<p> 
<img src="../../../../../modules/html/developers/guides/jboss.net/jboss-net.png" align="left">

<h1>Integrating Web Services with J2EE</h1>

<small>
<a href="http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/nhp/Default.asp?contentid=28000442">
From the Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN):
</a>
</small> 

<cite>
A <b>Web Service</b> is a unit of application logic providing data and services to 
other applications. Applications access Web Services via ubiquitous Web protocols and data 
formats such as HTTP, XML, and SOAP, with no need to worry about how each Web Service 
is implemented. Web Services combine the best aspects of component-based development 
and the Web ...
</cite>
</p>

<p> 
Web Services can be characterised through their ability to 
describe themselves in a platform-independent, XML-based meta-language such as WSDL 
(Web Service Description Language) and their ability to federate through global, 
platform-independent, and XML-based registries such as UDDI 
(Universal Description, Discovery Integration).
</p>

<p> 
As emphasised in the <a href="http://www.sun.com/sunone">Sun Open Network Environment</a> vision 
and being put right into the core of 
the <a href="http://java.sun.com/j2ee">J2EE1.4 specification</a>,
Web Services and J2EE are an ideal match. J2EE is a mature and 
productive environment for developing and deploying application logic. Web Services 
provide a new degree of cross-platform interoperability especially 
with respect to legacy applications and the ubiquitous 
<a href="http://www.microsoft.com/net/">Microsoft .NET</a> cosmos that 
<a href="http://www.omg.org/corba">CORBA and IIOP</a> have not been able to provide. 
</p>

<p> 
<em><a href="http://cvs.sourceforge.net/cgi-bin/viewcvs.cgi/jboss/contrib/jboss.net/">JBoss.net</a></em> 
is a service plugin to the <a href="http://www.jboss.org">JBoss</a> application server 
that should facilitate both 
<ul>
<li> 
the painless implementation and publication of J2EE/JBoss-based Web Services and 
</li>
<li> 
the seamless integration of external Web Services running on other business platforms 
into the J2EE/JBoss environment.
</li>
</ul>
while keeping track with respective standardisation efforts in the Java Community, 
the W3C consortium, and ... the Microsoft development department. 
</p>

<p>
JBoss.net is - for the time being - <em>NOT</em> an attempt
to build an alternative implementation of .NET! For that purpose, 
please have a look at, e.g., 
the <a href="http://www.go-mono.com/">Mono</a> Open Source project.
</p>
 
<h2>Overview and Team</h2>

<p>
For an introduction, please see the <a href="developers/guides/jboss.net/overview.zip">PowerPoint Presentation</a> 
originally presented at the JBossOne Convention, March 2002. For getting started with 
<a href="http://java.sun.com/webservices/">Java-based Web Services</a>, we highly recommend 
the reading of the <a href="http://java.sun.com/xml/jaxrpc/index.html">JAX-RPC specification</a> 
and the <a ref="http://ws.apache.org/axis/index.html">Apache Axis User Guide</a>. The following is
a UML Collaboration Diagram showing how the different JBoss services work together in order 
to provide J2EE1.4 compliant web services.
</p>

<p>
<a href="../../../../../modules/html/developers/guides/jboss.net/architecture.jpg"><img width="100%" alt="Architecture Diagram" 
 src="../../../../../modules/html/developers/guides/jboss.net/architecture.jpg"/></a>
<center>
Architectural Diagram
</center>
</p>

<p>
The project is currently driven by Christoph G. Jung 
(Axis integration, .Net interoperability, EJB-Provisioning), Thomas Diesler (WS4EE deployment), and 
Jason Essington (SMTP transport, Web Service Security). Contributors, among many others, were 
Peter Braswell (JMX provisioning, UDDI interfaces), Frederick N. Brier (Macromedia Flash support, 
XDoclet web service module), Alireza Taherkordi (JMX typmappings), Bruce Scharlau (Documentation), 
Neal Sanche (Authentication Interoperability with M$-SOAPTookit), and 
Mark Gagan (Xdoclet template extensions).</p>

<h2>Features and release plan</h2>

<p> 
<img SRC="../../../../../modules/html/developers/guides/jboss.net/axis.jpg" align=right>
JBoss.net is an optional part of JBoss since the 3.0 series and 
(due to the J2EE1.4 spec) will be a default module from the 4.0 release on. 
We´ve been successfully adopting the 
<a href="http://xml.apache.org/axis">Apache Axis</a> implementation of JAX-RPC 
(1RC1 in the 3.0 branches, 1.1 Final in the 3.2 and 4.0 branches and head)
For production-style web service functionality, we recommend using at least
the JBoss 3.2 series - independent performance studies have placed  
JBoss.net/Axis as the leading web service engine before any 
of the prominent commercial J2EE products.
</p>
 
<p> The current features include:

<ul>

<li> <a href="../../../developers/guides/jboss.net/deployment">JBoss-Integrated Hot-Deployment</a> based on a convenient packaging unit called <em>web service archive</em>. </li>
 
<li> Easy Provisioning of <a href="../../../developers/guides/jboss.net/ejb">EJB-Based Web Services</a>. </li>

<li> Easy Provisioning of <a href="../../../developers/guides/jboss.net/jmx">JMX-Based Web Services</a>. </li>

<li> A set of JBoss-related <a href="../../../developers/guides/jboss.net/security">Security Handlers</a> that will bridge transport- and application-level security.</li>

<li> (Not 3.0) <a href="../../../developers/guides/jboss.net/xdoclet">XDoclet Module</a> for most convenient Attribute-Oriented Programming of Web Services. </li>

<li> (Not 3.0) Binding of <a href="../../../developers/guides/jboss.net/external">External Web Service References</a> into the servers JNDI environment.</li>

<li> (Not 3.0) A set of features to serve <a href="../../../developers/guides/jboss.net/flash">Macromedia Flash Clients</a> over the SOAP protocol.</li> 

</ul>
</p>

<h2> Links and Support </h2>

<p> Here are some useful pages of very active jboss.net users:

<ul>

<li> 
Bruce Scharlau has been one of the first to try out and make sense of all that 
crap. He maintains a whole set of 
<a href="http://www.csd.abdn.ac.uk/~bscharla/teaching/mtp_software/jboss/index.shtml">student information pages about JBoss, JBoss.NET, and Tomcat</a>.
</li>

<li> Neal Sanche maintains a <a href="http://www.nsdev.org/jboss/stories/jboss-net.html">page about JBoss.net/M$ Interoperabity and Authentication</a>.</li>

</ul>
</p>

<p> We are seeking any available help for testing the existing code, constructing a detailed requirement list, and 
implementing features! See the <a ref="http://sourceforge.net/pm/task.php?group_project_id=13975&group_id=22866&func=browse">Todo&Assignment List</a> 
and make your development skills immortal! See the <a href="../../../developers/guides/jboss.net/plan">planned features</a> and the
<a href="../../../developers/guides/jboss.net/build">build guide</a>.</p>

<h2>DISTRIBUTION AND CVS</h2>

<p>JBoss.net is shipped with JBoss since the 3.0 series</p>

<p>It is available as source under the CVS module <a href="http://cvs.sourceforge.net/cgi-bin/viewcvs.cgi/jboss/contrib/jboss.net/">contrib/jboss.net</a></p>

<p>The TODO and BUG list can be found under <a ref="http://sourceforge.net/pm/task.php?group_project_id=13975&group_id=22866&func=browse">
Sourceforge</a>.</p>

<h2>PROBLEMS</h2>

<p>Axis questions should be directed to axis-users@xml.apache.org</p>

<p>JBoss questions should be directed to jboss-user@list.sourceforge.net</p>

<p>I shall be happy to answer questions about the integration.</p>

<p>Enjoy.</p>

<p>"Dr. Schorsch" (<a ref="mailto:christoph.Jung@jboss.org">christoph.jung@jboss.org</a>) - 2001/09/29, Last update on 2003/10/15</p>

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