src/share/classes/org/omg/CORBA/package.html

Sat, 07 Jun 2014 10:09:30 +0100

author
coffeys
date
Sat, 07 Jun 2014 10:09:30 +0100
changeset 660
009fc3f785a9
parent 158
91006f157c46
child 748
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8042789: org.omg.CORBA.ORBSingletonClass loading no longer uses context class loader
Reviewed-by: alanb, lancea

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    35 Provides the mapping of the OMG CORBA APIs to the Java<SUP><FONT 
    36 SIZE=-2>TM</FONT></SUP>
    37 programming language, including the class <TT>ORB</TT>, which is implemented
    38 so that a programmer can use it as a fully-functional Object Request Broker
    39 (ORB).
    41 <P>For a precise list of supported sections of official CORBA specifications with which 
    42 the Java[TM] Platform, Standard Edition 6 complies, see <A 
    43 HREF="doc-files/compliance.html"><em>Official Specifications for CORBA support in 
    44 Java[TM] SE 6</em></A>.
    47 <H1>General Information</H1>
    48 The information in this section is information relevant to someone who 
    49 compiles Interface Definition Language (IDL) files and uses the
    50 ORB to write clients and servers.
    52 <P>The classes and interfaces described in this section can be put into 
    53 four groups: <tt>ORB classes</tt>, Exceptions, <tt>Helper</tt> classes,
    54 and <tt>Holder</tt> classes.
    56 <H2>
    57 The <tt>ORB</tt> Class</H2>
    59 <P>An ORB handles (or brokers) method invocations between a client and
    60 the method's implementation on a server. Because the client and server
    61 may be anywhere on a network, and because the invocation and implementation
    62 may be written in different programming languages, an ORB does a great
    63 deal of work behind the scenes to accomplish this communication.
    65 <P>Most of what an ORB does is completely transparent to the user, and a major
    66 portion of the <TT>CORBA</TT> package consists of classes used by the ORB
    67 behind the scenes. The result is that most programmers will use only a
    68 small part of this package directly. In fact, most programmers will use
    69 only a few methods from the <TT>ORB</TT> class, some exceptions, and 
    70 occasionally,
    71 a holder class. 
    72 <H3>
    73 <TT>ORB</TT> Methods</H3>
    75 <P>Before an application can enter the CORBA environment, it must first: 
    76 <P>
    77 <UL>
    78 <LI>Be initialized into the ORB and possibly the object adapter (POA) environments.
    79 <LI>Get references to ORB object (for use in future ORB operations) 
    80 and perhaps other objects (including the root POA or some Object Adapter objects). 
    81 </UL>
    82 <P>The following operations are provided to initialize applications and obtain
    83  the appropriate object references:
    84  <P>
    85  <UL>
    86  <LI>Operations providing access to the ORB, which are discussed in this
    87  section.
    88  <LI>Operations providing access to Object Adapters, Interface Repository, 
    89  Naming Service, and other Object Services. These operations are described 
    90  in <a href="#adv"><em>Other Classes</em></a>.
    91  </UL>
    92  <P>
    93 When an application requires a CORBA environment it needs a mechanism to 
    94 get an ORB object reference and possibly an OA object reference 
    95 (such as the root POA). This serves two purposes. First, it initializes 
    96 an application into the ORB and OA environments. Second, it returns the 
    97 ORB object reference and the OA object reference to the application 
    98 for use in future ORB and OA operations. 
   100 <P>In order to obtain an ORB object reference, applications call 
   101 the <tt>ORB.init</tt> operation. The parameters to the call can comprise an 
   102 identifier for the ORB for which the object reference is required,
   103  and an arg_list, which is used to allow environment-specific data to be 
   104  passed into the call. 
   106 <P>These are the <TT>ORB</TT> methods
   107  that provide access to the ORB:
   108 <UL>
   109 <LI>
   110 <TT><bold>init</bold>()</TT> 
   112 <LI>
   113 <TT><bold>init</bold>(String [] args, Properties props)</TT>
   115 <LI>
   116 <TT><bold>init</bold>(Applet app, Properties props)</TT>
   117 </UL>
   119 <P>Using the <tt>init()</tt> method without parameters initiates 
   120 a singleton ORB,  which can only
   121 give typecode creation <tt>any</tt>s needed in code generated
   122 in Helper classes by <tt>idlj</tt>.
   124 <P>Applications require a portable means by which to obtain their 
   125 initial object references. References are required for the root 
   126 POA, POA Current, Interface Repository, and various Object Services 
   127 instances.  The functionality required by the application is similar
   128  to that provided by the Naming Service. However, the OMG does not 
   129  want to mandate that the Naming Service be made available to all 
   130  applications in order that they may be portably initialized. 
   131  Consequently, the operations shown in this section provide a 
   132  simplified, local version of the Naming Service that applications 
   133  can use to obtain a small, defined set of object references which 
   134  are essential to its operation. Because only a small well-defined 
   135  set of objects are expected with this mechanism, the naming context
   136  can be flattened to be a single-level name space. This simplification
   137  results in only two operations being defined to achieve the functionality
   138   required.
   140 <P>Initial references are obtained via two operations provided in 
   141 the ORB object interface, providing facilities to list and 
   142 resolve initial object references.  These are:
   143 <UL>
   144 <LI>
   145 <TT><bold>resolve_initial_references</bold>(String name)</TT>
   146 <LI>
   147 <TT><bold>list_initial_services</bold>()</TT>
   148 <LI>
   149 <TT><bold>register_initial_reference</bold>(String id, 
   150 org.omg.CORBA.Object obj)</TT>
   151 </UL>
   153 <P>An example that uses some of these methods is <A 
   154 HREF="{@docRoot}/../technotes/guides/idl/GShome.html">
   155 <em>Getting Started with Java IDL</em></A>.
   157 <H2>
   158 Exceptions</H2>
   159 Exceptions in Java IDL are similar to those in any code written in the
   160 Java programming language. If a method is defined to throw an exception,
   161 then any code using that method must have a <TT>try</TT>/<TT>catch</TT>
   162 block and handle that exception when it is thrown.
   164 <P>The documentation on <A 
   165 HREF="{@docRoot}/../technotes/guides/idl/jidlExceptions.html"><em>Java
   166 IDL exceptions</em></A> has more information and explains the difference between
   167 system exceptions and user-defined exceptions.
   169 <P>The following is a list of the system exceptions (which are unchecked
   170 exceptions inheriting through <TT><a href="SystemException.html">
   171 org.omg.CORBA.SystemException</a></TT> from
   172 <TT>java.lang.RuntimeException</TT>) that are defined in the package 
   173 <TT>org.omg.CORBA</TT>:
   174 <PRE><code>
   175 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; BAD_CONTEXT
   176 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; BAD_INV_ORDER
   177 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; BAD_OPERATION
   178 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; BAD_PARAM
   179 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; BAD_TYPECODE
   180 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; COMM_FAILURE
   181 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; DATA_CONVERSION
   182 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; FREE_MEM
   183 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; IMP_LIMIT
   184 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; INITIALIZE
   185 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; INTERNAL
   186 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; INTF_REPOS
   187 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; INVALID_TRANSACTION
   188 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; INV_FLAG
   189 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; INV_IDENT
   190 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; INV_OBJREF
   191 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; INV_POLICY
   192 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; MARSHAL
   193 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <a href="#NO_IMPLEMENT">NO_IMPLEMENT</a>
   194 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; NO_MEMORY
   195 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; NO_PERMISSION
   196 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; NO_RESOURCES
   197 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; NO_RESPONSE
   198 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; OBJECT_NOT_EXIST
   199 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; OBJ_ADAPTER
   200 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; PERSIST_STORE
   201 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; TRANSACTION_REQUIRED
   202 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; TRANSACTION_ROLLEDBACK
   203 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; TRANSIENT
   204 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; UNKNOWN
   205 </code></PRE>
   206 <P>
   207 The following is a list of user-defined exceptions defined in the package
   208 <TT>org.omg.CORBA</TT>.
   209 <PRE><code>
   210 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Bounds
   211 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; UnknownUserException
   212 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; WrongTransaction&nbsp;
   213 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; PolicyError
   214 </code></PRE>
   216  <H2>Subpackages</H2>
   217 There are some packages inside the <TT>CORBA</TT> package with
   218 "Package" as part of their names. These packages are generally quite small
   219 because all they do is provide exceptions or classes for use by interfaces
   220 and classes in the <TT>CORBA</TT> package.
   222 <P>For example, the package <TT><a href="TypeCodePackage/package-summary.html">
   223 org.omg.CORBA.TypeCodePackage</a></TT> contains
   224 two exceptions thrown by methods in the class <TT>TypeCode</TT>. These
   225 exceptions are:
   226 <UL>
   227 <LI>
   228 <TT>BadKind</TT>
   230 <LI>
   231 <TT>Bounds</TT>
   232 </UL>
   233 The package <TT><a href="ORBPackage/package-summary.html">
   234 org.omg.CORBA.ORBPackage</a></TT> contains two exceptions:
   235 <UL>
   236 <LI>
   237 <TT>InvalidName</TT>
   239 <LI>
   240 <TT>InconsistentTypeCode</TT>
   241 </UL>
   243 <P>Another package that is a subpackage of <tt>CORBA</tt> is the <tt>
   244 <a href="portable/package-summary.html">portable</a></tt> package.  It 
   245 provides a set of ORB APIs that makes it 
   246 possible for code generated by one vendor's IDL compiler to run
   247 on another vendor's ORB. 
   252 <H2>
   253 Holder classes</H2>
   256 <P>Support for out and inout parameter passing modes requires the use of 
   257 additional  <em><a href="doc-files/generatedfiles.html#holder">holder  
   258 classes</a></em>. Because the Java programming language does not support out or 
   259 inout parameters, holder classes are needed as a means of passing a parameter
   260 that can be modified.   To support portable stubs and skeletons, holder classes also implement
   261  the <tt><a href="portable/Streamable.html">org.omg.CORBA.portable.Streamable</a>
   262  </tt> interface.
   264  <P>Holder classes are named by appending "Holder" to the name of the type.
   265  The name of the type refers to its name in the Java programming language.  For
   266  example, a holder class for the interface named <tt>Account</tt> in the Java programming
   267  language would be named <tt>AccountHolder</tt>.
   270 <P>Holder classes are available for all of the basic IDL
   271  datatypes in the <tt>org.omg.CORBA</tt> package.  So, for example, 
   272   there are already-defined classes for <tt>LongHolder</tt>, <tt>ShortHolder</tt>,
   273  <tt>FloatHolder</tt>, and so on.  Classes are also generated for 
   274  all named user-defined IDL types except those defined by <tt>typedefs</tt>. 
   275  (Note that in this context user defined includes types that are 
   276  defined in OMG specifications such as those for the Interface
   277   Repository, and other OMG services.) 
   280 <P>Each holder class has:
   281 <P>
   282 <UL>
   283 <LI>a constructor from an instance
   284 <LI>a default constructor
   285 <LI>a public instance member, <tt>value</tt> which is the typed value. 
   286 <LI>a method for reading an input stream and assigning the contents to the 
   287 type's <tt>value</tt> field
   288 <LI>a method for writing the value of the <tt>value</tt> field to an output stream
   289 <LI>a method for getting the typecode of the type
   290 </UL>
   292 <P>The default constructor sets the value field to the default value for the 
   293 type as defined by the Java language: 
   294 <P>
   295 <UL>
   296 <LI><tt>false</tt> for boolean
   297 <LI><tt>0</tt> for numeric and char types
   298 <LI><tt>null</tt> for strings and object references
   299 </UL>
   303 <P>
   304 As an example, if the interface <code>Account</code>, defined in OMG IDL,
   305 were mapped to the Java programming language, the following holder class
   306 would be generated:
   307 <PRE>
   308 public final class AccountHolder implements 
   309     org.omg.CORBA.portable.Streamable
   310 {
   311   // field that holds an Account object
   312   public Account value = null;
   314   // default constructor
   315   public AccountHolder ()
   316   {
   317   }
   319   // creates a new AccountHolder from initialValue
   320   public AccountHolder (Account initialValue)
   321   {
   322     value = initialValue;
   323   }
   325   // reads the contents of i and assigns the contents to value
   326   public void _read (org.omg.CORBA.portable.InputStream i)
   327   {
   328     value = AccountHelper.read (i);
   329   }
   331   // writes value to o
   332   public void _write (org.omg.CORBA.portable.OutputStream o)
   333   {
   334     AccountHelper.write (o, value);
   335   }
   337   // returns the typecode for Account
   338   public org.omg.CORBA.TypeCode _type ()
   339   {
   340     return AccountHelper.type ();
   341   }
   343 }
   344 </PRE>
   346 <P>For more information on Holder classes, see Chapter 1.4, <em>Mapping for
   347 Basic Types</em> in the <a href="http://cgi.omg.org/cgi-bin/doc?ptc/00-01-08">
   348 <em>OMG IDL to Java Language Mapping</em></a>. The Holder classes defined 
   349 in the package <TT>org.omg.CORBA</TT> are:
   350 <PRE>
   351 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>AnyHolder
   352 </TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>AnySeqHolder
   353 </TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>BooleanHolder
   354 </TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>BooleanSeqHolder
   355 </TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>ByteHolder
   356 </TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>CharHolder
   357 </TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>CharSeqHolder
   358 </TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>CurrentHolder
   359 </TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>DoubleHolder
   360 </TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>DoubleSeqHolder
   361 </TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>FixedHolder
   362 </TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>FloatHolder
   363 </TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>FloatSeqHolder
   364 </TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>IntHolder
   365 </TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>LongHolder
   366 </TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>LongLongSeqHolder
   367 </TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>LongSeqHolder
   368 </TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>ObjectHolder
   369 </TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>OctetSeqHolder
   370 </TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>ParameterModeHolder
   371 </TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>PolicyErrorHolder
   372 </TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>PolicyListHolder
   373 </TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>PrincipalHolder
   374 </TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>ServiceInformationHolder
   375 </TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>ShortHolder
   376 </TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>ShortSeqHolder
   377 </TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>StringHolder
   378 </TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>StringSeqHolder
   379 </TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>TypeCodeHolder
   380 </TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>ULongLongSeqHolder
   381 </TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>ULongSeqHolder
   382 </TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>UnknownUserExceptionHolder
   383 </TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>UShortSeqHolder
   384 </TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>ValueBaseHolder
   385 </TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>WCharSeqHolder
   386 </TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>WrongTransactionHolder
   387 </TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>WStringSeqHolder</TT>
   389 </PRE>
   391 <h2>Helper Classes </h2>
   392 <P>Helper files supply several static methods needed to manipulate the type.
   393  These include:
   394  <P>
   395  <UL>
   396  <LI><tt>Any</tt> insert and extract operations for the type
   397  <LI>getting the repository id
   398  <LI>getting the typecode
   399  <LI>reading and writing the type from and to a stream
   400  <LI>implement the <code>ValueHelper</code> interface (if it is  a user-defined
   401    value type)
   402  </UL> 
   404 <P>The helper class for a mapped IDL interface or abstract interface
   405  also include narrow operation(s). The static narrow method allows 
   406  an <tt>org.omg.CORBA.Object</tt> to be narrowed to the object reference 
   407  of a more specific type. The IDL exception <tt>CORBA.BAD_PARAM</tt> 
   408  is thrown if the narrow fails because the object reference does not 
   409  support the requested type. A different system exception is raised 
   410  to indicate other kinds of errors. Trying to narrow a <tt>null</tt> will always
   411   succeed with a return value of <tt>null</tt>. Generally, the only helper method an application programmer uses is
   412 the <code>narrow</code> method.  The other methods are normally used behind
   413 the scenes and are transparent to the programmer.
   415 <P>Helper classes
   416 fall into two broad categories, <a href="#value">helpers for value types</a> and
   417 <a href="#basic">helpers for non value types</a>. Because all of the helper 
   418 classes in one category
   419 provide the same methods, one generic explanation of each 
   420 category of helper classes is presented here.
   422 <P>
   423 When OMG IDL is mapped to the Java programming language, 
   424 a "helper" class is generated for each user-defined type.
   425 This generated class will have the name of the user-defined type with
   426 the suffix <code>Helper</code> appended.  For example, if the
   427 interface <code>Account</code> is defined in OMG IDL, the
   428 <code>idlj</code> compiler will automatically generate a class named
   429 <code>AccountHelper</code>.  The <code>AccountHelper</code> class
   430 will contain the static methods needed for manipulating instances of the type,
   431 in this case, <code>Account</code> objects. 
   434 <a name="narrow"></a>
   435 <h3>The <code>narrow</code> Method</h3>
   436 When an object is the return value for a method, it is returned in the
   437 form of a generic object, either an <code>org.omg.CORBA.Object</code> object
   438 or a <code>java.lang.Object</code> object. This object must be cast to its
   439 more specific type before it can be operated on.  For example, an
   440 <code>Account</code> object will be returned as a generic object and must
   441 be narrowed to an <code>Account</code> object so that <code>Account</code>
   442 methods may be called on it.
   443 <P>
   444 The <code>narrow</code> method has two forms, one that takes an
   445 <code>org.omg.CORBA.Object</code> object and one that takes a
   446 <code>java.lang.Object</code> object. Whether the interface is abstract or
   447 not determines which <code>narrow</code> method its helper class will provide.
   448 The helper class for an interface
   449 that is not abstract will have a <code>narrow</code> method that takes a CORBA
   450 object, whereas the <code>narrow</code> method for an interface that is abstract 
   451 will
   452 take an object in the Java programming language.  The helper class for a
   453 non-abstract interface that has at least one abstract base interface will provide
   454 both versions of the <code>narrow</code> method.
   455 <P>The <A HREF="{@docRoot}/../technotes/guides/idl/jidlExample.html"><em>Hello World</em></A> 
   456 tutorial uses a <tt>narrow</tt> method that looks 
   457 like this:
   458 <P>
   459 <PRE>
   460         // create and initialize the ORB
   461 	ORB orb = ORB.init(args, null);
   463         // get the root naming context
   464         org.omg.CORBA.Object objRef = 
   465 	    orb.resolve_initial_references("NameService");
   466         // Use NamingContextExt instead of NamingContext. This is 
   467         // part of latest Inter-Operable naming Service.  
   468         NamingContextExt ncRef = NamingContextExtHelper.narrow(objRef);
   470         // resolve the Object Reference in Naming
   471         String name = "Hello";
   472         helloImpl = HelloHelper.narrow(ncRef.resolve_str(name));
   473 </PRE>
   475 <a name="basic"></a>
   476 <h3>Example of a Basic Helper Class</h3>
   477 A basic helper class, for purposes of this explanation, is one with
   478 the methods that are provided by every helper class, plus a <code>narrow</code> 
   479 method if the type defined in OMG IDL maps to an interface in the Java
   480 programming language.  Types that are not value types will have a basic
   481 helper class generated for them.
   482 <P>
   483 For example, assuming that the interface <code>Account</code> is not a
   484 value type IDL type and is also not an abstract interface and has no
   485 abstract base interfaces, its <code>AccountHelper</code> class will look
   486 like this:
   487 <PRE>
   488 abstract public class AccountHelper
   489 {
   490   private static String  _id = "IDL:Account:1.0";
   492   // inserts an Account object into an Any object
   493   public static void insert (org.omg.CORBA.Any a, Account that)
   494   {
   495     org.omg.CORBA.portable.OutputStream out = a.create_output_stream ();
   496     a.type (type ());
   497     write (out, that);
   498     a.read_value (out.create_input_stream (), type ());
   499   }
   501   // extracts an Account object from an Any object
   502   public static Account extract (org.omg.CORBA.Any a)
   503   {
   504     return read (a.create_input_stream ());
   505   }
   508   private static org.omg.CORBA.TypeCode __typeCode = null;
   509   // gets the typecode for this type
   510   synchronized public static org.omg.CORBA.TypeCode type ()
   511   {
   512     if (__typeCode == null)
   513     {
   514       __typeCode = org.omg.CORBA.ORB.init ().create_interface_tc (AccountHelper.id (), "Account");
   515     }
   516     return __typeCode;
   517   }
   519   // gets the repository id for this type
   520   public static String id ()
   521   {
   522     return _id;
   523   }
   525   // reads an Account object from an input stream
   526   public static Account read (org.omg.CORBA.portable.InputStream istream)
   527   {
   528     return narrow (istream.read_Object (_AccountStub.class));
   529   }
   531   // writes an Account object to an outputstream
   532   public static void write (org.omg.CORBA.portable.OutputStream ostream, Account value)
   533   {
   534     ostream.write_Object ((org.omg.CORBA.Object) value);
   535   }
   537   // converts (narrows) an Object to an Account object
   538   public static Account narrow (org.omg.CORBA.Object obj)
   539   {
   540     if (obj == null)
   541       return null;
   542     else if (obj instanceof Account)
   543       return (Account)obj;
   544     else if (!obj._is_a (id ()))
   545       throw new org.omg.CORBA.BAD_PARAM ();
   546     else
   547     {
   548       org.omg.CORBA.portable.Delegate delegate = ((org.omg.CORBA.portable.ObjectImpl)obj)._get_delegate ();
   549       _AccountStub stub = new _AccountStub ();
   550       stub._set_delegate(delegate);
   551       return stub;
   552     }
   553   }
   555 }
   556 </PRE>
   557 <P>
   559 <h3>Value Type Helper Classes</h3>
   560 A helper class for a value type includes different renderings of
   561 the same methods generated for non-value type methods. The main difference
   562  is that value types are types that can be
   563 passed by value as parameters or return values of a method, which means that
   564 they must be serializable.
   565 <P>Assuming that <code>Address</code> is a value type, the
   566 <code>AddressHelper</code> class will look like this:
   567 <pre>
   568 abstract public class AddressHelper
   569 {
   570   private static String  _id = "IDL:Address:1.0";
   572   // same as for non-value type
   573   public static void insert (org.omg.CORBA.Any a, Address that)
   574   {
   575     org.omg.CORBA.portable.OutputStream out = a.create_output_stream ();
   576     a.type (type ());
   577     write (out, that);
   578     a.read_value (out.create_input_stream (), type ());
   579   }
   581   // same as for non-value type
   582   public static Address extract (org.omg.CORBA.Any a)
   583   {
   584     return read (a.create_input_stream ());
   585   }
   587   private static org.omg.CORBA.TypeCode __typeCode = null;
   588   private static boolean __active = false;
   590   // getting the typecode for the type
   591   synchronized public static org.omg.CORBA.TypeCode type ()
   592   {
   593     if (__typeCode == null)
   594     {
   595       synchronized (org.omg.CORBA.TypeCode.class)
   596       {
   597         if (__typeCode == null)
   598         {
   599           if (__active)
   600           {
   601             return org.omg.CORBA.ORB.init().create_recursive_tc ( _id );
   602           }
   603           __active = true;
   604           org.omg.CORBA.ValueMember[] _members0 = new org.omg.CORBA.ValueMember[0];
   605           org.omg.CORBA.TypeCode _tcOf_members0 = null;
   606           __typeCode = org.omg.CORBA.ORB.init ().create_value_tc (_id, "Address", org.omg.CORBA.VM_NONE.value, null, _members0);
   607           __active = false;
   608         }
   609       }
   610     }
   611     return __typeCode;
   612   }
   614   // same as for non-value type
   615   public static String id ()
   616   {
   617     return _id;
   618   }
   620   // reads a serializable instance of Address from the given input stream
   621   public static Address read (org.omg.CORBA.portable.InputStream istream)
   622   {
   623     return (Address)((org.omg.CORBA_2_3.portable.InputStream) istream).read_value (id ());
   624   }
   626   // writes a serializable instance of Address to the given output stream
   627   public static void write (org.omg.CORBA.portable.OutputStream ostream, Address value)
   628   {
   629     ((org.omg.CORBA_2_3.portable.OutputStream) ostream).write_value (value, id ());
   630   }
   633 }
   634 </pre>
   636 <P>The Helper classes defined in the package <TT>org.omg.CORBA</TT> are:
   637 <PRE><code>
   638 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>AnySeqHelper
   639 </TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>BooleanSeqHelper
   640 </TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>CharSeqHelper
   641 </TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>CompletionStatusHelper
   642 </TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>CurrentHelper
   643 </TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>DefinitionKindHelper
   644 </TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>DoubleSeqHelper
   645 </TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>FieldNameHelper
   646 </TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>FloatSeqHelper
   647 </TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>IdentifierHelper
   648 </TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>IDLTypeHelper
   649 </TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>LongLongSeqHelper
   650 </TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>LongSeqHelper
   651 </TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>NameValuePairHelper
   652 </TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>ObjectHelper
   653 </TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>OctetSeqHelper
   654 </TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>ParameterModeHelper
   655 </TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>PolicyErrorCodeHelper
   656 </TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>PolicyErrorHelper
   657 </TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>PolicyHelper
   658 </TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>PolicyListHelper
   659 </TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>PolicyTypeHelper
   660 </TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>RepositoryIdHelper
   661 </TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>ServiceDetailHelper
   662 </TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>ServiceInformationHelper
   663 </TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>SetOverrideTypeHelper
   664 </TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>ShortSeqHelper
   665 </TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>StringSeqHelper
   666 </TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>StringValueHelper
   667 </TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>StructMemberHelper
   668 </TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>ULongLongSeqHelper
   669 </TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>ULongSeqHelper
   670 </TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>UnionMemberHelper
   671 </TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>UnknownUserExceptionHelper
   672 </TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>UShortSeqHelper
   673 </TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>ValueBaseHelper
   674 </TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>ValueMemberHelper
   675 </TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>VersionSpecHelper
   676 </TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>VisibilityHelper
   677 </TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>WCharSeqHelper
   678 </TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>WrongTransactionHelper
   679 </TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>WStringSeqHelper
   680 </TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>WStringValueHelper</TT>
   682 </code></PRE>
   683 <a name="adv"></a>
   684 <H1>
   685 Other Classes</H1>
   686 The other classes and interfaces in the <TT>CORBA</TT> package, which are
   687 used behind the scenes, can be put into four groups. Three of the groups
   688 are used with requests in some capacity, and the fourth group, concerning
   689 the Interface Repository, is a category by itself.
   690 <H2>
   691 Classes Created by an ORB</H2>
   692 The first group contains classes that are created by an ORB and contain
   693 information used in request operations. 
   694 <UL>
   695 <LI>
   696 <TT>TCKind</TT> -- indicates the kind (datatype) for a <TT>TypeCode</TT>
   697 object
   699 <LI>
   700 <TT>TypeCode</TT> -- indicates a datatype and possibly other information
   702 <LI>
   703 <TT>Any</TT> -- contains a value and its typecode
   705 <LI>
   706 <TT>NamedValue</TT> -- contains a name, an <TT>Any</TT> object, and an
   707 argument mode flag. <TT>NamedValue</TT> objects contain information about
   708 method arguments, method return values, or a context.
   710 <LI>
   711 <TT>ContextList</TT> -- a list of strings that describe the contexts that
   712 need to be resolved and sent with an invocation
   714 <LI>
   715 <TT>ExceptionList</TT> -- a list of <TT>TypeCode</TT>s for exceptions that
   716 may be thrown by a method
   718 <LI>
   719 <TT>Environment</TT> -- a container for the exception thrown during a method
   720 invocation
   722 <LI>
   723 <TT>Context</TT> -- a list of <TT>NamedValue</TT> objects used to pass
   724 auxiliary information from client to server
   726 <LI>
   727 <TT>NVList</TT> -- a list of <TT>NamedValue</TT> objects, used to pass
   728 arguments or get results
   729 </UL>
   731 <H2>
   732 Classes That Deal with Requests</H2>
   733 The second group of classes deals with requests:
   734 <UL>
   735 <LI>
   736 <TT>Object</TT> -- the base class for all CORBA object references
   738 <LI>
   739 <TT>Request</TT> -- the main class in the DII, which contains methods for
   740 adding arguments to the request, for accessing information about the method
   741 being invoked (the method name, its arguments, exceptions it throws, and
   742 so on), and for making invocations on the request
   744 <LI>
   745 <TT>DynamicImplementation</TT> -- the base class for server implementations
   746 using the DSI. It has the method <TT>invoke</TT>, which is used by an 
   747 implementation
   748 of this class to determine the state of a <TT>ServerRequest</TT> object
   749 and to set its result or exception
   751 <LI>
   752 <TT>ServerRequest</TT> -- captures the explicit state of a request for
   753 the Dynamic Skeleton Interface
   754 </UL>
   756 <H2>
   757 Interfaces That Serve as Constants</H2>
   758 The third group contains interfaces that serve as constants. The IDL-to-Java
   759 mapping mandates that IDL enums are mapped to a Java class with the enumerated
   760 values represented as public static final fields in that class (e.g. 
   761 DefinitionKind).
   762 On the other hand IDL constants defined outside of an IDL interface are
   763 mapped to a Java interface for each constant.
   765 <P>This is why several interfaces in the <TT>org.omg.CORBA</TT> package
   766 consist of a single field, <TT>value</TT>, which is a <TT>short</TT>. This
   767 field is a constant used for such things as an error code or value modifier.
   768 For example, the <TT>value</TT> field of the interface <TT>BAD_POLICY</TT>
   769 is one of the possible reasons for the exception <TT>PolicyError</TT> to
   770 be thrown. To specify this error code, you would use <TT>BAD_POLICY.value</TT>.
   772 <P>The exception <TT>PolicyError</TT> uses the <TT>value</TT> field of
   773 the following interfaces as its possible error codes.
   774 <UL>
   775 <LI>
   776 <TT>BAD_POLICY</TT>
   778 <LI>
   779 <TT>BAD_POLICY_TYPE</TT>
   781 <LI>
   782 <TT>BAD_POLICY_VALUE</TT>
   784 <LI>
   785 <TT>UNSUPPORTED_POLICY</TT>
   787 <LI>
   788 <TT>UNSUPPORTED_POLICY_VALUE</TT>
   789 </UL>
   790 The method <TT>TypeCode.type_modifier</TT> returns the <TT>value</TT> field
   791 of one of the following interfaces. The <TT>VM</TT> in the names of these
   792 interfaces stands for "value modifier."
   793 <UL>
   794 <LI>
   795 <TT>VM_NONE</TT>
   797 <LI>
   798 <TT>VM_ABSTRACT</TT>
   800 <LI>
   801 <TT>VM_CUSTOM</TT>
   803 <LI>
   804 <TT>VM_TRUNCATABLE</TT>
   805 </UL>
   806 The following constants are returned by a <code>ValueMember</code> object's
   807 access method to denote the visibility of the <code>ValueMember</code> object.
   808 <UL>
   809 <LI>
   810 <TT>PRIVATE_MEMBER</TT>
   812 <LI>
   813 <TT>PUBLIC_MEMBER</TT>
   814 </UL>
   815 These flags, used in <TT>NamedValue</TT> objects or as parameters to methods,
   816 are defined in the following interfaces:
   817 <UL>
   818 <LI>
   819 <TT>ARG_IN</TT>
   821 <LI>
   822 <TT>ARG_INOUT</TT>
   824 <LI>
   825 <TT>ARG_OUT</TT>
   827 <LI>
   828 <TT>CTX_RESTRICT_SCOPE</TT>
   829 </UL>
   831 <H2>
   832 Interface Repository Interfaces and Classes</H2>
   833 A fourth group contains the Interface Repository interfaces and classes,
   834 which are generated by the <TT>idlj</TT> compiler from the OMG IDL
   835 interface <TT>ir.idl</TT>. The purpose of the Interface Repository is to
   836 identify the interfaces stored in it so that they can be accessed by an
   837 ORB. Each module, type, interface, attribute, operation, parameter, exception,
   838 constant, and so on is described completely by the Interface Repository
   839 API.
   841 <P>An ORB does not require that there be an interface repository, and Java
   842 IDL does not include one. Even though this release does not include an
   843 implementation of an interface repository, the following IR classes and
   844 interfaces have been included for the purpose of creating typecodes (see
   845 create_value_tc, create_struct_tc, create_union_tc and create_exception_tc
   846 methods in interface org.omg.CORBA.ORB):
   847 <BR>&nbs
   848 <UL>
   849 <LI>
   850 IRObject
   852 <LI>
   853 IDLType
   855 <LI>
   856 DefinitionKind
   858 <LI>
   859 StructMember
   861 <LI>
   862 UnionMember
   864 <LI>
   865 ValueMember
   866 </UL>
   867 <!-- End Page Data -->
   868 <HR>
   869 <H1>
   870 Related Documentation</H1>
   871 For overviews, guides, and a tutorial, please see:
   872 <UL>
   873 <LI>
   874 <A HREF="{@docRoot}/../technotes/guides/idl/index.html">Java IDL home page</A>
   875 </UL>
   880 <P><A NAME="unimpl"></A>
   881 <H1>
   882 CORBA Features Not Implemented in Java IDL</H1>
   884 <P>Some of the API included in <TT>org.omg</TT> subpackages is provided for
   885 conformance with the current OMG CORBA specification but is not implemented
   886 in Sun's release of the JDK<SUP><FONT SIZE=-2>TM</FONT></SUP>. This enables
   887 other JDK licensees to provide implementations of this API in standard
   888 extensions and products.
   890 <P><A NAME="NO_IMPLEMENT"></A>
   891 <h2>Features That Throw NO_IMPLEMENT</h2>
   893 <P>Some of the API included in <TT>org.omg</TT> subpackages throw 
   894 <tt>NO_IMPLEMENT</tt> exceptions for various reasons.  Among these reasons
   895 are:
   896 <P>
   897 	<UL>
   898 	<LI>In some cases, for example <tt>LocalObject</tt>, the complete
   899 	implementation according to the specification indicates that 
   900 	these API should throw <tt>NO_IMPLEMENT</tt>.
   901 	<P>
   902 	<LI>In most cases, for example methods in <tt>ORB.java</tt>, 
   903 	methods that throw  
   904 	<tt>NO_IMPLEMENT</tt> are actually implemented in subclasses
   905 	elsewhere in the ORB code.
   906 	<P>
   907 	<LI>In some cases, for example <tt>_get_interface_def()</tt> 
   908 	and <tt>_get_interface</tt>, API are really not yet implemented.
   909 	</UL>
   914 <H2>
   915 General Summary of Features or API Not Implemented in This Release:</H2>
   917 <UL>
   918 <LI>
   919 Interface Repository. An Interface Repository is not required for normal
   920 operation of Java IDL.
   922 <LI>
   923 Java IDL does not support <TT>long double</TT>.  
   926 <LI>
   927 Policies (<TT><a href="Policy.html">org.omg.CORBA.Policy</a></TT>) and methods for getting them are not implemented.
   929 <LI>
   930 Domain managers (<TT><a href="DomainManager.html">org.omg.CORBA.DomainManager</a></TT>) and methods for
   931 getting them are not implemented.
   933 <LI>
   934 Service Information <TT><a href="ServiceInformation.html">org.omg.CORBA.ServiceInformation</a></TT> and ORB method <TT>public boolean get_service_information(short service_type, 
   935 ServiceInformationHolder
   936 service_info)</TT>  are not implemented.
   938 <LI>ORB methods for supporting single-threading (<tt>perform_work</tt>, <tt>work_pending</tt>) are not implemented.
   940 <LI>IDL contexts.
   941 </UL>
   943 <HR>
   944 <H2>
   945 Specific List of Unimplemented Features in Package <TT>org.omg.CORBA</TT></H2>
   948 <H3>
   949 Unimplemented Methods in package <TT>org.omg.CORBA</TT>:</H3>
   951 <UL>
   952 <LI>
   953 <TT>ORB</TT>
   955 <UL>
   956 <LI>
   957 <TT>public org.omg.CORBA.Policy create_policy(int type, org.omg.CORBA.Any
   958 val)</TT>
   962 <LI>
   963 <TT>public void perform_work()</TT>
   965 <LI>
   966 <TT>public boolean work_pending()</TT>
   968 <LI>
   969 <TT>public org.omg.CORBA.Current get_current()</TT>
   971 <LI>
   972 <TT>create_operation_list</TT>
   974 <LI>
   975 <TT>get_default_context</TT>
   977 <LI>
   978 <TT>get_service_information</TT>
   980 <LI>
   981 obsolete <TT>DynAnys</TT> (deprecated in favor of <tt>DynamicAny</tt> package)
   984 </UL>
   988 </UL>
   989 @since JDK1.2
   990 @serial exclude
   991 </BODY>
   992 </HTML>

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