Use this task to set the ActivitySession deployment attributes
for an enterprise bean to enable the bean to participate in an ActivitySession
context and support ActivitySession-based operations.
Before you begin
This task description assumes that you have an Enterprise
Archive (EAR) file, which contains an application enterprise bean
that can be deployed in WebSphere® Application Server.
For more details, see the topic about assembling applications.
About this task
You configure the deployment attributes of an application by using an assembly tool. This topic
describes the use of Rational® Application Developer to configure the ActivitySession deployment attributes. These
attributes are in addition to other deployment attributes, for example, Load
at, which specifies when the bean loads its state from the database. For details about
the fields in the assembly tool, and for associated task help, refer to the Rational Application Developer
information.
To set the ActivitySession deployment
attributes for an enterprise bean, complete the following steps:
Procedure
- Start the assembly tool.
For more information,
refer to the Rational Application Developer information.
- Create or edit the application EAR file.
Note: Ensure that you set the target server.
For example, to change attributes of an existing application,
use the Import wizard to import the EAR file into the assembly tool.
To start the Import wizard:
- Click .
- Click Next, then select the EAR
file.
- In the Target server field, select the target application server.
- Click Finish.
- In the Project Explorer view of the Java™ EE
perspective, right-click the EJB module for the enterprise bean instance,
then click .
A property
dialog notebook for the enterprise bean instance is displayed in the
property pane.
- In the property pane, select the Beans tab.
- Select the bean that you want to change.
- In the WebSphere Extensions section, under Bean Cache,
set the Activate at attribute to ActivitySession:
An enterprise bean with this activation policy is activated
and passivated as follows:
- On an ActivitySession boundary, if an ActivitySession context
is present on activation.
- On a transaction boundary, if a transaction context, but no ActivitySession
context, is present on activation.
- Otherwise, on an invocation boundary.
- In the Local Transactions group box, set the Boundary attribute
to ActivitySession:
When this setting is used, the
local transaction must be resolved within the scope of any ActivitySession
in which it was started or, if no ActivitySession context is present,
within the same bean method in which it was started.
A
setting of ActivitySession does not apply to any EJB home methods,
for example, create or finder methods. EJB home methods cannot participate
in an ActivitySession because this situation might cause deadlocks.
- For entity beans, or session beans, set the ActivitySession
properties for each EJB method.
- In the property pane, select the ActivitySession tab.
- In the Configure ActivitySession policies field,
click Add or Edit to set the ActivitySession kind attribute
for methods of the enterprise bean. This specifies how the container
must manage the ActivitySession boundaries when delegating a method
invocation to an enterprise bean's business method:
- Never
- The container invokes bean methods without an ActivitySession
context.
- If the client invokes a bean method from within an ActivitySession
context, the container throws an InvalidActivityException exception,
which is a javax.rmi.RemoteException.
- If the client invokes a bean method from outside an ActivitySession
context, the container behaves in the same way as if the Not Supported value
was set. The client must call the method without an ActivitySession
context.
- Mandatory
- The container always invokes the bean method within the ActivitySession
context associated with the client. If the client attempts to invoke
the bean method without an ActivitySession context, the container
throws an ActivityRequiredException exception to the client. The ActivitySession
context is passed to any EJB object or resource accessed by an enterprise
bean method.
The ActivityRequiredException exception is javax.rmi.RemoteException.
- Requires new
- The container always invokes the bean method within a new ActivitySession
context, regardless of whether the client invokes the method within
or outside an ActivitySession context. The new ActivitySession context
is passed to any enterprise bean objects or resources that are used
by this bean method.
Any received ActivitySession context is suspended
for the duration of the method and resumed after the method ends.
The container starts a new ActivitySession before method dispatch
and completes it after the method ends.
- Required
- The container invokes the bean method within an ActivitySession
context. If a client invokes a bean method from within an ActivitySession
context, the container invokes the bean method within the client ActivitySession
context. If a client invokes a bean method outside an ActivitySession
context, the container creates a new ActivitySession context and invokes
the bean method from within that context. The ActivitySession context
is passed to any enterprise bean objects or resources that are used
by this bean method.
- Not supported
- The container invokes bean methods without an ActivitySession
context. If a client invokes a bean method from within an ActivitySession
context, the container suspends the association between the ActivitySession
and the current thread before invoking the method on the enterprise
bean instance. The container then resumes the suspended association
when the method invocation returns. The suspended ActivitySession
context is not passed to any enterprise bean objects or resources
that are used by this bean method.
- Supports
- If the client invokes the bean method within an ActivitySession,
the container invokes the bean method within an ActivitySession context.
If the client invokes the bean method without a ActivitySession context,
the container invokes the bean method without an ActivitySession context.
The ActivitySession context is passed to any enterprise bean objects
or resources that are used by this bean method.
- Click Next.
- Select the methods to which the ActivitySession kind
policy is to be applied.
- Click Finish.
How the container manages the ActivitySession boundaries
when delegating a method invocation depends on both the ActivitySession
kind set here, and the Container transaction type, as described
in the topic about configuring transactional deployment attributes.
For more detail about the relationship between these two properties,
see the topic about ActivitySession and transaction container policies
in combination.
- Save your changes to the deployment descriptor.
- Close the Deployment Descriptor Editor.
- When prompted, click Yes to save
changes to the deployment descriptor.
- Verify the archive files.
For more information
about verifying files using Rational Application Developer,
refer to the Rational Application Developer information.
- From the popup menu of the project, click Deploy to
generate EJB deployment code.
- Optional: Test your completed module on a WebSphere Application Server installation.
Right-click a module, click Run on Server,
and follow the instructions in the displayed wizard.
Important: Use Run On Server for unit
testing only. The assembly tool controls the WebSphere Application
Server installation and, when an application is published remotely,
the assembly tool overwrites the server configuration file for that
server. Do not use the Run On Server option
on production servers.
What to do next
After assembling your application, use a systems management
tool to deploy the EAR file onto the application server that is to
run the application. For example, to use the administrative console,
see the topic about deploying and administering enterprise applications.