Developing Business Systems With Corba

by Sadiq, Waqar; Cummins, Fred

• ISBN13: 9780521646505
• ISBN10: 0521646502
• Edition: CD
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1998-04-01
• Publisher: Cambridge Univ Pr

Summary

Building Distributed Object-Oriented Business Systems Using CORBA guides developers, programmers, and software managers through the development of object-oriented, distributed business systems using CORBA (Common Object Request Broker Architecture). CORBA allows vendors to provide compatible components for the implementation of distributed systems in heterogeneous environments involving multiple operating systems and programming languages. The authors use their experience as developers, trainers and mentors to provide a solid understanding of CORBA technology by examining a realistic example system. They introduce concepts and terminology and lead up to a strategic architecture for distributed objects computing. They present CORBA in detail while introducing the reader to project management issues and the requirements for a business objects facility to integrate CORBA components and provide an abstraction for application development. Later chapters explore design issues, programming, and incorporating product features. The accompanying CD-ROM contains a demonstration application and a copy of the Enterprise Business Objects Facility (EBOF) developed at EDS.

Table of Contents

Legal Notice	xvi	(1)
About the Authors	xvii	(2)
Foreword	xix	(2)
Preface	xxi	(3)
Acknowledgments	xxiv	(1)
Introduction	xxv
PART 1 CONCEPTS AND METHODS	1	(96)
Chapter 1 Introduction to Distributed-Objects Technology	3	(20)
1.1 Basic Concepts	4	(3)
1.1.1 Objects and Classes	4	(1)
1.1.2 Encapsulation	5	(1)
1.1.3 Inheritance	5	(2)
1.1.4 Polymorphism	7	(1)
1.2 Other Object Concepts	7	(2)
1.2.1 Interface Specifications	7	(1)
1.2.2 Object Granularity	8	(1)
1.2.3 Business Objects	8	(1)
1.3 A Conceptual Model	9	(2)
1.3.1 Aspects	10	(1)
1.3.2 Operations	11	(1)
1.3.3 Architectural Implications	11	(1)
1.4 Databases	11	(3)
1.4.1 Data-Storage Structures	12	(1)
1.4.2 Transparency of Persistence	13	(1)
1.4.3 Concurrency	14	(1)
1.5 Distributed-Object Systems	14	(2)
1.6 Implementation Issues	16	(6)
1.6.1 Garbage Collection	17	(1)
1.6.2 Life Cycle Services	17	(1)
1.6.3 Naming Service	18	(1)
1.6.4 Change Notification	18	(1)
1.6.5 Concurrent Transaction Management	19	(1)
1.6.6 Query	20	(1)
1.6.7 Object Relationships	21	(1)
1.6.8 Exception Handling	22	(1)
1.7 Summary	22	(1)
Chapter 2 Distributed-Objects Strategy	23	(20)
2.1 Background	23	(2)
2.2 Object-Oriented Client-Server Applications	25	(1)
2.3 Lessons from the Three-Tiered Architecture	26	(2)
2.3.1 The User-Interface Layer	27	(1)
2.3.2 The Business-Objects Layer	27	(1)
2.3.3 The Persistent-Storage Layer	28	(1)
2.4 Views	28	(1)
2.5 Integration of Artificial Intelligence	29	(1)
2.6 The Enterprise Computing Model	30	(7)
2.6.1 The Enterprise Layer	32	(1)
2.6.2 The Application Layer	33	(1)
2.6.3 The User-Interface Layer	34	(1)
2.6.4 The Agents Layer	34	(1)
2.6.5 Views and Adaptors	35	(2)
2.7 An Architecture for Current Applications	37	(4)
2.7.1 Separation of Layers	38	(1)
2.7.2 Business-Objects Encapsulation	39	(1)
2.7.3 Persistence and Queries	39	(1)
2.7.4 Transactions and Concurrency	39	(1)
2.7.5 Life Cycle Services	40	(1)
2.7.6 Naming Service	40	(1)
2.7.7 Enterprise Modeling	40	(1)
2.8 Summary	41	(1)
References	42	(1)
Web Sites	42	(1)
Chapter 3 CORBA-An Overview	43	(26)
3.1 The CORBA Object Model	46	(1)
3.2 The Object Request Broker	47	(5)
3.2.1 Interface Definition Language	48	(1)
3.2.2 ORB Structure	49	(2)
3.2.3 Language Bindings	51	(1)
3.2.4 Inter-ORB Protocol	52	(1)
3.3 Object Services	52	(9)
3.3.1 Event-Notification Service	52	(1)
3.3.2 Life Cycle Services	53	(1)
3.3.3 Name Service	54	(1)
3.3.4 Persistent-Object Service	55	(1)
3.3.5 Concurrency Control Service	55	(1)
3.3.6 Externalization Service	56	(1)
3.3.7 Relationships Service	56	(2)
3.3.8 Transaction Service	58	(1)
3.3.9 Security Service	59	(1)
3.3.10 Time Service	59	(1)
3.3.11 Licensing Service	59	(1)
3.3.12 Properties Service	59	(1)
3.3.13 Query Service	60	(1)
3.3.14 Change Management	60	(1)
3.3.15 Collections	60	(1)
3.3.16 Trader Service	61	(1)
3.4 Common Facilities	61	(6)
3.4.1 User Interface Common Facilities	61	(2)
3.4.2 Information Management Common Facilities	63	(2)
3.4.3 System Management Common Facilities	65	(1)
3.4.4 Task Management Common Facilities	66	(1)
3.5 The Business Objects Facility	67	(1)
3.6 Summary	67	(2)
Chapter 4 Planning and Managing Development Projects	69	(28)
4.1 Modeling	70	(6)
4.1.1 Business-Process Modeling	70	(1)
4.1.2 Objects Modeling	71	(4)
4.1.3 User-Interface Design	75	(1)
4.2 Sharing Objects	76	(4)
4.2.1 Basic Requirements	76	(1)
4.2.2 Organizational Implications	77	(2)
4.2.3 Legacy Integration	79	(1)
4.3 Tools and Components	80	(3)
4.3.1 Analysis and Design Tools	80	(1)
4.3.2 User-Interface Tools	81	(1)
4.3.3 Language and Programming Environment	81	(1)
4.3.4 Class Libraries	81	(1)
4.3.5 Configuration Management	82	(1)
4.3.6 Database Tools	82	(1)
4.3.7. Distributed Objects Supporting Software	83	(1)
4.4 System Architecture	83	(4)
4.5 Development Process	87	(8)
4.5.1 Iterative Development	87	(1)
4.5.2 Stages of Development	88	(2)
4.5.3 Change Control	90	(1)
4.5.4 Team Organization	91	(1)
4.5.5 Verification and Validation	92	(1)
4.5.6 Documentation	93	(2)
4.6 Summary	95	(1)
References	96	(1)
PART 2 ARCHITECTURE, DESIGN, AND PROGRAMMING	97	(100)
Chapter 5 The Business Objects Facility	99	(38)
5.1 Basic BOF Requirements	101	(13)
5.1.1 Application Context	101	(1)
5.1.2 Business-Objects Abstraction	102	(7)
5.1.3 Support Services	109	(5)
5.2 The Business Objects Facility	114	(19)
5.2.1 Business-Objects Representation	116	(2)
5.2.2 Object Sharing	118	(4)
5.2.3 Life Cycle Services	122	(2)
5.2.4 Relationship Service	124	(2)
5.2.5 Name Service	126	(1)
5.2.6 Persistence	127	(4)
5.2.7 Change Notification	131	(2)
5.3 Application of the BOF	133	(4)
5.3.1 The Three-Tiered Architecture	134	(1)
5.3.2 The Enterprise Architecture	134	(3)
Chapter 6 Design Issues	137	(32)
6.1 Active Object Sharing	138	(4)
6.1.1 Data Passing	138	(1)
6.1.2 Multi-user Objects	139	(1)
6.1.3 Client-Side Caching	140	(1)
6.1.4 Sharing Granularity	140	(2)
6.2 Partitioning	142	(4)
6.2.1 Source-Code Modules	143	(1)
6.2.2 Compiled Modules	143	(1)
6.2.3 Address Spaces	144	(1)
6.2.4 Computer Configurations	145	(1)
6.2.5 Tightly Coupled Objects	145	(1)
6.3 Object Interface Design	146	(5)
6.3.1 Legacy-System Interfaces	146	(2)
6.3.2 Polymorphism	148	(2)
6.3.3 Exceptions	150	(1)
6.4 Transaction Scope	151	(3)
6.4.1 Transaction Duration	151	(1)
6.4.2 Risk of Lost Work	152	(1)
6.4.3 Local Work Products	153	(1)
6.5 System Integrity	154	(4)
6.5.1 Data Entry Edits	154	(1)
6.5.2 Relationships	155	(1)
6.5.3 Business Rules	156	(1)
6.5.4 Access Security	156	(2)
6.6 Internationalization	158	(1)
6.7 Intelligent Elementary Values	158	(1)
6.8 Database Interface	159	(2)
6.8.1 Retrieval Performance	159	(1)
6.8.2 Lock Management	160	(1)
6.8.3 Distributed Database Commit	160	(1)
6.8.4 Object Mobility	161	(1)
6.9 Performance	161	(4)
6.9.1 Workload Distribution	161	(2)
6.9.2 Query Optimization	163	(2)
6.10 Reliability	165	(2)
6.10.1 Failure Containment	165	(1)
6.10.2 Recovery	166	(1)
6.10.3 Change Management	166	(1)
6.11 Summary	167	(1)
References	167	(2)
Chapter 7 Programming CORBA Objects	169	(28)
7.1 Object References	170	(7)
7.1.1 Proxy References	171	(2)
7.1.2 Identity Checks	173	(1)
7.1.3 Typecasting	173	(2)
7.1.4 Null Pointers	175	(1)
7.1.5 Dangling References	176	(1)
7.2 Message Sending	177	(1)
7.2.1 Arguments and Return Values	177	(1)
7.2.2 Exceptions and Timeouts	178	(1)
7.3 Interface Definition	178	(4)
7.3.1 Overloading	178	(1)
7.3.2 Inheritance	179	(1)
7.3.3 Abstract Interfaces	179	(1)
7.3.4 Organizing IDL Code	180	(2)
7.4 Object Implementation	182	(5)
7.4.1 Implementation Hierarchy	182	(1)
7.4.2 Interface Functionality	183	(2)
7.4.3 Attributes	185	(1)
7.4.4 Relationships	186	(1)
7.4.5 Object Creation	187	(5)
7.5 Contexts	187	(5)
7.5.1 Context Structure	188	(1)
7.5.2 Context Hierarchy	189	(1)
7.5.3 Adding Properties	189	(1)
7.5.4 Default Context	190	(2)
7.6 Other Related Components	192	(1)
7.6.1 Strings	192	(1)
7.6.2 Sequences and Arrays	192	(1)
7.6.3 Pseudo Objects	193	(1)
7.7 Business Objects Facility Implications	193	(2)
7.8 Summary	195	(2)
PART 3 TOOLS AND VENDOR COMPONENTS	197	(36)
Chapter 8 The Orbix Object Request Broker	199	(24)
8.1 Selection Criteria	200	(2)
8.1.1 Ease of Use	200	(1)
8.1.2 Performance and Resource Requirements	200	(1)
8.1.3 Compliance with Standard	201	(1)
8.1.4 Integration with Desktop Applications	201	(1)
8.1.5 Platforms and Language Bindings	201	(1)
8.1.6 Orbix Assessments Summary	202	(1)
8.2 Orbix Implementation	202	(4)
8.2.1 The Interoperation Mechanism	202	(1)
8.2.2 IDL Compiler	203	(1)
8.2.3 Implementation Repository	204	(1)
8.2.4 Interface Repository	204	(1)
8.2.5 The Orbix Daemon Process	205	(1)
8.2.6 ORB Initialization	205	(1)
8.3 COM/OLE Interface	206	(1)
8.4 Orbix Extensions	207	(7)
8.4.1 Stream-Based Interface to DII	207	(1)
8.4.2 Activation Modes	208	(1)
8.4.3 Smart Proxies	209	(1)
8.4.4 Collocation of Client and Server	210	(1)
8.4.5 Filters	210	(2)
8.4.6 Loaders	212	(1)
8.4.7 Locators	212	(1)
8.4.8 Interface to the Orbix Daemon	213	(1)
8.4.9 Orbix Communications Protocol	214	(1)
8.5 Building an Orbix Application	214	(7)
8.5.1 Defining the Interface	214	(1)
8.5.2 Object Implementations	215	(2)
8.5.3 The Server Main Program	217	(1)
8.5.4 The Client	218	(1)
8.5.5 Installing a Server	219	(2)
8.6 Summary	221	(2)
Chapter 9 Application Component Libraries	223	(10)
9.1 Simple Data Types	223	(1)
9.2 Collections	224	(2)
9.2.1 Collection Classes	224	(1)
9.2.2 Template-Based Classes	225	(1)
9.3 Streams	226	(2)
9.4 Database Access	228	(3)
9.4.1 Basic Features	228	(2)
9.4.2 DBTools. h++ Architecture	230	(1)
9.5 Summary	231	(2)
Appendix A Running the Business Objects Facility	233	(4)
Appendix B Reliable Financial Services Business Application	237	(8)
Appendix C License	245	(10)
Index	255