Beas New Direction

The tools are a key component of BEA this year. Although WebLogic Server includes several new tools itself, BEA WebLogic Workshop, sold separately, which really impressed us to the test. WebLogic Workshop and the inventiveness of the graphical style was a surprise, because a development tool that producers lame server applications have a history of producing.

WebLogic Server 7.0 became available April 30 when we finished testing the release candidate, and costs $ 10,000 per CPU. It runs on Windows, most Unix operating systems, OS/400 and OS/390. WebLogic Workshop is scheduled for next month. (BEA has not announced pricing yet.)

In version 7.0 of WebLogic server itself, a new WebLogic Builder tool provides a separate program for deployment descriptors and WebLogic Edition EJBGen a new tool that automatically creates the descriptors of the home interfaces and remote control and the implementation based on JavaDoc comments in the cloud.

Security has been completely revised in WebLogic 7.0, which includes an integrated LDAP user management, a model much better approach than simple text file that has been the default in WebLogic 6.1. Security is now based on the standard Java security (SSPI Security Service Provider Interface), and editor of the policy, it is easier to change the security settings via centralized policy management in one interface.

UDDI (Universal Description, Discovery and Integration) 2.0 server is also the use of internal Web services.

WebLogic Administration Console is largely unchanged from version 6.1 and follow the performance statistics to the lack of object level, for example, the figures indicating the EJB (Enterprise JavaBeans) had a longer treatment.

The main purpose of WebLogic Workshop (and something pleasantly) is wrapping EJB interfaces for networking, database content, Java Message Service queues or other network services. Support for J2EE (Java 2 Enterprise Edition) connectors are designed for shipping a release, but was not present in the beta version we used.

In eWeek Labs' tests, created Web services and connect them to the back-end content very easy to use intuitive interface packages. Graphical tools and source code editor is automatic each other to date, and editor noted for syntax errors in real time.

WebLogic Workshop Web service is a little close attention, leaving general Java and web development space of the tool. Also, as mentioned above, WebLogic Server 7.0 requires to run the applications it generates.

However, WebLogic Workshop run Excel advanced features of J2EE, in particular, message queuing, a surprisingly simple. Tests have shown the influence of space management, automatic data integrity and the generation of EJB, so it's much easier to build complex applications.

In addition, Message service listeners turning Java web service-based cows were as simple as turning a cache option. When we split a synchronous Web service in a two-speed asynchronous service by adding a callback request, all variables within our web application was automatically matched with the message ID Web service and stored or loaded from bean entity created automatically if necessary. Session Manager is completely transparent to our application.

WebLogic Workshop using simple source language metadata tags have popularized the concept. NET, and Bea was smart enough to borrow the concept. This may become more common in the Java world, where the draft of Java Specification Requests 175 and 181 are the Java standard. Currently, WebLogic Workshop Web service labeling system (based on comments javadoc) is not supported by anyone else at risk at an early stage.

WebLogic Workshop uses a loosely coupled Web services interfaces and Java classes. We could for example change the name of Java class names of parameters independently of XML elements or XML structures and use mapping software data clearing system.

This mapping system worked using text placeholders for variable names map Java for XML documents as input or output.

When we have Java, WebLogic Workshop automatically creates the corresponding XML document with placeholders for each parameter of the method. We could then modify the XML code freely, provided that all the placeholders remained.