Define the component interface and properties

The definition of a Java component specifies the interfaces that the component implements as well as its other properties.

Defining the client interfaces

All component interfaces for EAServer components are defined in CORBA IDL modules that are stored in EAServer’s IDL repository. Chapter 5, “Defining Component Interfaces” describes how to define IDL interfaces.

Java component developers typically use one of the following to define the interface or interfaces that their component implements:

Implement a Java source file and import the methods from it As an alternative to IDL, you can define a Java class or interface, then use EAServer Manager to import the method definitions from the compiled Java bytecode file. EAServer creates a new component definition and an IDL interface that matches the methods defined in the Java file. For more information on this feature, see “Importing interfaces from compiled Java files”.

Use existing interfaces from EAServer’s IDL repository In some cases, client and server component developers may have agreed upon an existing interface or several interfaces that your component must implement. In this case, it is up to you, the component developer, to implement the specified interface. EAServer stores HTML documentation for all interfaces in the IDL repository in the html/ir subdirectory of your EAServer installation.

Define a new IDL interface or interfaces If you are defining the interface yourself, you can use EAServer Manager’s IDL editor to create a new interface for the component. “Defining modules, interfaces, and types in IDL” describes how.

If you have an IDL interface If you are starting with an IDL interface rather than an existing class file, you can use EAServer Manager to create a class that contains the necessary method declarations. See “Generate stub, skeleton, and implementation files” for more information.

Choose a control interface

Optionally configure a control interface for the component. Using a control interface allows you to implement methods to respond to changes in the instance lifecycle. See “Configuring a control interface” for more information.

Specify component properties

In EAServer Manager, the Component Properties window configures the settings that EAServer uses to load the component and invoke its methods. See “Configuring component properties” for more information.