IBM Bean Extender


IBM VisualAge

Bean Extender Technology Release 2.0 README

12/11/97




Welcome to IBM VisualAge Bean Extender

IBM VisualAge Bean Extender, hereafter referred to as Bean Extender, is intended to support the creation of beans, including applications and applets, by the aggregation and republishing of existing bean components. It also provides sample source code and demo code for use by both bean developers and tools developers.

Contents

Licensing Information

See the Bean Extender Licensing Terms for terms and conditions governing the use and redistribution of Bean Extender.

New Features in this Release

Release 2.0 of Bean Extender Technology includes the following new features:

Release 2.0 of Bean Extender Technology includes the following new demos and sample beans.

See the Bean Extender Guide to Features for details.

Compatibility with Previous Releases

Bean Extender 2.0 is not compatible with any previous release of Bean Extender. This is due to a variety of reasons, but first and foremost is JavaSoft's change in the Java package naming convention from uppercase first level to lower case first level. This change will guarantee code breaks on operating systems where filenames are case sensitive and has caused problems on operating systems where filenames are not. The Bean Management feature in Bean Extender will attempt to work around known problems so that uppercase and lowercase package names can work together when possible.

Features

This release contains the following features:

Composition

  • Assembly Surface
  • Data Input Wizard
  • Dip Creation Wizard
  • Dipping Framework
  • ExtraStuff
  • Scripting Framework
  • Utilities
  • Packaging and Deployment

  • Bean Management
  • Network Deployment
  • Samples

  • Context Dips
  • Debugger
  • FormBuilder and FormRunner
  • Media Beans
  • Performance Dip
  • Print Dip
  • Print License Dip
  • Session Authentication Dip
  • Splash Screen Dip
  • SQL Data Access Parts
  • Trace Dip
  • Demos

  • 401(k) Demo
  • Travel Services Demo
  • For more information on the programming features, see the Bean Extender Guide to Features. For more information about Bean Extender, see the documentation suite.

    System Requirements

    Bean Extender requires 10 MB of hard drive space and 4 MB of temporary space for the two zip files. The recommended minimum system configuration is the equivalent of a 133 MHz Pentium-class processor with 32 MB of memory.

    Bean Extender requires that you have the Java Development Kit (JDK) 1.1.1 or later installed.

    Bean Extender has been tested on WindowsTM 95, Windows NT 3.5.1, Windows NT 4.0, OS/2 Warp Version 4, and AIX 4.1.4 using JDK 1.1.1, 1.1.2, 1.1.3, 1.1.4, and 1.1.5 where possible. However Bean Extender is pure Java and should run on any JDK 1.1.1 or later enabled system.

    Additional Information

    For additional information on IBM's activities with Java and JavaBeans, see:

    Download/Installation

    1. Create a directory for Bean Extender. For example: c:\extender You can use the directory name of your choice.

    2. Download the following zip files from alphaWorks to c:\extender. extender2.0-rt.zip extender2.0-doc.zip
    3. Unzip both files using winunzip or a compatible tool into the directory created in step 1.

    4. Create a subdirectory on your file system that can be used as a work space by Bean Extender. You can use the directory name of your choice. For example: c:\extender\working This directory is used by Bean Extender for a variety of file manipulation operations. Note: Do not place any personal files in this subdirectory because they can get deleted.

    5. If you don't already have one, create a HOME directory and environment variable, for example: mkdir c:\home set HOME=c:\home The HOME directory will be used to store Bean Extender properties. It should be added to your normal environment settings file such as autoexec.bat or .profile.

      The name of the HOME drive and directory are arbitrary, but the path name must contain at least 4 characters. For the example above, the HOME environment variable should contain:

      c:\home
    6. Append the following to your system environment CLASSPATH: C:\extender\jars\runtime.jar;C:\extender\jars\develop.jar;C:\extender\jars\awidgets.jar;C:\extender\working (or substitute the drive and directory you have chosen). If you plan to run the Dip Creation Wizard, you will also have to add it's Beanery.jar, sk.jar, and C:\extender\jars\dipWizard.jar to the CLASSPATH. Beanery.jar and sk.jar come from the Beanery, which is available from IBM's alphaWorks web site. See Managing Jar Dependencies for an alternative to adding lots of jar files to your CLASSPATH. See Placement of Working Directory in the CLASSPATH for additional information.

    7. Issue the following command: java com.ibm.beans.util.Configure Be sure to enter the working directory that you created in step 4 under the Working tab, then press Exit and save changes. When the command completes, you should have a file in your HOME directory called BeanSystem.properties. For more information on Configure, see Bean Extender Configuration in the Guide to Features.

    Getting Started

    To run the Assembly Surface, type:

    Generating a Visual Bean

    If you are using the Assembly Surface to create a visual bean, you must open the Layout view prior to generating the bean. Then, under the Layout view's Options->Generate as menu you may choose whether the bean should be derived from Panel, Frame or Applet. The default is to derive the new bean from java.awt.Panel.

    Note that if you fail to open the Layout view prior to generating the bean you will get an "Unable to run the generated bean" error if you attempt to run the bean. You can correct the problem by opening the Layout view, selecting the correct bean type as described above, generating a new bean, then running the new version of the bean.

    If you have accidentally opened the Layout view and do not wish to generate a bean which is a visual component, select the Discard... menu item from the Layout view's View menu, then click the OK button on the dialog that appears. This will close the Layout view and indicate that the current bean is not a visual component.

    Managing JAR Dependencies

    As your beans get more complicated and dependencies between beans grow, or when you clear your working directory, you may receive ClassNotFound exceptions when loading JAR files or using beans in a JAR file. You can either load each individual JAR file dependency to resolve the problem or you can use the JarJava utility to help resolve the dependencies. Just place all directories containing JAR or zip files on the CLASSPATH and run your Java application using the JarJava utility. For example, the following will allow you to load any JAR file in c:\extender\jars without worrying about dependencies on other JAR files located in that directory: set CLASSPATH=%CLASSPATH%;c:\extender\jars java com.ibm.beans.tools.JarJava com.ibm.beans.tools.assembly.AssemblySurfaceMain

    Restrictions with this Release

    Sample Source and Demos

    Sample source files are located in the c:\extender\src directory, where c:\extender is the location where the product was installed.

    The demos included are:

    Documentation for the demos can be found in the Guide to Demos. The documentation suite also contains the "API Reference" that includes the APIs and incomplete documentation for the demos.

    Updating the Demo Source Code

    If you decide you want to change the demo code, you can recompile it with javac. However, if you change the class you will need to change the .jar file so that you can use your modified bean on the Assembly Surface.

    Unfortunately, the jar command does not provide the ability to update or add to an existing .jar file. (This is being requested with BugID 4036599.) Until the jar command has the capability of updating an existing .jar file, you can use the Info-ZIP command. The Info-ZIP command was written by the same developers who wrote zlib, which is the basis for the jar command. The commands appear to be compatible. If you do not already have a copy of Info-ZIP, you can obtain one at the following location:

    When you have the Info-ZIP command, you can update the .jar file. The following example shows you how:

    1. Change the directory to the top of the source tree for the samples. Assuming that you installed Bean Extender on your D drive, enter the following command: cd D:\extender\src
    2. Update the appropriate class with the following command: zip -u -0 D:\extender\jars\xxx.jar com\ibm\beans\samples\yyy\zzz.class where:

      For the 401(k) Investment Application demo:

      Or for the Travel Services Application demo:

      This puts a new copy of the class into the .jar file.

      Note: It is important that you use the fully-qualified directory path for the new copy of the class.

    Running BeanExtender Demos In Web Browsers

    Below is a list of testing activity that indicates which browsers successfully run the BeanExtender 401kDemo and TravelDemo.

    IMPORTANT: make sure that your browser security is set as low as possible when attempting to run the BeanExtender demos.

    appletviewer (JDK 1.1.2):

    HotJava 1.0.1 (JDK 1.1.2):

    Note: set the JDK_HOME and JRE_HOME environment variables to the top-level directory of your JDK installation before running HotJava 1.0.1.

    HotJava 1.1 (JDK 1.1.2/JDK 1.1.4/JDK 1.1.5): Netscape Communicator 4.04 (JDK 1.1 patch from Netscape): Internet Explorer 4.0/4.01 (JDK 1.1.2):

    Placement of Working Directory in the CLASSPATH

    When making changes to existing sample source, the placement on the CLASSPATH of the working directory created during install and the src directory is important. There could be copies of the samples cached in the working directory, and if the working directory is in the CLASSPATH ahead of the src directory, your changes will not be found. You need to either place the src directory ahead of the working directory or remove the cached copies from the working directory.

    Reporting problems

    If you have comments, questions, problems, or suggestions, you can voice them on the alphaWorks Community Exchange.


    © Copyright International Business Machines Corporation 1997. All rights reserved.

    Note to U.S. Government Users - Documentation related to restricted rights -- Use, duplication or disclosure is subject to restrictions set forth in GSA ADP Schedule Contract with IBM Corp.

    Trademarks

    The following terms are trademarks of the IBM Corporation in the United States or other countries or both:

    The following terms are trademarks of other companies: