at this phase. When you build your bean, EjbDeploy, which is
called during the build process, will generate them for you. You can then
modify the mapping and run Make again to keep the mapping in the JAR.
Note For WebSphere 4.0 Single Server, the mapping descriptors are not generated.

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Adding the business logic to your bean

In the source code of your bean class, define and write the methods that
implement the logic your enterprise bean needs.
If you need to add properties to the bean, you can either add them directly in
the source code, or you can use the Properties page of the Bean designer.
To use the Bean designer to work with properties,
1 Double-click the bean class in the project pane.
2 Click the Bean tab to display the Bean designer.
3 Click the Properties tab to display the Properties page.

To add a new property,

1 Click the Add Property button to display the New Property dialog box.

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2 Specify the Property Name and its Type.

3 If your bean is an entity bean with container-managed persistence, the
Container Managed Field and the Column Name options are available
in the New Property dialog. If the property you are creating is a column
in a database table, check the Container Managed Field check box and
specify the column name in the table as the value of the Column Name
field.
4 Specify your access methods by setting the Getter and Setter options.
If you decide your property needs a getter access method, you can also
decide if it appears in the bean class and/or in the remote interface. If
you decide your property needs a setter access method, you can also
decide if it appears in the bean class and/or in the remote interface.
5 Choose Apply to immediately add the new property definition to the
source code of your bean. The access methods you specified are added
to bean class and/or the remote interface, depending on the options
you selected.
6 You can continue adding new properties in the dialog box. When you
are finished, choose OK.
If you use the Enterprise JavaBean 1.x wizard to begin an entity bean with
container-managed persistence, you will be adding properties to your
bean. Keep in mind that at least one property must be the primary key and
that you must specify which field or fields makes up the primary key on
the General panel of the Deployment Descriptor editor. If you fail to do so,
the Deployment Descriptor editor won’t be able to verify the deployment
descriptor as valid.
You can also use the Properties page to modify a property. For example, if
you didn’t specify a setter for your property when you were declaring it
and you decide your bean needs one, you can simply check the Setter box
for that property on the Properties page and JBuilder adds the setter
method to your source code. Or you can remove a getter or setter by
unchecking the appropriate check box.
To remove a property from your bean using the Properties page,
1 Select the property listed in the table of properties.
2 Click the Remove button.
JBuilder asks if you want to remove the property and its associated
code.
3 Choose Yes.
You can also use the Properties page to change the name of the property
and its type. The Bean designer is a Two-Way Tool™, so changes you
make on the Properties page are reflected in your code and changes you
make in your code are reflected on the Properties page.

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 Creating an enterprise bean

Exposing business methods through the remote interface

Once you’ve declared your business logic methods in the source code of
your bean, you must specify which methods you want to add to the
remote interface. The client can call only those methods exposed through
the remote interface of the bean.
To add methods to the remote interface,
1 Double-click the enterprise bean in the project pane.
2 Click the Bean tab to display the Bean designer.
3 Click the Methods tab.
4 In the Methods box, check the check box next to the methods you want
to expose in the remote interface.

As you check methods in the Methods box, the methods are added to the
remote interface.
To remove a method from the remote interface, uncheck the check box
next to the method in the Methods box.
To edit one of the methods, right-click it to display a context menu and
choose Edit Selected. The file opens in the code editor and your cursor is
positioned on that method, ready for you to edit it.
The context menu has other commands you’ll find useful. You can choose
Remove Selected to remove a method from the bean class. Choosing
Check All checks all the methods so that they are all added to the remote
interface; choosing Uncheck All unchecks all the methods so that no
methods are added to the remote interface.
You can use the Methods page to verify that the methods declared in your
bean class have the same method signature as they do in the home and

Creating EJB 1.x components with JBuilder 6-11

Generating the bean class from a remote interface

remote interface. For example, suppose you add a parameter to the

ejbCreate() method in your bean class, but neglect to add it to the create()
method in the home interface. The Methods box will show both the
ejbCreate() method and create() method in red text. If you then click a
method displayed in red text, the Problem Description box explains what
the problem is. You could then add the additional parameter to the
create() method to make the method signatures match and fix the
problem. Or, if you remove methods from your bean class but forget to do
so in the remote interface, the Methods box will display those methods in
red text to remind you to remove them from the remote interface.

Generating the bean class from a remote interface

Some developers prefer to start their development of an enterprise bean
by designing the remote interface first. If you favor this approach, you can
use the EJB 1.x Bean Generator to generate a skeleton bean class from your
existing remote interface.
To generate a bean class from a remote interface,
1 Display the remote interface in the editor.
2 Choose Wizards|EJB|EJB 1.x Bean Generator to display the EJB 1.x
Bean Generator wizard:

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 Generating the bean class from a remote interface

3 Select the EJB module the bean belongs to and click Next.

4 Select the type of EJB you want generated and click Next.
If you selected one of the session bean options, this page appears:

Specify the EJB Bean Options: the Bean Class, the Bean Name, the
Home Interface, and the JNDI Name.

Creating EJB 1.x components with JBuilder 6-13

Creating the home and remote interfaces for an existing bean

If you selected the CMP entity bean option, this screen appears:

Specify the EJB Bean options: the Bean Class, the Bean Name, the Home
Interface, the JNDI Name, the Primary Key Class, and which fields you
want to be persistent.
5 Choose Finish.
The EJB 1.x Bean Generator creates the skeleton bean class you specified
that includes the methods found in the remote interface. In the generated
bean class, these methods include a comment reminding you to fill in their
implementations. You must add your code to the methods to implement
them as you wish.
The EJB 1.x Bean Generator also creates a home interface if one did not
previously exist. If a home interface did exist, the EJB 1.x Bean Generator
asks you if you want to overwrite the home interface and responds
according to your answer.

Creating the home and remote interfaces for an existing bean

If you already have a bean class, but don’t have the required home and
remote interfaces, you can use the EJB 1.x Interface Generator wizard to
create them. You can also use the wizard if you’ve made significant
changes to the source code of your bean and you want the changes
reflected in the interfaces. By using the EJB 1.x Interface Generator, you
regenerate new interfaces based on the revised bean class source code.
To use the EJB 1.x Interface Generator wizard,
1 Open the source code of your bean class in the code editor.

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 Creating the home and remote interfaces for an existing bean

2 Choose Wizards|EJB|EJB 1.x Interface Generator.

3 Select the EJB module the bean belongs to and click Next.
This page appears if the bean is a session bean:

Creating EJB 1.x components with JBuilder 6-15

Creating the home and remote interfaces for an existing bean

If the bean is an entity bean, this page appears:

4 Accept the default names or enter new ones.

5 If the enterprise bean is a session bean, select either the Stateless or
Stateful option. If the enterprise bean is an entity bean, select either
Bean Managed Persistence or Container Managed Persistence.
6 Click Next to display Step 3, which displays the bean methods:

7 Leave those methods that you want exposed in the remote interface
checked and uncheck those you don’t want to appear in the remote
interface.
8 Choose Finish.
Your next step is to compile your beans, debug them, and create a JAR file.
See Chapter 8, “Compiling enterprise beans and creating JAR files.”

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 Chapter

Creating EJB 1.x entity beans

Chapter7
7
from an existing database table
Often the data you want to model with an entity bean already exists in a
database. You can use JBuilder’s Entity Modeler to create EJB 1.x entity
beans. To create EJB 2.0 entity beans that model data in a database, see
“Creating entity beans from an imported data source” on page 5-13.

Creating entity beans with the EJB Entity Bean Modeler

The EJB Entity Modeler wizard creates entity beans based on existing
tables in any database accessible through JDBC. You can use the wizard to
create several entity beans at once and you can specify any relationships
between those beans.
Once you’ve used the EJB Entity Bean Modeler to generate the code that
makes up the entity beans, their primary keys, their home and remote
interfaces, and the appropriate entries in the deployment descriptor, you
can then modify the results using other JBuilder tools, such as the Bean
designer, the Deployment Descriptor editor, and the JBuilder code editor.

Creating EJB 1.x entity beans from an existing database table 7-1
Creating entity beans with the EJB Entity Bean Modeler

To display the EJB Entity Modeler, choose File|New, click the Enterprise
tab, and choose EJB Entity Bean Modeler. If you have at least one EJB
module defined in your project, the Entity Bean Modeler appears.

All enterprise beans developed with JBuilder must belong to an EJB module.
If you don’t have at least one EJB module in your current project, click the
New button to start the EJB Module wizard. Once you’ve created an EJB
module with the EJB Module wizard, the Entity Bean Modeler then appears.
To create one or more beans from existing database tables, follow these
steps:
1 Select an EJB module to put your bean in and choose Next to go to Step 2.
The EJB module you select is used to determine where the deployment
information is written.

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 Creating entity beans with the EJB Entity Bean Modeler

2 Specify a JDBC data source.

Enter the information that’s needed to connect to a JDBC data source.
To use an existing connection, click the Choose Existing Connection
button and select a connection. Other required information for this
page is then filled in automatically except the password, which you
must enter yourself if your connection requires one.
If you don’t have an existing connection or want to create another,
select a driver from the Driver drop-down list and specify an URL. The
drivers that appear are those you set up using Tools|Enterprise Setup
on the Database Drivers page. See “Setting up JDBC drivers” on
page 4-5 for more information.
Specify the Username for the data source, and if a password is required,
type in the password. Select any extended properties you need. Finally,
specify a JNDI name for the data source.
3 Specify which Schemas And Table Types options you want.
If you check the All Schemas option, the EJB Entity Bean Modeler will
load all schemas the user has rights to for the connection. If you leave
All Schemas unchecked, just the schemas with the same name as the
username are loaded, potentially reducing the time required to make
the connection and load the data.
Check the Views option if you want to have views loaded into the EJB
Entity Bean Modeler. If you don’t want to load views, leave the Views
option unchecked.
The EJB Entity Bean Modeler attempts to connect to the specified data
source. Only if the connection is successful does the next page appear.

Creating EJB 1.x entity beans from an existing database table 7-3
Creating entity beans with the EJB Entity Bean Modeler

4 Select the tables you want to map to entity beans.

For each table you select, one entity bean will be created. From the
Available list select the tables you want and move them to the Select list
by using the > and >> buttons. When you’ve selected all your tables,
choose Next.

5 Select the columns from each table to map to entity bean fields and
specify any relationships you want to establish between the tables.
In the Tables and Links section, you’ll see all the tables you selected in
the previous step. Select each table in turn by clicking on it and then use
the Selected Table’s Columns section to move any columns of the table
between the Available and Selected lists. By default, all columns in
every table are selected.
You can also specify relationships between the tables by dragging the
mouse pointer between the tables in the Tables and Links box on the
left. Or you can use the Add Link button to do the same thing. When
you use either method, a dialog box appears that proposes a
relationship based on foreign keys, primary keys, unique indexes, and
field names and types in the two tables. You can accept the suggested
relationship or modify it to create the relationship you want. To remove
a link between tables, choose Remove Link.

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 Creating entity beans with the EJB Entity Bean Modeler

Here’s an example of three tables linked together:

When you’ve selected all columns in each table that you want mapped
to fields in entity beans you’re creating, choose Next.

6 Specify the names and data types for the entity bean fields to map to
your table’s columns.
Click the appropriate tab to select the table you want to begin the
mapping process on. For each column in the table a suggested Field
Name and Field Type appears. You can simply accept the suggested
name or edit the suggested names and types as you want them to be in
your bean.
To change the data type of multiple fields at one type, select the fields
you want to change and choose Update Field Type. A dialog box

Creating EJB 1.x entity beans from an existing database table 7-5
Creating entity beans with the EJB Entity Bean Modeler

appears in which you can type the new field type. When you choose
Apply or OK, the field type for each selected field changes.
If the table already has a primary key, that field or set of fields is
selected when the Map Columns page first appears. If no primary key
exists, you must select one or more fields to make up primary key by
checking the check box for those fields in the Primary Key column.
When you finish mapping all the selected columns to the field names
and types you want in your entity bean for each table, choose Next.

7 Specify the package, the classes and interfaces, and the JNDI name for
each bean you are creating.
For each table, JBuilder suggests a name for the entity bean, the name
used by JNDI, the name of the home and remote interfaces, the name of
the bean class, and the type of the primary key class. You can specify a
different package for each of these; by default, the project package is
suggested. You can accept these values as they are, or you can modify

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 Creating entity beans with the EJB Entity Bean Modeler

them as you wish. When you have finished specifying the information
for each table, choose Next.

8 Select whether you want the entity beans to have container-managed or

bean-managed persistence.
If you want to prepare for EJB 2.0 and want the code generated to
follow the EJB 2.0 style, select the EJB 2.0 code style option. For more
information about these options, choose the Help button in the EJB
Entity Bean Modeler.
By default, the base class for your bean is java.lang.Object. If you want
to use another class as the foundation of your entity beans, use the Base
Class For Entity Bean field to specify another class.
If you want your entity beans capable of returning all rows in a data set,
check the FindAll() Method In Home Interface option. The EJB Entity
Bean Modeler places a findAll() method in the home interfaces of your
beans. You can also choose whether you want header comments to
appear in the resulting files.
The options available on this screen depend on your target application
server. For example, no container-managed persistence option appears
when WebSphere 3.5 is your target as WebSphere 3.5 doesn’t support
container-managed persistence.
If your target application server is the WebLogic Server and you are
creating an entity bean with container-managed persistence, this page

Creating EJB 1.x entity beans from an existing database table 7-7
Creating entity beans with the EJB Entity Bean Modeler

also includes a Pool Name field in which you should enter the name of
the pool for your CMP WebLogic beans:

9 Choose Finish.
JBuilder creates an entity bean for each table and all the supporting classes
interfaces. You can now add the business logic you want to the beans,
define the methods you want the client to be able to call in the remote
interface, compile the beans, and edit the deployment descriptors for the
beans.
Note For container-managed support for the WebSphere 4.0 Advanced Edition,
the map and schema deployment descriptor files (Map.mapxmi and
Schema.dbxmi) are standard descriptors generated by the EjbDeploy utility,
which is called during the build process. If you choose to change the
default CMP field names, types, or lengths in the Entity Bean Modeler
wizard, you must edit the schema file by hand to change the field names,
types, or lengths accordingly:
1 Generate the entity beans using the Entity Bean Modeler wizard.
2 Compile your project. This generates the map and schema deployment
descriptor files.
3 Click the DD Source tab to edit the Schema.dbxmi file to change the
column names, field types, or field lengths to match the database
column names, field types, or field lengths.
4 Recompile the module to create the JAR using the modified file.
Note For WebSphere 4.0 Single Server, the mapping descriptors are not
generated.

7-8 Enterprise JavaBeans Developer’s Guide

 Chapter

Compiling enterprise beans and

Chapter8
8
creating JAR files
After you’ve used JBuilder to create either EJB 1.x or EJB 2.0 enterprise
beans, you must compile your beans and prepare them for deployment.

Compiling the bean

When you’ve written and saved your enterprise bean, its interfaces, and
any supporting classes, you’re almost ready to compile. This chapter
explains how to compile your bean classes and create JAR files.

Changing build properties for an EJB module

Before you begin compiling, you might want to change build properties
that determine how the JAR file is generated, although it’s not required.
To change the build properties for an EJB module,
1 Right-click the EJB module in the project pane and choose Properties.
2 Select the Build tab.

Compiling enterprise beans and creating JAR files 8-1

Compiling the bean

3 Select the EJB tab.

4 Edit the build properties as you wish.

You can change the name of the output JAR file and where it is
generated.
You can also insert deployment descriptors into an EJB module and
copy deployment descriptors to elsewhere. You can also delete a
deployment descriptor.
If you want to specify that additional files should be added to the JAR
file, click the Add Button and specify the location of the files. You’ll
need to do this if you’ve added a new class to your project, for example,
and you want it to become part of the JAR file. Or if you have
deployment descriptors you have edited outside of JBuilder, you can
add them here and uncheck the Include Deployment Descriptors In
Output JAR File. The deployment descriptors shown in the
Deployment Descriptors In Module list won’t be added to the JAR, but
those you specified in the Additional Files For META-INF Directory In
JAR list will be.
If you might target different application servers, you can use the
Remove Stubs Files On Application Server Change option to remove
client stubs used by the old application server when you select a new
application server. This prevents the stubs meant for another
application server from being copied into the new generated JAR file.
The Always Create JAR When Building The Project option is on by
default. By unchecking this option, you can prevent building the JAR
file every time you choose to make or rebuild the project. When this

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 Compiling the bean

option is not checked, you can still create the JAR by right-clicking the
EJB module and choosing Make or Rebuild.
5 Click the tab of the application server you are targeting. For example,
this image shows the Borland Enterprise Server 5.0 tab selected:

6 Specify the build options you want. If you need more information
about the available options, click the Help button.
7 Click OK when you are done.

Changing the build properties for a bean

If you’re targeting the Borland Enterprise Server 5.0 and you’re going to
test your bean locally, generate and add the client stubs to your classpath.
You do this by changing the build properties of the home interface before
compiling:
1 Right-click the home interface of the bean and choose Properties.
2 Click the Build tab.
3 Click the VisiBroker tab.
4 Check the Generate IIOP check box and select any other Java2IIOP
options you want.
5 Click OK.

Compiling enterprise beans and creating JAR files 8-3

The generated JAR file

Compiling
To compile all the classes in the project, right-click the project file
(<project>.jpx) and choose Make, or simply choose Project|Make Project.
During the compiling process, JBuilder might detect that a problem exists
in a deployment descriptor that makes it invalid. If this happens, you’ll
see a message appear in the message pane that tells you to verify the bean
in the Deployment Descriptor editor. For more information about
verifying a deployment descriptor, see “Verifying descriptor information”
on page 11-38.
Note for WebLogic If you are targeting the WebLogic Server, you’ll receive an error during
users the build process if the temporary directory or the classpath contains
embedded spaces, such as C:/Documents and Settings/jbprojects.
If you’ve chosen to generate the clients stubs, you’ll see that the home
interface node in the project pane now has several files listed below it if
you click its icon to expand it. These generated files are the required client
stubs and helper classes that make enterprise beans work.
The build process is customized for the target application server and runs
the tools specific to that application server in addition to compiling the
.java files.
Note for WebSphere Two deployment descriptors (Map.mapxmi and Schema.dbxmi are generated
4.0 users for entity beans with container-managed persistence for the WebSphere
4.0 Advanced Edition only. If you are using one edition of WebSphere 4.0
and change your target server to the other version, you must recompile
your project to ensure JBuilder generates the correct deployment
descriptors for you.

The generated JAR file

Each enterprise bean that adheres to the EJB 1.1 or EJB 2.0 specification
requires a deployment descriptor entry in XML format. As you used the
JBuilder wizards to create one or more enterprise beans, you also created
one or more deployment descriptors.
When you compile your project, JBuilder creates a JAR file based on the
configured name and displays it as a node under the module in the project
pane.
You can also create the JAR file without compiling your entire project.
Right-click the EJB module node in the project pane and choose Make to
compile the EJB module node. If you want to modify the build properties
before choosing Make, select the Properties menu item on the same popup
menu and make any modifications you want in the Build Properties
dialog box before choosing Make to generate the JAR file.

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 Editing deployment descriptors

The JAR file contains all the deployment descriptors. Each deployment
descriptor is an XML file, except for WebSphere 3.5, which uses a .ser file for
each bean. Each JAR file can contain one or more deployment descriptors.
JBuilder will target one of multiple application servers. The application
server you are targeting determines the number of deployment
descriptors that are in the generated JAR file. Every JAR file will have an
ejb-jar.xml (except for those that target WebSphere 3.5), which describes
the deployment attributes for the beans in the module that are common
among all application servers. ejb-jar.xml is the EJB 1.1- or
EJB 2.0-compliant deployment descriptor.
All vendor-specific information for an EJB 2.0- module is kept in the
ejb-borland.xml file, even when the application server is some other than a
Borland server. For EJB 1.1 modules, the file name is ejb-inprise.xml. When
you compile, additional vendor-specific XML files are generated from this
information. They are also generated when you click the Deployment
Descriptor editor Source tab. If WebSphere 3.5 is your target application
server, the generated JAR file will contain a .ser file for each bean.

Editing deployment descriptors

JBuilder’s Deployment Descriptor editor provides a way to modify the
existing deployment descriptors. You can, however, choose to use any
other deployment descriptor editing tool you want.
To display the Deployment Descriptor editor, double-click the EJB
module in the project pane and click the EJB DD Editor tab at the bottom
of the content page. The Deployment Descriptor editor appears:

Compiling enterprise beans and creating JAR files 8-5

Editing deployment descriptors

To view information about an enterprise bean in the Deployment

Descriptor editor, open the EJB module in the project pane by clicking the
far left icon next to the module name. You’ll see the beans contained in the
module listed. Double-click the name of the enterprise bean you want to
edit. When a bean is selected in the editor, several tabs appear in the
Deployment Descriptor editor. You use these tabs to go to panels where
you edit deployment descriptor information.

For detailed information about using the Deployment Descriptor editor,

see Chapter 11, “Using the Deployment Descriptor editor.”

Verifying descriptors
After you’ve finished editing the descriptor, you can verify the file to
make sure the descriptor information is correct, the required bean class
files are present, and so on.
To verify descriptor information, right-click the module in the project
pane and choose Verify.
Verify does the following:
• Ensures that the descriptor conforms to the EJB 1.1 or 2.0 specification,
depending on the type of the EJB module.
• Ensures that the classes referenced by the deployment descriptors conform
to the EJB 1.1 or 2.0 specification, depending on the type of the EJB module.
If the verification fails, one or more messages appear in a Log panel
describing the failures.

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 Chapter

Testing an enterprise bean

Chapter9
9
Once you’ve finished creating an enterprise bean, you can use JBuilder to
test it.
The quickest way to test your new bean is to right-click its EJB module or
the JAR file the module contains and select Run or Debug from the context
menu. This starts the container for the currently selected application
server using the JAR for this EJB module. Be patient as the start-up
process takes a while.
You can view the progress of the start-up process in the message window.
Any errors that occur will also appear there. If you want to run multiple
JARs on the current application server, select multiple EJB modules.
Note for WebSphere After you choose Run or Debug from the context menu, you must then
users take the extra step of choosing a Deploy menu command to deploy your
beans. See “Hot deploying to an application server” on page 10-9 for more
information.

Creating a test client

JBuilder can help you create a test client application that makes calls to
your new bean.
To create a test client application,
1 Open the project that contains the EJB module for your enterprise bean.

Testing an enterprise bean 9-1

Creating a test client

2 Choose File|New, click the Enterprise tab and double-click the EJB Test
Client icon.

3 Select the bean you want to create a client for using one of the Select EJB
options and specifying the bean:
• Select From Project if your bean is in the current project and specify
which bean by selecting it from the drop-down list.
• Select From JAR Or Directory if your bean is not in the current
project, but exists elsewhere in a JAR file or a directory. Use the ...
button to navigate to where the JAR is located and select the JAR,
then use the drop-down list to select the bean you want.
Note You will see only EJBs with remote interfaces in these lists because
enterprise beans with local interfaces cannot be accessed by a client
application, only by another bean or a web component.
4 Select the package name from the list of packages. The current package
is the default value.
5 Enter a name for the test client class or accept the default name.
6 Select the options you want:
• Generate Method For Testing Remote Interface Calls With Default
Arguments
Adds a testRemoteCallsWithDefaultArguments() method that tests the
remote interface calls with default argument values. For example,
the default argument for a String is ““, the default argument for an
int is 0, and so on.
• Generate Logging Messages
Adds code that displays messages reporting on the bean’s status as
the client runs. For example, a message is displayed when bean

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 Creating a test client

initialization is begun and another when it completes. This option

also generates wrappers for all the methods declared in the home
and remote interfaces and initialization functions. Finally, the
messages report how long each method call takes to complete.
• Generate Main Function
Adds the main function to the client.
• Generate Header Comments
Adds JavaDoc header comments to the client you can use to fill in
information such as title, author, and so on.
7 Choose OK.
The EJB Test Client wizard generates a test client that creates a reference to
the enterprise bean.
If the Generate Logging Messages option is selected, for each method
declared in the bean’s remote interface, the wizard also declares and
implements a method that calls the remote method. Each of these methods
reports its success in invoking the remote method and how long the
remote method took to execute.
There are multiple ways to use the generated test client application. If you
added a main() function to the test client application, you can write the code
that invokes the calls to the enterprise bean’s methods in the main() function.
You do this by first calling either a create or find method, and, if a remote
reference is returned, by using that remote reference to call the bean’s
business methods. Or, because the wizard has declared a client object in the
main() function, you can use that client object to simply call the methods
declared in the test client application that call the bean’s remote methods.
If you selected the Generate Method For Testing Remote Interface Calls
With Default Arguments option, your client class now contains a
testRemoteCallsWithDefaultArguments() method. If you selected the logging
option, this method calls the remote method wrappers that were
generated from the logging option. To test each remote method, you can
then simply call testRemoteCallsWithDefaultArguments() after you create a
remote interface reference in either the client class’s create() method or in
one of its findByXXX() methods.
If you did not select the logging option, the
testRemoteCallsWithDefaultArguments() method requires a remote interface
passed as a parameter. You must then create a remote interface reference
in either the home reference’s create() method or in one of its findByXXX()
methods. Then add the code to the client class to call the
testRemoteCallsWithDefaultArguments() method, passing it the remote
reference as a argument.

Testing an enterprise bean 9-3

Using the test client application

If you prefer to write the logic that calls each of the business methods from
another class, you can choose to create and use an instance of the test
client application. See “Using the test client application” on page 9-4.
Compile your test client application.

Using the test client application

You can quickly add a declaration of a test client class to any class.
1 Display the class in which you want the declaration to appear in the editor.
2 Choose Wizards|EJB|Use EJB Test Client.

3 If the test client already exists, check the EJB Test Client Class Already
Exists option.
If this option isn’t checked, when you click Next, the EJB Test Client
wizard starts. When you are through using it, the Use EJB Test Client
wizard resumes.
4 Click Next to go to Step 2.

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 Testing your enterprise bean

5 For the Class field, navigate to the test client class you want to use.
6 In the Field field, specify a name for the variable that will hold an
instance of the test client class, or accept the default value the wizard
suggests.
7 Choose Finish.
The wizard adds a declaration of the test client application you specified
to the class like this, for example:
EmployeeTestClient1 employeeTestClient1 = new EmployeeTestClient1();
Now you’re ready to call the methods declared in the test client
application.

Testing your enterprise bean

Once you’ve created a client test application, you’re ready to start the
container and run the client application. Create two runtime
configurations: Server and Client.
To create a Server configuration,
1 Choose Run|Configurations.

Testing an enterprise bean 9-5

Testing your enterprise bean

2 Click the New button and then click the EJB tab.

3 In the Configuration Name field, enter Server.

4 Fill in the Application Server Parameters and the Application Server
Instance Name needed to run the server. If you’ve selected a target
application server as described in “Selecting an application server” on
page 4-4, default Application Server Parameters and the Application
Instance Name are already in place. If you haven’t selected a target
application server, the Borland Enterprise Server 5.0 is the selected
application server by default.
5 Select the JAR file containing the beans you want to test in the list of EJB
JAR(s). If there is only one, it will be already selected. The listed JAR
files are retrieved from the EJB groups in the project.
The list of EJB JAR(s) is disabled for all versions of WebSphere Server
because those application servers doesn’t support deployment when
the server is started up.
For WebLogic Server 6.x, the JAR(s) are copied to the <WLServer6.x
home>\config\<domain name>\applications directory.
6 Click OK.
To create a Client configuration,
1 Choose Run|Configurations.
2 Click the New button and then click the Application tab.
3 In the Configuration Name field, enter Client.

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 Testing your enterprise bean

4 Click the ... button next the Main Class field and navigate to the test
client application you created, or to the application containing the
main() function that calls the methods of the test client.
5 If your target application server is Borland Enterprise Server 5.0, enter
-Dvbroker.agent.port=<port no.> in the VM Parameters field, entering
the port number that the Visibroker Smart Agent uses.
6 Click OK two times.
For Borland Enterprise Server 5.0 users, you must now start Smart Agent.
Choose Tools|VisiBroker Smart Agent.
Now you’re ready to start the container. Select the Server run configuration
from the drop-down list next to the Run button on the JBuilder toolbar:

The container starts up. Be patient as the start-up process takes a while.
You can view the progress of the start-up process in the message window.
Any errors that occur will also appear there.
Next select the Client run configuration to run your client application. The
messages that appear in the message pane report the success or failure of
the client application’s execution.

Testing an enterprise bean 9-7

Preparing to debug WebSphere applications remotely

Preparing to debug WebSphere applications remotely

If you are using WebSphere 3.5, follow these steps to enable remote
debugging on Windows:
1 Copy dt_shem.dll and dt_socket.dll from WEBSPHERE_HOME/jdk/jre/bin to
WEBSPHERE_HOME/jdk/bin.
2 Edit the adminserver script in WEBSPHERE_HOME/bin/debug and add the
following remote debug parameters to the java command line:
-Xdebug -Xnoagent -Djava.compiler=NONE
-Xrunjdwp:transport=dt_socket,server=y,address=5000,suspend=n
3 In JBuilder, choose Project|Project Properties and click the Debug tab.
4 Check the Enable Remote Debugging and Attach options and click OK..
When you are ready to debug, attach to the remote process by choosing
Run|Debug Project.
If you are using WebSphere Single Server 4.0, follow these steps to enable
remote debugging:
1 Launch the server with the -script option:
WEBSPHERE_HOME/bin/startserver -script
This command should write a script called launch in the WEBSPHERE_HOME/
bin directory.
2 Edit the launch script and add the following remote debug parameters
to the java command line:
-Xdebug -Xnoagent -Djava.compiler=NONE
-Xrunjdwp:transport=dt_socket,server=y,address=5000,suspend=n
3 In JBuilder, choose Project|Project Properties. Click the Debug tab.
4 Check the Enable Remote Debugging and Attach options and click OK.
When you are ready to debug, attach to the remote process by choosing
Run|Debug Project.
You can debug your enterprise beans or the client just as you would any
other Java code with JBuilder. For information about debugging, see
“Debugging Java programs” in Building Applications with JBuilder.

9-8 Enterprise JavaBeans Developer’s Guide

 Chapter

Deploying enterprise beans

Chapter10
10
Deploying an enterprise bean to an application server usually involves the
following steps:
1 Creating a deployment descriptor XML-based file compliant with Sun’s
EJB 1.1 or 2.0 specification. (WebSphere 3.5 is the exception because it is
compliant with the EJB 1.0 specification and does not use XML-based
deployment descriptors.)
When you use JBuilder’s EJB wizards to create your beans, the
deployment descriptors are being created at the same time for you.
2 Editing the deployment descriptors, if necessary.
You can edit the deployment descriptors JBuilder creates using
JBuilder’s Deployment Descriptor editor.
3 Creating an EJB JAR file containing the deployment descriptor and all
of the classes required to operate the enterprise bean (bean class,
remote/local interface, home/local home interface, stubs and
skeletons, primary key class if the enterprise bean is an entity bean, and
any other associated classes).
When you compile your EJB module using the JBuilder development
environment, the proper JAR file is created for you.
Note WebSphere 4.0 Advanced Edition only allows you to deploy an EAR
group. For more information, see “Creating an EAR file” on page 10-6.
4 Deploying your EJB to an EJB container.
JBuilder has an EJB Deployment wizard that simplifies the deployment
process for Borland enterprise beans. If an application server other than
a Borland server is your target application server, choosing Tools|EJB
Deployment displays a Deploy Settings dialog box that is specific to
your server. Once you fill in those settings to suit your needs and

Deploying enterprise beans 10-1

Creating a deployment descriptor file

choose OK to close the dialog box, the enterprise bean is deployed as

you specified.
You can also access server-specific deployment settings by
right-clicking the EJB module node, selecting Properties, clicking the
Deployment tab, and specifying your settings there. Then, to deploy
your EJB module, right-click the EJB module, select Deploy Options For
<jar name>jar, and choose Deploy or Redeploy.

Creating a deployment descriptor file

As you create your enterprise beans using JBuilder’s EJB tools, JBuilder is
creating deployment descriptors at the same time. You can then use the
Deployment Descriptor editor to add additional information and modify
attributes in the deployment descriptors.
Each deployment descriptors that conforms to the EJB 1.1 or 2.0
specifications (this excludes those used by WebSphere 3.5):
• Must be XML based and conform to the rules of XML.
• Must be valid with respect to the DTD in the EJB 1.1 or 2.0 specification.
• Conforms to the semantics rules specified in the DTD.
• Refers to the DTD using one of the following statements:
<!DOCTYPE ejb-jar PUBLIC "-//Sun Microsystems Inc.//DTD Enterprise
JavaBeans 1.1//EN" "http://java.sun.com/j2ee/dts/ejb-jar_1_1.dtd">

<!DOCTYPE ejb-jar PUBLIC "-//Sun Microsystems, Inc.//DTD Enterprise

JavaBeans 2.0//EN" "http://java.sun.com/dtd/ejb-jar_2_0.dtd">
When you use JBuilder’s EJB tools to create and edit your deployment
descriptors, you don’t have to worry about learning XML or conforming
to the semantics rules specified in Sun’s DTD. The Deployment Descriptor
editor imposes these rules on the data you enter and edit. As you fill in
information using the Deployment Descriptor editor, it lets you know
what data are required. JBuilder’s tools automatically set up the
Borland-specific extensions in an ejb-inprise.xml file. For more
information about the Deployment Descriptor editor, see Chapter 11,
“Using the Deployment Descriptor editor.”

The role of the deployment descriptor

The role of the deployment descriptor is to provide information about
each EJB that is to be bundled and deployed in a particular JAR file. It’s
intended to be used by the consumer of the EJB JAR file. As the bean
developer, it’s your responsibility to create the deployment descriptor.

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 The role of the deployment descriptor

You can also modify the deployment descriptor once the enterprise bean
is deployed.
The information in the deployment descriptor is used in setting enterprise
bean attributes. These attributes define how the enterprise bean operates
within a particular environment. For example, when you set the bean’s
transactional attributes, they define how the bean behaves with respect to
transactions. The deployment descriptor keeps the following information:
• Type information, which defines the types, or names, of the classes for
the home/local home and remote/local interfaces and the bean class.
• JNDI names, which set the name under which the home/local home
interface of the enterprise bean is registered.
• Fields to enable container-managed persistence.
• Transactional policies that govern the transactional behavior of a bean.
• Security attributes that govern access to an enterprise bean.
• Borland-specific information, such as data source information used for
connections to a database.

The types of information in the deployment descriptor

The information in the deployment descriptor can be divided into two
basic kinds:
• Enterprise beans’ structural information.
Structural information describes the structure of an enterprise bean and
declares an enterprise bean’s external dependencies. This information
is required. The structural information usually can’t be changed
because doing so could break the bean’s function.
• Application assembly information.
Application assembly information describes how the enterprise bean(s)
included in the ejb-jar.xml file are composed into a larger application
deployment unit. This information is optional. Assembly level
information can be changed without breaking the bean’s function,
although doing so might alter the behavior of an assembled
application.

Deploying enterprise beans 10-3

The role of the deployment descriptor

Structural information
The bean developer must provide the following structural information for
each bean in the EJB JAR file:

All enterprise beans

• Enterprise bean’s name, a mnemonic used to refer to the bean in the
deployment descriptor.
• Enterprise bean’s class
• Enterprise bean’s type, either session, entity, or message-driven bean
• Environment entries, if the bean has configuration parameters
• Resource factory references
• EJB references, if an enterprise bean references another enterprise bean
• Security role references, if an enterprise bean needs to access specific
roles
• Resource environment references, if the bean refers to an external
resource.

Session beans
• Session bean’s home and/or local home interface
• Session bean’s remote and/or local interface
• Session bean state management type, either stateful or stateless
• Session bean transaction demarcation type for stateful beans that have
synchronization callbacks

Entity beans
• Entity bean’s home and/or local home interface
• Entity bean’s remote and/or local interface
• Entity bean’s persistence management type
• Entity bean’s primary key class
• Container-managed fields for container-managed beans

Message-driven beans
• Message-driven bean’s transaction management type
• Message-driven bean’s destination and subscription durability

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 The role of the deployment descriptor

Application assembly information

You can specify any of the following application assembly information.
During application assembly, this information is optional. This same
information is not optional for the role of the deployer.
• Binding of enterprise bean references
• Security roles
• Method permissions
• Linking of security role references
• Security identity
• Transaction attributes
During the process of application assembly or deployment, you can
modify the following structural information:
• The values of environment entries. The application assembler can
change existing properties and/or define the values of environment
properties.
• Description fields. The application assembler can change existing
descriptions or create new description elements.
You can’t modify any other types of structural information. You can
modify any application assembly information at deployment time,
however.

Security
The application assembler usually specifies the following information in
the deployment descriptor:
• Security roles
• Method permissions
• Links between security role references and security roles
• Security identity

Security roles
Using the security role elements in the deployment descriptor, the
developer can define one or more security roles. These define the required
security roles for the clients of the enterprise beans.

Method permissions
Using the method-permission elements in the deployment descriptor, the
developer can define method permissions. Method permissions are paired
relations between the security roles and the methods of the enterprise
bean’s remote/local and remote home/local home interfaces.

Deploying enterprise beans 10-5

Creating an EAR file

Linking of security role references

If security roles are defined, the developer must link them with security
role references using the role-link element in the deployment descriptor.

Application server-specific properties

Deployment descriptors can also include properties that are specific to a
particular application server.

Creating an EAR file

If you want to include your EJB JAR files in an EAR (Enterprise Archive)
file, you can use JBuilder’s EAR wizard to help you create the EAR.
Note You must create an EAR group to deploy your enterprise beans to
WebSphere 4.0 Advanced Edition.
To access the EAR wizard, choose File|New, click the Enterprise tab, and
double-click the EAR icon. The EAR wizard appears:

For information on using the EAR wizard, click the Help button.
When you finish using the wizard, it creates an .eargrp node in the project
pane. Double-clicking this node displays an EAR DD Source tab in the
content pane that displays the EAR’s deployment descriptors.
To create an EAR file from the .eargrp node, right-click it and choose
Make. Now when you expand the .eargrp node, you’ll can see new EAR
file in the project pane.

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 Deploying to an application server

Deploying to an application server

When your bean is working to your satisfaction and if you selected the
Borland Enterprise Server as your application server for your current
project, you can deploy your bean to the Borland Enterprise Server using
Borland’s EJB Deployment wizard. If your target application server is
from another vendor other than Borland, choosing Tools|EJB
Deployment wizard displays a Deploy Settings dialog box you can use to
deploy to those servers.
The steps described here assume you are deploying to the Borland
container. Start the application server, then use the EJB Deployment
wizard.

Deploying one or more JAR files

To deploy one or more J2EE modules (JAR, WAR, and EAR files) to the
Borland Enterprise Server,
1 Choose Tools|EJB Deployment to display the EJB Deployment wizard.

The wizard searches for running containers and lists all it finds.
2 From the Target Partition list, select your target partition of the
application server to which you want to deploy.
3 Click the Add button to navigate to the location of the J2EE modules
(JAR, WAR, and EAR files) you want to deploy and select them. Choose
OK.
4 If you want to verify that the deployment descriptors and the classes
they reference are correctly formed before the modules are deployed,
check the Verify Deployment Descriptors option.

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Deploying to an application server

5 If you have not yet generated the stubs for your beans and want to do
so, check the Generate Stubs option.
6 The wizard has an Advanced Options button. It allows you to set
additional Container Discovery, Stub Generator, and Verifier options.
If you want to modify any of these options, click Advanced Options,
and use the Advanced Options dialog box that appears to make your
changes. Choose OK when you are done.
7 Click OK to close the wizard and begin the deployment process.
The wizard attempts to deploy the J2EE module(s) and reports the
results.

Deploying to non-Borland servers

Developers for other servers, such as WebLogic, WebSphere, and iPlanet,
can also deploy their EJBs using the Tools|EJB Deployment command.
When one of these servers is the selected application server for the current
project, this command displays a Deploy Settings dialog box specific to
the server. For example, here is the WebLogic Deploy Settings dialog box:

The deployment tool for WebSphere 4.0 differs depending on the version
of the server you are using. For the Single Server, WebSphere’s
deployment tool is XmlConfig. For the Advanced Edition, the deployment
tool is SEAppInstaller. Therefore, the appearance of the Deploy Settings
dialog box will vary between these two WebSphere Server 4.0 editions.
Fill in the fields you need and choose OK. For more information, click the
Help button in the Deploy Settings dialog box.

Setting deployment options with the Properties dialog box

While you can use Tools|EJB Deployment to set options for deployment
to the current application server for the project, you can also use the
Properties dialog box. These properties are saved for the specific node on
which they are set. If you used the EJB Deployment dialog box previously,

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 Deploying to an application server

the values you entered then become the default values for the EJB module
node.
To set deployment options using the Properties dialog box,
1 Right-click the EJB module node, a child JAR of this node, or an EAR
group to display the context menu.
2 Choose Properties to display the Properties dialog box. If you
right-clicked the EJB module node, you must now click the Deployment
tab of the Properties dialog box and then the page specific to your
application server (such as the Borland Enterprise Server).
3 Set your options. The options available will vary depending your target
application server. For example, for Borland Enterprise Server 5.0, you
can set the host name, the container, and VM parameters. WebLogic
users can set a unit name, deploy options, a password, and VM
parameters. WebSphere users can set the primary node name, the
application server name, the container name, VM parameters, and an
option to generate XML. If multiple nodes are selected that have
different deploy options, default values are used. Consult your
application server’s documentation for assistance in filling in these
fields.
4 If your target application server is WebSphere 3.5 or WebSphere 4.0
Advanced Edition and you want an XML file to be generated as input
to the WebSphere XMLConfig utility, check the Generate XML check
box. If this option isn’t checked, the file won’t be created. If you make
your own modifications to the generated XML file (named
deploy_<selectednode>.xml and appearing under the EJB module node or
EAR group), uncheck this option to be sure you don’t lose your
changes. If you use the Deployment Options on the context menu
(right-click the EJB module and choose Deployment Options <jar
name>.jar to see the deployment commands), the generated XML file is
deploy.xml. It appears under the project node.

Hot deploying to an application server

During your development cycle, you are likely to want to quickly deploy,
redeploy, and undeploy your enterprise beans to an already running
container. Right-click the EJB module node or its child nodes in the project
pane and choose Deploy Options For <jar name>.jar to see a list of
deployment commands :
• Deploy — Deploys a JAR to the currently running container of the
project application server. If the Compile Before Running check box on
the Run page of the Project Properties dialog box is checked, this option
will “make” the JAR’s contents before deploying it to the container.

Deploying enterprise beans 10-9

Deploying to an application server

• Redeploy — Deploys a JAR again to the currently running container. If

the Compile Before Running check box on the Run page of the Project
Properties dialog box is checked, this option will “make’ the JAR’s
contents before redeploying it to the container.
• Undeploy — Undeploys an already deployed JAR in the running
container.
• List Deployments — Lists all JARs deployed in the running container.
• Stop Container — Stops the container. This option appears for
WebSphere 3.5 and WebSphere 4.0 Single Server only. When a
deployed EJB changes, the container must be stopped and then
restarted for the changes to register.
• Start Container — Starts the container. This option appears for
WebSphere 3.5 and WebSphere 4.0 Single Server only.
Note For WebSphere 4.0 Advanced Edition, you must right-click an EAR group
node in the project pane instead of the EJB module to see the Deploy
Options For <jar name>.jar menu option.
Note Hot deployment is not available for these WebSphere 3.5 and WebSphere
4.0 Single Server. Instead you must stop and start the container using the
Deploy Options menu after you redeploy to see changes you made to your
enterprise beans.

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 Chapter

Using the Deployment

Chapter11
11
Descriptor editor
JBuilder includes a Deployment Descriptor editor you can use to change
Borland deployment information (such as transaction policies and
security roles in an EJB deployment descriptor file). You can also alter the
method of persisting an enterprise bean. For general information about
deployment descriptors, see Chapter 10, “Deploying enterprise beans.”
You can also view and edit some of the properties specific to other
application servers. For information, see “Server-specific Properties
panel” on page 11-22.

Using the Deployment Descriptor editor 11-1

Displaying the Deployment Descriptor editor

Displaying the Deployment Descriptor editor

To display the Deployment Descriptor editor, double-click the EJB
module in the project pane and click the EJB DD Editor tab at the bottom
of the content pane.

Viewing the deployment descriptor of an enterprise bean

To view information about an enterprise bean in the Deployment
Descriptor editor,
1 Open the EJB module node (by clicking the icon to the far left of the EJB
module node).
2 Double-click the bean in the project pane.

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 Viewing the deployment descriptor of an enterprise bean

The Deployment Descriptor editor appears with the General panel

selected.

The Deployment Descriptor has many other tabs. You can click any of
these tabs at the bottom of the Deployment Descriptor editor to view other
panels. Use the editor to make any changes you want to the deployment
information for the bean.
You can view additional information about a deployment descriptor by
opening a bean node in the project pane. By double-clicking these nodes,
you can see additional panels. For example, double-clicking the Container
Transactions node for a bean displays a Container Transactions panel in
the Deployment Descriptor editor. The JDBC DataSources and Security
Roles nodes can also be opened, if they contain data. The subnodes that
appear can be used to display more information.
To view the source code of each descriptor, double-click the EJB module
node in the project pane, then click the EJB DD Source tab at the bottom of
the Deployment Descriptor editor. For each deployment descriptor in the
EJB module, a tab appears with the name of the file on the tab. Select the
tab of the file you want to view. While viewing the source code of a
deployment descriptor, you can click on elements in the structure pane to

Using the Deployment Descriptor editor 11-3

Changing bean information

move a highlight bar to the corresponding element in the source code. You
can edit the source code directly.

Changing bean information

To change bean information in a deployment descriptor,
1 Open or expand the EJB module node in the project pane to see the
beans contained in it.
2 Double-click the bean you are interested in.
The Deployment Descriptor editor appears with the General panel
selected.
3 Use the tabs at the bottom to display the panel you want to use to
modify the existing information about the new bean.
4 Enter your changes.
If you’re comfortable working in XML and with deployment descriptor
source code, you can select the EJB DD Source tab and make your changes
directly in the source code.

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 Enterprise bean information

Enterprise bean information

This section describes the type of information you can create and store for
enterprise beans in the deployment descriptor.

General panel
Use the General panel to enter or change general information about the
enterprise bean.
This is the General panel for a session bean:

This is the General panel for an entity bean:

Using the Deployment Descriptor editor 11-5

Enterprise bean information

This is the General panel for a message-driven bean:

The General panel includes this information:

• Bean Name: A logical name assigned to the enterprise bean by the bean
provider. Each enterprise bean has a logical name. There is no
structured relationship between the bean’s logical name and the JNDI
name assigned to the bean. The bean deployer may change the bean’s
logical name.
• Bean Class: The fully-qualified name of the Java class that implements
the bean’s business methods. This information must be specified.
• Home Interface: The fully-qualified name of the enterprise bean’s
remote home interface. This information must be specified unless a
local home interface is specified. It’s possible for a bean to have both a
home (remote home) and a local home interface.
• Remote Interface: The fully-qualified name of the enterprise bean’s
remote interface. This information must be specified unless a local
interface is specified. It’s possible for a bean to have both a remote
interface and a local interface.
• Local Home Interface: The fully-qualified name of the enterprise
bean’s local home interface. This information must be specified unless a
home interface is specified. It’s possible for a bean to have a local home
interface and a remote home interface. This field is available for EJB 2.0
components only.
• Local Interface: The fully-qualified name of the enterprise bean’s local
home interface. This information must be specified unless a remote
interface is specified. It’s possible for a bean to have a local interface

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 Enterprise bean information

and a remote interface. This field is available for EJB 2.0 components
only.
• JNDI Name: The JNDI name of the enterprise bean’s remote home
interface.
• Local JNDI Name: The local JNDI name of the enterprise bean’s local
home interface. This field is available for EJB 2.0 components only.
• Description: A summary of the bean’s purpose and function. This
information is optional.
• Small icon: The name of a 16 X 16 pixel icon file used to represent the
bean.
• Large icon: The name of a 32 X 32 pixel icon file used to represent the
bean.
For Session beans, the General panel also includes the following:
• Session Type: Specifies whether the enterprise bean is Stateless or
Stateful.
• Transaction Type: Specifies whether Transaction Policies are set by the
bean or the container.
For Entity beans, the General panel also includes the following:
• Persistence Type: Specifies whether the bean’s persistence is managed
by the bean itself or the container. For entity beans created with the EJB
Designer, the Persistence Type must be Container.
• CMP Version: Specifies whether the container-managed persistence
used is version 1.1 or 2.0. This field is available just for EJB 2.0 entity
beans. Also, for entity beans created with the EJB Designer, the CMP
Version must be 2.0.
• Primary Key Class: The fully-qualified name of the Entity bean’s
primary key class. The primary key class must be specified.
• Reentrant: Indicates the bean is reentrant. Borland recommends you
avoid making a bean reentrant.

Using the Deployment Descriptor editor 11-7

Enterprise bean information

Message Driven Bean panel

The Message Driven Bean panel is available only for message-driven beans.

The following fields are available on the Message Driven Bean panel:
• Transaction Type: Specifies the bean’s transaction management type.
Choose Bean if the bean manages its own transactions; choose
Container if the container manages the transaction handling.
• Acknowledge Mode: This field appears only if the Transaction Type
value is Bean. The Auto-acknowledge option means that all messages
the bean receives are acknowledged and a check is performed to
prevent acting on duplicate messages. The Dups-ok-acknowledge
means that all messages are acknowledged, including duplicate
messages if they should occur.
• Message Selector: The message selector that determines which
messages the message-driven bean should receive. Here is an example:
JMSType = ‘chair’ AND color = ‘black’ AND fabric = ‘leather’
See the JMS specification on Sun Microsystems’ web site at
http://java.sun.com/products/jms/docs.html for more information.
• Message Driven Destination: Indicates whether a message-driven
bean is intended for a Queue or a Topic. You can also select Not
Specified. If you select Topic, the Subscription Durability field appears.
• Subscription Durability: Indicates whether the bean’s subscription to a
topic is durable or nondurable. This field is available only if you
selected Topic as the value of the Message Driven Destination field.

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 Enterprise bean information

• Destination Name: The JNDI name of the queue or topic to which the
message-driven bean listens. This is the JMS destination from which the
message-driven bean instance consumes messages.
• Initial Pool Size: The initial number of message-driven bean instances
the container should create immediately after deployment.
• Maximum Pool Size: The maximum number of message-driven bean
instances that can be created and kept in the message-driven bean
instance pool.
• Connection Factory Name: The JNDI name of the connection factory
that is used to establish a connection to the message broker.

Environment panel
The Environment panel lists all the enterprise bean’s environment entries.
Environment entries allow you to customize the bean’s business logic
when the bean is assembled or deployed. The environment allows you to
customize the bean without accessing or changing the bean’s source code.
Each enterprise bean defines its own set of environment entries. All
instances of an enterprise bean share the same environment entries.
Enterprise bean instances aren’t allowed to modify the bean’s
environment at runtime.

To add an environment entry,

1 Click Add to create a new entry.
A new, blank row appears.

Using the Deployment Descriptor editor 11-9

Enterprise bean information

2 Enter a property in the Property column and a property value in the

Value column.
3 Choose a property type from the Type drop-down list.
4 If you want to do so, enter a description of the added environment
property in the Description field.
5 Continue to add environment entries as you desire.
To remove an environment entry,
1 Select the row.
2 Click the Remove button.
These are some things to keep in mind about the environment entries:
• The bean provider must declare all the environment entries accessed
from the enterprise bean’s code.
• If the bean provider includes a value for the environment entry, the
value can be later changed during the assembly or deployment.
• The assembler can modify the values of the environment entries set by
the bean provider.
• The deployer must ensure that the values of all environment entries are
set to meaningful values.

EJB References panel

The EJB References panel lists all the enterprise bean references to the
homes of other enterprise beans the bean requires. Use this panel for
beans that reference remote beans only. For EJB 2.0 beans that reference
local beans, use the EJB Local References panel.

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 Enterprise bean information

Each EJB reference describes the interface requirements that the

referencing enterprise bean has for the referenced bean. You can define
references between beans within the same JAR file or from an external
enterprise bean (one that is outside the JAR file), such as a session bean to
an entity bean.
To add an EJB reference,
1 Click Add.
2 In the dialog box that appears, enter a name for the EJB reference and
choose OK.
A new row is added to the panel.
3 Fill in the fields in the row with the following information:
• Description: A brief description of the bean that is referenced. This
information is optional.
• Name: The name of the referenced bean.
• IsLink: When IsLink is checked, the reference is to a bean within the
JAR, so the JNDI Name value isn’t relevant. If IsLink isn’t checked,
the JNDI name is used to find the bean. When you check this option,
you then select the bean that is referenced from the Link drop-down
list.
• Link: Links the EJB reference to the target enterprise bean. The Link
value is the name of the target bean. This information is optional.
• Type: The expected type of the referenced bean.
• Home: The expected Java type of the referenced bean’s home
interface. For an EJB 2.0 component, this field refers to the remote
home interface.
• Remote: The expected Java type of the referenced bean’s remote
interface.
• JNDI Name: The JNDI name of the referenced bean.
These are important points to remember about EJB references:
• The target enterprise bean must be type-compatible with the declared
EJB reference.
• All declared EJB references must be bound to the homes of enterprise
beans that exist in the operating environment.
• If a Link value is specified, the enterprise bean reference must be bound
to the home of the target enterprise bean.

Using the Deployment Descriptor editor 11-11

Enterprise bean information

Resource references panel

The resource references panel lists all the enterprise bean’s resource
factory references. This enables the application assembler and/or the bean
deployer to locate all references used by the enterprise bean. Each entity
bean with container-managed persistence must have a resource reference.

To add a resource reference, click the Add button and fill in the following
fields:
• Description: A description of the resource reference. This information
is optional.
• Name: The name of the environment entry used in the enterprise
bean’s code.
• Type: The Java type of the resource factory expected by the enterprise
bean’s code. (This is the Java type of the resource factory, not the Java
type of the resource.)
• Authentication: An Application authentication indicates that the
enterprise bean performs the resource sign-on programmatically. A
Container authentication indicates that the container signs on to the
resource based on the principal mapping information supplied by the
deployer.
• Sharing Scope: Determines whether the resource can be shared. Your
options are Shareable and Unshareable. This field is available for EJB
2.0 components only.
• JNDI Name: JNDI name for the resource reference.

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 Enterprise bean information

Security Role References panel

The Security Role References panel lists all the enterprise bean’s
references to security roles. The panel links security role references used
by the bean developer to specific security roles defined by the application
assembler or deployer.

Before you can add a security role reference, one or more security roles
must be already defined or the Add button on this panel is disabled. For
information about creating and assigning security roles for application
deployment, see “Adding security roles and method permissions” on
page 11-30.
To add a role, click the Add button and fill in the three fields:
• Description: This is an optional field that describes the security role.
• Role: This is the name of the security role specified by the bean
developer.
• Link: This is the name of the security role used when the application is
deployed. Usually, this role is defined by the application assembler or
deployer to work in a specific operating environment.

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Enterprise bean information

Properties panel
When you double-click an enterprise bean in the project pane and click the
Properties tab in the Deployment Descriptor editor, the following
Properties pane appears:

Use this panel only if your target application server is a Borland server.
To add a property to an enterprise bean selected in the project pane,
1 Click the Add button to add a row to the panel.
2 From the Name drop-down list, select the property you want to add.

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 Enterprise bean information

3 Specify a value in the Value field.

You specify some values by selecting a value from a drop-down list,
others require you to enter an appropriate value such as a string or
integer value, and one presents a check box for Boolean values;
checking the check box indicates the value is true.
Here is a description of the properties you can choose from and a
discussion of the values they can have:

ejb.cmp.checkExistenceBeforeCreate
Suppresses the existence check that occurs before creating a new entity
bean. The EJB specification requires that the container first check for the
existence of an entity bean (that is, check for the existence of a row in
the table) and throw a javax.ejb.DuplicateKeyException if such an entity
is found. For performance reasons, you might want to eliminate this
extra access to the database and rely on the fact that the database will
prevent duplicate values from being inserted.

ejb.cmp.findByPrimaryKeyLoadState
Indicates whether to load the non primary key values when executing
the findByPrimaryKey() method (the default) or to simply verify that the
entity’s record exists in the database. This flag is equivalent to the
<load-state>attribute on other finders.

ejb.cmp.getPrimaryKeyBeforeInsertSql
Specifies the SQL the CMP engine executes to generate a primary key
when the next INSERT occurs. The CMP engine updates the entity bean
with this primary key value. This property is usually used in
conjunction with Oracle Sequences. For more information about
primary key generation, see the
/BorlandEnterpriseServer/examples/ejb/pkgen example.

ejb.cmp.getPrimaryKeyAfterInsertSql
Specifies the SQL the CMP engine executes to generate a primary key
after the next INSERT. The CMP engine updates the entity bean with
this primary key value. When specifying this property, you must also
specify the ejb.cmp.ignoreColumnsOnInsert property. For more
information about primary key generation, see the
/BorlandEnterpriseServer/examples/ejb/pkgen example.

ejb.cmp.ignoreColumnsOnInsert
Specifies the name of the column the CMP must not set during the
INSERT. This property is used in conjunction with the
ejb.cmp.getPrimaryKeyAfterInsertSql property. For more information
about primary key generation, see the
/BorlandEnterpriseServer/examples/ejb/pkgen example.

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Enterprise bean information

ejb.cmp.jdbcAccesserFactory
Specifies a factory for a user-implemented instance of the
com.inprise.ejb.cmp.JdbcAccessor interface. This interface gives you a
way to write specific code to get a value from a java.sqlResultSet or to
set a value to a java.sql.PreparedStatement. The default value is none.

ejb.cmp.manager
Specifies the name of a class implementing the interface
com.inprise.ejb.cmp.Manager. An instance of this class is used to perform
container-managed persistence (CMP).

ejb.cmp.primaryKeyGenerator
Specifies a class, written by the user, that implements the
com.inprise.ejb.cmp.PrimaryKeyGenerator interface and generates primary
keys. For more information about primary key generation, see the
/BorlandEnterpriseServer/examples/ejb/pkgen example.

ejb.maxBeansInPool
Specifies the maximum number of beans in the ready pool. If the ready
pool exceeds this limit, entities will be removed from the container by
calling unsetEntityContext(). The default setting is 1000.

ejb.maxBeansInCache
Specifies the maximum number of beans in the Option A cache (see
ejb.transactionCommitMode which follows). If the cache exceeds this
limit, entities will be moved to the ready pool by calling ejbPassivate().
The default setting is 1000.

ejb.maxBeansInTransaction
Limits the total number of entity beans that may be held by the
container in transactions. This property is useful when running very
large transactions (batch transactions) that involve a great number of
entities. Usually entities are kept in the transaction until the transaction
completes. For batch transactions, however, hanging on to all the
entities associated with the transaction might possibly exhaust the
virtual machine’s memory.

ejb.transactionCommitMode
Indicates the disposition of an entity bean with respect to a transaction.
The values are:
A or Exclusive — This entity has exclusive access to the particular table
in the database. Thus, the state of the bean at the end of the last
committed transaction can be assumed to be the state of the bean at the
beginning of the next transaction. The beans are cached across
transactions.
B or Shared —This entity shares access to the particular table in the
database. However, for performance reasons, a particular bean remains

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 Enterprise bean information

associated with a particular primary key between transactions to avoid

extraneous calls to ejbActivate() and ejbPassivate() between
transactions. The bean stays in the active pool. This setting is the
default.
C or None — This entity shares access to the particular table in the
database. A particular bean does not remain associated with a
particular primary key between transactions, but goes back to the ready
pool after every transaction. This is generally not a useful setting.

ejb.cmp.optimisticConcurrencyBehavior
You can specify one of the following:
• UpdateAllFields
• UpdateModifiedFields
• VerifyModifiedFields
• VerifyAllFields
UpdateAllFields — Issues an update on all fields, regardless of whether
they were modified. Given a CMP bean with three fields: “key”,
“value1” and “value2”, stored in a table called “MyTable”, the
following update will be issued at the end of every transaction,
regardless of whether the bean was modified:
UPDATE MyTable SET (value1 = <value1>, value2 = <value2>)
WHERE key = <key>
UpdateModifiedFields —This is the default setting. Issues an update
only on the fields that were modified, or suppresses the update
altogether if the bean was not modified. With the above bean, if only
“value1” was modified, the following update is issued:
UPDATE MyTable SET (value1 = <value1>)
WHERE key = <key>
This can give a significant performance boost for following reasons:
1 Often your data access is read—only. In such cases, not sending an
update to the database is desirable. Borland has seen great
performance boosts from this single optimization.
2 Many databases write logs depending on which columns were
modified. For example, SQL Server will log the update if a TEXT or
IMAGE field is updated, regardless of whether the column’s value
actually changed. Note that the database often does not (or cannot)
distinguish between updating a column to hold the same value it
used to hold (which is what occurs with “UpdateAllFields”), and
actually modifying the column’s value. Suppressing the update for
the case where the value did not actually change can have a very
significant performance impact when using such DBMSs.

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Enterprise bean information

3 There is less JDBC-based network traffic going to the database and

less work going on in the JDBC driver. The network issue is,
generally, not significant, but the JDBC driver issue is significant.
Our performance measurements indicate that as much as 70% of the
CPU’s time is spent in the JDBC driver in large—scale EJB
applications. Often, this is due to the fact that many commercial
JDBC drivers have not been sufficiently performance tuned. Even for
well-tuned drivers, the less work they have to do, the better.
VerifyModifiedFields — In this mode, the CMP engine issues a
tuned update while verifying that the fields it is updating are
consistent with the values that were previously read in. So, for the
previous example, where only “value1” was modified, the following
update is issued:
UPDATE MyTable SET (value1 = <value1>)
WHERE key = <key> AND value1 = <old-value1>
VerifyAllFields - This mode is similar to VerifyModifiedFields,
except that all fields are verified. So the update would be:
UPDATE MyTable SET (value1 = <value1>)
WHERE key = <key> AND value1 = <old-value1> AND value2 = <old-value2>
These two verify settings can be used to replicate the
SERIALIZABLE isolation level in the Container. Often your
application requires serializable isolation semantics. However,
asking the database to implement this for you can have a significant
performance impact. Our tests show using SERIALIZABLE with
Oracle instead of a less restricted isolation level, can slow down an
application over 50%. The main reason for this slowdown is that
Oracle provides optimistic concurrency using a row-level locking
model. With the above two settings, you are basically asking the
CMP engine to implement optimistic concurrency using field-level
locking. And with any concurrent system, the smaller the
granularity of the locking, the better the concurrency.

Security Identity panel

The Security Identify panel allows you to specify whether you want a
security identify to be used when the methods of the bean are executed.

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 Enterprise bean information

A Security Identity panel is available for an EJB 2.0 component only.

To specify that a security identify be used when methods of the bean are
executed, check the Specify Security Identify check box and follow these
steps:
1 If you choose to do so, enter a description of the security identity in the
Description field.
2 Specify whether the caller’s security identity should be used or whether
a specific run-as security identity should be used with the drop-down
list below the Description field. If you select the Run As option, the
panel changes so that it look like this:

Using the Deployment Descriptor editor 11-19

Enterprise bean information

3 Fill in the Description field if you choose; it’s not required.

4 From the Role drop-down list, select a role. The list displays all security
roles that are defined for the current EJB module. For more information
about creating security roles, see “Adding security roles and method
permissions” on page 11-30.

EJB Local References panel

Each EJB local reference describes the interface requirements that the
referencing enterprise bean has for the local referenced bean. Use the EJB
Local References panel to define EJB local references only. To specify a
reference to a remote bean, use the EJB References panel instead.
An EJB Local References panel is available for an EJB 2.0 component only.

To add a local EJB reference,

1 Click Add.
2 In the dialog box that appears, enter a name for the EJB local reference
and choose OK.
A new row is added to the panel.
3 Fill in the fields in the row with the following information:
• Description: A brief description of the bean that is referenced. This
information is optional.
• Name: The name of the referenced bean.
• IsLink: When IsLink is checked, the reference is to a bean within the
JAR, so the JNDI Name value isn’t relevant. If IsLink isn’t checked,

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 Enterprise bean information

the JNDI name is used to find the bean. When you check this option,
you then select the bean that is referenced from the Link drop-down
list.
• Link: Links the EJB reference to the target enterprise bean. The Link
value is the name of the target bean. This information is optional.
• Type: The expected type of the referenced bean.
• Local Home: The expected Java type of the referenced bean’s local
home interface.
• Local: The expected Java type of the referenced bean’s local
interface.
• JNDI Name: The JNDI name of the referenced bean.
These are important points to remember about EJB local references:
• The target enterprise bean must be type-compatible with the declared
EJB local reference.
• All declared EJB references must be bound to the local homes of
enterprise beans that exist in the operating environment.
• If a Link value is specified, the enterprise bean reference must be bound
to the local home of the target enterprise bean.

Resource Env Refs panel

The Resource Env Refs panel let’s you specify a reference to an external
resource. It is available only for EJB 2.0 components. This is how the
Resource Env Refs panel appears:

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Enterprise bean information

To add a new resource environment reference,

1 Click the Add button.
2 In the new row that was added, click in the Resource Environment Ref
Name column.
3 Add a description of the reference in the Description field if you
choose; it’s not required.
4 Type in the name of your resource environment reference in the
Resource Environment Ref Name column. The name you specify must
be the unique within your enterprise bean.
5 Specify the resource environment reference type. It must be the fully-
qualified name of a Java class or interface.
6 Specify the resource environment reference JNDI name.

Server-specific Properties panel

If your target application server is some other than a Borland server, a
server-specific Properties panel is available. For example, here you see a
tab at the bottom of the content pane for WebLogic 6.x Properties:

Use this panel if you want to view and edit some of the vendor-specific
elements that are unique to your target application server. The panel
displays a table of properties specific to the server. In the right column,
enter values for properties you want to modify. The property values are
stored in the server-specific deployment descriptors.

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 Container transactions

Container transactions
Enterprise beans that use container-managed transactions must have the
transaction policies set by the container. The Deployment Descriptor
editor enables you to set container-managed transaction policies and then
associate these policies with methods in the enterprise bean’s remote
home, local home, remote, and local interfaces.

Setting container transaction policies

To set a container transaction policy for one or more methods,
1 Double-click the enterprise bean in the project pane to expand the
bean’s node.
2 Double-click Container Transactions in the project pane.

3 Click the Add button to add a row to the grid.

4 In the row, select the Interface that exposes the method or select * to
indicate all interfaces. Your selection in this field determines which
choices you will have in the Methods field.
5 From the drop-down list of Methods available, select the method you
are setting the transaction policy for, or select * to select all the methods
in the interface(s) you specified in the Interface field.

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Container transactions

6 From the drop-down list of Transaction Attributes, select the attribute

you want the transaction to have:

Enterprise beans that use container-managed transaction have

transaction attributes associated with each method of the bean or with
the bean as a whole. The attribute value tells the container how it must
manage the transactions that involve the bean. There are several
different transaction attributes that the application assembler or
deployer can associate with each method of a bean:
• Required
Guarantees that the work performed by the associated method is
within a global transaction context. If the caller already has a
transaction context, the container uses the same context. If the caller
doesn’t have a transaction context, the container begins a new
transaction automatically. Using this attribute makes it easy to
compose multiple beans and coordinate the work of all the beans
using the same global transaction.
• RequiresNew
Used when you don’t want the method associated with an existing
transaction. It ensures that the container always begins a new
transaction.
• Supports
Permits the method to avoid using a global transaction. Use this
attribute only when a bean’s method accesses just one transaction
resource or no transaction resources, and the method doesn’t invoke
another enterprise bean. Because this attribute avoids the cost
associated with global transactions, using it optimizes your bean. If

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 Container transactions

this attribute is set and a global transaction already exists, the

container invokes the method and it joins the existing global
transaction. If there is no global transaction, the container starts a
local transaction for the method and the transaction completes at the
end of the method.
• NotSupported
Also permits the bean to avoid using a global transaction. If a client
calls the method with a transaction context, the container suspends
it. At the end of the method, the global transaction resumes.
• Mandatory
The client that calls a method with this transaction attribute must
already have an associated transaction. If it doesn’t, the container
throws a javax.transaction.TransactionRequiredException. Using this
attribute makes the bean less flexible for composition because it
makes assumptions about the caller’s transaction.
• Never
The client that calls a method with this transaction attribute must not
have a transaction context. If it does, the container throws an
exception.
7 Enter a description in the Description field to describe the transaction.
Adding a description is optional.

WebLogic 6.x Transaction Isolation panel

If your target application server is the WebLogic 6.x server, a WebLogic
6.x Transaction Isolation panel is available to you to set the transaction
isolation policy for methods.
To set transaction isolation policy for methods in your bean,
1 Double-click the enterprise bean in the project pane to expand the
bean’s node.
2 Double-click Container Transactions in the project pane.
3 Click the WebLogic 6.x Transaction Isolation tab in the Deployment
Descriptor editor.

Using the Deployment Descriptor editor 11-25

Working with data sources

4 Click the Add button to add a row to the grid.

5 In the row, select the Interface that exposes the method: the home, local
home, remote, or local. Or select * to select all interfaces. Your selection
in this field determines which choices you will have in the Methods
field.
6 From the drop-down list of Methods available, select the method you
are setting the transaction isolation policy for, or select * to select all the
methods in the interface(s) you specified in the Interface field.
7 From the drop-down list, select the transaction attribute that describes
the isolation policy you want for the methods you specified. The
information found in “Setting isolation levels” on page 11-28 may help
you make your selection.
8 Enter a description in the Description field to describe the transaction.
Adding a description is optional.
Refer to your WebLogic documentation for more assistance on the setting
of isolation levels.

Working with data sources

To view information on a data source in your deployment descriptor,
expand the DataSources node in the project pane and double-click one of
the data sources. The Deployment Descriptor editor displays the General

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 Working with data sources

panel. You can use the panel to modify the information on the selected
data source. Only entity beans have a data source.

The Deployment Descriptor editor enables you to specify a new data

source for entity beans and to set the isolation level for the data
transactions.
To add a new data source to the deployment descriptor,
1 Right-click the JDBC node in the project pane and choose New
Datasource on the menu that appears.
A New DataSource dialog box appears.
2 Enter the name of new data source and choose OK.
The new data source is added to the tree in the project pane.
3 Double-click the new data source in the project pane.
4 Enter the information for the new data source.
The data source is defined by a data source name, the URL location of
the data source, and (if required) a user name and password to access
the source. The panel also includes the class name of the JDBC driver
and JDBC properties.
5 When you’ve specified the data source connection, you can choose the
Test Connection button.
The Deployment Descriptor editor attempts to make the connection
with the specified data source. The results are posted in the message
log.

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Working with data sources

Setting isolation levels

The term isolation level refers to the degree to which multiple, interleaved
transactions are prevented from interfering with each other in a multi-user
database. These are possible transaction violations:
• Dirty read: Transaction t1 modifies a row; Transaction t2 then reads the
row. Now t1 performs a rollback and t2 has seen a row that never really
existed.
• Non-repeatable read: Transaction t1 retrieves a row. Then transaction t2
updates this row and t1 retrieves the same row again. Transaction t1 has
now retrieved the same row twice and seen two different values for it.
• Phantoms: Transaction t1 reads a set of rows that satisfy certain search
conditions. Then transaction t2 inserts one or more rows that satisfy the
same search condition. If transaction t1 repeats the read, it will see rows
that did not exist previously. These rows are called phantoms.
To set or change the transaction isolation level for a data source, choose
one of these isolation levels from the Isolation Level drop-down list:

Attribute Syntax Description

Uncommitted TRANSACTION_READ_UNCOMMITTED Allows all three violations
Committed TRANSACTION_READ_COMMITTED Allows non-repeatable reads and
phantoms, but doesn’t allow a dirty
read.
Repeatable TRANSACTION_REPEATABLE_READ Allows phantoms, but not the other
two violations.
Serializable TRANSACTION_SERIALIZABLE Doesn’t allow any of the three
violations.

Setting data source properties

When a data source is selected in the Deployment Descriptor editor, a
Properties tab appears as well as the General tab. The Properties panel

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 Working with data sources

allows you to set properties that affect the Borland container-managed

persistence (CMP) engine.

To modify the properties of a data source,

1 Double-click the data source in the project pane.
2 Click the Properties tab.
3 On the Properties panel, select a property to set from the Name drop-
down list.
The Type value is set automatically, depending on your selection from
the Name list.
4 Select a value in the Value column for your property.
5 Add additional properties by clicking the Add button to add a new
row, and then select the Name and Value entries for that new property.
These are the possible properties:

Property Description
maxBigDecimalScale If you are using JDBC 1.0, the value of this property
determines the scale to use when this method is called:
java.sql.BigDecimal java.sql.ResultSet.getBigDecimal(int
columnIndex, int scale);
If you are using JDBC 2.0, a scale value is not used when
getBigDecimal(int columnIndex) is called.
uniqueSequence Determines whether the CMP engine should declare a
unique sequence for the primary key columns. Usually
this is achieved by declaring the appropriate columns to
be primary keys (see primaryKeyDeclaration).

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Adding security roles and method permissions

Property Description
batchUpdates Indicates whether the CMP engine should batch updates
to the database. This can have a significant performance
benefit for transactions that update a number of entities
that update a number of entities, and should be used if the
driver supports it. Unfortunately, most don’t support
batch updates yet. The default value is false.
useSetObjectForSetNull When a SQL column is set to null value, usually this
method is used:
void java.sql.PreparedStatement.setNull(int
parameterIndex, int sqlType);
Because some JDBC drivers do not support this, you can
set this flag to make the CMP engine use the following
method instead:
void java.sql.PreparedStatement.setObject(int
parameterIndex, Object x);
“null” becomes the value of x.
reuseStatements Determines whether the CMP engine should reuse
prepared statements across transactions. Reusing
prepared statements has a significant performance
impact, and they should be used unless the JDBC driver
exhibits are reused. The default value is true.
notNullDeclaration Determines whether the Java fields that can’t be null (such
as int or float) should map to non-null columns. The
default value is true.
dialect Determines the type of the data source, such as whether
its a JDataStore, Oracle, Informix, or other data source.
Select the dialect value from the Value drop-down list. If
you don’t set this field, the CMP engine creates tables for
JDataStore only. The default value is none.
primaryKeyDeclaration Determines whether the CMP engine declares the primary
key columns in the table to be primary keys. Some
databases don’t support primary key declarations. The
default value is true.

Adding security roles and method permissions

The Deployment Descriptor editor enables you to create or edit security
roles in the deployment descriptor. After you create security roles, you
can then associate methods in an enterprise bean’s home, remote, local,
and local home interfaces with these roles, thereby defining the security
view of the application.
This section describes how to use the Deployment Description editor to
create the security roles and assign enterprise bean methods to the roles.
The section “Security Role References panel” describes how to use the
Roles panel to assign user groups and/or user accounts to the roles.
Defining security roles in the deployment descriptor is optional.

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 Adding security roles and method permissions

Creating a security role

To create a security role in the deployment descriptor,
1 Right-click the Security Roles folder node in the project pane. Choose
the New Role command on the menu that appears.
2 In the dialog box that appears, enter the name of the new security role
and choose OK.
The new role appears under the Security Roles node in the project pane.
Expand the Security Roles node to see it. Double-click the new role in the
project pane to view the Security Roles panel:

You can enter a description for the new role on the Security Roles panel.
The description is optional.

Assigning method permissions

Once you’ve defined one or more security roles, you can specify which
methods in the interfaces of an enterprise bean the security role is allowed
to invoke.
You aren’t required to associate a security role with methods in a bean’s
interfaces. In these cases, none of the security roles defined in the
deployment descriptor are allowed to invoke these methods.
To assign method permissions,
1 Expand a bean’s node in the project pane to reveal its Method
Permissions sub-node.

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Adding security roles and method permissions

2 Double-click the Method Permission node to display a Method

Permissions panel.
Each defined security role appears as a column heading.
3 Click the Add button to add a row to the panel.
If your bean is an EJB 1.1 bean, the Method Permissions panel looks like
this:

Follow these instructions for a 1.1 bean:

1 In the new row, choose Home or Remote to indicate which interface
you are working with. Choosing * selects both interfaces. Your
selection for the Interface column determines which methods are
available to you in the Method column.
2 From the Method drop-down list, select the method you are granting
permission to call, or select *, which indicates permission to call all
the methods.
3 Check the check box for each security role you want to give
permission to call the specified methods.
4 As a final step, you can enter an optional description in the
Description field to describe the permission the row defines.

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 Adding security roles and method permissions

If your bean is an EJB 2.0 bean, the Method Permissions panel looks like
this:

Follow these instructions for a 2.0 bean:

1 In the new row, choose Home, Remote, Local, or LocalHome to
indicate which interface you are working with. Choosing * selects all
interfaces. Your selection for the Interface column determines which
methods are available to you in the Method column.
2 From the Method drop-down list, select the method you are granting
permission to call, or select *, which indicates permission to call all
the methods.
3 From the Access drop-down list, select how you want to establish
access to the method:
• By Role — Permission to call the specified methods is granted to
each checked security role.
• Unchecked — Indicates that principals in any role may access the
method.
• Excluded — The method cannot be called by any role.
4 If you selected By Role, check the check box for each security role
you want to give permission to call the specified methods.
5 As a final step, you can enter an optional description in the
Description field to describe the permission the row defines.

Using the Deployment Descriptor editor 11-33

Adding security roles and method permissions

Adding container-managed persistence information for

EJB 1.1 components
The CMP 1.1 specifies how the container manages persistence for the
entity bean. Using the panel, you can map fields in the bean to columns in
a database table.
To display the CMP 1.1 panel,
1 Expand an EJB 1.1 entity bean node in the project pane.
2 Double-click the CMP 1.1 node in the project pane.
The CMP 1.1 panel appears:

The CMP 1.1 panel includes these fields:

• Primary Key Class: Reports the fully-qualified name of the entity
bean’s primary key class. You specify the primary key for an entity
bean on the General panel of the Deployment Descriptor editor.
• Get Meta Data button: Clicking this button retrieves the metadata for
the table and populates a drop-down list for each Column Name(s) cell.
Each element of the drop-down list is a column name/column type
pair. Selecting from the drop-down list fills in both the column name
and the column type cells. The drop-down list includes only the
column names that have not already been used in the panel.
• CMP Description: An description of the container-managed
persistence specified on this panel. Filling this field in is optional.
• Table(s): The name of the database table(s) referenced by the bean.

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 Adding security roles and method permissions

• Description: A description of a selected row in the table. The field is

enabled only when a row is selected in the table. Filling this field in is
optional.
• CMP: A check mark indicates the field is container-managed.
• isPK: A check mark indicates the field is the primary key.
• Field Type: The data type of the field.
• Field Name: The name of the field. The Field Name column lists all
fields in an entity bean.
• Column Name(s): You can map compound fields in the bean (for
example, location.street) to columns in the database table. You can map
either the root field (for example, location) or the subfields (for
example, location.street), but not both.
• Column Type: The data type of the field.
• EJB Reference: If the field type is an EJB class, a menu appears with a
list of EJB references to select. These references are set in the EJB
references panel.
The panel displays the primary key class name, which you can’t change.
In the CMP Description field, you can enter optional text describing the
bean.
Each field in your entity bean that will be container-managed has the CMP
field checked. For each field, you enter the name of the column to which it
maps. If you used the EJB 1.x Entity Modeler, JBuilder has already
mapped these columns for you. You can edit the Column Name and
Column Type if you choose. You can enter text describing each field in the
Description field, but it’s not required.
The Deployment Descriptor editor uses JDBC to obtain metadata on
existing tables. You can conveniently hook up existing entity beans to
existing tables. For example, you might purchase a third-party enterprise
bean and want to use it with a table in your database. To populate both the
Column Name and Column Type fields, click the Get Meta Data button
and the metadata is retrieved and displayed.

Finders panel
The Finders panel specifies the “where’ clauses used by the container-
managed bean to execute finder methods defined by the bean. The Finders
panel is available for EJB 1.1 entity beans with container-managed
persistence.
To display the Finders panel,
1 Expand an EJB 1.1 entity bean node in the project pane.

Using the Deployment Descriptor editor 11-35

Adding security roles and method permissions

2 Double-click the CMP 1.1 node in the project pane.

3 Click the Finders tab at the bottom of the Deployment Descriptor
editor.
The Finders panel appears:

You’ll find this information on the Finders panel:

• Method: The finder method name and a list of all parameters.
• Where Clause: Specifies a SQL “where” clause used by the container to
retrieve records from the database. Note that not all SQL statements can
be converted to WebLogic query logic.
• Load State: When selected, this attribute enables the container to
preload all container-managed fields whenever a find operation occurs.
To specify a finder method,
1 Click the Add button. The Add button is available only if you have
defined a finder method in your bean.
A Finder dialog box appears.
2 Select the method signature for the finder method you want from the
drop-down list.
3 Modify the argument names, if you wish, and specify the proper Where
clause for the find operation.

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 Adding security roles and method permissions

Here’s an example:

Specifying WebSphere 4.0 finders

On the WebSphere 4.0 Properties panel, the finders in the bean appear at
the bottom of the list of properties. You can choose the type of query you
want to use for the finder: SQL SELECT, SQL WHERE, EJB Query
Language, or SQL Method:

Select the finder type you want. The default value is a WHERE clause
(SQL WHERE). The finder type you select is added to the WebSphere-
specific deployment descriptor ibm-ejb-jar-ext.xmi. You can then return to
the Finders panel and specify the query using the query type you selected

Using the Deployment Descriptor editor 11-37

Verifying descriptor information

on the WebSphere 4.0 Properties panel as the value of the Where Clause
on the Finders panel, even if the query type is other than a WHERE clause.

Verifying descriptor information

After you’ve finished editing the descriptor file, you can verify that the
descriptor information is in the correct format, the required bean class files
are present, and so on.
To verify descriptor information, right-click the EJB module node and
choose Verify on the menu that appears.
Verify does the following:
• Ensures that the descriptor conforms to the EJB specification.
• Ensures that the classes referenced by the deployment descriptors
conform to the EJB specification.

11-38 Enterprise JavaBeans Developer’s Guide

 Chapter

Using the DataExpress for

Chapter12
12
EJB components
JBuilder has several components that allow you to retrieve data from
entity beans into DataExpress DataSets (providing), and to save data from
DataExpress DataSets back to entity beans (resolving). These DataExpress
for EJB components make it easy to implement a Session Bean wrap Entity
Bean design pattern. Using this design pattern, clients usually don’t access
entity beans directly, but instead they access them using session beans.
The session beans, which are co-located with the entity beans, make all the
calls to the entity beans within a single transaction and then return all the
data at once. DataSets provide a way of transporting the data from the
session bean to the client and back. Because data is sent over the wire just
once to provide the data to the client, and then just once again to resolve
changes to the entity beans on the server, performance improves.
These components also make it easier for you to build client applications
using DataExpress-aware visual components such as dbSwing or
InternetBeans Express. For a full description of DataExpress, see
“Understanding JBuilder database applications” in the Database
Application Developer’s Guide.
This chapter explains how to use these components to transfer data from
entity beans deployed on a server to your client application and back
again. The code is very similar to the /<jbuilder>/samples/Ejb/EjbDx.jpx
sample project. The data the sample accesses is stored in an Employee data
store. The sample creates an entity bean to hold Employee data. It also
creates a Personnel session bean that retrieves data from Employee and then
sends it to the client. The client sends the data back to the Personnel, which
resolves the data to the Employee entity bean instances.

Using the DataExpress for EJB components 12-1

The DataExpress EJB components

The DataExpress EJB components

Six of the DataExpress EJB components are on the EJB page of the
component palette. You can work with these components in the UI
designer, setting properties and events using the Inspector. There are
additional classes that your code can call that you don’t work with
visually. For information about all of the classes, see the API reference.

Components for the server

The two components on the EJB page of the component palette that are
used by the session bean deployed on the server are the EntityBeanProvider
and EntityBeanResolver components. EntityBeanProvider provides data from
the entity beans deployed on the server, and EntityBeanResolver resolves
data to those entity beans. You add these components to the session bean
you create to make the session bean capable of providing from and
resolving to the entity beans.
If you are creating enterprise beans that run in an EJB 1.x container, you
should continue using the EntityBeanProvider and EntityBeanResolver
components. If your beans are going to be running in an EJB 2.0 container,
you should use the LocalEntityBeanProvider and LocalEntityBeanResolver
components instead. These components have an ejbLocalHome property
instead of an ejbHome property. They also have an ejbLocal property, which
takes the class of the entity bean’s interface that implements
EJBLocalObject. All the events and listeners in the EntityBeanProvider and
EntityBeanResolver components have corresponding local versions in
LocalEntityBeanProvider and LocalEntityBeanResolver.

Components for the client

Two of the components on the EJB page are used in the client side:
EjbClientDataSet and SessionBeanConnection. The EjbClientDataSet provides
data from and resolves changes to the session bean referenced in the
SessionBeanConnection. A SessionBeanConnection holds the reference to a
session bean on the server, and it contains the method names to provide
datasets from and resolve datasets to that session bean.

Creating the entity beans

Begin by using the EJB 1.x Entity Modeler or the EJB Designer to create the
entity beans that access the data you are interested in. The sample project
creates Employee and Department entity beans, although this chapter refers
only to Employee.

12-2 Enterprise JavaBeans Developer’s Guide

 Creating the server-side session bean

Creating the server-side session bean

Create the session bean that will live on the server. Consider using the
Enterprise JavaBean 1.x wizard or the EJB Designer to create a stateless
session bean. Later in the next section you’ll be adding EntityBeanProvider
and EntityBeanResolver classes to this bean. Because these classes aren’t
serializable, it’s easier to place them in a stateless session bean, which, for
Borland application servers, is never passivated. If you require a stateful
session bean for your application, you should either have the stateful
session bean refer to a stateless session bean, or you must reinstantiate the
EntityBeanProvider and EntityBeanResolver when the stateful session bean is
activated.
Here is what a resulting bean class named PersonnelBean would look like:
public class PersonnelBean implements SessionBean {
private SessionContext sessionContext;
public void ejbCreate() {
}
public void ejbRemove() throws RemoteException {
}
public void ejbActivate() throws RemoteException {
}
public void ejbPassivate() throws RemoteException {
}
public void setSessionContext(SessionContext sessionContext) throws
RemoteException {
this.sessionContext = sessionContext;
}
}
Click the Design tab to display the UI Designer.

Adding provider and resolver components to the

session bean
From the EJB page of the component palette, add an EntityBeanProvider
and an EntityBeanResolver to the session bean. You must also add a dataset
component to hold the data gathered from the entity beans before it is sent
to the client and the data that the client sends back. From the DataExpress
page of the component palette, add a TableDataSet component and rename
TableDataSet to some appropriate name.
This is how the top of PersonnelBean would look; the TableDataSet has been
renamed to employeeDataSet:
public class PersonnelBean implements SessionBean {
private SessionContext sessionContext;
EntityBeanProvider entityBeanProvider = new EntityBeanProvider();
EntityBeanResolver entityBeanResolver = new EntityBeanResolver();
TableDataSet employeeDataSet = new TableDataSet();
...

Using the DataExpress for EJB components 12-3

Creating the server-side session bean

Using the Inspector, set the provider and resolver properties of the
TableDataSet to the newly added EntityBeanProvider and EntityBeanResolver
components, respectively. The result is two new methods in the jbInit()
method:
employeeDataSet.setProvider(entityBeanProvider);
employeeDataSet.setResolver(entityBeanResolver);
The sample project shows these methods in the setSessionContext()
method instead. You can add the method calls yourself to
setSessionContext() if you prefer to imitate the sample project exactly.
Either approach is fine.
To the members of this class, add a reference to the home interface of the
entity bean that contains the data you want to access. For this example, the
reference is to the home interface of the Employee entity bean as shown here
in bold.
public class PersonnelBean implements SessionBean {
private SessionContext sessionContext;
EntityBeanProvider entityBeanProvider = new EntityBeanProvider();
EntityBeanResolver entityBeanResolver = new EntityBeanResolver();
TableDataSet employeeDataSet = new TableDataSet();
EmployeeHome employeeHome;
...

Writing the setSessionContext() method

In the session bean’s sessionContext() method add a try block. Modify the
method so that it looks like this:
public void setSessionContext(SessionContext sessionContext)
throws RemoteException {
this.sessionContext = sessionContext;
try {
Context context = new InitialContext();
Object object = context.lookup("java:comp/env/ejb/Employee");
employeeHome = (EmployeeHome) PortableRemoteObject.narrow(object,
EmployeeHome.class);
entityBeanProvider.setEjbHome(employeeHome);
entityBeanResolver.setEjbHome(employeeHome);
}
catch (Exception ex) {
throw new EJBException(ex);
}
}
Note that setSessionContext() sets the value of the ejbHome properties in the
EntityBeanProvider and EntityBeanResolver components to the name of the
home interface of the Employee entity bean.

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 Creating the server-side session bean

Adding an EJB reference to the deployment descriptor

You must add an EJB reference to Personnel in the deployment descriptor
for the lookup to work. You can use the Deployment Descriptor editor:
1 In the project pane, double-click the EJB module node. For the sample
project, this is personnel.ejbgrpx.
2 Double-click the Personnel bean in the project pane.
The Deployment Descriptor editor appears.
3 Click the EJB References tab in the Deployment Descriptor editor.
4 Click the Add button to add a reference to the entity bean containing
the data you are interested in.
5 Enter a reference name. For the sample project, the name is ejb/Employee.
6 Check the IsLink check box.
7 Specify the entity bean from the Link drop-down list.
The rest of the data should fill in for you automatically.

Adding the providing and resolving methods

You must add two methods to the session bean, a provider and a resolver.
The names of these methods use the value you specified as the methodName
property value in the EjbClientDataSet component. So the provider for
PersonnelBean becomes provideEmployee() and the resolver becomes
resolveEmployee().
The provider must call the method of an EntityBeanConnection class that
provides the data from an entity bean to a dataset that can be sent over the
wire. This is what the provideEmployee() method must look like:
public DataSetData [] provideEmployee(RowData [] parameterArray,
RowData [] masterArray) {
return EntityBeanConnection.provideDataSets(new StorageDataSet []
{employeeDataSet}, parameterArray, masterArray);
}
The resolver must call the method of an EntityBeanConnection class that
resolves any updates to the entity beans. This is how resolveEmployee()
should appear:
public DataSetData [] resolveEmployee(DataSetData[] dataSetDataArray) {
return EntityBeanConnection.saveChanges(dataSetDataArray,
new DataSet [] {employeeDataSet});
}
Next add these methods to the remote interface. The simplest way to do
this is to use BeansExpress. With the bean source file open in the editor,
click the Bean tab, click the Methods tab, and check the check boxes next
names of the two methods you just added. You can now check the your

Using the DataExpress for EJB components 12-5

Creating the server-side session bean

session bean’s remote interface to verify that the two methods are now
defined:
public interface Personnel extends EJBObject {
public com.borland.dx.dataset.DataSetData[]
providePersonnel(com.borland.dx.ejb.RowData[] parameterArray,
com.borland.dx.ejb.RowData[] masterArray) throws RemoteException;
public com.borland.dx.dataset.DataSetData[]
resolvePersonnel(com.borland.dx.dataset.DataSetData[] dataSetDataArray)
throws RemoteException;
}

Calling the finder method

You must tell the EntityBeanProvider which entity beans to provide. To do
this, add an event to the EntityBeanProvider:
1 While in the UI Designer, select the EntityBeanProvider in the structure
pane.
2 Click the Events tab of the Inspector and double-click the blank column
next the findEntityBeans event. A new event is added.
Here is the resulting event:
entityBeanProvider1.addEntityBeanFindListener(new
com.borland.dx.ejb.EntityBeanFindListener() {
public void findEntityBeans(EntityBeanFindEvent e) {
entityBeanProvider1_findEntityBeans(e);
}
});

...

void entityBeanProvider_findEntityBeans(EntityBeanFindEvent e) {

}
3 To the new event handler, add a finder method to return the entity
beans you want. Here the added code appears in bold:
void entityBeanProvider_findEntityBeans(EntityBeanFindEvent e) {
try {
e.setEntityBeanCollection(employeeHome.findAll());
}
catch (Exception ex) {
throw new EJBException(ex);
}
}
In this example, the event handler calls a findAll() method to return all the
entity beans. You can call any finder you want. You could use the
EntityBeanProvider’s parameterRow property to dynamically determine
which finder to call and/or which parameters to pass.

12-6 Enterprise JavaBeans Developer’s Guide

 Building the client side

For resolving, the EntityBeanResolver can by default determine how to

apply updates and deletes. But it can’t automatically determine how to
create new entity beans because there is no way it can determine which
create() method to call and which parameters to pass to it. So, if you want
to add a row to the data source, you must add the create event yourself
and supply the necessary logic. You can use the Inspector to add the
skeleton create event code to your session bean. You can see an example of
a create event in the ejb.jpx sample project. You can also use the other
events available in EntityBeanResolver to override the default behavior, if
you choose.
Deploy the session and entity beans to the application server. For more
information about deploying your beans, see “Deploying to an application
server” on page 10-7.

Building the client side

Now that you’ve created the entity beans and the session bean that
accesses them and deployed them to your target application server, you’re
ready to begin building the client.
Follow these steps:
1 Create a data module. Choose File|New|Data Module.
2 From the component palette, select the EjbClientDataSet and add it to
the data module.
3 From the component palette, select the SessionConnectionBean and add it
to the data module.
4 In the Inspector, set the sessionBeanConnection property of the
EjbClientDataSet to the name of the SessionBeanConnection component.
5 In the Inspector, specify a name for the methodName property of the
EjbClientDataSet component.
The methodName property determines how the methods that provide and
resolve data are named. For example, if you specify a value of
Employee for methodName, the session bean methods to provide and
resolve data become provideEmployee() and resolveEmployee(). Later you
will need to add these methods to the session bean you create.
6 In the Inspector or directly in the source code, set the jndiName property
of the SessionBeanConnection component. Or you can specify the name of
the remote interface of the session bean you will create instead as the
value of the sessionBeanRemote property.
You can also use the Inspector to add a creating event to your
SessionBeanConnection. Code you add to the event handler can control the
creation of the session bean after the JNDI lookup occurs. Usually you

Using the DataExpress for EJB components 12-7

Building the client side

must add a creating event if you want to invoke a create() method on the
home interface that requires parameters. For example, look at this code:
import com.borland.dx.dataset.*;
import com.borland.dx.ejb.*;

public class PersonnelDataModule implements DataModule {

private static PersonnelDataModule myDM;
SessionBeanConnection sessionBeanConnection = new SessionBeanConnection();
EjbClientDataSet personnelDataSet = new EjbClientDataSet();

public PersonnelDataModule() {
try {
jbInit();
}
catch(Exception e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
private void jbInit() throws Exception {
try {
sessionBeanConnection.setJndiName("Personnel");
sessionBeanConnection.addCreateSessionBeanListener(new
com.borland.dx.ejb.CreateSessionBeanListener() {
public void creating(CreateSessionBeanEvent e) {
sessionBeanConnection_creating(e);
}
});
personnelDataSet.setSessionBeanConnection(sessionBeanConnection);
personnelDataSet.setMethodName("Personnel");
}
catch (Exception ex) {

}
}
public static PersonnelDataModule getDataModule() {
if (myDM == null) {
myDM = new PersonnelDataModule();
}
return myDM;
}
public com.borland.dx.ejb.SessionBeanConnection getSessionBeanConnection() {
return sessionBeanConnection;
}
public com.borland.dx.ejb.EjbClientDataSet getPersonnelDataSet() {
return personnelDataSet;
}

void sessionBeanConnection_creating(CreateSessionBeanEvent e) {

}
}

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 Handling relationships

Handling relationships
The EntityBeanProvider automatically flattens relationships. For example, if
you have any Employee entity bean that has a getDept() method that returns
a Dept, where Dept is an entity bean remote, a DataSet is created that has all
the fields in the Employee entity bean plus all the fields in the Dept entity
bean (including any hidden columns containing the primary keys of each
of the entity beans). Except for Dept.ejbPrimaryKey, the other Dept fields will
be read-only.
To resolve changes when a one-to-one relationship is involved, you must
add an event listener to the EntityBeanProvider because it can’t dynamically
determine the home of the related entity bean. The sample ejb.jpx project
does not demonstrate handling relationships.

The sample project

So far you’ve seen how to efficiently transfer data back and forth between
the client and the server. The sample /<jbuilder>/samples/Ejb/EjbDx.jpx
project shows you how to use the described techniques with a Java client
that uses dbSwing controls and with a Web client that uses JSP technology
combined with InternetBeansExpress. You will be able to work with live
data. Check the project’s EjbDx.html page to find complete instructions for
running the sample project.

Using the DataExpress for EJB components 12-9

12-10 Enterprise JavaBeans Developer’s Guide
 Chapter

Developing session beans

Chapter13
13
JBuilder’s EJB tools can greatly simplify the creation of enterprise beans
and their supporting interfaces. You should understand what the
requirements are for these classes and interfaces, however, so you can
modify the files JBuilder produces and so you understand what JBuilder is
doing for you. The next few chapters can help you gain that
understanding.
A session bean usually exists for the lifetime of a single client session. The
methods of a session bean perform a set of tasks or processes for the client
that uses the bean. Session beans persist only for the life of the connection
with the client. In a sense, the session bean represents the client in the EJB
server. It usually provides a service to the client. Unless you need to work
with persistent data that exists in a data store, you are usually working
with session beans.

Types of session beans

There are two types of session beans: those that can maintain state
information between method calls, which are called stateful beans, and
those that can’t, which are called stateless beans.

Stateful session beans

Stateful session beans are objects used by a single client and they maintain
state on behalf of that client. For example, consider a shopping cart session
bean. As the shopper in an online store selects items to purchase, the items
are added to the “shopping cart” by storing the selected items in a list
within the shopping cart session bean object. When the shopper is ready
to purchase the items, the list is used to calculate the total cost.

Developing session beans 13-1

Writing the session bean class

Stateless session bean

Stateless session beans don’t maintain state for any specific client.
Therefore, they can be used by many clients. For example, consider a sort
session bean that contains a sortList() business method. The client would
invoke sortList(), passing it an unsorted list of items. sortList() would
then pass back to the client a sorted list.

Writing the session bean class

To create a session bean class,
• Create a class that implements the javax.ejb.SessionBean interface.
• Implement one or more ejbCreate() methods. If you are creating a
stateless session bean, the class implement just one parameterless
ejbCreate() method. If you’ve already created the remote home or local
home interface for the bean, the bean must have an ejbCreate() method
with the same signature for each create() method in the remote home/
local home interface.
• Define and implement the business methods you want your bean to
have. If you’ve already created the remote or local interface for the
bean, the methods must be defined exactly as they are in the remote/
local interface.
JBuilder’s EJB wizards can start these tasks for you, including creating the
home and remote interfaces. They create a class that extends the
SessionBean interface and write empty implementations of the SessionBean
methods. You fill in the implementations if your bean requires them. The
next section explains what these methods are and how they are used.

Implementing the SessionBean interface

The SessionBean interface defines the methods all session beans must
implement. It extends the EnterpriseBean interface.
package javax.ejb;
public interface SessionBean extends EnterpriseBean {
void setSessionContext(SessionContext sessionContext)
throws EJBException, RemoteException;
void ejbRemove() throws EJBException, RemoteException;
void ejbActivate() throws EJBException, RemoteException;
void ejbPassivate() throws EJBException, RemoteException;
}

13-2 Enterprise JavaBeans Developer’s Guide

 Writing the session bean class

The methods of the SessionBean interface are closely associated with the life
cycle of a session bean. This table explains their purpose:

Method Description
setSessionContext() Sets a session context. The bean’s container calls this method
to associate a session bean instance with its context. The
session context interface provides methods to access the
runtime properties of the context in which a session runs.
Usually a session bean retains its context in a data field.
ejbRemove() Notifies a session object that it is about to be removed. The
container calls this method whenever it removes a stateful
session bean as a result of the client calling a remove() method
of the remote/local or remote home/local home interface.
ejbActivate() Notifies a stateful session object that is has been activated.
ejbPassivate() Notifies a stateful session object that it is about to be
deactivated by the container.

The ejbActivate() and ejbPassivate() methods allow a stateful session bean

to manage resources. For more information, see “Stateful beans” on
page 13-6.

Writing the business methods

Within your enterprise bean class, write full implementations of the
business methods your bean needs using JBuilder’s code editor. To make
these methods available to a client, you must also declare them in the
bean’s remote interface exactly as they are declared in the bean class. You
can use JBuilder’s Bean designer to perform that task for you. See
“Exposing business methods through the remote interface” on page 6-11.

Adding one or more ejbCreate() methods

If you use the JBuilder’s EJB wizards to begin your enterprise bean, you’ll
see that an ejbCreate() method that takes no parameters is added to the
bean class. You can add additional ejbCreate() methods that do include
parameters. While stateless session beans never need more than a
parameterless ejbCreate() method because they don’t retain any state,
stateful session beans often need one or more ejbCreate() methods that
have parameters. As you write additional ejbCreate() methods with
parameters, keep these rules in mind:
• Each ejbCreate() must be declared as public.
• Each must return void.
• The parameters of an ejbCreate() method must be of the same number
and type as those in the corresponding create() method in the bean’s

Developing session beans 13-3

Writing the session bean class

remote interface. For stateless session beans, there can be only one
parameterless ejbCreate().
This is the signature for all ejbCreate() methods of a session bean:
public void ejbCreate( <zero or more parameters> ) {
// implementation
}
The ejbCreate() method need not throw an exception, although it can
throw application-specific exceptions and other exceptions, such
javax.ejb.CreateException. The EJB wizards generate an ejbCreate() method
that throws javax.ejb.CreateException.

How JBuilder can help you create a session bean

If you are creating a EJB 2.0 session bean, you begin by right-clicking the
EJB Designer pane and choosing New Session Bean from the context
menu. A session bean representation appears in the EJB Designer with an
inspector for modifying its attributes:

Use the Inspector to choose whether the session bean is stateful or

stateless and to set other attributes. For more information about creating
session beans with the EJB 2.0 Designer, see “Creating session beans” on
page 5-7.

13-4 Enterprise JavaBeans Developer’s Guide

 Writing the session bean class

Using JBuilder’s Enterprise JavaBean 1.x wizard, you can begin creating a
EJB 1.1 session bean by selecting either the Stateless Session Bean or
Stateful Session Bean option on the wizard’s second page:

Not only do JBuilder’s EJB wizards create your enterprise bean class, they
also create the bean’s home and remote/local interfaces as they create the
bean class. This way, you are assured the create() method of the home
interface returns the remote/local interface while the ejbCreate() method
always returns void.
When you write the business methods in your EJB 2.0 bean class, you use
the inspector to specify in which interface the methods are declared. The
EJB Designer then adds the correct declaration for you to the proper
interface. If you specify a home interface, the EJB Designer declares the
method as a home business method. It adds the prefix ejbHome to the
name of the method in your bean class and declares the method without
the prefix in the home interface.
After you write the business methods in your EJB 1.x bean class, you can
use the Bean designer to specify which of those you want defined in the
bean’s remote interface for an EJB 1.1 session bean. A client application
can access only those methods defined in the remote interface. Once you
specify which methods you want a client to be able to call, the Bean
designer defines the methods in the remote interface for you.
If you already have a complete enterprise bean class, but don’t have home
and remote interfaces for it, you can use JBuilder’s EJB 1.x Interfaces
wizard to create them. The method signatures will comply with EJB 1.1
specifications in the home and remote interfaces without you having to
worry about making them correct.
For more information about using JBuilder’s tools to develop EJB 1.1
session beans, see “Creating a session bean” on page 6-6.

Developing session beans 13-5

The life of a session bean

The life of a session bean

Stateful and stateless session beans have different life cycles. You should
understand what happens during the life cycle of each.

Stateless beans
The life of a stateless session bean begins when the client calls the create()
method of the session bean’s home interface. The container creates a new
instance of the session bean and returns an object reference to the client.

During the creation process, the container invokes the setSessionContext()

method of the SessionBean interface and calls the ejbCreate() method of the
session bean implementation. The new bean object joins a pool of stateless
bean objects that are ready for use by clients. Because stateless session
objects don’t maintain client-specific state, the container can assign any
bean object to handle an incoming method call. When the container
removes an object from the session bean object pool, it calls the ejbRemove()
method of the bean object.
Note that calling the create() or remove() methods of the home and
remote/local interfaces doesn’t add or remove a stateless session bean
object to or from the stateless session bean pool. The container controls the
life cycle of stateless beans.

Stateful beans
The life of a stateful session bean begins when the client calls the create()
method of the session bean’s home interface. The container creates a new
instance of the session bean, initializes it, and returns an object reference
to the client.

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 The life of a session bean

During the creation process, the container invokes the setSessionContext()

method of the SessionBean interface and calls the ejbCreate() method of the
session bean implementation. As a bean provider, you can use these
methods to initialize the session bean.
The state of the session bean is now method ready, which means it can
perform nontransaction operations or be included in a transaction for
transaction operations. The bean remains in the method-ready state until
one of three things happens:
• The bean enters a transaction.
• The bean is removed.
• The bean is passivated.
When a client calls the remove() method of the remote/local or home
interface, the container invokes the corresponding ejbRemove() method on
the session bean object. As a bean provider, you put any
application-specific cleanup code in this method. After ejbRemove()
completes, the bean object is no longer usable. If the client attempts to call
a method in the bean object, the container throws the
java.rmi.NoSuchObjectException.

The container can deactivate the session bean instance. Usually this occurs
for resource management reasons such as when a session object is idle for
a while or if the container requires more memory. The container
deactivates the bean by calling the bean’s ejbPassivate() method. When a
bean instance is deactivated, which is called passivation, the container
stores reference information and the state of the session object on disk and

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The life of a session bean

frees the memory allocated to the bean. You can add code to ejbPassivate()
if you have some task you want to execute just before passivation occurs.
The container activates the bean object again by calling the ejbActivate()
method. This occurs when the client calls a method on the session bean
that is passivated. During activation, the container recreates the session
object in memory and restores its state. If you want something to happen
immediately after the bean becomes active again, add your code to the
ejbActivate() method.

The method-ready in transaction state

When a client calls a method on a session bean object in a transactional
context, the container starts a new transaction or includes the bean object
in an existing one. The bean enters the method-ready in transaction state.
There are points in a transaction’s life cycle, called transaction
synchronization points, where a session bean object can be notified of
upcoming transaction events and the object can take some action
beforehand if necessary.

The SessionSynchronization interface

A session bean can implement the SessionSynchronization interface if it
wants to be notified about the state of any transaction in which it is
involved. Only stateful session beans using container-managed
transactions can implement SessionSynchronization; its use is optional. The
methods of SessionSynchronization are callbacks made by the container into
the bean, and they mark points within the transaction. Here is the
SessionSynchronization interface:
public interface javax.ejb.SessionSynchronization
{
public abstract void afterBegin() throws RemoteException;
public abstract void beforeCompletion() throws RemoteException;
public abstract void afterCompletion(boolean completionStatus) throws
RemoteException;
}
The Enterprise JavaBean 1.1 wizard can add these methods to your bean
class. Using the wizard, check the Session Synchronization check box, and

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 The life of a session bean

the wizard declares the three methods with empty bodies in your bean
class:

For an EJB 2.0 session bean, use the bean’s Inspector in the EJB Designer to
set the Session Synchronization attribute to true to add the
SessionSyncronization interface methods to your bean class.
The following table briefly describes each method:

Method Description
afterBegin() Notifies the bean instance that it is about to be used in a
transaction. Any code you write within afterBegin() occurs
within the scope of the transaction.
beforeCompletion() Notifies the bean instance that the transaction is about to
commit. If the bean has any cached values, use
beforeCompletion() to write them to the database. If necessary,
a session bean could use the beforeCompletion() method to
force the transaction to roll back by calling the
setRollbackOnly() method of the SessionContext interface.
afterCompletion() Notifies the bean instance that the transaction has completed.
If the transaction was committed, the parameter
completionStatus is set to true. If the transaction was rolled
back, the parameter is set to false.

This is how the SessionSynchronization methods are used: The client calls a
transactional business method defined in the remote interface, which puts
the bean object in the transaction-ready state. The container calls the
afterBegin() method in the bean object. Later, if the transaction is
committed, the container calls beforeCompletion(), and then, if the commit
was successful, the afterCompletion(true) method. If the transaction was
rolled back or otherwise failed to commit, the container calls
afterCompletion(false). The session bean object is now in method-ready
state again.

Developing session beans 13-9

A shopping cart session bean

For more information about using session beans in transactions, see

Chapter 18, “Managing transactions.”

A shopping cart session bean

This example demonstrates the use of a stateful session enterprise bean,
Cart, that becomes a virtual shopping cart for an online store. Shoppers
select items and put them in their virtual shopping carts. They can leave
the site briefly, return, and add more things to their carts. Whenever they
want, shoppers can view the items in their cart. When they are ready, they
buy the items in the cart.
You can find complete code for the cart example in the /
BorlandEnterpriseServer/examples/ejb/cart directory.

Examining the files of the cart example

The cart example consists of a number of different files. This section
focuses on those files that you might write yourself, or that illustrate
interesting things about session beans. Some of the files in the cart
directory are generated files (stubs, skeletons, and other CORBA code)
that are not discussed here.
These are the key files:
• CartHome.java, the file that defines the home interface for the Cart session
bean.
• Cart.java, the file that defines the remote interface for the Cart session
bean.
• CartBean.java, the session bean class.
• Item.java, an item file used by CartBean. It provides methods for getting
the price and title of the items that are placed in the virtual cart.
• Cart.xml, the deployment descriptor file. For EJB 1.1, an XML file
contains the deployment descriptor of an enterprise bean.
• Exception files. These files define the application -specific exceptions
thrown by CartBean. There are three exceptions and each is defined in its
own file:
• ItemNotFoundException
• PurchaseProblemException
• CardExpiredException
• CartClient.java, the client application.

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The Cart session bean

This section provides the details for how you might implement a Cart
session bean. You would begin by using the Enterprise JavaBean wizard.
On the second page of the wizard, type in the name of the class as CartBean
and select the Stateful Session Bean option and click Next. Accept the
suggested home interface name, the remote interface name, and the bean
home name, and choose Finish. The wizard creates a skeleton bean class
for you:
package shoppingcart;
import java.rmi.*;
import javax.ejb.*;

public class CartBean implements SessionBean {

private SessionContext sessionContext;

public void ejbCreate() throws CreateException {

}

public void ejbRemove() throws RemoteException {

}

public void ejbActivate() throws RemoteException {

}

public void ejbPassivate() throws RemoteException {

}

public void setSessionContext(SessionContext context) throws RemoteException {

sessionContext = context;
}
}
A session bean class must be defined as public. It cannot be defined as
final or abstract. The bean class must implement the SessionBean interface.
Session beans are Java objects, so they can have instance variables.
CartBean has four instance variables you add to the class. The four
variables are declared as private:
private Vector _items = new Vector();
private String _cardHolderName;
private String _creditCardNumber;
private Date _expirationDate;
Place these declarations after the sessionContext variable the Enterprise
JavaBean wizard added to the class.
The _items variable holds the items owned by the cart object. It is a vector,
a collection of items. The remaining three instance variables store the
credit card information of the online shopper.

Developing session beans 13-11

A shopping cart session bean

Adding the required methods

A session bean must implement the four methods that are defined by the
SessionBean interface. The EJB container invokes these methods on the
bean instance at specific points in a session bean’s life cycle. At a
minimum, the bean provider must implement these methods with empty
bodies. The bean provider can add additional code to these methods if it is
needed. This CartBean session bean adds no code to these methods. These
are the four methods:
public void ejbRemove() {}
public void ejbActivate() {}
public void ejbPassivate() {}
public void setSessionContext(SessionContext context) {}
The Enterprise JavaBean wizard adds all four of these methods. In the
setSessionContext() method, the wizard assigns the value of the context
parameter to the sessionContext instance variable.
The container calls the setSessionContext() method to associate the bean
instance with its session context. The bean can choose to retain this session
context reference as part of its conversational state, but it’s not required to
do so. If you used the Enterprise JavaBean wizard, the session context
reference is held. The session bean can use the session context to get
information about itself, such as environment variables or its home
interface.
The container calls the ejbPassivate() method on the bean instance when it
needs to place the bean instance into a passive state. The container writes
the bean’s current state to secondary storage when it passivates the bean.
It restores this state when it later activates the bean. Because the container
calls the ejbPassivate() method just before it actual passivates the bean
instance, you, as the bean provider, can add code to this method to do any
special variable caching you want. Similarly, the container calls the
ejbActivate() method on the bean instance just prior to returning the bean
instance to an active state from a passive state. When it activates the bean,
it restores all persisted state values. You can choose to add code to the
ejbActivate() method. CartBean leaves these implementations empty.
While a session bean isn’t required to implement a constructor, it must
implement at least one ejbCreate() method. This method serves as a
constructor to create a new bean instance. A stateful session can
implement more than one ejbCreate() method. Each ejbCreate() method
would differ only in their parameters.
The CartBean example declares one ejbCreate() method that takes three
parameters:
public void ejbCreate(String cardHolderName, String creditCardNumber,
Date expirationDate) throws CreateException {
_cardHolderName = cardHolderName;
_creditCardNumber = creditCardNumber;
}

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The container calls the ejbRemove() method just prior to removing the bean
instance. You can add some application-specific code that would execute
before the bean is removed, but it isn’t required. The CartBean example
leaves the body of the ejbRemove() method empty.

Adding the business methods

There are a few rules that your business methods must follow:
• None of the method names can start with the prefix ejb to avoid
conflict with names reserved by the EJB architecture.
• Each method must be declared as public.
• No method can be declared as final or static.
• The parameters and return types must be legal RMI-IIOP types.
• The throws clause may include the javax.ejb.EJBException exception,
and it may define arbitrary application-specific exceptions.
In the Cart example, five business methods are implemented. The
signatures (method name, number of parameters, parameter types, and
return type) of the session bean class methods must match those of the
remote interface. To ensure that happens, you can use the Bean designer
to move the business methods you add to the bean class to the bean’s
remote interface.
To help you follow the flow of the program, each business method includes a
line of code that displays the method name and what it is doing.
The addItem() method adds an item to the vector that holds the list of items
in the cart:
public void addItem(Item item) {
System.out.println("\taddItem(" + item.getTitle() + "): " + this);
_items.addElement(item);
}
The removeItem() method is more complicated. The method loops through
the elements in the item list and checks if the class and the title of the item
to be removed match the class and title of one in the list. This method
verifies that you are removing the item you really want removed. If no
matching item is found, the method throws an ItemNotFoundException.
public void removeItem(Item item) throws ItemNotFoundException {
System.out.println("\tremoveItem(" + item.getTitle() + "): " + this);
Enumeration elements = _items.elements();
while(elements.hasMoreElements()) {
Item current = (Item) elements.nextElement();
// items are equal if they have the same class and title
if(item.getClass().equals(current.getClass()) &&
item.getTitle().equals(current.getTitle())) {
_items.removeElement(current);
return;
}
}

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A shopping cart session bean

The getTotalPrice() method initializes the total price to zero, then loops
through the item list, adding the price of each element to the total price. It
returns the total price rounded to the nearest penny.
public float getTotalPrice() {
System.out.println("\tgetTotalPrice(): " + this);
float totalPrice = 0f;
Enumeration elements = _items.elements();
while(elements.hasMoreElements()) {
Item current = (Item) elements.nextElement();
totalPrice += current.getPrice();
}
// round to the nearest lower penny
return (long) (totalPrice * 100) / 100f;
}
All data types passed between a client and a server must be serializable.
That is, they must implement the java.io.Serializable interface. In the Cart
example, the bean returns a list of items to the client. If there were no
serializable restrictions, you could use _items.elements() to return the
contents of the item vector. But _items.elements() returns a Java Enumeration
object, which is not serializable. To avoid this problem, the program
implements a class called com.inprise.ejb.util.VectorEnumeration(_items).
This class takes a vector and returns an actual enumeration, which is
serializable, for the contents of that vector. The CartBean object passes this
serializable vector to the client, and receives a serializable vector passed
from the client side. The getContents() method does the conversion
between a Java Enumeration and a serializable VectorEnumeration.
public java.util.Enumeration getContents() {
System.out.println("\tgetContents(): " + this);
return new com.inprise.ejb.util.VectorEnumeration(_items);
}
The purchase() method should do the following:
1 Get the current time.
2 Compare the expiration date of the credit card with the current time. If
the expiration date is prior to the current time, the method throws the
CardExpiredException application exception.
3 Complete the purchasing process, including updating inventory,
posting the charge to the credit card company, and initiating shipment
of the item. (None of this has actually been implemented in the Cart
example.) If an error occurs at any point, the purchase process does not
complete and the method throws a PurchaseProblemException exception.
public void purchase() throws PurchaseProblemException {
System.out.println("\tpurchase(): " + this);

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 A shopping cart session bean

// make sure the credit card has not expired

Date today = Calendar.getInstance().getTime();
if(_expirationDate.before(today)) {
throw new CardExpiredException("Expiration date: " +
_expirationDate);
}
// complete purchasing process
// throw PurchaseProblemException if an error occurs
}
CartBean includes a toString() method to print out the CartBean and the
name of the card holder.
// method to print out CartBean and the name of card holder
public String toString() {
return "CartBean[name=" + _cardHolderName + "]";
}

Item class
The CartBean example uses an Item class. Item is public and it extends
java.io.Serializable; serialized data can be passed on the wire:
package shoppingcart;
public class Item implements java.io.Serializable {
private String _title;
private float _price;
public Item(String title, float price) {
_title = title;
_price = price;
}
public String getTitle() {
return _title;
}
public float getPrice() {
return _price;
}
}

Exceptions
There are three exception classes in the Cart example. All are extensions of
the Java class Exception:
public class ItemNotFoundException extends Exception {
public ItemNotFoundException(String message) {
super(message);
}
}
public class PurchaseProblemException extends Exception {
public PurchaseProblemException(String message) {
super(message);
}
}

Developing session beans 13-15

A shopping cart session bean

public class CardExpiredException extends Exception {

public CardExpiredException(String message) {
super(message);
}
}

Required interfaces
Session beans always have at least two interfaces: a home and a remote or
local interface. In this example the Cart session bean has a public EJB
remote interface called Cart, and a home interface called CartHome.
When you use JBuilder’s EJB wizards, the home and remote/local
interfaces are created at the same time the bean class is. If you already
have an EJB 1.1 session bean, but not the interfaces, use the EJB 1.x
Interfaces wizard to create the interfaces. To use the wizard, display the
source code of the your enterprise bean in the code editor and choose
Wizards|EJB|EJB 1.1 Interfaces. Respond to the wizard’s prompts and
when you are done, the wizard creates a home and a remote interface for
your enterprise bean.

The home interface

Like all other remote home interfaces, CartHome extends the EJBHome
interface. While the home interface can potentially perform two actions,
creating bean instances and finding bean instances, session beans need
only to create a bean instance. Session beans always cease to exist when a
client’s session ends. Therefore, there would be no need to find a CartBean
instance when a shopper enters an online store, for example, because a
CartBean instance doesn’t exist. Only home interfaces for entity beans
include find operations, because entity beans are used by multiple clients
and persist as long as the data entities exists. Here is the CartHome interface:
// CartHome.java
public interface CartHome extends javax.ejb.EJBHome {
Cart create(String cardHolderName, String creditCardNumber,
java.util.Date expirationDate)
throws java.rmi.RemoteException,javax.ejb.CreateException;
}
The CartHome interface is very simple, defining a solitary create() method.
Because this is a stateful session bean, there can be more than one create()
method. In this example, create() method in the CartHome interface takes
three parameters: cardHolderName, creditCardNumber, and expirationDate.
The client invokes the create() method to request a shopping cart and the
container creates one specifically for that user. The client can use the
shopping cart intermittently, but the session bean remains active for that
one client until the user exits and the session bean instance is removed.

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 A shopping cart session bean

A stateful session bean maintains state across method calls, regardless of

whether those methods are within the context of a transaction. The state is
the data carried by an bean object. The data remains associated with the
bean object for the lifetime of the object. When the session is over, the
container flushes the state of session bean from memory.
The create() method follows the rules defined in the EJB specification: it
throws an RMI remote exception, java.rmi.RemoteException, and it throws
an EJB create exception, javax.ejb.CreateException. The signature of the
create() method matches that of the ejbCreate() method in the session
bean class it terms of the number and type of parameters. The return value
of create() is a Cart remote interface. This is because the CartHome interface
functions as a factory for CartBean. (The return value for the matching
ejbCreate() method in the CartBean class is void.)

The remote interface

The Cart session bean has a remote interface Cart that extends the EJBObject
interface. EJBObject is a base interface for all remote interfaces. It defines
the methods that enable you to
• Get information about the session bean.
You can test if the bean object is identical to another enterprise bean
object. (You can also get the primary key for an entity bean, but that
doesn’t apply to session beans.)
• Obtain a reference or a handle to the session bean.
You can obtain a reference to the bean’s home interface of a
serialization handle to the bean instance. You can store the handle and
retrieve it at a later time and then use it to regain your reference to the
bean instance.
• Remove the bean instance.
The EJBObject interface defines the remove() method for removing the
bean instance.
The Cart remote interface defines five business methods in addition to the
methods it inherits from EJBObject. These business methods are the
methods implemented in the CartBean session bean class. The Cart remote
interface merely exposes these methods to clients. A client can call only
the methods of an enterprise bean that the remote interface exposes. These
are the exposed business methods:
• addItem(), which adds an item to the shopping cart.
• removeItem(), which removes an item from the shopping cart.
• getTotalPrice(), which adds the prices on all the items and returns the
total price.

Developing session beans 13-17

A shopping cart session bean

• getContents(), which gathers all the items in the shopping cart and
returns them in a lists that can be viewed or printed.
• purchaseItems(), which attempts to purchase the items.

The Cart deployment descriptor

According to the EJB 1.1 and 2.0 specifications, the deployment descriptor
must be an XML file. The XML file follows the Document Type Definition
(DTD) approved by Sun Microsystems. A deployment descriptor contains
a set of properties that describe how the container will deploy the
enterprise bean or application.
As you use JBuilder’s EJB wizards to create a session bean, JBuilder also
creates a deployment descriptor for you. You can then use the
Deployment Descriptor editor to customize it to your needs.
The deployment descriptor includes a set of tags and attributes whose
values indicate the properties of the bean. For example, some of the tags
for the Cart example are as follows:
• The <session> tag specifies that the enterprise bean is a session bean.
With the <session> tag, other tags exist:
• <ejb-class> — The name of the session bean class that implements
the bean.
• <home> — The home interface name.
• <remote> — The remote interface name.
• <session-type> — Whether the session bean is stateful or stateless.
• <transaction-type> — Whether persistence is container-managed or
bean-managed.
• <trans attribute> — The transaction attribute for each method.
• <timeout> — The time out value for the session bean.
Here is the deployment descriptor file for the cart session bean:
<ejb-jar>
<enterprise-beans>
<session>
<description>
XML deployment descriptor cart session bean
<description>
<ejb-name>cart</ejb-name>
<home>CartHome</home>
<remote>Cart</remote>
<ejb-class>CartBean</ejb-class>
<session-type>Stateful</session-type>
<transaction-type>Container</transaction-type>
<session>
<enterprise-beans>

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 A shopping cart session bean

<assembly-descriptor>
<container-transaction>
<method>
<ejb-name>cart</ejb-name>
<method-name>*</method-name>
</method>
<trans-attribute>NotSupported</trans-attribute>
</container-transaction>
<container-transaction>
<method>
<ejb-name>cart</ejb-name>
<method-name>purchase</method-name>
</method>
<trans-attribute>Required</trans-attribute>
</container-transaction>
</assembly-descriptor>
</ejb-jar>
The CartClient program is the client application that uses the Cart
enterprise bean. Its main() routine includes elements that all enterprise
bean client application must implement. It demonstrates how to
• Use JNDI to locate the bean’s home interface.
• Use the home interface’s create() method to create a new remote Cart
object.
• Invoke a method declared in the Cart object.
public static void main(String] args) throws Exception {
// get a JNDI context using the Naming service
javax.naming.Context context = new javax.naming.InitialContext();

Object objref = context.lookup("cart");

CartHome home = (CartHome)javax.rmi.PortableRemoteObject.narrow(objref,
CartHome.class);
Cart cart;
{
String cardHolderName = "Jack B. Quick";
String creditCardNumber = "1234-5678-9012-3456";
Date expirationDate = new GregorianCalendar(2001,
Calendar.JULY,1).getTime();
cart = home home.create(cardHolderName, creditCardNumber, expirationDate);
}
Book knuthBook = new Book("The Art of Computer Programming", 49.95f);
cart.addItem(knuthBook);
... // create compact disc and add it to cart, then list cart contents
summarize(cart)
cart.removeItem(knuthBook);
... // add a different book and summarize cart contents
try {
cart.purchase();
}
catch(PurchaseProblemException e) {
System.out.println("Could not purchase the items:\n\t" + e);
}
cart.remove();
}

Developing session beans 13-19

A shopping cart session bean

The main() routine begins by a JNDI context to look up objects. It

constructs an initial context (a Java naming context). This is standard JNDI
code.
main() looks up the CartHome object called cart. Looking up a name with
JNDI invoking a call from the client to the CosNaming service to look up
the name in CosNaming. The CosNaming service returns an object
reference to the client. In this example, it returns a CORBA object
reference. The program must perform a PortableRemoteObject.narrow()
operation on the object reference and cast the returned object to the type
CartHome, and assign it to the variable home. This call is typical for
distributed applications. The call uses CORBA and IIOP to do the
following:
• Talk to a server.
• Perform a CosNaming lookup.
• Obtain a CORBA object reference.
• Return the object reference to the client.
The program declares a reference to the remote cart object, initializes three
create() parameter variables, and creates a new cart remote object.
The program creates two shopping cart items, a book and a compact disc,
and adds these items to the shopping cart using the cart’s addItem()
method.
The routine then lists the items current in the cart by calling the
summarize() function. summarize() retrieves the elements or items in the cart
using the cart’s getContents() method, which returns a Java Enumeration. It
then uses the Java Enumeration interface methods to read each element in
the Enumeration, extracting the title and price for each one. Here is the
summarize() function code:
static void summarize(Cart cart) throws Exception {
System.out.println("======== Cart Summary =========")'
Enumeration elements = cart.getContents();
while(elements.hasMoreElements()) {
Item current = (Item) elements.nextElement():
System.out.println("Price: $" + current.getPrice() + "\t" +
current.getClass().getName() + " title: " + current.getTitle());
}
System.out.println("Total: $" + cart.getTotalPrice());
System.out.println("===============================");
}
The program then calls cart’s removeItem() method to remove an item from
the cart. It adds a different item and summarizes the cart contents again.
Finally, the program attempts to purchase the items. The purchase
operation fails because it is not implemented on the server, and a
PurchaseProblemException is thrown.

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Because the user is finished with the shopping session, the program
removes the cart. It’s not necessary to remove the cart, although it is good
programming practice to do so. A session bean exists for the client that
created it. When the client ends the session, the container automatically
removes the session bean object. The container also removes the session
bean object when it times out, although this doesn’t happen immediately.
CartClient also includes code that extends the generic Item class with two
types of items: a book and a compact disc. Book and CompactDisc are the
classes used in the example.

Developing session beans 13-21

13-22 Enterprise JavaBeans Developer’s Guide
 Chapter

Developing entity beans

Chapter14
14
An entity bean directly represents data stored in persistent storage, such
as a database. It maps to a row or rows within a table in a relational
database, or to an entity object in an object-oriented database. It can also
map to one or more rows across multiple tables. In a database, a primary
key uniquely identifies a row in a table. Similarly, a primary key identifies
a specific entity bean instance. Each column in the relational database
table maps to an instance variable in the entity bean.
Because an entity bean usually represents data stored in a database, it
lives as long as the data. Regardless of how long an entity bean remains
inactive, the container doesn’t remove it from persistent storage.
The only way to remove an entity bean is to explicitly do so. An entity
bean is removed by calling its remove() method, which removes the
underlying data from the database. Or an existing enterprise application
can remove data from the database.

Persistence and entity beans

All entity enterprise beans are persistent; that is, their state is stored
between sessions and clients. As a bean provider, you can choose how
your entity bean’s persistence is implemented.
You can implement the bean’s persistence directly in the entity bean class,
making the bean itself responsible for maintaining its persistence. This is
called bean-managed persistence.
Or you can delegate the handling of the entity bean’s persistence to the
EJB container. This is called container-managed persistence.

Developing entity beans 14-1

Primary keys in entity beans

Bean-managed persistence
An entity bean with bean-managed persistence contains the code to access
and update a database. That is, you, as the bean provider, write database
access calls directly in the entity bean or its associated classes. Usually you
write these calls using JDBC.
The database access calls can appear in the entity bean’s business
methods, or in one of the entity bean interface methods. (You’ll read more
about the entity bean interface soon.)
Usually a bean with bean-managed persistence is more difficult to write
because you must write the additional data-access code. And, because you
might choose to embed the data-access code in the bean’s methods, it can
also be more difficult to adapt the entity bean to different databases or to a
different schema.

Container-managed persistence
You don’t have to write code that accesses and updates databases for
entity beans with container-managed persistence. Instead, the bean relies
on the container to access and update the database.
Container-managed persistence has many advantages compared to
bean-managed persistence:
• Such beans are easier to code.
• Persistence details can be changed without modifying and recompiling
the entity bean. Instead the deployer or application assembler can
modify the deployment descriptor.
• The complexity of the code is reduced, as is the possibility of errors.
• You, as the bean provider, can focus on the business logic of the bean
and not on the underlying system issues.
Container-managed persistence has some limitations, however. For
example, the container might load the entire state of the entity object into
the bean instance’s fields before it calls the ejbLoad() method. This could
lead to performance problems if the bean has many fields.

Primary keys in entity beans

Each entity bean instance must have a primary key. A primary key is a
value (or combination of values) that uniquely identifies the instance. For
example, a database table that contains employee records might use the
employee’s social security number for its primary key. The entity bean

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 Writing the entity bean class

modeling this employee table would also use the social security number
for its primary key.
For enterprise beans, the primary key is represented by a String or Integer
type or a Java class containing the unique data. This primary key class can
be any class as long as that class is a legal value type in RMI_IIOP. This
means the class must extend the java.io.Serializable interface, and it must
implement the Object.equals(Other other) and Object.hashCode() methods,
which all Java classes inherit.
The primary key class can be specific to a particular entity bean class. That
is, each entity bean can define its own primary key class. Or multiple
entity beans can share the same primary key class.

Writing the entity bean class

To create an entity bean class,
• Create a class that implements the javax.ejb.EntityBean interface.
• Implement one or more ejbCreate() methods. If you’ve already created
the home interface for the bean, the bean must have an ejbCreate()
method with the same signature for each create() method in the home
interface. If an ejbCreate() method has a parameter, you must also
declare and implement an ejbPostCreate() method.
• Define and implement the business methods you want your bean to
have. If you’ve already created the remote interface for the bean, the
methods must be defined exactly as they are in the remote interface.
• For entity beans with bean-managed persistence, implement finder
methods.
JBuilder’s EJB wizards can start these tasks for you. They create a class
that extends the EntityBean interface and writes empty implementations of
the EntityBean methods. You fill in the implementations if your bean
requires it. The next section explains what these methods are and how
they are used.
If you’d like to build EJB 2.0 entity beans using existing database tables,
you import a database schema into the EJB Designer and use it to create
your entity beans. For more information, see “Creating entity beans from
an imported data source” on page 5-13.
To use existing database tables for EJB 1.x entity beans, you use JBuilder’s
EJB 1.x Entity Modeler. For more information, see Chapter 7, “Creating
EJB 1.x entity beans from an existing database table.”

Developing entity beans 14-3

Writing the entity bean class

Implementing the EntityBean interface

The EntityBean interface defines the methods all entity beans must
implement. It extends the EnterpriseBean interface.
public void EntityBean extends EnterpriseBean {
public void setEntityContext(EntityContext ctx) throws EJBException,
RemoteException;
public void unsetEntitycontext() throws EJBException, RemoteException;
void ejbRemove() throws RemoveException, EJBException, RemoteException;
void ejbActivate() throws EJBException, RemoteException;
void ejbPassivate() throws EJBException, RemoteException;
void ejbLoad() throws EJBException, RemoteException;
public void ejbStore() throws EJBException, RemoteException;
}
The methods of the EntityBean interface are closely associated with the life
cycle of an entity bean. This table explains their purpose:

Method Description
setEntityContext() Sets an entity context. The container uses this method to
pass a reference to the EntityContext interface to the bean
instance. The EntityContext interface provides methods to
access properties of the runtime context for the entity bean.
An entity bean instance that uses this context must store it in
an instance variable.
unsetEntityContext() Frees the resources that were allocated during the
setEntityContext() method call. The container calls this
method before it terminates the life of the current instance of
the entity bean.
ejbRemove() Removes the database entry or entries associated with this
particular entity bean. The container calls this method when
a client invokes a remove() method.
ejbActivate Notifies an entity bean that it has been activated. The
container invokes this method on the instance selected from
the pool of available instances and assigned to a specific
entity object identity. When the bean instance is activated, it
has the opportunity to acquire additional resources that it
might need.
ejbPassivate() Notifies an entity bean that it is about to be deactivated—
that is, the instance’s association with an entity object
identity is about to be broken and the instance returned to
the pool of available instances. The instance can then release
any resources allocated with the ejbActivate() method that it
might not want to hold while in the pool.

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 Writing the entity bean class

Method Description
ejbLoad() Refreshes the data the entity object represents from the
database. The container calls this method on the entity bean
instance so that the instance synchronizes the entity state
cached in its instance variables to the entity state in the
database.
ejbStore() Stores the data the entity object represents in the database.
The container calls this method on the entity bean instance
so that the instance synchronizes the database state to the
entity state cached in its instance variables.

Declaring and implementing the entity bean methods

Entity beans can have three types of methods:
• Create methods
• Finder methods
• Business methods

Creating create methods

If you use the EJB wizards to begin your enterprise bean, you’ll see that
they add an ejbCreate() method and an ejbPostCreate() method to the bean
class that takes no parameters. You can write additional create methods if
your bean requires them.
Keep in mind that entity beans are not required to have create methods.
Calling a create method of an entity bean inserts new data in the database.
You can have entity beans without create methods if new instances of
entity objects should be added to the database only through DBMS
updates or through a legacy application.

ejbCreate() method
If you choose to add additional ejbCreate() methods that include
parameters, remember these rules:
• Each ejbCreate() must be declared as public.
• For container-managed entity beans, an ejbCreate() method must
return null.
The container has complete responsibility for creating
container-managed entity beans.
• For bean-managed entity beans, an ejbCreate() method must return an
instance of the primary key class for the new entity object.
The container uses this primary key to create the actual entity reference.

Developing entity beans 14-5

Writing the entity bean class

• The parameters of an ejbCreate() method must be of the same number

and type as those in the corresponding create() method in the bean’s
remote interface.
• Each ejbCreate() method must have a corresponding ejbPostCreate()
method that matches the ejbCreate() in the same number of parameters.
The signature for an ejbCreate() method is the same, regardless whether
the bean uses container-managed or bean-managed persistence. This is
the signature for all ejbCreate() methods of an entity bean:
public <PrimaryKeyClass> ejbCreate( <zero or more parameters> )
// implementation
}
When the client calls the create() method, the container in response
executes the ejbCreate() method and inserts a record representing the entity
object into the database. The ejbCreate() methods usually initialize some
entity state. Therefore, they often have one or more parameters and their
implementations include code that sets the entity state to the parameter
values. For example, the bank example discussed later in this chapter has a
checking account entity bean whose ejbCreate() method takes two
parameters, a string and a float value. The method initializes the name of
the account to the string value and the account balance to the float value:
public AccountPK ejbCreate(String name, float balance) {
this.name = name;
this.balance = balance;
return null;
}

ejbPostCreate() method
When an ejbCreate() method finishes executing, the container then calls a
matching ejbPostCreate() method to allow the instance to complete its
initialization. The ejbPostCreate() matches the ejbCreate() method in its
parameters, but it returns void:
public void ejbPostCreate( <zero or more parameters> )
// implementation
}
Follow these rules when defining an ejbPostCreate():
• It must be declared as public.
• It can’t be declared as final or static.
• Its return type must be void.
• Its parameter list must match that of the corresponding ejbCreate()
method.
Use ejbPostCreate() to perform any special processing your bean needs to
do before it becomes available to the client. If your bean doesn’t need to
do any special processing, leave the method body empty, but remember to

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 Writing the entity bean class

include one ejbPostCreate() for every ejbCreate() for an entity bean with
bean-managed persistence.

Creating finder methods

Every entity bean must have one or more finder methods. Finder methods
are used by clients to locate entity beans. Each bean-managed entity bean
must have an ejbFindByPrimaryKey() method that has a corresponding
findByPrimaryKey() in the bean’s home interface. This is the
ejbFindByPrimaryKey() method’s signature:
public <PrimaryKeyClass> ejbFindByPrimaryKey(<PrimaryKeyClass primaryKey>) {
// implementation
}
You can define additional finder methods for your bean. For example, you
might have an ejbFindByLastName() method. Each finder method must
follow these rules:
• It must be declared as public.
• Its name must start with the prefix ejbFind.
• It can’t be declared as static or final.
• It must return either a primary key or a collection of primary keys or an
Enumeration of primary keys.
• The parameters and return type of the method must be valid Java RMI
types.
For entity beans with bean-managed persistence, each finder method
declared in the bean class must have a corresponding finder method in the
bean’s home interface that has the same parameters, but returns the entity
bean’s remote/local interface. The client locates the entity bean it wants by
calling the finder method of the home interface and the container then
invokes the corresponding finder method in the bean class. See “Finder
methods for entity beans” on page 16-5.
Finder methods for an EJB 2.0 entity bean with container-managed
persistence must have an EJB query language query defined in its
deployment descriptor. Use the EJB Designer to add a finder method, then
use the finder method’s inspector to define the query. For information
about writing EJB QL queries, see Enterprise JavaBeans Query Language
on the Sun web site at http://java.sun.com/j2ee/tutorial/1_3-fcs/doc/
EJBQL.html.

Writing the business methods

Within your enterprise bean class, write full implementations of the
business methods your bean needs. To make these methods available to a
client, you must also declare them in the bean’s remote interface using the
exact same signature.

Developing entity beans 14-7

The life of an entity bean

The life of an entity bean

There are three distinct states in the life cycle of an entity enterprise bean:
• Nonexistent
• Pooled
• Ready
The following diagram depicts the life cycle of an entity bean instance:

The nonexistent state

At first the entity bean instance doesn’t exist. The EJB container creates an
instance of an entity bean and then it calls the setEntityContext() method
on the entity bean to pass the instance a reference to its context; that is, a
reference to the EntityContext interface. The EntityContext interface gives
the instance access to container-provided services and allows it to obtain
information about its clients. The entity bean is now in the pooled state.

The pooled state

Each type of entity bean has its own pool. None of the instances in the
pool are associated with data. Because none of their instance variables
have been set, the instances have no identity and they are all equivalent.
The container is free to assign any instance to a client that requests such an
entity bean.
When a client application calls one of the entity bean’s finder methods, the
container executes the corresponding ejbFind() method on an arbitrary

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 The life of an entity bean

instance in the pool. The instance remains in the pooled state during the
execution of a finder method.
When the container selects an instance to service a client’s requests to an
entity object, that instance moves from the pooled to the ready state. There
are two ways that an entity instance moves from the pooled state to the
ready state:
• Through the ejbCreate() and ejbPostCreate() methods.
• Through the ejbActivate() method.
The container selects the instance to handle a client’s create() request on
the bean’s home interface. In response to the create() call, the container
creates an entity object and calls the ejbCreate() and ejbPostCreate()
methods when the instance is assigned to the entity object.
The container calls the ejbActivate() method to activate an instance so that
it can respond to an invocation on an existing entity object. Usually the
container calls ejbActivate() when there is no suitable instance in the
ready state to handle the client’s calls.

The ready state

When the instance is in the ready state, it is associated with a specific
primary key. Clients can call the application-specific methods on the
entity bean. The container calls the ejbLoad() and ejbStore() methods to tell
the bean to load and store its data. They also enable the bean instance to
synchronize its state with that of the underlying data entity.

Returning to the pooled state

When an entity bean instance moves back to the pooled state, the instance
is decoupled from the data represented by the entity. The container can
now assign the instance of any entity object within the same entity bean
home. There are two ways an entity bean instance moves from the ready
state back to the pooled state:
• The container calls the ejbPassivate() method to disassociate the instance
from its primary key without removing the underlying entity object.
• The container calls the ejbRemove() method to remove the entity object.
It calls ejbRemove() when the client application calls the bean’s home or
remote remove() method.
To remove an unassociated instance from the pool, the container calls the
instance’s unsetEntityContext() method.

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A bank entity bean example

A bank entity bean example

The bank example shows you how to use entity beans. It includes two
implementations of the same Account remote interface. One
implementation uses bean-managed persistence, and the other uses
container-managed persistence.
The SavingsAccount entity bean, which uses bean-managed persistence,
models savings accounts. As you examine the entity bean code, you’ll see
that it includes direct JDBC calls.
The CheckingAccount entity bean, which uses container-managed
persistence, models checking accounts. It relies on the container to
implement persistence, not you, the bean developer.
A third enterprise bean called Teller transfers funds from one account to
the other. It’s a stateless session bean that shows you how calls to multiple
entity beans can be grouped within a single container-managed
transaction. Even it the credit occurs before the debit in the transfer
operation, the container rolls back the transaction if the debit fails, and
neither the debit nor the credit occurs.
You can find complete code for the bank example in the
/BorlandEnterpriseServer/examples/ejb/bank directory.

The entity bean home interface

Multiple entity beans can share the same home and remote/local
interfaces, even if one entity bean uses container-managed persistence and
the other uses bean-managed persistence. Both SavingsAccount and
CheckingAccount entity beans use the same home interface, AccountHome.
They also use the same Account remote interface.
The home interface for an entity bean is very much like the home interface
for a session bean. They extend the same javax.ejb.EJBHome or
javax.ejb.EJBLocalHome interface. The home interface for entity beans must
include at least one finder method. A create() method is optional.
Here is the code for the AccountHome interface:
public interface AccountHome extends javax.ejb.EJBHome {
Account create(String name, float balance)
throws java.rmi.RemoteException, javax.ejb.CreateException;
Account findByPrimaryKey(AccountPK primaryKey)
throws java.rmi.RemoteException, javax.ejb.FinderException;
java.util.Enumeration findAccountsLargerThan(float balance)
throws java.rmi.RemoteException, javax.ejb.FinderException:
}
The AccountHome home interface implements three methods. While the
create() method is not required for entity beans, the bank example does

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 A bank entity bean example

implement one. The create() method inserts a new entity bean object into
the underlying database. You could choose to defer the creation of new
entity objects to the DBMS or to another application, in which case you
would not define a create() method.
The create() method requires two parameters, an account name string and
a balance amount. The implementation of this method in the entity bean
class uses these two parameter values to initialize the entity object state—
the account name and the starting balance—when it creates a new object.
The throws clause of a create() method must include the
java.rmi.RemoteException and the java.ejb.CreateException. It can also
include additional application-specific exceptions.
Entity beans must have the findByPrimaryKey() method, so the AccountHome
interface declares this method. It takes one parameter, the AccountPK
primary key class, and returns a reference to the Account remote interface.
This method finds one particular account entity and returns a reference to
it.
Although it’s not required, the home interface also declares a second
finder method, findAccountsLargerThan(). This method returns a Java
Enumeration containing all the accounts whose balance is greater than some
amount.

The entity bean remote interface

More than one entity bean can use the same remote/local interface, even
when the beans use different persistence management strategies. The
bank example’s two entity beans both use the same Account remote
interface.
The remote interface extends the javax.ejb.EJBObject interface and exposes
the business methods that are available to clients. Here is the code:
public interface Account extends javax.ejb.EJBObject {
public float getBalance() throws java.rmi.RemoteException;
public void credit(float amount) throws java.rmi.RemoteException;
public void debit(float amount) throws java.rmi.RemoteException;
}

An entity bean with container-managed persistence

The bank example implements a CheckingAccount 1.1 entity bean that
illustrates the basics for using container-managed persistence. In many
ways, this implementation is like a session bean implementation. There
are some key things to note in the implementation of an entity bean that
uses container-managed persistence, however:
• The entity bean has no implementations for finder methods. The EJB
container provides the finder method implementations for entity beans

Developing entity beans 14-11

A bank entity bean example

with container-managed persistence. Rather than providing the

implementation for the finder methods in the bean’s class, the
deployment descriptor contains information that enables the container
to implement these finder methods.
• The entity bean declares all fields public that are managed by the
container for the bean. The CheckingAccount bean declares name and
balance to be public fields.
• The entity bean class implements the several; methods declared in the
EntityBean interface: ejbActivate(), ejbPassivate(), ejbLoad(), ejbStore(),
ejbRemove(), setEntityContext(), and unsetEntityContext(). The entity
bean is required to provide skeletal implementations of these methods
only, however, although it is free to add application-specific code
where it is appropriate. The CheckingAccount bean saves the context
returned by setEntityContext() and releases the reference in
unsetEntityContext(). Otherwise, it adds no additional code to the
EntityBean interface methods.
• CheckingAccount includes an implementation of the ejbCreate() method
because this enterprise bean allows callers to create new checking
accounts. The implementation also initializes the instance’s two
variables, name and balance, to the parameter values. ejbCreate() returns
a null value because, with container-managed persistence, the
container creates the appropriate reference to return to the client.
• CheckingAccount provides the minimal implementation of the
ejbPostCreate() method, although this method could have performed
further initialization work if it was needed. For beans with
container-managed persistence, you need just a minimal implementation
of ejbPostCreate() because it serves as a notification callback.
import javax.ejb.*
import java.rmi.RemoteException;

public class CheckingAccount implements EntityBean {

private javax.ejb.EntityContext _context;
public String name;
public float balance;

public float getBalance() {

return balance;
}

public void debit(float amount) {

if(amount > balance) {
// mark the current transaction for rollback ...
_context.setRollbackOnly();
}
else {
balance = balance - amount;
}

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 A bank entity bean example

public void credit(float amount) {

balance = balance + amount;
}

public AccountPK ejbCreate(String name, float balance) {

this.name = name;
this.balance = balance;
return null;
}

public void ejbPostCreate(String name, float balance) {}

public void ejbRemove() {}
public void setEntityContext(EntityContext context) {
_context = context;
}

public void unsetEntityContext() {

context = null;
}

public void ejbActivate() {}

public void ejbPassivate() {}
public void ejbLoad() {}
public void ejbStore() {}
public String toString() {
return"CheckingAccount[name=" + name + ",balance=" + balance +"]";
}
}

An entity bean with bean-managed persistence

The bank example also implements a SavingsAccount bean, an entity bean
with bean-managed persistence. The SavingsAccount bean accesses a
different account table than the CheckingAccount bean. Although these two
entity beans use different persistence-management approaches, they can
both use the same home and remote interfaces. There are differences
between the two implementations, however.
An entity bean implementation with bean-managed persistence does the
following:
• It can declare its instance variables to be private rather than public.
The bean includes code to access these variables, to load the database
values into these instance variables, and to store their changes to the
database. As such, the bean can limit access to these variables as it sees
fit. This differs from a bean using container-managed persistence,
which must declare all container-managed variables to be public so that
the container can access them.

Developing entity beans 14-13

A bank entity bean example

• The ejbCreate() method returns the primary key class.

In the SavingsAccount bean the class is AccountPK. The container takes the
returned primary key class and uses it to construct a remote reference
to the entity bean instance.
• Just like beans with container-managed persistence, a bean with
bean-managed persistence may optionally provide more than an empty
implementation of the ejbCreate() method.
The SavingsAccount bean doesn’t need to include additional initialization
code in this method.
• It has implementations for the ejbLoad() and ejbStore() methods.
A bean using container-managed persistence usually provides just an
empty implementation of these methods because the container handles
persistence. An entity bean with bean-managed persistence must
provide its own code to read the database values into its instance
variables in the ejbLoad() method, and to write to the database with
changed values in the ejbStore() method.
• It has implementations for all finder methods.
The SavingsAccount entity bean implements two finder methods, the
required ejbFindByPrimaryKey() method, and the optional
ejbFindAccountsLargerThan() method.
• An entity bean with bean-managed persistence must implement the
ejbRemove() method.
Because the bean is managing the underlying database entity object, it
must implement this method so that it can remove the entity object
from the database. A bean with container-managed persistence will
omit the implementation of this method because the container is
responsible for the database management.
• Each method that accesses the underlying database object must include
the correct database access code.
These methods are ejbCreate(), ejbRemove(), ejbLoad(), ejbStore,
ejbFindByPrimaryKey(), all other finder methods, and the business
methods. Each method contains code to connect to the database,
followed by code to build and then execute SQL statements that
accomplish the functionality encompassed by the method. When the
SQL statements complete, the method closes the statements and the
database connection before returning.
The following code sample shows the interesting code portions from the
SavingsAccount implementation class. The example removes the code that is
merely the empty implementations of the EntityBean interfaces methods,
such as ejbActivate(), ejbPassivate(), and so on.

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 A bank entity bean example

First look at the ejbLoad() method, which accesses the database entity
object, to see how a bean with bean-managed persistence implements
database access. Note that all of the methods implemented in the
SavingsAccount class follow the same approach as ejbLoad() uses. The
ejbLoad() method begins by establishing a connection to the database. It
calls the internal getConnection() method, which uses a DataSource to obtain
a JDBC connection to the database from a JDBC connection pool. Once the
connection is established, ejbLoad() creates a PreparedStatement object and
builds its SQL database access statement. Because ejbLoad() reads the
entity object values into the entity bean’s instance variables, it builds an
SQL SELECT statement for a query that selects the balance value for the
savings account whose name matches a pattern. The method then
executes the query. If the query returns a result, it extracts the balance
amount. The ejbLoad() method finished by closing the PreparedStatement
objects and then closing the database connection. Note that the ejbLoad()
method doesn’t actually close the connection. Instead, it simply returns
the connection to the connection pool.
import.java.sql.*;
import javax.ejb.*;
import java.util.*;
import java.rmi.RemoteException;

public class SavingsAccount implements EntityBean {

private entitycontext _constext;
private String _name;
private float _balance;

public float getBalance() {

return _balance;
}

public void debit(float amount) {

if(amount > balance) {
// mark the current transaction for rollback...
_context.setRollbackOnly();
} else {
_balance = _balance - amount;
}
}
public void credit(float amount) {
_balance = _balance + amount;
}

// setEntitycontext(), unsetEntityContext(), ejbActivate(), ejbPassivate(),

// ejbPostCreate() skeleton implementations are not shown here
...

public AccountPK ejbCreate(String name, float balance)

throws RemoteException, CreateException {
_name = name;
_balance = balance;

Developing entity beans 14-15

A bank entity bean example

try {
Connection connection = getConnection();
PreparedStatement statement = connection.prepareStatement
("INSERT INTO Savings_Accounts (name, balance) VALUES (?,?)*);
statement.setString(1, _name);
statement.setFloat(2, _balance);
if(statement.executeUpdate() != 1) {
throw new CreateException("Could not create: " + name);
}
statement.close();
connection.close();
return new AccountPK(name);
} catch(SQLException e) {
throw new RemoteException("Could not create: " + name, 3);
}
}
...
public void ejbRemote() throws RemoteException, RemoveException {
try {
Connection connection = getConnection();
PreparedStatement statement = connection.prepareStatement
("DELETE FROM Savings Account WHERE name = ?");
statement.setString(1, _name);
if(statement.executeUpdate() != 1) {
throw new RemoteException("Could not remove: " + _name, e);
}
statement.close();
connection.close();
} catch(SQLException e) {
throw new RemoteException("Could not remove: " + _name, e);
}
}
public AccountPK ejbFindByPrimaryKey(AccountPK key) throws RemoteException,
FinderException {
try {
Connection connection = getConnection();
PreparedStatement statement = connection.prepareStatement
("SELECT name FROM Savings_Accounts WHERE name = ?");
statement.setString(1, key.name);
ResultSet resultSet = statement.executeQuery();
if(!resultSet.next()) {
throw new FinderException("Could not find: " + key
statement.close();
connection.close();
return key;
} catch(SQLException e) {
throw new RemoteException("Could not find: " + key, e);
}
}

public java.util.Enumeration ejbFindAccountsLargerThan(float balance)

throws RemoteException, FinderException {
try {
Connection connection = getConnection();

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 A bank entity bean example

PreparedStatement statement = connection.prepareStatement

("SELECT name FROM Savings_Account WHERE balance > ?");
statement.setFloat(1, balance);
ResultSet resultSet = statement.executeQuery();
Vector keys = new Vector();
while(resultSet.next()) {
String name = resultSet.getString(1);
keys.addElement(new AccountPK(name));
}
statement.close();
connection.close();
return keys.elements();
} catch(SQLException 3) {
throw new RemoteException
("Could not findAccountsLargerThan: " + balance, e);
}
}

public void ejbLoad() throws RemoteException {

// get the name from the primary key
_name = (AccountPK) _context.getPrimaryKey()).name;
try {
Connection connection = getConnection();
PreparedStatement statement = connection.prepareStatement
("SELECT balance FROM Savings_Account WHERE name = ?");
statement.setString(1, _name);
ResultSet resultSet = statement.executeQuery();
if(!resultSet.next()) {
throw new RemoteException("Account not found: " + _name);
}
_balance = resultSet.getFloat(1);
statement.close();
connection.close();
} catch(SQLException e) {
throw new RemoteException("Could not load: " + _name, e):
}
}

public void ejbStore() throw RemoteException {

try {
Connection connection = getConnection();
PreparedStatement statement = connection.prepareStatement
("UPDATE Savings_Accounts SET balance = ? WHERE name = ?");
statement.setFloat(1, _balance);
statement.setString(2, _name);
statement.executeUpdate();
statement.close();
connection.close();
} catch(SQLException e) {
throw new RemoteException("Could not store: " + _name, e);
}
}

Developing entity beans 14-17

A bank entity bean example

private connection getconnection() throws SQLException {

Properties properties = _context.getEnvironment();
String url = properties.getProperty("db.url");
String username = properties.getProperty("db.username");
String password = properties.getProperty("db.password");
if(username != null) {
return DriverManager.getConnection(url, username, password);
} else {
return DriverManager.getConnection(url);
}
}

public String toString() {

return "SavingsAccount[name=" + _name + ",balance=" + _balance +"]";
}
}

The primary key class

Both CheckingAccount and SavingsAccount use the same field to uniquely
identify a particular account record. In this case, they both use the same
primary key class, AccountPK, to represent the unique identifier for either
type of account:
public class AccountPK implements java.io.Serializable {
public String name;
public AccountPK() {}
public AccountPK(String name) {
this.name = name;
}
}

The deployment descriptor

The deployment descriptor for the bank example deploys three kinds of
beans: the Teller session bean, the CheckingAccount entity bean with
container-managed persistence, and the SavingsAccount entity bean with
bean-managed persistence.
You use properties in the deployment descriptor to specify information
about the entity bean’s interfaces, transaction attributes, and so on, just as
you do for session beans. But you also add additional information that is
unique to entity beans.
The bean-managed XML code sample shows typical deployment
descriptor property tags for an entity bean with bean-managed
persistence. This container-managed XML code sample illustrates the
typical deployment descriptor tags for an entity bean that uses
container-managed persistence. When you compare the descriptor tags
for the two types of entity beans, you’ll notice that the deployment

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 A bank entity bean example

descriptor for an entity bean with container-managed persistence is more

complex.
The bean’s deployment descriptor type is set to <entity>. Notice that the
first tags within the <enterprise-beans> section in both code samples
specify that the bean is an entity bean.
An entity bean deployment descriptor specifies the following type of
information:
• The names of the related interfaces (home and remote) and the bean
implementation class.
Each enterprise bean specifies its home interface using the <home> tag,
its remote interface using the <remote> tag, and its implementation
class name using the <ejb-class> tag.
• The JNDI names under which the entity bean is registered and by
which clients locate the bean.
• The bean’s transaction attributes and its transaction isolation level.
This usually appears in the <assembly-descriptor> section of the
deployment descriptor.
• The name of the entity bean’s primary key class.
In this example, the primary key class is AccountPK and it appears within
the <prim-key-class> tag.
• The persistence used by the bean.
The CheckingAccount bean uses container-managed persistence, so the
deployment descriptor sets the <persistence-type> tag to Container.
• Whether the bean class is reentrant.
Neither the SavingsAccount nor the CheckingAccount bean is reentrant, so
the <reentrant> tag to set to False for both.
• The fields that the container manages, if the bean uses
container-managed persistence.
A bean that uses bean-managed persistence doesn’t specify any
container-managed fields. Therefore, the deployment descriptor for the
SavingsAccount bean doesn’t specify any container-managed fields. An
entity bean using container-managed persistence must specify the
names of its fields or instance variables that the container must manage.
Use a combination of the <cmp field> and <field name> tags for this.
The first tag, <cmp field>, indicates that the field is container-managed.
Within this tag, the <fields name> tag specifies the name of the field
itself. For example, the CheckingAccount bean deployment descriptor
indicates that the balance field is container-managed as follows:
<cmp field><field name>balance</field name></cmp field>

Developing entity beans 14-19

A bank entity bean example

Information about the container-managed fields for container-managed

beans. The container uses this information to generate the finder methods
for these fields.

Deployment descriptor for an entity bean with

bean-managed persistence
The following code sample shows the key parts of the deployment
descriptor for an entity bean using bean-managed persistence. Because the
bean, not the container, handles its own fetches from the database entity
values and updates to these values, the descriptor doesn’t specify fields
for the container to manage. Nor does it tell the container how to
implement its finder methods, because the bean’s implementation
provides those.
<enterprise-beans>
<entity>
<description>This entity bean is an example of bean-managed persistence</
description>
<ejb-name>savings</ejb-name>
<home>AccountHome</home>
<remote>Account</remote>
<ejb-class>SavingsAccount</ejb-class>
<persistence-type>Bean</persistence-type>
<prim-key-class>AccountPK</prim-key-class>
<reentrant>False</reentrant>
</entity>
...
</enterprise-beans>
<assembly-descriptor>
<container-transaction>
<method>
<ejb-name>savings</ejb-name>
<method-name>*</method-name>
</method>
<trans-attribute>Required</trans-attribute>
</container-transaction>
</assembly-descriptor>

Deployment descriptor for an entity bean with container-managed

persistence
The next code sample shows the key parts of the deployment descriptor
for an entity bean using container-managed persistence. Because the bean
lets the container handle loading database entity values and updating
these values, the descriptor specifies the fields that the container will
manage.
<enterprise-beans>
<entity>
<description>This entity bean is an example of container-managed persistence</
description>

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 A bank entity bean example

<ejb-name>checking</ejb-name>
<home>AccountHome></home>
<remote>Account</remote>
<ejb-class>chkingAccount</ejb-class>
<persistence-type>Container</persistence-type>
<prim-key-class>AccountPK>/prim-key-class>
<reentrant>False</reentrant>
<cmp-field>
<field-name>name</field-name>
<cmp-field>
</entity>
</enterprise-beans>
<assembly-descriptor>
<container-transaction>
<method>
<ejb-name>chekcing</ejb-name>
<method-name>*</method-name>
</method>
<trans-attribute-transaction>
</container-transaction>
</assembly-descriptor>

Developing entity beans 14-21

14-22 Enterprise JavaBeans Developer’s Guide
 Chapter

Developing message-driven
Chapter15
15
beans
Message-driven beans, introduced in the EJB 2.0 specification, greatly
simplify message-based programming. The bean provider’s primary
responsibility is implementing an onMessage() method that contains the
logic that responds to a message. The EJB container handles all other
messaging tasks. Message-driven beans use a Java Message Service (JMS)
provider, such as SonicMQ Message Broker that is bundled with JBuilder
Enterprise.
A message-driven bean is an enterprise bean that processes (JMS)
messages. Such messages can come from any component that can send
JMS messages, such as another enterprise bean, an application client, a
web component, or a legacy system. A message-driven bean is a listener to
JMS messages, responding when it detects a particular type of message.
Much like stateless session beans, message-driven beans are not
associated with a single client and they do not have conversational state.
Message-driven beans listen and respond to asynchronous messages. When
a sender sends an asynchronous message, it does not wait for the receiver
of the message to receive and process the message before it continues with
its own work. In contrast, the sender of a synchronous message waits for
the receiver to process the message before program control returns to the
sender. Asynchronous messaging permits loose coupling between the
message sender (the message producer) and the message receiver (the
message consumer, the message-driven bean). This makes
message-driven beans particularly useful for business-to-business
interactions and integrating an EJB system with legacy systems.

Developing message-driven beans 15-1

How message-driven beans work

How message-driven beans work

The deployer of a message-driven bean sets the JMS destination that the
bean listens to in the bean’s deployment descriptor. The deployment
descriptor can also include a message selector filter that associates a
message-driven bean with a particular type of message. See the
“Message-driven bean deployment descriptor attributes” on page 15-6 for
more specific information.
The container activates an instance of the proper type of message-driven
bean. The bean instance consumes the message sent to its associated JMS
destination. It responds to the message using the logic contained in its
onMessage() method.
Unlike session and entity beans, message-driven beans have no
home/local home or remote/local interfaces. Therefore, a client never
directly accesses a message-driven bean. Instead a client sends a message
to a JMS destination, which is either a queue or a topic.
The point-to-point message model uses a queue. Multiple message-driven
beans can receive messages from the same queue, but only one bean can
receive each message. Consumers pull messages from the queue in that no
messages are received until a consumer requests it.
The publish-and-subscribe message model uses topics. One message
producer can send a message to many consumers using a topic.
Consumers, such as message-driven beans, subscribe to the topic.
Messages sent to a topic are delivered to all the topic’s subscribers.
Therefore, each subscriber receives a copy of the message. Messages are
pushed to the consumer.

The life of a management-driven bean instance

The life cycle of a message-driven bean is quite simple. A client sends a
message to a JMS destination to which the bean is listening. The EJB
container creates a new instance of the bean class. It then calls the bean
instance’s setMessageDrivenContext() and ejbCreate() methods, in that
order. The message-driven bean instance can now consume a message
sent to the bean’s destination. The life of the bean instance ends when the

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 Writing a message-driven bean class

EJB container calls the ejbRemove() method. The following diagram depicts
the life cycle of a message-driven bean instance:

Writing a message-driven bean class

Your task of writing a message-driven bean is simplified because you
create a bean class only; message-driven beans don’t have home/local
home and remote/local interfaces.
To create a message-driven bean class,
1 Create a class that implements the javax.ejb.MessageDrivenBean interface.
The class must be defined as public and it cannot be defined as final nor
abstract.
2 In the bean class, implement the javax.jms.MessageListener interface.
3 Include a public constructor that takes no arguments. The container
calls this constructor to create instances of the message-driven bean
class.
4 Implement the ejbCreate() method that takes no arguments. The
method must be declared as public and it cannot be final or static. Its
return type must be void and it must not define any application
exceptions.

Developing message-driven beans 15-3

Writing a message-driven bean class

Implementing the MessageDrivenBean interface

The MessageDrivenBean interface defines two methods all message-driven
beans must implement. It extends the EnterpriseBean interface:
package javax.ejb;

public interface MessageDrivenBean extends javax.ejb.EnterpriseBean {

public void setMessageDrivenContext(MessageDrivenContext context)
throws EJBException;
public void ejbRemove() throws EJBException;
}
The methods of the MessageDrivenBean interface are closely associated with
the bean’s life cycle:
• setMessageDrivenContext() — The container calls
setMessageDrivenContext() to provide the message-driven bean instance
with a reference to its MessageDrivenContext, which is passed into the
method. The container calls this method at the beginning of the bean’s
life cycle.
• ejbRemove() — Called by the container at the end of the bean’s life cycle.
You can use this method to free any resources allocated in the
ejbCreate() method.

Implementing the MessageListener interface

Only message-driven beans are allowed to implement the MessageListener
interface. It defines just one method, onMessage():
package javax.jms;

public interface MessageListener {

public void onMessage(Message message);
}

Writing the onMessage() method

The heart of a message-driven bean is its onMessage() method. Place all the
logic that handles an incoming message in onMessage(). The message is
passed to onMessage() in its sole argument. The logic can handle the
incoming message itself, it can pass the message on to another bean, or it
can send it to another JMS destination. You can implement helper
methods in the bean’s class that onMessage() can call.

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 Writing a message-driven bean class

How JBuilder can help you create a message-driven bean

You can begin creating a message-driven bean by right-clicking the EJB
Designer pane and choosing New Message Bean from the context menu.
A message-driven bean representation appears in the EJB Designer.
Right-click the bean name in the bean representation, and in the Inspector
that appears, set the properties of the bean.
Double-click the message-driven bean source code node in JBuilder’s
project pane to see the source code generated for you:

In the source code of the bean class, find the onMessage() method and write
the logic that processes an incoming message as you see fit. You can add
other methods to the bean class that are invoked by the onMessage()
method.
You can use JBuilder’s Deployment Descriptor editor to edit the bean’s
deployment descriptor. Double-click the message-driven bean’s class
node in the project pane and click the DD Editor tab at the bottom of the

Developing message-driven beans 15-5

Message-driven bean deployment descriptor attributes

content pane. When the Deployment Descriptor editor appears, click its
Message Driven Bean tab to display the Message Driven Bean panel:

The next section explains some of the deployment attributes found on this
panel.

Message-driven bean deployment descriptor attributes

Each message-driven bean must be assigned a JMS destination to which
the bean listens and consumes messages from. This is a job for the
deployer, but the bean provider can enter a JMS destination in the
deployment descriptor as information for the deployer. The destination
can be a queue or a topic. If it is a queue, then the queue should have a
single message-driven bean as its consumer: don’t assign a destination to
more than one bean.
When the destination is a topic, the subscription-durability attribute must
be declared as either durable or nondurable. If a connection is somehow
lost between the EJB container and the JMS provider for a durable
subscription, messages aren’t lost. The JMS provider stores any messages
the subscribing bean misses and sends the messages when the connection
is established once again. Nondurable subscriptions would result in lost
messages if the EJB container-JMS provider connection breaks. The
advantage of nondurable subscriptions is improved performance,
although using them makes message-driven beans less reliable.
When a message-driven bean executes bean-managed transactions, the
acknowledge-mode attribute comes into play. It has two possible values:
auto-acknowledge or dups-ok-acknowledge. When auto-acknowledge is

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 Using the SonicMQ Message Broker with message-driven beans

specified, the EJB container sends acknowledgment to the JMS provider

right after a message is delivered to a message-driven bean instance. The
dups-ok-acknowledge value allows the EJB container to delay
acknowledgment. In some cases the JMS provider thinks the message
wasn’t delivered and therefore resends the message, resulting in a
duplicate message. If your message-driven beans uses
dups-ok-acknowledge, it must be prepared to handle duplicate messages.
A message-driven bean deployment descriptor can include a message
selector that allows a message-driven bean to be more selective about the
messages it receives from a queue or topic. A message selector consists of
an expression that uses Boolean logic. It uses a subset of SQL-92
conditional expression syntax. Here’s an example:
Department = "547" AND Salary BETWEEN 56000.00 AND 85000.00
Remember when specifying a message selector that this information is
kept in the bean’s deployment descriptor, which is an XML file. In XML,
the < and > symbols and other special characters have special meaning.
Including them in the message selector means the resulting XML file will
create parsing errors. Therefore, logic which uses these symbols must be
placed in a CDATA section. For example,
<message-selector>
<[CDATA[
Total > 100.00
]]>
</message-selector>

Using the SonicMQ Message Broker with message-driven beans

SonicMQ Message Broker, a JMS provider, is included with JBuilder
Enterprise. To use SonicMQ with a message-driven bean you have
developed, follow these steps:
1 Click the top of the message-driven bean in the EJB Designer to display
the bean’s inspector.
2 If your message-driven bean listens to a queue, follow these steps:
1 Choose javax.jms.Queue as the Message Driven Destination from the
drop-down list.
2 Specify the Destination Name.
3 Specify the Transaction type as Bean or Container from the
drop-down list.
4 Specify the Connection Factory Name.
5 Set the Initial Pool size. For example, you might set it to 2.
6 Set the Maximum Pool Size. For example, you might set it to 20.

Developing message-driven beans 15-7

Using the SonicMQ Message Broker with message-driven beans

3 If your message-driven bean subscribes to a topic, follow these steps:

1 Choose javax.jms.Topic as the Message Driven Destination from the
drop-down list.
2 Specify the Destination Name.
3 Specify the Transaction type as Bean or Container from the
drop-down list.
4 Specify the Connection Factory Name.
5 Set the Initial Pool size. For example, you might set it to 2.
6 Set the Maximum Pool Size. For example, you might set it to 20.
The names you specify for the connection factory name and the
destination name must be unique names in the JNDI tree. For more
information about SonicMQ, see the SonicMQ documentation.
You can also use the Message Driven Bean panel of the Deployment
Descriptor editor to specify your settings instead of the bean’s inspector.
Once you’ve specified your settings using the bean’s inspector of the
Deployment Descriptor editor, start SonicMQ by choosing Tools|Sonic
MQ Broker. Also start Smart Agent by choosing Tools|Visibroker Smart
Agent. Now you are ready to start the EJB container. The quickest way to
do that is to right-click its EJB module or the JAR file the module contains
and select Run or Debug from the context menu. The EJB container starts
up and runs your bean.

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 Chapter

Creating the home and

Chapter16
16
remote/local interfaces
An enterprise bean provider must create at least two interfaces for each
session and entity bean. For a EJB 1.x bean you must create a home
interface and a remote interface. An EJB 2.0 bean can have a remote home
and a remote interface, and it can also have a local home and local
interface instead of or in addition to the remote home and remote
interfaces. The remote home and remote interfaces provide the client a
remote view of the bean, while the local home and local interfaces provide
the client a local view. The remote and/or local home interface defines the
methods a client application uses to create, locate, and destroy instances of
an enterprise bean. The remote/local interface defines the business
methods implemented in the bean. A client accesses these methods
through the remote/local interface.

Creating the home interface

The home interface of an enterprise bean, whether remote or local,
controls the bean’s life cycle. It contains the definition of the methods to
create, find, and remove an instance of an enterprise bean.
As a bean provider, you must define the home interface, but you don’t
implement it. The EJB container does that, generating a home object that
returns a reference to the bean.
An enterprise bean’s client can have a remote view or a local view of the
bean. A remote bean has a home interface that extends the EJBHome
interface. A local bean has a home interface that extends the EJBLocalHome
interface.

Creating the home and remote/local interfaces 16-1

Creating the home interface

The EJBHome interface

Each remote home interface extends the javax.ejb.EJBHome interface. Here
is the complete definition of EJBHome:
package javax.ejb
public interface EJBHome extends java.rmi.Remote {
void remove(Handle handle) throws java.rmi.RemoteException, RemoveException;
void remove(Object primaryKey) throws java.rmi.RemoteException,
RemoveException;
EJBMetaData getEJBMetaData() throws RemoteException;
HomeHandle getHomeHandle() throws RemoteException;
}
EJBHome has two remove() methods to remove enterprise bean instances. The
first remove() method identifies the instance by a handle; the second by a
primary key.
A handle, a serializable bean object identifier, has the same lifetime as the
enterprise bean object it’s referencing. For a session bean, the handle exists
only as long as the session does. For an entity bean, the handle can persist
and a client can use a serialized handle to reestablish a reference to the
entity object it identifies.
A client would use the second remove() method to remove an entity bean
instance using its primary key.
The getEJBMetaData() returns the EJBMetaData interface of the enterprise
bean object. This interface allows the client to obtain metadata information
about the bean. Its purpose is to be used by development tools that build
applications that use deployed enterprise beans.
Note that the EJBHome interface doesn’t have any methods for creating or
locating instances of an enterprise bean. Instead, you must add these
methods to the home interfaces you develop for your beans. Because
session beans and entity beans have different life cycles, the methods
defined in their home interfaces differ.

The LocalHome interface

Each local home interface implements javax.ejb.EJBLocalHome. The local
home interface has just one method, a single remove() method:
package javax.ejb
public interface EJBLocalHome {
void remove(Object primaryKey) throws RemoveException, EJBException;
}

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 Creating the home interface

Creating a home or local home interface for a session bean

A session bean almost always has a single client (except occasionally for
stateless session beans). When a client creates a session bean, that session
bean instance exists for the use of that client only.
To create a remote home interface for a session bean,
• Declare a home interface that extends javax.ejb.EJBHome.
• Add a create() method signature for each ejbCreate() method in the
bean, matching the number and type of arguments exactly.
To create a local home interface for a session bean,
• Declare a local home interface that extends javax.ejb.EJBLocalHome.
• Add a create() method signature for each ejbCreate() method in the
bean, matching the number and type of arguments exactly.
When you use JBuilder’s EJB wizards, JBuilder creates a home interface
with one defined create() method at the same time it creates the enterprise
bean class. You can then add additional create() methods to the home
interface if you add additional ejbCreate() methods to your bean. Or if you
have an existing 1.x enterprise bean class, use JBuilder’s EJB 1.x Interfaces
wizard to create a home and remote interface with signatures that match
appropriately those in your bean class. For more information, see
Chapter 6, “Creating EJB 1.x components with JBuilder.”
If you choose to begin your EJB development by creating a remote
interface first, you can use the EJB 1.x Bean Generator to create a skeleton
bean class and the home interface. For more information about using the
EJB 1.x Bean Generator, see “Generating the bean class from a remote
interface” on page 6-12.

create() methods in session beans

A session bean remote home or local home interface functions as a session
bean factory, because it must define one or more create() methods. When
the client calls create(), a new bean instance is created. According to the
EJB specification, each create() method defined in the remote home or
local home interface must
• Return.
• Be named create().
• Match a ejbCreate() method in the session bean class. The number and
types of arguments for each create() method must match its
corresponding ejbCreate() method in the session bean class.
• Throw the exception java.rmi.RemoteException if a home interface is
used. For a local home interface, the create() method must not throw
RemoteException.

Creating the home and remote/local interfaces 16-3

Creating the home interface

• Throw the exception javax.ejb.CreateException.

• Use its parameters, if there are any, to initialize the new session bean
object.
You can use the EJB wizards to ensure that these rules are followed.
The following code sample shows two possible create() methods of a
session home interface. The parts shown in bold are required:
public interface AtmHome extends javax.ejb.EJBHome {
Atm create()
throws java.rmi.RemoteException, javax.ejb.CreateException;
Atm create(Profile preferredProfile)
throws java.rmi.RemoteException, javax.ejb.CreateException;
}

Creating a remote home or local home interface for an

entity bean
An entity bean is designed to serve multiple clients. When a client creates
an entity bean instance, any other client can use it also.
To create a remote home interface for an entity bean,
• Declare an interface that extends javax.ejb.EJBHome.
• Add a create() method signature for each ejbCreate() method in the
bean, matching the signatures exactly.
• Add a finder method signature for each finder method in the bean,
matching the signatures exactly.
To create a local home interface for an entity bean,
• Declare an interface that extends javax.ejb.EJBLocalHome.
• Add a create() method signature for each ejbCreate() method in the
bean, matching the signatures exactly.
• Add a finder method signature for each finder method in the bean,
matching the signatures exactly.
When you use JBuilder’s EJB wizards, JBuilder creates a remote home
and/or local home interface with one defined create() method at the same
time it creates the enterprise bean class. You can then add additional
create() methods to the home and/or local home interface if you add
additional ejbCreate() methods to your bean. Or if you have an existing 1.x
enterprise bean class, use JBuilder’s EJB 1.x Interfaces wizard to create a
home and remote interface with signatures that match appropriately those
in your bean class. For more information, see Chapter 6, “Creating EJB 1.x
components with JBuilder.”

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 Creating the home interface

If you choose to begin your EJB development for 1.x beans by creating a
remote interface first, you can use the EJB 1.x Bean Generator to create a
skeleton bean class and the home interface. For more information about
using the EJB 1.x Bean Generator, see “Generating the bean class from a
remote interface” on page 6-12.

create() methods for entity beans

Like a remote home or local home interface for a session bean, a remote
home or local home interface for an entity bean must define one or more
create() methods. According to the EJB specification, each create()
method you define must
• Throw the exception java.rmi.RemoteException for a home interface. For a
local home interface, the create() method must not throw
RemoteException.
• Throw the exception javax.ejb.CreateException.
• Return the remote interface type of the entity bean if you are creating a
home interface, and return the local interface if you are creating a local
home interface.
• Be named create().
• Match a ejbCreate() method in the session bean class. The number and
types of arguments for each create() method must match its
corresponding ejbCreate() method in the session bean class.
• Must include in the exceptions in the throws clause all the exceptions
thrown by the corresponding ejbCreate() and ejbPostCreate() methods
in the entity bean class. In other words, the set of exceptions for the
create() method must be a superset of the union of exceptions for both
the ejbCreate() and ejbPostCreate() methods. The return type of the
ejbCreate() method is the primary key class.
• Use its parameters, if there are any, to initialize the new entity bean
object.

Finder methods for entity beans

Because entity beans usually have long lives and can be used by multiple
clients, an entity bean instance probably already exists when a client
application needs it. In this case, the client doesn’t need to create an entity
bean instance, but it does need to locate the appropriate existing one.
That’s why the remote home and/or local home interface of an entity bean
defines one or more finder methods.
Session beans don’t need finder methods because they serve one client,
the application that created the bean. The client has no need to find the
session bean instance — it already knows where the instance is.

Creating the home and remote/local interfaces 16-5

Creating the home interface

Each entity bean remote home or local home interface must define the
default finder method, findByPrimaryKey(). It allows a client to locate an
entity object using a primary key. This is findByPrimaryKey() for a home
interface:
<entity bean's remote interface> findByPrimaryKey(<primary key type> key)
throws java.rmi.RemoteException, FinderException;
This is findByPrimaryKey() for a local home interface:
<entity bean's local interface> findByPrimaryKey(<primary key type> key)
throws FinderException;
findByPrimaryKey() has a single argument, the primary key. Its return type
is the entity bean’s remote or local interface. In the bean’s deployment
descriptor, you tell the container the type of the primary key.
findByPrimaryKey() always returns a single entity object.
You can define additional finder methods in the remote home and/or
local home interface. Each finder method must have a corresponding
implementation in the entity bean class for bean-managed persistence. For
container-managed persistence, the container implements the finder
methods. Each finder method must follow these conventions:
• In a remote home interface, the return type is the remote interface type,
or for finder methods that return more than one entity object, a
collection type that has the remote interface type as the content type. In
a local home interface, the return type is the local interface type, or for
finder methods that return more than one entity object, a collection
type that has the local interface type as the content type. Valid Java
collection types are java.util.Enumeration and java.util.Collection.
• The finder method always starts with the prefix find. The
corresponding finder method in the entity bean class with
bean-managed persistence begins with the prefix ejbFind.
• The method must throw the exception java.rmi.RemoteException if it is
defined in a home interface. Finders in a local home interface must not
throw RemoteException.
• The method must throw the exception javax.ejb.FinderException.
• The throws clause of the finder method in the remote home/local home
interface must match the throws clause of the corresponding
ejbFind<xxx> method in the entity bean class.

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 Creating the remote or local interface

The following sample home interface contains two create() methods and
two finder methods. The parts shown in bold are required:
public interface AccountHome extends javax.ejb.EJBHome {

Account create(String accountID)

throws java.rmi.RemoteException, javax.ejb.CreateException;

Account create(String accountID, float initialBalance)

throws java.rmi.RemoteException, javax.ejb.CreateException;

Account findByPrimaryKey(String key)

throws java.rmi.RemoteException, javax.ejb.FinderException;

Account findBySocialSecurity(String socialSecurityNumber)

throws java.rmi.RemoteException, javax.ejb.FinderException;
}
Note that an EJB 2.0 component could also include home business
methods.

Creating the remote or local interface

The remote or local interface you create for your enterprise bean describes
the business methods a client application can call. While you define the
methods in the remote or local interface, you implement these same
methods in the enterprise bean class. The clients of an enterprise bean
never access the bean directly. They access its methods through its remote
or local interface.
To create a remote interface,
• Declare an interface that extends javax.ejb.EJBObject.
• Declare in the remote interface every business method you want a
client application to be able to call in the enterprise bean, matching the
signatures exactly with those in the bean class.
To create a local interface,
• Declare an interface that extends javax.ejb.EJBLocalObject.
• Declare in the local interface every business method you want a client
application to be able to call in the enterprise bean, matching the
signatures exactly with those in the bean class.
When you use JBuilder’s EJB Designer, JBuilder creates a local interface
that extends EJBLocalObject for you.

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Creating the remote or local interface

Each method defined in the remote or local interface must follow these
rules, which are the same for both session and entity beans:
• It must be public.
• It must throw the exception java.rmi.RemoteException if its a method in a
remote interface. It must not throw RemoteException if its a method in a
local interface.
• A method must exist in the remote/local interface for each method in
the enterprise bean’s class you want a client to be able to call. The
methods in the remote/local interface and in the bean itself must have
the same name, the same number and types of arguments, the same
return type, and they must throw the same exceptions, or a subset of
the remote/local interface method’s exceptions.
The following code sample shows the code for a sample remote interface
called Atm for an ATM session bean. The Atm remote interface defines a
business method called transfer(). The parts shown in bold are required:
public interface Atm extends javax.ejb.EJBObject{

public void transfer(String source, String target, float amount)

throws java.rmi.RemoteException, InsufficientFundsException;
}
The transfer() method declared in the Atm interface throws two exceptions:
the required java.rmi.RemoteException and InsufficientFundsException,
which is an exception specific to an application.

The EJBObject interface

The remote interface extends the javax.ejb.EJBObject interface. Here is the
source code for EJBObject:
package javax.ejb;
public interface EJBObject extends java.rmi.Remote (
public EJBHome getEJBHome() throws java.rmi.RemoteException;
public Object getPrimaryKey() throws java.rmi.RemoteException;
public void remove() throws java.rmi.RemoteException, RemoveException;
public Handle getHandle() throws java.rmi.RemoteException;
boolean isIdentical (EJBObject other) throws java.rmi.RemoteException;
}
The getEJBHome() method allows an application to obtain the bean’s home
interface. If the bean is an entity bean, the getPrimaryKey() method returns
the primary key for the bean. The remove() method deletes the enterprise
bean. getHandle() returns a persistent handle to the bean instance. Use
isIdentical() to compare two enterprise beans.
The EJB container creates an EJBObject for the enterprise bean. Because the
remote interface extends the EJBObject interface, the EJBObject the container
creates includes implementations for all the methods the EJBObject

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 Creating the remote or local interface

interface as well as all the business methods you define in the remote
interface. The instantiated EJBObject is visible over the network and it acts
as a proxy for the bean. It has a stub and a skeleton. The bean itself is not
visible over the network.
For completeness, here is the EJBLocalObject interface:
package javax.ejb;
public interface EJBLocalObject (
public EJBHome getEJBLocalHome() throws EJBException;
public Object getPrimaryKey() throws EJBException;
public void remove() throws RemoveException, EJBException,;
boolean isIdentical (EJBLocalObject other) throws EJBException;
}

Creating the home and remote/local interfaces 16-9

16-10 Enterprise JavaBeans Developer’s Guide
 Chapter

Developing enterprise bean

Chapter17
17
clients
A client of an enterprise bean is an application, a stand-alone application,
a servlet, an applet, or another enterprise bean. In all cases, the client must
do the following things to use an enterprise bean:
• Locate the bean's home interface. The EJB specification states that the
client should use the JNDI (Java Naming and Directory Interface) API
to locate home interfaces.
• Get a reference to an enterprise bean object's remote/local interface.
This involves using methods defined on the bean’s home interface. You
can either create a session bean, or you can create or find an entity bean.
• Call one or more methods defined by the enterprise bean. A client
doesn’t directly call the methods defined by the enterprise bean.
Instead, the client calls the methods of the enterprise bean object’s
remote interface. The methods defined in the remote interface are the
methods that the enterprise bean has exposed to clients.
The following sections describe the client application SortClient.java, that
calls the sample SortBean session bean. SortBean is a stateless session bean
that implements a merge/sort algorithm. Here is the code of SortClient:
// SortClient.java
...

public class SortClient {

...
public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
javax.naming.Context context;
{ // get a JNDI context using the Naming service
context = new javax.naming.InitialContext();
}

Developing enterprise bean clients 17-1

Locating the home interface

Object objref = context.lookup("sort");

SortHome home = (SortHome) javax.rmi.PortableRemoteObject.narrow(objref,
SortHome.class);
Sort sort = home.create();
... //do the sort and merge work
sort.remove();
}
}

Locating the home interface

SortClient imports the required JNDI classes and the SortBean home and
remote interfaces. The client uses the JNDI API to locate an enterprise
bean’s home interface. First the client must obtain a JNDI initial naming
context. The code for SortClient instantiates a new javax.naming.Context
object, which is called InitialContext. The client then uses the context
lookup() method to resolve the name to a home interface.
The context’s lookup() method returns an object of type java.lang.Object.
Your code must cast this returned object to the expected type. The
SortClient code shows a portion of the client code for the sort example.
The main() routine begins by using the JNDI naming service and its
context lookup() method to locate the home interface. You pass the name
of the remote interface, which in this case is sort, to the context.lookup()
method. Note that the program eventually casts the results of the
context.lookup() method to SortHome, the type of the home interface.

Getting the remote/local interface

Once you have the home interface of an enterprise bean, you need a
reference to the bean’s remote or local interface. To do this, use the home
interface’s create or finder methods. Which method to use depends on the
type of the enterprise bean and the methods the bean provider has defined
in the home interface.

Session beans
If the enterprise bean is a session bean, the client uses a create method to
return the remote interface. Session beans don’t have finder methods. If
the session bean is stateless, it will have just one create() method, so that is
the one the client must call to obtain the remote interface. The default
create() method has no parameters. So for the SortClient code sample, the
call to the get the remote interface looks like this:
Sort sort = home.create();

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 Getting the remote/local interface

The cart example discussed in Chapter 13, “Developing session beans,” on

the other hand, uses a stateful session bean, and its home interface,
CartHome, implements more than one create() method. One of its create()
methods takes three parameters, which together identify the purchaser of
the cart contents, and returns a reference to the Cart remote interface. The
CartClient sets values for the three parameters: cardHolderName,
creditCardNumber, and expirationDate. Then it calls the create() method.
Here’s the code:
Cart cart;
{
String cardHolderName = "Jack B. Quick";
String creditCardNumber = "1234-5678-9012-3456";
Date expirationDate = new GregorianCalendar(2001, Calendar.JULY, 1).getTime();
cart = home.create(cardHolderName, creditCardNumber, expirationDate);
}

Entity beans
If it’s an entity bean, use either a create or a finder method to obtain the
remote interface. Because an entity object represents some underlying
data stored in a database, and that data is persistent, entity beans usually
exist for a long time. Therefore, the client most often needs to simply find
the entity bean that represents that data rather than create a new entity
object, which would create and store new data in the underlying database.
A client uses a find operation to locate an existing entity object, such as a
specific row within a relational database table. That is, find operations
locate data entities that have previously been inserted into data storage.
The data might have been added to the data store by an entity bean, or it
might have been added outside of the EJB context, such as directly from
within the database management system (DBMS). Or, in the case of legacy
systems, the data might have existed prior to the installation of the EJB
container.
A client uses an entity bean object’s create() method to create a new data
entity that will be stored in the underlying database. An entity bean’s
create() method inserts the entity state into the database, initializing the
entity’s variables according to the values in the create() method’s
parameters.
Each entity bean instance must have a primary key that uniquely
identifies it. An entity bean instance can also have secondary keys that can
be used to locate a particular entity object.

Finder methods and the primary key class

The default finder method for an entity bean is findByPrimaryKey(), which
locates the entity object using its primary key value. This is its signature:
<remote interface> findByPrimaryKey(<key type> primaryKey)

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Calling methods

Each entity bean must implement a findByPrimaryKey() method. The

primaryKey parameter is a separate primary key class that is defined in the
deployment descriptor. The key type is the type for the primary key, and
it must be a legal value type in RMI-IIOP. The primary key class can be
any class, such as a Java class or a class you’ve written yourself.
For example, suppose you have an Account entity bean for which you’ve
defined the primary key class AccountPK. AccountPK, a String type, holds the
identifier for the Account bean. To obtain a reference to a specific Account
entity bean instance, set the AccountPK to the account identifier and call the
findByPrimaryKey() method as shown here:
AccountPK accountPK = new AccountPK("1234-56-789");
Account source = accountHome.findByPrimaryKey(accountPK);
Bean providers can define additional finder methods that a client can use.

Create and remove methods

A client can also create entity beans using create methods defined in the
home interface. When a client invokes a create method for an entity bean,
the new instance of the entity object is saved in the data store. The new
entity object always has a primary key value that is its identifier. Its state
can be initialized to values passed as parameters to the create method.
Keep in mind that an entity bean exists for as long as data is present in the
database. The life of the entity bean isn’t bound by the client’s session. The
entity bean can be removed by calling one of the bean’s remove methods.
These methods remove the bean and the underlying representation of the
entity data from the database. It’s also possible to directly delete an entity
object, such as by deleting a database record using the DBMS or with a
legacy application.

Calling methods
Once the client has a reference to the bean’s remote interface, it can invoke
the methods defined in the remote interface for the bean. The client is
most interested in the methods that embody the bean’s business logic.
For example, the following is some code from a client that accesses the cart
session bean. The code shown here begins from the point where it has
created a new session bean instance for a card holder and retried a Cart
reference to the remote interface. The client is ready to invoke the bean
methods:
...
Cart cart;
{
...

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 Removing bean instances

// obtain a reference to the bean's remote interface

cart = home.create(cardHolderName, creditCardNumber, expirationDate);
}

// create a new book object

Book knuthBook = new Book("The Art of Computer Programming", 49.95f);

// add the new book item to the cart

cart.addItem(knuthBook);
...

// list the items currently in the cart

summarize(cart);
cart.removeItem(knuthBook);
...
First the client creates a new book object, setting its title and price
parameters. Next it invokes the enterprise bean business method addItem()
to add the book object to a shopping cart. The Cart session bean defines the
addItem() method, and the Cart remote interface makes it public. The client
adds other items (these aren’t shown here), then calls its own summarize()
method to list the items in the shopping cart. This is followed by the
remove() method to remove the bean instance. Note that a client calls the
enterprise bean methods in the same way that it invokes any method, such
as its own summarize() method.

Removing bean instances

The remove() method operates differently for session beans than it does for
entity beans. Because a session object exists for one client and isn’t
persistent, a client of a session bean should call the remove() method when
it’s finished with a session object. Two remove() methods are available to
the client: the client can remove the session object with the
javax.ejb.EJBObject.remove() method, or the client can remove the session
handle with the javax.ejb.EJBHome.remove(Handle handle) method. For more
information on bean handles, see “Referencing a bean with its handle” on
page 17-6.
While it isn’t required that a client remove a session object, it’s good
programming practice. If a client doesn’t remove a stateful session bean
object, the container will eventually remove the object after a certain time,
specified by a timeout value. The timeout value is a deployment property.
A client can also keep a handle to the session for future reference,
however.
Clients of entity beans don’t have this problem as entity beans are
associated with a client only for the duration of a transaction and the
container is in charge of their life cycles, including their activation and

Developing enterprise bean clients 17-5

Referencing a bean with its handle

passivation. A client of an entity bean calls the bean’s remove() method

only when the entity object is to be deleted from the underlying database.

Referencing a bean with its handle

A handle is an another way to reference an enterprise bean. A handle is a
serializable reference to a bean. You can obtain a handle from the bean’s
remote interface. Once you have the handle, you can write it to a file (or
other persistent storage). Later, you can retrieve the handle from storage
and use it to reestablish a reference to the enterprise bean.
You can use the remote/local interface handle to recreate only the
reference to the bean, however. You can’t use it to recreate the bean itself.
If another process has removed the bean, or the system removed the bean
instance, then an exception is thrown when the client tries to use the
handle to reestablish its reference to the bean.
When you aren’t sure that the bean instance will still be in existence,
rather than using a handle to the remote/local interface, you can store the
bean’s home handle and recreate the bean object later by invoking the
bean’s create or finder method.
After the client creates a bean instance, it can use the getHandle() method
to obtain a handle to this instance. Once it has the handle, it can write it to
a serialized file. Later, the client program can read the serialized file,
casting the object that it reads in to a Handle type. Then, it calls the
getEJBObject() method on the handle to obtain the bean reference,
narrowing the results of getEJBObject() to the correct type for the bean.
For example, the CartClient program might do the following to use a
handle to the Cart session bean:
import java.io;
import javax.ejb.Handle;
...
Cart cart;
...
cart = home.create(cardHolderName, creditCardNumber, expirationDate);

// call getHandle() on the cart object to get its handle

cartHandle = cart.getHandle();

// write the handle to serialized file

FileOutputStream f = new FileOutputStream ("carthandle.ser");
ObjectOutputStream o = new ObjectOutputStream(f);
o.writeObject(myHandle);
o.flush();
o.close();
...

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 Managing transactions

// read handle from file at later time

FileInputStream fi = new FileInputStream ("carthandle.ser");
ObjectInputStream oi = new ObjectInputStream(fi);

//read the object from the file and cast it to a Handle

cartHandle = (Handle)oi.readObject();
oi.close();
...

// Use the handle to reference the bean instance

Cart cart = (Cart)
javax.rmi.PortableRemoteObject.narrow(cartHandle.getEJBObject(),
Cart class);
...
When it’s finished with the session bean handle, the client can remove it
by calling the javax.ejb.EJBHome.remove(Handle handle) method.

Managing transactions
A client program can manage its own transactions rather than letting the
enterprise bean (or container) manage the transactions. A client that
manages its own transactions does so in exactly the same manner as a
session bean that manages its own transactions.
When a client manages its own transactions, it’s responsible for delimiting
the transaction boundaries. That is, it must explicitly start the transaction
and end (commit or roll back) the transaction.
A client uses the javax.transaction.UserTransaction interface to manage its
own transactions. It must first obtain a reference to the UserTransaction
interface, using JNDI to do so. Once it has the UserTransaction context, the
client uses the UserTransaction.begin() method to start the transaction,
followed later by the UserTransaction.commit() method to commit and end
the transaction (or UserTransaction.rollback() to rollback and end the
transaction). In between, the client accesses EJB objects and so on.
The code shown here demonstrates how a client would manage its own
transactions; the code that pertains specifically to client-managed
transactions are highlighted in bold:
...
import javax.naming.InitialContext;
import javax.transaction.UserTransaction;
...
public class clientTransaction {
public static void main (String[] args) {
InitialContext initContext = new InitialContext();
UserTransaction ut = null;ut =
(UserTransaction)initContext.lookup("java:comp/UserTransaction");

Developing enterprise bean clients 17-7

Discovering bean information

// start a transaction
ut.begin();

// do some transaction work

...

// commit or rollback the transaction

ut.commit(); // or ut.rollback();
...
}
}
For more information about transactions, see Chapter 18, “Managing
transactions.”

Discovering bean information

Information about an enterprise bean is referred to as metadata. A client
can obtain metadata about a bean using the enterprise bean’s home
interface getMetaData() method.
The getMetaData() method is most often used by development
environments and tool builders that need to discover information about
an enterprise bean, such as for linking together beans that have already
been installed. Scripting clients might also want to obtain metadata on the
bean.
Once the client retrieves the home interface reference, it can call its
getEJBMetaData() method. Then, the client can call the EJBMetaData interface
methods to extract such information as this:
• The bean’s EJBHome home interface, using the EJBMetaData.getEJBHome()
method.
• The bean’s home interface class object, including its interfaces, classes,
fields, and methods, using the EJBMetaData.getHomeInterfaceClass()
method.
• The bean’s remote interface class object, including all class information,
using the EJBMetaData.getRemoteInterfaceClass() method.
• The bean’s primary key class object, using the
EJBMetaData.getPrimaryKeyClass() method.
• Whether the bean is a session bean or an entity bean, using the
EJBMetaData.isSession() method. The method returns true if this is a
session bean.
• Whether a session bean is stateless or stateful, using the
EJBMetaData.isStatelessSession() method. The method returns true if the
session bean is stateless.

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 Creating a client with JBuilder

Here’s the EJBMetaData interface in its entirety:

package javax.ejb;

public interface EJBMetaData {

EJBHome getEJBHome();
Class getHome InterfaceClass();
Class getRemoteInterfaceClass();
Class getPrimaryKeyClass();
boolean isSession();
boolean isStatelessSession();
}

Creating a client with JBuilder

You can use JBuilder to give you a head start on creating your client.
JBuilder has a EJB Test Client wizard that is intended to create a simple
client application to test your enterprise bean. You can also use it to get
started building your actual client application. Inform the wizard of the
name of one of enterprise beans the client will access, and the wizard
writes the code that gets a naming context, locates the bean’s home
interface and secures a reference to its remote/local interface.
Your client is likely to call multiple beans, however, so you’ll have to
perform these steps in your client code for other beans it accesses. And
you’ll add the calls that access the business logic of the enterprise beans to
your client code yourself.
For more information on using the EJB Test Client wizard, see “Creating a
test client” on page 9-1.

Developing enterprise bean clients 17-9

17-10 Enterprise JavaBeans Developer’s Guide
 Chapter

18
Managing transactions
Chapter18

You can benefit from developing applications on platforms such as Java 2

Enterprise Edition (J2EE) that support transactions. A transaction-based
system simplifies application development because it frees you, the
developer, from the complex issues of failure recovery and multi-user
programming. Transactions aren’t limited to single databases or single
sites. Distributed transactions can simultaneously update multiple
databases across multiple sites.
A developer usually divides the total work of an application into a series
of units. Each unit of work is a separate transaction. As the application
progresses, the underlying system ensures that each unit of work, each
transaction, fully completes without interference from other processes. If
it doesn’t, the system rolls back the transaction and completely reverses
the work the transaction had performed so that the application is back to
the same state before the transaction began.

Characteristics of transactions
Usually transactions refer to operations that access a database. All access
to the database occurs in the context of a transaction. All transactions
share these characteristics, denoted by the acronym ACID:
• Atomicity
Usually a transaction consists of more than a single operation.
Atomicity requires that all of the operations of a transaction are
performed successfully for the transaction to be considered complete. If
all of a transaction’s operations can’t be performed, that none of them
are allowed to be performed.

Managing transactions 18-1

Transaction support in the container

• Consistency
Consistency refers to database consistency. A transaction must move
the database from one consistent state to another, and it must preserve
the database’s semantic and physical integrity.
• Isolation
Isolation requires that each transaction appear to be the only
transaction currently manipulating the data in the database. Although
other transactions can run concurrently, a transaction shouldn’t see
these manipulations until and unless they complete successfully and
commit their work. Because of interdependencies among updates, a
transaction might get an inconsistent view of the data were it to see just
a subset of another transaction’s updates. Isolation protects a
transaction from this sort of data inconsistency.
Isolation is related to transaction concurrency. There are levels of
isolation. Higher degrees of isolation limit the extent of concurrency.
The highest level of isolation occurs when all transactions can be
serialized. That is, the database contents appear as if each transaction
ran by itself to completion before the next transaction began. Some
applications, however, might be able to tolerate a reduced level of
isolation for a higher degree of concurrency. Usually these applications
run a greater number of concurrent transactions, even it transactions
are reading data that might be partially updated and possibly
inconsistent.
• Durability
Durability means that updates made by committed transactions persist
in the database regardless of failure conditions. Durability guarantees
that committed updates remain in the database despite failures that
occur after the commit operation, and that the databases can be
recovered after a system or media failure.

Transaction support in the container

An EJB container supports flat transactions, but not nested ones. It also
propagates transactions implicitly. This means that you don’t have to
explicitly pass the transaction context as a parameter, because the
container handles this task for the client transparently.
You should keep in mind that JSPs and servlets, while they can act as
clients, aren’t designed to be transactional components. Use enterprise
beans to perform transactional work. When you invoke an enterprise bean
to perform the transactional work, the bean and container set up the
transaction properly.

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 Enterprise beans and transactions

Enterprise beans and transactions

Enterprise beans and the EJB container greatly simplify transaction
management. Enterprise beans make it possible for an application to
update data in multiple databases in a single transaction, and these
databases can reside on multiple EJB servers.
Traditionally, an application responsible for managing transactions had to
perform these tasks:
• Creating the transaction object
• Explicitly starting the transaction
• Keeping track of the transaction context
• Committing the transaction when all updates completed
Such an application demanded a very skilled developer and it was easy
for errors to creep in.
Using enterprise beans, the container manages most if not all aspects of
the transaction for you. It starts and ends the transaction and maintains its
context throughout the life of the transaction object. Your responsibilities
are greatly reduced, especially for transactions in distributed
environments.
An enterprise bean’s transaction attributes are declared at deployment
time. These transaction attributes indicate whether the container manages
the bean’s transactions, or whether the bean manages its own transactions
and to what extent.

Bean- versus container-managed transactions

When an enterprise bean programmatically performs its own transaction
demarcation as part of its business methods, that bean is considered to be
using bean-managed transaction. (To demarcate a transaction means to
indicate where a transaction begins and where it ends.) When a bean
defers all transaction demarcation to its EJB container, the container
performs the transaction demarcation based on the application
assembler’s deployment instructions. This is called using
container-managed transaction.
Both stateful and stateless session beans can use either type of transaction.
A bean can’t use both types of transaction management at the same time,
however. The bean provider decides which type the session bean will use.
Entity beans can use container-managed transactions only.
You might want a bean to manage its own transaction if you want to start
a transaction as part of one operation, and then finish the transaction as
part of another operation. You might encounter problems, however, if one

Managing transactions 18-3

Enterprise beans and transactions

operation calls the transaction starting method, but no operation calls the
transaction ending method.
Whenever possible, you should write enterprise beans that use
container-managed transactions. They require less work on your part and
are less prone to errors. Also, it’s easier to customize a bean with a
container-managed transaction and to use it to compose other beans.

Local and global transactions

When a single connection to a database exists, the enterprise bean can
directly control the transaction by calling commit() or rollback() on the
connection. This type of transaction is a local transaction. Using global
transactions, all database connections are registered with the global
transaction service, which handles the transaction. For a global
transaction, the enterprise bean never makes calls directly on a database
connection itself.
A bean that uses bean-managed transaction demarcation uses the
javax.transaction.UserTransaction interface to identify the boundaries of a
global transaction. When a bean uses container-managed demarcation, the
container interrupts each client call to control the transaction demarcation,
using the transaction attribute set in the bean’s deployment descriptor by
the application assembler. The transaction attribute also determines
whether the transaction is local or global.
For container-managed transactions, the container follows certain rules to
determine when it should do a local versus a global transaction. Usually a
container calls the method within a local transaction after verifying that
no global transaction already exists. It also verifies that it isn’t expected to
start a new global transaction and that the transaction attributes are set for
container-managed transactions. The container automatically wraps a
method call within a local transaction if one of the follow conditions is
true:
• The transaction attribute is set to NotSupported and the container
detects that the database resources were accessed.
• The transaction attribute is set to Supports and the container detects
that the method wasn’t invoked from within a global transaction.
• The transaction attribute is set to Never and the container detects that
database resources are accessed.

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 Using the transaction API

Using the transaction API

All transactions use the Java Transaction API (JTA). When transactions are
container managed, the platform handles the demarcation of transaction
boundaries and the container uses the JTA API. You never need to use this
API in your bean code.
If your bean manages its own transactions, it must use the JTA
javax.transaction.UserTransaction interface. This interface allows a client or
component to demarcate transaction boundaries. Enterprise beans that
use bean-managed transactions use the EJBContext.getUserTransaction()
method.
Also, all transactional clients use JNDI to look up the UserTransaction
interface. Do this by constructing a JNDI InitialContext using the JNDI
naming service, such as shown here:
javax.naming.Context context = new javax.naming.InitialContext();
Once the bean has the InitialContext, it can then use the JNDI lookup()
operation to obtain the UserTransaction interface:
javax.transaction.UserTransaction utx = (javax.transaction.UserTransaction)
context.lookup("java:comp/UserTransaction")
Note than an enterprise bean can obtain a reference to the UserTransaction
interface from the EJBContext object. The bean can simply use the
EJBContext.getUserTransaction() method rather than having to obtain an
InitialContext object and then using the JNDI lookup() method. A
transactional client that isn’t an enterprise bean, however, must use the
JNDI lookup approach.
When the bean or client has the reference to the UserTransaction interface, it
can then initiate its own transactions and manage them. That is, you can
use the UserTransaction interface methods to begin and commit (or
rollback) transactions. You use the begin() method to start the transaction,
then the commit() method to commit the changes to the database. Or, you
use the rollback() method to abort all changes made within the transaction
and restore the database to the state it was in prior to the start of the
transaction. Between the begin() and commit() methods, you include the
code to carry out the business of the transaction. Here’s an example:
public class NewSessionBean implements SessionBean {
EJBContext ejbContext;

public void doSomething(...) {

javax.transaction.UserTransaction utx;
javax.sql.DataSource dataSource1;
javax.sql.DataSource dataSource2;
java.sql.Connection firstConnection;
java.sql.Connection secondConnection;
java.sql.Statement firstStatement;
java.sql Statement secondStatement;

Managing transactions 18-5

Handling transaction exceptions

java.naming.Context context = new javax.naming.InitialContext();

dataSource1 = (javax.sql.DataSource)
context.lookup("java:comp/env/jdbcDatabase1");
firstConnection = dataSource1.getConnection();

firstStatement = firstConnection.createStatement();

dataSource2 = (javax.sql.DataSource)
context.lookup("java:comp/env/jdbcDatabase2");
secondConnection = dataSource2.getConnection();

secondStatement = secondConnection.createStatement();

utx = ejbContext.getUserTransaction();

utx.begin();

firstStatement.executeQuery(...);
firstStatement.executeUpdate(...);
secondStatement.executeQuery(...);
secondStatement.executeUpdate(...);

utx.commit();

firstStatement.close;
secondStatement.close
firstConnection.close();
secondConnection.close();
}
...

Handling transaction exceptions

Enterprise beans can throw application and/or system-level exceptions if
they encounter errors while handling transactions. Application-level
exceptions arise from errors in the business logic. The calling application
must handle them. System-level exceptions, such as runtime errors,
transcend the application itself and can be handled by the application, the
enterprise bean, or the bean container.
The enterprise bean declares application-level exceptions and
system-level exceptions in the throws clauses of its home and remote/local
interfaces. You must check for checked exceptions in your client
application’s try/catch block when calling bean methods.

18-6 Enterprise JavaBeans Developer’s Guide

 Handling transaction exceptions

System-level exceptions
An enterprise bean throws a system-level exception (usually a
java.ejb.EJBException, but possibly a java.rmi.RemoteException) to indicate
an unexpected system-level failure. For example, it throws an exception if
it can’t open a database connection. The java.ejb.EJBException is a runtime
exception and it isn’t required to be listed in the throws clause of the bean’s
business methods.
System-level exceptions usually require the transaction to be rolled back.
Often the container managing the bean does the rollback. Sometimes the
client must roll back the transaction, though, especially if transactions are
bean-managed.

Application-level exceptions
The bean throws an application-level exception to indicate
application-specific error conditions. These are business logic errors, not
system problems. Application-level exceptions are exceptions other than
java.ejb.EJBException. Application-level exceptions are checked
exceptions, which means you must check for them when you call a
method that potentially can throw this exception.
The bean’s business methods use application exceptions to report
abnormal application conditions, such as unacceptable input values or
amounts beyond acceptable limits. For example, a bean method that
debits an account balance might throw an application exception to report
that the account balance isn’t sufficient to permit a particular debit
operation. A client can often recover from these application-level errors
without having to roll back the entire transaction.
The application or calling program gets back the same exception that was
thrown, allowing the calling program to know the precise nature of the
problem. When an application-level exception occurs, the enterprise bean
instance doesn’t automatically roll back the client’s transaction. The client
now has the knowledge and the opportunity to evaluate the error
message, take the necessary steps to correct the situation, and recover the
transaction. Or the client can abort the transaction.

Handling application exceptions

Because the application-level exceptions report business logic errors, your
client must handle these exceptions. While these exceptions might require
transaction rollback, they don’t automatically mark the transaction for
rollback. The client can retry the transaction, although often it must abort
and roll back the transaction.

Managing transactions 18-7

Handling transaction exceptions

You, as the bean provider, must ensure that the state of the bean is such
that if the client continues with the transaction, there is no loss of data
integrity. If you can’t ensure this, you must mark the transaction for
rollback.

Transaction rollback
When your client gets an application exception, first check if the current
transaction has been marked for rollback only. For example, a client might
receive a javax.transaction.TransactionRolledbackException. This exception
indicates that the helper enterprise bean failed and the transaction has
been aborted or marked “rollback only”. Usually the client doesn’t know
the transaction context within which the enterprise bean operated. The
bean might have operated in its own transaction context separate from the
calling program’s transaction context, or it might have operated in the
calling program’s context.
If the enterprise bean operated in the same transaction context as the
calling program, then the bean itself (or its container) has already marked
the transaction for rollback. When an EJB container marks a transaction
for rollback, the client should stop all work on the transaction. Usually a
client using declarative transactions gets an appropriate exception, such as
javax.transaction.TransactionRolledbackException. Note that declarative
transactions are those transactions where the container manages the
transaction details.
A client that is itself an enterprise bean should call the
javax.ejbEJBContext.getRollbackOnly() method to determine if its own
transaction has been marked for rollback.
For bean-managed transactions, which are those transactions managed
explicitly by the client, the client should roll back the transaction by
calling the rollback() method from the java.transaction.userTransaction
interface.

Options for continuing a transaction

When a transaction isn’t marked for rollback, the client has these options:
• Roll back the transaction.
When a client receives a checked exception for a transaction not marked
for rollback, its safest course is to roll back the transaction. The client
does this by either marking the transaction as rollback only or, if the
client has actually started the transaction, calling the rollback() method
to actually roll back the transaction.
• Pass the responsibility by throwing a checked exception or re-throwing
the original exception.
The client can also throw its own checked exception or re-throw the
original exception. By throwing an exception, the client lets other

18-8 Enterprise JavaBeans Developer’s Guide

 Handling transaction exceptions

programs further up the transaction chain decide whether to abort the

transaction. Usually, however, it’s preferable for the code or program
closest to the occurrence of the problem to make the decision about
continuing the transaction or not.
• Retry and continue the transaction. This might entail retrying portions
of the transaction.
The client can continue with the transaction. The client can evaluate the
exception message and decide if calling the method again with
difference parameters is likely to succeed. You must remember,
however, that retrying a transaction is potentially dangerous. Your
code doesn’t know if the enterprise bean properly cleaned up its state.
Clients that are calling stateless session beans, however, can retry the
transaction if they can determine the problem from the thrown
exception. Because the called bean is stateless, there is no improper
state to worry about.
If you are using the Borland Enterprise Server, see the “Transaction
Management” chapter in the Borland Enterprise Server’s Enterprise
JavaBeans Programmer’s Guide for additional information about
transactions and the Borland container.

Managing transactions 18-9

18-10 Enterprise JavaBeans Developer’s Guide
 Appendix

Creating JMS producers and

Chapter18
A
consumers
This is a feature of The Java™ Message Service (JMS), which is part of the Java™ 2 Enterprise
JBuilder Enterprise. Edition (J2EE), supplies you with the APIs you need to create applications
that use an enterprise message system. You can use this message system
to develop scalable, reliable, and very flexible distributed applications.
Message systems allow separate applications to communicate
asynchronously.
An application or class that sends a message is a message producer. One
that can receive a message is a message consumer. JBuilder has a JMS
wizard that can help you build both message producers and consumers.
JMS messages can follow either of these two models:
• Publish/subscribe
A publish/subscribe message system follows an event-driven model in
which producers of messages send out or publish messages and
consumers of messages subscribe to or receive messages in which they
are interested. Each published message is on a specific topic. Message
consumers specify which topics they want to receive.
• Point to point
A point to point message system requires that message producers send
a message to a particular message consumer. The message arrives at the
consumer’s incoming message queue.
To find complete information about JMS, see Sun’s Java Message Service
documentation at http://java.sun.com/products/jms/docs.html.
JBuilder Enterprise ships with SonicMQ Message Broker, a Java Message
Service provider. See the Sonic MQ documentation for more information.

Creating JMS producers and consumers A-1

Using the JMS wizard

Using the JMS wizard

The JMS wizard generates a Java class that includes all the supporting
code for a class to produce and consume messages. You then write very
simple code to actually publish or send the message if the class is a
message producer. If the class is a message consumer, you add the code to
receive the message and implement the onMessage() method to handle
messages subscribed to or received, depending on the type of message
model you are using.
To begin using the JMS wizard,
1 Choose File|New, click the Enterprise tab, and double-click the JMS
icon.
The JMS wizard appears:

2 Specify the package and class name for your class or accept the default
values.
3 Enter the class you want this class to extend or accept the default value
of java.lang.Object in the Super Class field.
4 Select Publish And Subscribe if you are creating a class for a publish\
subscribe message system, or select Point To Point if you are creating a
class for a point to point message system.
5 Choose Next.
The next page that appears in the JMS message depends on the Domain
type you selected.

A-2 Enterprise JavaBeans Developer’s Guide

 Using the JMS wizard

Publish\subscribe message systems

If you selected Publish\Subscribe, this page appears in the JMS wizard:

To finish the class,

1 Specify a Connection Factory Name.
A topic connection factory is used to set up a connection and topic
session.
2 Specify the name of the message topic as the Topic Name.
3 If you want the session to use a durable subscriber,
• Check the Durable check box.
• Specify a unique Durable Name for the durable subscription.
• Specify a Client ID.
4 If the session is to be transacted, check the Transacted check box.
Transacted sessions use the session’s commit() and rollback() methods
to demarcate a local transaction.
5 If the session is not transacted, select an acknowledgement mode:
• Auto — The session automatically acknowledges the receipt of a
message.
• Duplicates OK — The session acknowledges all messages,
performing no checks to prevent duplicates. This can improve
processing time.
• Client — The client acknowledges a message by calling the
message’s acknowledge() method.

Creating JMS producers and consumers A-3

Using the JMS wizard

6 Leave the Generate Header Comments check box if you want the
comments listing the title, description, and so on included in the
generated code.
7 Choose Finish.

Point to point message systems

If you selected Point to Point, this page appears in the JMS wizard:

To finish the class,

1 Specify a Connection Factory Name.
2 Specify the name of the message queue as the Queue Name.
3 If the session is to be transacted, check the Transacted check box.
Transacted sessions use the session’s commit() and rollback() methods
to demarcate a local transaction.
4 If the session is not transacted, select an acknowledgement mode:
• Auto — The session automatically acknowledges the receipt of a
message.
• Duplicates OK — The session acknowledges all messages,
performing no checks to prevent duplicates. This can improve
processing time.
• Client — The client acknowledges a message by calling the
message’s acknowledge() method.
5 Uncheck the Header Comments check box if you want the comments
listing the title, description, and so on omitted.
6 Choose Finish.

A-4 Enterprise JavaBeans Developer’s Guide

 Completing the code

Completing the code

Once the JMS wizard finishes, you can view the source code that was
generated in the Source pane:

The commented code at the top of the generated class file demonstrates
how to send a text message and also how to receive a message. Follow this
example and add the code you need to send or receive messages. If your
class is a message consumer, locate the onMessage() method in the source
code and complete its implementation so that it handles the received
message.

Creating JMS producers and consumers A-5

A-6 Enterprise JavaBeans Developer’s Guide
 Index
A binary format
EJB modules 5-1, 6-1
acknowledgement modes Borland
JMS messages A-3 contacting 1-4
message-driven beans 15-6 target application server 4-1
activating Borland AppServer 4.5
entity beans 14-4 libraries 4-3
session beans 13-6 Borland Enterprise Server 5.0
adding business methods to EJB 6-9 libraries 4-3
adding properties to EJB 6-9 Borland Online 1-4
afterBegin() 13-9 build properties
afterCompletion() 13-9 changing 8-1
Always Create JAR When Building option 8-1 EJB modules 8-1
application assembler Build Properties dialog box 8-4
EJB role 3-2 business methods 14-7
application EJB roles 3-2 adding to enterprise bean 6-9
application server entity beans 14-5
Borland target 4-1 exposing EJB 6-11
Generic 1.0 target 4-4 invoked by client 17-1, 17-4
iPlanet target 4-1 local interface 16-7
selecting 4-4 remote interface 6-11, 16-7
setting up target 4-1 writing 13-3
WebLogic target 4-1
WebSphere target 4-1 C
application server files
adding to a project 4-4 Cart sample bean 13-11
application servers checkExistenceBeforeCreate property 11-14
libraries 4-3 client stubs
architecture generation 8-1
Enterprise JavaBeans 3-4 client tier 2-3
attributes technologies 2-5
transaction 11-23, 18-3 clients
creating with JBuilder 17-9
B enterprise bean 17-1
invoking business methods 17-4
Bean designer locate home interface 17-2
Methods page 6-11 managing transactions 17-7
Properties page 6-9 obtain remote interface 17-2
bean developer removing bean instances 17-5
EJB role 3-2 CMP properties
tasks 3-6 editing Borland 5-15
bean provider comparing
EJB role 3-2 two EJBs 16-8
tasks 3-6 contacting Borland 1-4
bean-managed persistence 14-1, 14-2, 14-20 newsgroups 1-5
disadvantages 14-2 World Wide Web 1-4
finder methods 14-3 container provider
bean-managed transactions 18-3, 18-5 EJB role 3-3
BeansExpress container transactions 11-23
exposing EJB methods 6-11 container-managed persistence 11-34, 14-1, 14-2,
beforeCompletion() 13-9 14-20

Index I-1
 advantages 14-2 Data Source panel 11-26
editing Borland property settings 5-15 data source properties 11-28
limitations 14-2 displaying 5-32, 11-2
no primary key class 14-6 EJB Local References panel 11-20
container-managed transactions 18-3 EJB References panel 11-10
adding 11-23 Environment panel 11-9
containers Finders panel 11-35
EJB 3-5 General panel 11-5
See also EJB container Message Driven Bean panel 11-8
create methods method permissions 11-31
entity bean 14-5, 17-3 Properties panel 11-14
session bean 17-2 Resource Env Refs panel 11-21
create() Resource References panel 11-12
entity beans 16-5 Security Identity panel 11-18
exceptions 16-3, 16-5 Security Role References panel 11-13
session beans 16-3 security roles 11-30
CreateException exception 16-3, 16-5 server-specific Properties panel 11-22
creating transaction isolation levels 11-28
EJB 2.0 components 5-1 verifying descriptors 11-38
deployment descriptors
D application assembly information 10-5
changing bean information 11-4
data source properties container transactions 11-23
editing schema 5-15 creating 10-2, 11-1
data sources data source properties 11-28
EJB 11-26 data sources 11-26
exporting EJB 5-30 editing 11-1
importing into EJB Designer 5-13 EJB 1.1 persistence 11-34
modifying imported schema 5-15 EJB local references 11-20
properties 11-28 EJB references 11-10
transaction isolation levels 11-28 entity bean sample 14-20
database drivers environment properties 11-9
adding to project 4-7 finder methods 11-35
Database Schema Provider dialog box 5-13 information in 10-3
DataExpress for EJB components 12-1 inserting into EJB modules 8-1
deactivating message-driven bean properties 11-8
session bean instances 13-6 method permissions 11-31
default project properties 11-14
adding database drivers 4-7 purpose 10-2
deleting resource environment references 11-21
EJB instances 16-2 resource references 11-12
enterprise beans 16-8 security identity
Deploy Settings dialog box 10-1 EJB 11-18
deployed EJB JARS security roles 11-13, 11-30
listing 10-9 server-specific properties 11-22
deployer session bean 13-18
EJB role 3-4 structural information 10-4
deploying transaction isolation levels 11-28
EJB JAR to running container 10-9 transaction policies 11-23
EJB JARs 10-7 verifying 11-38
enterprise beans 10-1, 10-7 viewing 11-2
enterprise beans to WebLogic 10-1, 10-8 viewing EJB 2.0 source code 5-32
enterprise beans to WebSphere 10-1, 10-8 WebSphere 4.0 finder methods 11-37
Deployment Descriptor editor 11-1 XML file 8-4
CMP 1.1 panel 11-34 deployment EJB role 3-4
container transactions 11-23

I-2 Enterprise JavaBeans Developer’s Guide

deployment options EJB Module wizard 5-2, 6-2
EJB 10-8 EJB modules 6-2
design patterns build properties 8-1
Session Bean wrap Entity Bean 12-1 copy deployment descriptors from 8-1
developer support 1-4 creating 6-2
distributed applications defined 5-1, 6-1, 6-2
EJB 3-1 file extensions 5-1, 6-1
documentation conventions 1-1 formats 5-1, 6-1
Macintosh-specific 1-3 from deployment descriptors 5-4, 6-3
platform conventions 1-3 inserting deployment descriptors into 8-1
drivers types 5-1, 6-1
adding database drivers to project 4-7 EJB QL queries 5-28
durable subscriber A-3 EJB roles 3-2
EJB server
E defined 3-5
provider 3-3
EAR files EJB server components 12-2
creating 2-8, 10-6 EJB Test Client wizard 9-1
EAR wizard 2-8, 10-6 EJB wizards
editing deployment descriptors 11-1 EJB 1.x Bean Generator 6-12
EJB 3-1 EJB 1.x Interface Generator 6-14
See also Enterprise JavaBeans EJB Module 5-2, 6-2
EJB 1.x Bean Generator wizard 6-12 EJB Module From Descriptors 5-4, 6-3
EJB 2.0 Designer wizard 5-5 Enterprise JavaBean 6-4
EJB 2.0 modules Entity Bean Modeler 7-1
creating 5-2 Test Client 9-1
EJB client components 12-2 Use Test Client 9-4
EJB components 12-1 ejbActivate() 13-3, 14-4
EJB container ejbCreate() 14-5
activating session beans 13-6 called by container 14-6
container-managed persistence 14-2 requirements 13-3, 14-5
creates EJBObject 16-8 sample 14-6
deactivating session beans 13-6 ejbFindByPrimaryKey() 14-7
defined 3-5 EJBHome base class
implements home interface 16-1 extended by home interface 16-2
life cycle of entity bean 14-8 ejbHome()
life cycle of stateful beans 13-6 adding to entity beans 5-29
life cycle of stateless beans 13-6 ejb-jar.xml 8-4
provider 3-3 ejbLoad() 14-4
transaction support 18-2 EJBLocalObject interface
EJB deployment options extended by local interface 16-7
setting 10-8 EJBMetaData interface 17-8
EJB Deployment wizard 10-7 EJBObject interface 16-8
EJB Designer extended by remote interface 16-7
displaying 5-5 ejbPassivate() 13-3, 14-4
importing data source 5-13 ejbPostCreate() 14-6
removing EJBs 5-30 ejbRemove() 13-3, 14-4
returning to 5-32 ejbSelect()
setting IDE options adding to entity beans 5-28
IDE options ejbStore() 14-5
setting EJB Designer 5-33 Enable Integration option 4-1
EJB Designer Errors 5-31 enterprise beans 3-1
EJB Entity Bean Modeler wizard 7-1 adding fields 5-9
EJB Interface Generator wizard 6-14 adding methods 5-10
EJB Local References panel 11-20 build properties 8-1
EJB Module From Descriptors wizard 5-4, 6-3

Index I-3
 business methods 14-7 home interface 14-10, 16-4
comparing two 16-8 local home interface 16-4
creating EJB 2.0 5-1 methods 14-5
creating with wizards 6-4 nonexistent state 14-8
deploying 10-1, 10-7 persistence 14-1
deploying to WebLogic servers 10-8 pooled state 14-8
deploying to WebSphere servers 10-8 primary keys 14-2, 17-3
deployment options 10-8 providing data from 12-1
developing with JBuilder 3-8 ready state 14-9
entity 3-7 referencing 17-3
errors in EJB Designer 5-31 referencing tables 5-19
generating from remote interface 6-12 remote interface 14-11
getting information 17-8 removing 14-1
hot deploying 10-9 resolving data to 12-1
how they work 3-6 sample 14-10, 14-11, 14-13
local and remote access 3-8 sharing home and remote interfaces 14-10
managing resources 13-3 states 14-8
message-driven 3-7, 15-1 writing 14-3
modifying 2.0 5-9 entity beans (2.0)
modifying attributes 5-9 adding finder methods 5-28
referencing tables 5-19 adding home methods 5-29
removing fields 5-10 creating 5-13
removing from EJB Designer 5-30 creating from imported data source 5-13
removing instances 16-8 creating relationships 5-23
removing methods 5-11 creating WebLogic 6.x relationships 5-26
running 9-5 editing properties 5-17
session 3-7 ejbHome() 5-29
test client 9-1 ejbSelect() 5-28
testing 9-5 removing relationships 5-27
testing remote methods 9-1 WebSphere 4.0 finder methods 11-37
transactions 18-3 EntityBean interface
types 3-7 entity bean implements 14-3
viewing source code 5-8 implementing 14-4
enterprise beans (2.0) methods 14-4
generating bean classes 5-17 environment properties
Enterprise JavaBean 1.x wizard 6-4 EJB 11-9
Enterprise JavaBeans 3-1 errors
architecture 3-4 in EJB Designer 5-31
developing 3-1 exceptions
roles 3-2 application transaction 18-7
specification 3-1 application-level 18-7
types 3-7 system-level transaction 18-7
why needed 3-1 transaction 18-6
Enterprise Setup menu command 4-1
EnterpriseBean interface F
extended by EntityBean 14-4
extended by SessionBean 13-2 field groups
entity bean classes WebLogic 6.1 5-22
requirements 14-3 fields
writing 14-3 adding and removing EJB 5-9
entity beans 3-7 findByPrimaryKey() 16-5, 17-3
create() 16-5, 17-3 findByPrimaryKeyLoadState property 11-14
data sources 11-26 finder methods 11-35, 14-5, 16-5, 17-2, 17-3
defined 14-1 adding to entity beans (2.0) 5-28
finder methods 11-35, 16-5, 17-3 creating 14-7
default 17-3

I-4 Enterprise JavaBeans Developer’s Guide

 entity beans 14-3 hot deploying
prefix 16-5 enterprise beans 10-9
requirements 14-7
WebSphere 4.0 11-37 I
FinderException exception 16-5
finding entity objects ignoreColumnsOnInsert property 11-14
primary key 16-8 infrastructure EJB roles 3-3
findPrimaryKeyBehavior property 11-14 initial naming context
fonts obtaining 17-2
JBuilder documentation conventions 1-1 InitialContext 18-5
inspectors
G EJB 5-9, 5-17
entity bean field 5-23
Generic AppServer 1.0 4-4 entity bean method 5-23
getEJBHome() relationship 5-24
EJBObject 16-8 session bean 5-7
getEJBMetaData() 16-2 session bean field 5-9
EJBHome 16-2 session bean method 5-10
getHandle() interfaces
EJBObject 16-8 home 16-1
getHomeHandle() local home 16-2
EJBHome 16-2 remote 16-7
getMetaData() isIdentical()
enterprise bean 17-8 EJBObject 16-8
getPrimaryKey() isolation levels 11-28
EJBObject 16-8 WebLogic 6.x 11-25
getPrimaryKeyAfterInsertSql property 11-14
getPrimaryKeyBeforeInsertSql property 11-14 J
getRollbackOnly() 18-8
J2EE applications
H advantages 2-1
JBuilder support 2-5
handles learning about 2-8
EJB 16-2 JAR files 2-8
getting enterprise bean 16-8 Java Message Service 11-8, A-1
home and remote interfaces See also JMS
entity beans sharing 14-10 Java Transaction API (JTA) 18-5
home business methods 5-29 JDBC drivers
home interface adding to project 4-7
client locates 17-1, 17-2 jdbcAccesserFactory property 11-14
create methods 17-2, 17-4 JMS consumers A-1
creating 16-1, 16-3 JMS destination 15-2, 15-6
creating for existing enterprise bean 6-14 JMS messages 15-1, A-1
defined 16-1 point to point model A-1
entity bean requirements 16-5 publish/subscribe model A-1
entity bean sample 16-7 JMS producers A-1
entity beans 14-10, 16-4 JMS providers 15-1
extends EJBHome 16-2 JMS wizard A-2
finder methods 16-5, 17-2 JNDI
naming 16-1 API 17-2
remove methods 17-4 naming service 17-2, 18-5
session bean requirements 16-3
session bean sample 16-3 L
session beans 16-3
home methods 5-29 libraries
application server 4-3

Index I-5
 application server files 4-4 method-ready state
Borland AppServer 4.5 4-3 defined 13-6
Borland Enterprise Server 5.0 4-3 in transaction 13-8
WebLogic Server 5.1 4-3 methods
WebLogic Server 6.x 4-3 adding EJB 5-10
WebSphere 4.0 Single Server 4-3 removing EJB 5-11
WebSphere Server 4.0 Advanced Edition 4-3 middle tier 2-3
listing deployed JARS 10-9 technologies 2-6
local access multi-tier applications
enterprise beans 3-8 for distributed systems 3-1
local home interface 16-2 multi-tier architecture
creating 16-3 benefits 2-3
entity beans 16-4
finder methods 16-5 N
session beans 16-3
local interface naming context
creating 16-7 obtaining 17-2
EJBLocalObject 16-7 Never transaction attribute 11-23
LocalHome interface 16-2 newsgroups 1-5
locating Borland 1-5
enterprise beans with primary key 16-8 nonexistent state
lookup() 17-2 entity beans 14-8
NotSupported transaction attribute 11-23
M
O
Macintosh
support in JBuilder 1-3 online resources 1-4
Mandatory transaction attribute 11-23 onMessage() 15-2, 15-4
maxBeanInTransaction property 11-14 writing 15-4
maxBeansInCache property 11-14 operation EJB role 3-4
maxBeansInPool property 11-14 optimisticConcurrencyBehavior property 11-14
message consumers 15-1
Message Driven Bean panel 11-8 P
message models
parsing errors
point-to-point 15-2
in EJB Designer 5-31
subscribe-and-publish 15-2
passivation 13-6, 14-4
message producers 15-1
persistence 3-7
message selector 15-2, 15-6
1.1 entity beans 11-34
message systems
bean-managed 14-1, 14-2
point to point A-1
bean-managed disadvantages 14-2
publish/subscribe A-1
container-managed 14-1, 14-2
message-driven beans 3-7, 15-1
container-managed advantages 14-2
creating 5-12
container-managed disadvantages 14-2
creating with JBuilder 15-5
container-managed EJB 1.1 11-34
deployment descriptors 15-6
container-managed versus bean-managed 14-2
life cycle 15-2
entity beans 14-1
properties 11-8
persisting
writing 15-3
1.1 entity beans 11-34
MessageDrivenBean interface 15-4
point to point message model A-1, A-4
MessageListener interface 15-4
point-to-point messaging 15-2
messages
polled state
JMS A-1
entity beans return to 14-9
metadata
pooled state
defined 17-8
entity beans 14-8
method permissions 10-5, 11-31

I-6 Enterprise JavaBeans Developer’s Guide

ports reference to session bean 17-2
VisiBroker SmartAgent 4-4 requirements 16-7
primary key session bean sample 16-8
entity bean 17-3 remote methods
locating entity objects 16-5 testing 9-1
obtaining 16-8 RemoteException exception 16-3, 16-5, 16-7
primary key class 14-2, 17-3 Remove Stub Files On Application Server Change
entity bean requirements 14-3 option 8-1
primaryKeyGenerator property 11-14 remove()
projects EJBHome 16-2
adding database drivers 4-7 EJBObject 16-8
properties removing
data source 11-28 deployed EJB JAR 10-9
deployment descriptor 11-14 EJB instances 16-2
EJB 11-14 enterprise bean instances 16-8
Properties panel entity bean instances 14-1, 17-4
EJB server-specific 11-22 session bean instances 17-5
providing data Required transaction attributes 11-23
from entity beans 12-1 RequiresNew transaction attribute 11-23
publish/subscribe message model A-1, A-3 resolving data
to entity beans 12-1
Q Resource Env Refs panel 11-21
resource environment references
queue JMS destination 15-2 EJB 11-21
resource references
R EJB 11-12
roles
ready state
application EJB 3-2
entity beans 14-9
deployment 3-4
redeploying
EJB 3-2
EJB JAR 10-9
infrastructure EJB 3-3
references
operation 3-4
EJB 11-10
rollback() 18-8
referencing enterprise beans
rolling back transactions 18-8
create methods 17-2, 17-3
runtime configurations
finder methods 17-2, 17-3
Client and Server 9-5
using handles 17-6
relationships
EJB 2.0 5-23 S
EJB 2.0 removing 5-27 sample EJB client applications
EJB 2.0 WebLogic 6.x 5-26 SortClient 17-1
remote access sample entity bean
enterprise beans 3-8 CheckAccount 14-11
remote and home interfaces SavingsAccount 14-13
entity beans sharing 14-10 sample session bean
remote interface 16-7 CartBean 13-10
business methods 6-11 schema
client obtains reference 17-1 editing data source properties 5-15
creating 16-7 modifying imported data source 5-15
creating for existing bean 6-14 Security Identity panel 11-18
defined 16-1 security role references 10-6
entity beans 14-11 security roles 10-5
extends EJBObject 16-8 creating 11-31
generating EJB from 6-12 EJB 11-13, 11-30
reference 17-2 server provider
reference to entity bean 17-3 EJB 3-3

Index I-7
 EJB role 3-3
servers
T
EJB 3-5 Table Reference editor 5-19
running EJB 9-5 table references
server-specific EJB properties 11-22 entity beans 5-19
session bean classes target application server 4-1
requirements 13-2 technical support 1-4
Session Bean wrap Entity Bean design pattern 12-1 test clients
session beans 3-7, 13-1 creating EJB 9-1
Cart sample 13-11 declaring instance of 9-4
create methods 17-2 running EJB 9-5
create() 16-3 using EJB 9-4
creating 2.0 5-7 testing enterprise bean methods 9-1
creating with JBuilder 13-4 testing enterprise beans 9-5
home interface 16-3 topic connection factories A-3
implementing required methods 13-12 topic JMS destination 15-2
life cycle 13-6 topic subscription durability 15-6
local home interface 16-3 transacted sessions A-3
method-ready state 13-6 transaction
referencing 17-2 attributes 11-23
remove() 17-5 boundaries 17-7
sample 13-10 transaction isolation levels
SessionSynchronization interface 13-8 WebLogic 6.x 11-25
stateful 13-1, 17-2 transaction isolation policy
stateless 13-2, 17-2 WebLogic 6.x 11-25
stateless pool 13-6 transactionCommitMode property 11-14
types 13-1 transaction-ready state 13-9
writing 13-2 transactions
SessionBean interface and enterprise beans 18-3
extending 13-2 atomicity characteristic 18-1
methods 13-2 attributes 18-3
SessionContext interface 13-9 bean-managed 18-3
SessionSynchronization interface 5-7 boundaries 18-5
methods 13-9 characteristics 18-1
stateful session beans 13-8 concurrency characteristic 18-1
setEntityContext() 14-4 consistency 18-1
setRollbackOnly() 13-9 container-managed 11-23, 18-3, 18-4
setSessionContext() 13-3 demarcation 18-3, 18-5
sharing home and remote interfaces 14-10 durability characteristic 18-1
shopping cart exceptions 18-6
session bean sample 13-10 global 18-4
SmartAgent 4-4 isolation characteristic 18-1
SonicMQ Broker 15-7 isolation levels 11-28
source code local 18-4
viewing 2.0 deployment descriptors 5-32 managed by client 17-7
stateful beans policies 11-23
life cycle 13-6 rolling back 18-8
stateless beans WebLogic 6.x isolation policies 11-25
life cycle 13-6
stubs U
generating client 8-1
subscription durability 15-6 undeploying an EJB JAR 10-9
Supports transaction attribute 11-23 unsetEntityContext() 14-4
system administrator Use EJB Test Client wizard 9-4
EJB role 3-4 Usenet newsgroups 1-5
UserTransaction interface 17-7, 18-4, 18-5

I-8 Enterprise JavaBeans Developer’s Guide

V WebSphere
Deploy Settings dialog box 10-7
verifying target application server 4-1
deployment descriptors 11-38 WebSphere 4.0 Single Server
VisiBroker libraries 4-3
ORB, making available to JBuilder 4-4 WebSphere Server 4.0 Advanced Edition
SmartAgent 4-4 libraries 4-3
WebSphere servers
W deploying to 10-8
wizards
WAR files 2-8 EJB 1.x Bean Generator 6-12
WebLogic EJB 1.x Interface Generator 6-14
Deploy Settings dialog box 10-7 EJB Deployment 10-7
deployment descriptors 8-4 EJB Entity Bean Modeler 7-1
target application server 4-1 EJB Module 5-2, 6-2
WebLogic 6.x Transaction Isolation panel 11-25 EJB Module From Descriptors 5-4, 6-3
WebLogic Server 5.1 EJB Test Client 9-1
libraries 4-3 Enterprise JavaBean 6-4
WebLogic Server 6.x JMS A-2
libraries 4-3 Use Test Client 9-4
WebLogic servers
deploying to 10-8
weblogic-ejb-jar.xml 8-4
X
XML format
EJB modules 5-1, 6-1

Index I-9
I-10 Enterprise JavaBeans Developer’s Guide