BBj 9.x Classpath Overview

Description

BBj 9.00 includes a new automatic jar caching feature that greatly simplifies BBj thin client deployment. It is no longer necessary to specify custom jars in Java Web Start jnlp files or applets, so long as the jar is in the BBjServices classpath. Additionally, a second index jarhas been added in BBj 9.00, instructing the thin client how to download the needed jars through the existing socket. ExtIndex.jar indexes all third party jars that are installed with BBj. Jars in this index can be changed by developers and re-registered. All jars used by BBjServices are indexed in either BBjIndex.jar or ExtIndex.jar but not both.

New JAR Sets

New and updated JARS are highlighted.

Jar	Function
activation.jar	Redistributable Java WSDP component
asm-all-3.1.jar	BBj code generation
BasisHttpServerProvider.jar	Embedded Jetty web server
BasisInstall.jar	Installation and Admin Utility Application
BBj.jar	Core server-side BBj components
BBjBootstrap.jar	Used to validate ClientObjectjars
BBjEM.jar	Components for BBj Enterprise Manager application
BBjFilesystem.jar	File system components
BBjIndex.jar	Mainjar - indexes all other BBj jars
BBjJDBC.jar	JDBC API
BBjPlugin.jar	Sample file system plug-ins
BBjPortID.jar	BBj port information
BBjServer.jar	All servers associated with BBj
BBjSql.jar	SQL API
BBjThinClient.jar	BBj client-side components
BBjUtil.jar	Core client and server components
bcel.jar	BBj code generation
Charts.jar	Charts featurejar
commons-beanutils-1.7.jar	JasperReports (BBJasper)
commons-collections-2.1.jar	JasperReports (BBJasper)
commons-digester-1.7.jar	JasperReports (BBJasper)
commons-javaflow-20060411.jar	JasperReports (BBJasper)
commons-logging-1.1.1.jar	JasperReports (BBJasper)
ConfiguratorHelp.jar	Help for BBj Configurator Application
CustomIDE.jar	Custom images and files for the BASIS IDE
CustomLookAndFeel.jar	Custom skinning
ExtIndex.jar	Index on non-BASIS jars
ExtUtil.jar	BBJasper and LaunchDock
Fax.jar	Faxing capabilities
FontChooser.jar	Font chooser featurejar
GuiBuilderHelp.jar	Help for BBj GuiBuilder Application
HelpAll.jar	Contains all third party help
InterFaxClient.jar	Faxing capabilities
JarRegistrationServiceClient.jar	Registering ClientObjectjars
jasperreports-3.1.2.jar	JasperReports (BBJasper)
java_cup.jar	BBj language grammar
JDBCPooling.jar	Connection to third party JDBC databases
jdt-compiler-3.1.1.jar	JasperReports (BBJasper)
jetty-6.1.14.jar	Embedded Jetty web server
jetty-util-6.1.14.jar	Embedded Jetty web server
JettyHttpServerProvider-6.1.14.jar	Embedded Jetty web server
mail.jar	Redistributable Java WSDP component
outline.jar	Online copy interface in Enterprise Manager
PDF.jar	Printing and PDF output
PDFRenderer.jar	Generating PDF files
poi-3.0.1-FINAL-20070705.jar	JasperReports (BBJasper)
rfax.jar	Faxing capabilities
RXTXcomm.jar	Serial devices (Linux and Windows)
servlet-api-2.5-6.1.14.jar	Embedded Jetty web server
SpellChecker.jar	Spell checker featurejar
ThirdParty.jar	Deprecated: duplicate of BBjUtil.jar

Table 1. Core BBj Jar Files

Table 2. below lists nine SpellCheckerDictionary-xx.jar files that provide spell checker dictionaries in various languages and dialects.

Because the language dictionaries are rather large and because most applications do not use all languages, the dictionary files are not included in the standard thin-client jar configuration. When deploying a client application that uses spell checking, be sure to add the required dictionary files to the cache archive.

Language	Spell Check Language File(s)
Dutch	SpellCheckerDictionary-du.jar
English – American	SpellCheckerDictionary-en.jar SpellCheckerDictionary-am.jar
English – British	SpellCheckerDictionary-en.jar SpellCheckerDictionary-br.jar
English – Canadian	SpellCheckerDictionary-en.jar SpellCheckerDictionary-ca.jar
French	SpellCheckerDictionary-fr.jar
German	SpellCheckerDictionary-ge.jar
Italian	SpellCheckerDictionary-it.jar
Spanish	SpellCheckerDictionary-sp.jar
Swedish	SpellCheckerDictionary-sw.jar

Table 2. SpellChecker Dictionary Jar Files

How JAR Changes Affect Web Start

In previous revisions of BBj, the ThirdParty.jar was a key jar element listed in the JNLP file. The ThirdParty.jar was deprecated in BBj 8.00, so it is recommended to change the ThirdParty.jar JNLP element to list BBjUtil.jar instead.

Note:In order to minimize the initial impact of this change, the ThirdParty.jar is a copy of BBjUtil.jar; this will allow most Web start applications to continue to work without a change in BBj 9.00. However, note the change that the ThirdParty.jar will be removed in future revisions of BBj.

The new BBj code generation jar, asm-all-3.1.jar, is a requried element in BBj 9.00. The BBjBootstrap.jar plays a more significant role in BBj 9.00 and is also now a mandatory element in the JNLP file.

Note: Web start applications can list the BBjIndex.jar as an element to load classes from such unlisted jars as those mentioned above, including the BBjBootstrap.jar and as m-all-3.1.jar. However, these two conditions must be met:

1. The Web start JNLP file must contain aBBjThinClient.jar element and aBBjUtil.jar element. The BBjThinClient.jar must be listed before the BBjIndex.jar element in the application JNLP.

2. Both the server and client systems must have JDK (Java Development Kit) installed.

One possible drawback to jar indexing in a Web start environment is the lack of caching of the indexed jars on the client. If caching is needed for certain jar files, use the 'lazy' attribute. When used in conjunction with the BBjIndex.jar, the 'lazy' attribute will download the jar on demand, and keep the jar in the client cache. See sample JNLP file below:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
 <jnlp spec="1.0+"
    codebase="http://www.test.com/jnlp"
    href="indexed.jnlp">
    <information>
       <title>Sample Index JNLP</title>
       <vendor>BASIS International Ltd.</vendor>
       <icon href="myicon.gif"/>
       <description>Sample JNLP With Index and Lazy Elements</description>
      <offline-allowed/>
    </information>
    <security>
        <all-permissions/>
    </security>
    <resources>
    <j2se version="1.6+" inital-heap-size="48m" max-heap-size="48m"/>
    <jar href="BBjThinClient.jar"/>
    <jar href="BBjUtil.jar"/>

    <jar href="BBjBootstrap.jar"/>

    <jar href="BBjIndex.jar"/>
    <jar href="CustomClientObject.jar" download="lazy"/>
    <jar href="Charts.jar" download="lazy"/>
    <jar href="SpellChecker.jar" download="lazy"/>
    <jar href="SpellCheckerDictionary-en.jar" download="lazy"/
   
    ... </jnlp>

How JAR Changes Affect Applets

In previous revisions of BBj, the ThirdParty.jar was a key jar element loaded in the applet HTML file or Java Script. The ThirdParty.jar was deprecated in BBj 8.00 so change the ThirdParty.jar element to list BBjUtil.jar instead.

Note:In order to minimize the initial impact of this change, the ThirdParty.jar is a copy of BBjUtil.jar to allow most applets to continue to work with no change. However, note the change since the ThirdParty.jar will not exist in future revisions of BBj.

The new BBj code generation jar, asm-all-3.1.jar, is a required element in BBj 9.00. The BBjBootstrap.jar plays a more significant role in BBj 9.00 and is also now a mandatory element in applet html or java script files.

Note:Applet html or .js files can list theBBjIndex.jaras an element to load classes from such unlisted jars as those mentioned above, including theBBjBootstrap.jarand asm-all-3.1.jar. However, these two conditions must be met:

1. The applet file must contain a BBjThinClient.jar element and aBBjUtil.jar element.

2. Both the server and client systems must have JDK (Java Development Kit) installed.

Here is a sample Java script with BBjIndex.jar:

string = '';

string += '<object classid="clsid:8AD9C840-044E-11D1-B3E9-00805F499D93" codebase="http://java.sun.com/update/1.6.0/jinstall-6-windows-i586.cab#Version=1,4,0,mn" height="800" width="800">\n';

string += '    \n';

string += '    <param name="type" value="application/x-java-applet;version=1.6+">\n';

string += '    <param name="scriptable" value="false">\n';

string += '    <param name="CODE" value="com.basis.bbj.client.bbjapplet.BBjApplet">\n';

string += '    <param name="cache_archive" value="../../lib/BBjThinClient.jar,../../lib/BBjUtil.jar, ../../lib/BBjBootstrap.jar,../../lib/BBjIndex.jar">\n';

string += '    <param name="cache_option" value="Plugin">\n';

string += '<param name="cache_version" value="1.0.0.0,1.0.0.0,1.0.0.0,1.0.0.0">\n';

How JAR Changes Affect the Installation

The BBj 9.00 installation will check for and remove any pre-existing BBj jars in the bbjhome/lib directory of the target installation directory. It is important to note that BBj 9.00 must be uninstalled prior to installing an older version of BBj to the same directory. Jar and configuration files new to BBj 9.00 will cause unpredictable behavior in older versions of BBj.

See Also

BBj Classpath Overviews

BBj 8.x Classpath Overview

BBj 10.x Classpath Overview