Borland Enterprise Server 5.2 VisiBroker Release Notes (HP-UX and IBM-AIX)

This release note contains information specific to the VisiBroker Edition and VisiBroker standalone. For release note information that applies to all the Borland Enterprise Server 5.2 Editions, see the Borland Enterprise Server 5.2 Release Notes.

VisiBroker new features

The set of new features for this release includes:

JDK1.4 Support

VisiBroker for Java now supports JDK 1.4.1. However support for JDK 1.3.1 is still provided.

IPv6 Support

VisiBroker for Java and VisiBroker for C++ is now IPv6 enabled. IPv6 support is available in both C++ and Java ORBs on all platforms and JDKs that provide IPv6 support. For more details please refer to the Platform Information section.

Native Messaging

Native Messaging provides an intuitive and powerful framework for performing non-blocking and asynchronous method invocations in CORBA/J2EE environments. VisiBroker Native Messaging support is available to all VisiBroker ORB and J2EE (1.3 and up) environments including C++, Java, RMI/EJB and Delphi. Also, VisiBroker Native Messaging is based on an open IDL interface and the standardized IIOP. It can therefore be used by applications built on top of other non-VisiBroker ORBs, older versions of the VisiBroker ORB (3.x, 4.x), and RMI-over-IIOP compliant J2EE environments.

VisiBroker enhancements

The set of useful enhancements includes:

ORB

The VisiBroker for Java and C++ ORBs now attempt connection to different endpoints simultaneously. This speeds up connection time when multiple client threads attempt simultaneous connection to different endpoints. However, connection establishment to the same endpoint is still serialized.

Interceptors

PI Request Interceptors

In VisiBroker for C++, PI Request Interceptors are invoked in colocated calls. client and server request Interceptors are now invoked in colocated calls. This helps clients and servers to behave uniformly in all cases and to transfer context information or any additional security information between them. Setting vbroker.pi.colocStubInvoke to true will enable interceptor invocation and setting it to false will disable interceptor invocation.

Portable IOR Interceptor interface change

Keeping in line with the resolution of OMG issue 5430 ( http://cgi.omg.org/issues/issue5430.txt ), the interface for Portable IOR interceptor has been changed. The new interface definitions are as follows: 

local interface IORInterceptor : Interceptor {
   void establish_components( in IORInfo info  )   ;
 };
                    
local interface IORInterceptor_3_0 : IORInterceptor {
      void components_established( in IORInfo info    )   ;
                    
      void adapter_manager_state_changed( in AdapterManagerId id,
          in AdapterState state    )   ;
                    
      void adapter_state_changed( in ObjectReferenceTemplateSeq templates,
          in AdapterState state    )   ;
  };

Applications using the methods components_established, adapter_manager_state_changed, and adapter_state_changed must be modified to make use of the new interface (IORInterceptor_3_0). Applications using only the establish_components method need not change. This change is applicable to both VisiBroker for Java and VisiBroker for C++.

Server Manager Diagnostic Facility

The Server Manager diagnostic facility provides server statistics and configuration information. This includes thread statistics, connection statistics, environment information and process information (memory usage). This facility is available in both VisiBroker for Java and VisiBroker for C++.

OSAgent logging facility

The OSAgent logging facility has automatic rollover capability when the entry size reaches the default or a user-specified value. It also has the ability to control the time interval in VisiBroker client/server processes for discovering whether a Smart Agent has failed, and provides fail-over to nearest Smart Agent.

Launchers

Configuring the JDK through the VisiBroker Launchers is enhanced :

  1. vbjc: The VisiBroker for Javac launcher will try to locate the Java VM from the PATH. If not found, it will try to load the VM based on the javahome entry in the <install_dir>/bin/toolsjdk.config file.
  2. vbj: The VisiBroker for Java launcher will try to load the Java VM from the VBJ javavm option if given. Otherwise, it will try to locate from the PATH. If not found in PATH, then it will try to load the VM based on the javahome entry in the <install_dir>/bin/vbj.config file.

Note: The toolsjdk.config and .config should be in the <install_dir>/bin directory and must not be moved out of this location.

Native Messaging

Server Manager support added to RequestAgent so that it can be configured and monitored through the BES/VisiBroker Console.

BES Management Console/VisiBroker Console Support

Console support is provided to VisiNotify and Native Messaging features and also extended to the Server Manager Diagnostic facility.

VisiNotify

In addition, Filter Object persistency is now enabled in VisiNotify for this release.

VisiTransact

ITS is now compliant with the CORBA OMG OTS 1.2 specification. This enhancement is for those who have existing system components developed using earlier version of ITS.

VisiSecure

Security now has the new interfaces for Service Provider to design their own LoginModule, Trust mechanism, Authorization mechanism and/or to provide their own Secure Socket.

Others

ORB properties

VisiBroker for C++

Property  Default Value Valid values Description
vbroker.pi.colocStubInvoke False true|false To invoke PI Request Interceptors in a colocated case, set this property to true.
vbroker.locationservice.backoffFactor 1 >=1 Controls the wait for reply-time interval for the OSAgent's TCP client handler address from an OSAgent. It is an addition factor starting from 1 second. Use when the OSAgent is too busy to reply.

VisiBroker for Java

Property  Default Value Valid values Description
vbroker.poa.manager.threadMin 0 >=0 Minimum number of threads that the Adapter Mananger can create.
vbroker.poa.manager.threadMax 0 >=0 Maximum number of threads that the Adapter Mananger can create. 0 means no limit.
vbroker.poa.manager.threadMaxIdle 300 >=0 Time in seconds before an idle thread is to be destroyed. 0 means to disable this feature.
vbroker.agent.clientPort 0 0 to 65535 Starting port (lower bound) of the range of ports for the ORB to communicate with an OSAgent. 0 means the port is randomly assigned by system.
vbroker.agent.clientPortRange 0 0 to 65535 Range of ports within interval (clientPort, clientPort + clientPortRange) for the ORB to communicate with the OSAgent. This range is effective only when clientPort > 0.
vbroker.orb.corbaloc.resolveHosts true true|false When this property is set to true, the ORB will try to resolve the hostnames specified in the corbaloc string at initialization time. The default value is true (for backwards compatibility). This behaviour is deprecated and the next major release will have false as the default value.
vbroker.orb.bids.bar "" inprocess This property is used to prevent specified bidders from placing bids. Setting it to inprocess will disable inprocess bidding. Use this property to disallow optimized inprocess invocations when the client and server are colocated. Note: Currently only the inprocess bidder can be barred using this property. Other bidders might be included in the future.

Compiler Options

  1. Command: java2idl, java2iiop
    Option: -[no_]idlentity_array_mapping
    Default value: off
    Description: When set to on, compiler maps array of IDLEntity to boxedIDL in boxedRMI.
  2. Command: idl2java, java2iiop
    Option: -[no_classloader_aware]
    Default value: on
    Description: This property by default generates extra stub code for a case where the Client and Servant are loaded using different classloaders but within the same ORB instance. By giving this option the generation of extra code is prevented.

Change in Properties

  1. Property: vbroker.orb.jdkCPUBug
    Type: Boolean
    Default Value: True
    Description: This property provided in VBE 5.1 for backwards compatibility, was used to work around a JDK bug that caused 100% CPU usage. The JDK bug has since been fixed in JDK 1.3.1_04. The default value of this property is changed to true in this release. A value of false disables RMI-IIOP dynamic stub loading (not recommended).
  2. VisiBroker for Java renames AnyServiceOrder property as vbroker.naming.anyServiceOrder for consistency with VisiBroker for C++.

Launcher Option

The org.omg.PortableServer.ThreadPolicyValue in J2SE 1.4 does not define the _MAIN_THREAD_MODEL. We provide a version of ThreadPolicyValue that defines _MAIN_THREAD_MODEL and overrides the one in the Java 2 Platform by following the Endorsed Standards Override Mechanism. 

Our version of ThreadPolicyValue is available in <install_dir>/lib/endorsed/vbjendorse.jar. By default, our launcher adds this directory to the system property java.endorsed.dirs. Users are free to add more directories to this property and our launcher appends them to the existing ones.

If you are not using our launcher but using J2SE 1.4, the directory containing vbjendorse.jar has to be manually added to the system property java.endorsed.dirs. This enables you to override the org.omg.PortableServer.ThreadPolicyValue provided by J2SE 1.4 by our version of the same.

If this mechanism is not followed existing applications using _MAIN_THREAD_MODEL will not be compatible with J2SE 1.4.

Upgrading from previous versions

Upgrading from VisiBroker for Java and VisiBroker for C++

The Borland VisiBroker Object Request Broker (ORB) now combines the Java and C++ packages into a single installation. As a result, it has been necessary to synchronize some of the features and behaviors of the Java and C++ ORBs. This section details the changes in the GateKeeper, the VisiBroker ORB in general, and the Naming Service utility (VisiNaming).

GateKeeper enhancements and alterations

By default, the Security Service is turned off in GateKeeper; this means that the GateKeeper will function as expected in VisiBroker for Java 4.5.x with added features. To enable Security Service in GateKeeper, use: 

vbroker.security.disable=false

There is no need to explicitly load the following services using the vbroker.orb.dynamicLib property in the GateKeeper:

The Security Service is already integrated with GateKeeper. When Security is enabled, the required services are loaded. Specific listener ports can then be specified.

The property vbroker.GateKeeper.load.balancer has been added to allow a master-only role of the GateKeeper in the Master/Slave configuration scenario for load balancing. In addition, the following load balancing enhancements have been made:

VisiTransact

Upgrading from previous version 5.1 to 5.2

To upgrade the C++ server/client using VisiTransact do the following:

VisiSecure for C++

Because csstring.h has been updated, if your application uses csstring.h we recommend that you recompile your code.

VisiSecure for Java

Upgrading from version 5.1., refer to Migrating from Borland Security Service 5.1.

Upgrading from version 4.x., use the executable FileDBMigrate.

Compatibility notes

VisiBroker for C++

  1. Compatibility with VisiBroker for C++ 5.1: VisiBroker 5.2 maintains binary and source compatibility.
  2. Compatibility with VisiBroker for C++ 3.x and 4.x : For the most part, VisiBroker 5.x is not binary- or source-compatible with releases 4.x and earlier. Please regenerate your stubs and recompile your applications.

VisiBroker for Java

As per OMG Specification 2.5, org.omg.PortableServer.POAOperations.create_reference_with_id() does not throw a WrongPolicy exception. VisiBroker 5.2 is compatible to this definition. However, for source code back-compatibility we have created a JAR file called javabackcompat.jar, that contains the older definition to throw the WrongPolicy exception.

If you still require the older definition, do the following before building and running your applications:

Compatibility with VisiBroker for Java 5.2

If any of the following three types:

are exchanged across the wire between 5.2 and any older versions, you must set  vbroker.rmi.alternativeMarshall=false on the older VisiBroker for Java side for back compatibility.

VisiTransact

Previous OTS Clients versus OTS 5.2 Servers

If the objects obtained from OTS52 servers have REQUIRES OTS policy values in their IORs, any invocation on those objects must happen within the scope of an active transaction. Also, if the objects obtained from OTS52 servers have FORBIDS OTS policy values in their IORs, any invocation on those objects must happen outside the scope of an active transaction.

Previous OTS Servers versus OTS 5.2 Clients

VisiSecure for Java

Security is on-the-wire compatible with previous BES 5.x versions.

The following changes have been made to the Security implementation that affect back-compatibility:

Known issues

The following are known VisiBroker issues with this release.

VisiBroker for Java

Namespaces and IDL

The Java compiler now rejects import statements that import a type from the unnamed namespace. According to the Java Language specification, you cannot have a simple name in an import statement, nor can you import from the unnamed namespace (http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.4/compatibility.html#source). This change will impact applications with IDLs that do not have their definitions in a module.

Security and Naming Service

When security is enabled in a BES 5.2 Partition using the vbroker.security.disable property, the naming service in that Partition is not secure.  This is due to the default value for property vbroker.naming.security.disable, which has a default value of true. To enable security, set vbroker.naming.security.disable=false.

RequestAgent

The current version of the Request Agent is not security-enabled.

Using OAD to start RequestAgent

In order to start the RequestAgent with OAD, you'll have to perform following steps:

  1. Register the RequestAgent as a shared server.
  2. Register using the following command. Note: This assumes that VBROKER_ADM is set to point to the adm directory which contains the license files:
    Unix:
    oadutil reg -i IDL:borland.com/NativeMessaging/RequestAgent:1.0 -o RA -java com.borland.vbroker.MessageBroker.MessageBroker -e vbroker.orb.admDir=$VBROKER_ADM
Propagation of client side QoS policies to RequestAgent

In the current release, client side QoS policies, such as RebindPolicy, are not propagated to the RequestAgent.

RequestAgent interop with VisiBroker for C++ 4.5 and VisiBroker for Java 4.0/4.1/4.1.1 servers for WChar and WString data

This issue occures when:

  1. Client is a VisiBroker for Java 4.5.x or VisiBroker Edition 5.x application,
  2. Server is VisiBroker for C++ 4.5 or VisiBroker for Java 4.0/4.1/4.1.1 application, and
  3. Client tries to invoke an operation through the RequestAgent that contains WChar or WString arguments/return values.

A DATA_CONVERSION or MARSHAL exception will be raised by Client as a result of this invocation. This issue will be resolved in a future release.

Using Request Agent in mixed JDK applications

If your application runs in a mixed JDK configuration (JDK 1.3.1 and JDK 1.4.x), then you should run the Request Agent with the same JDK as that of the server.

Interceptors

To avoid recursion in the POA lifecycle interceptor, the behavior is changed in case of multiple registrations as follows:

If the same instance of a POA lifecycle interceptor is registered with the ORB multiple times, the interceptor will be called only once when a POA is created. For example, assume the same instance of a POALifeCycleInterceptor "myPOAInterceptor" is registered 3 times with the ORB. When a POA is created, instead of calling the create method of "myPOAInterceptor" 3 times, the ORB will call it only once. If there is a need to call create 3 times, then different instances of "myPOAInterceptor" must be registered with the ORB. Note, however, that there is no change in the ORB behavior when calling the destroy method. Even if the same instance of the interceptor is registered multiple times, the destroy will be called that number of times.

RMI-over-IIOP

It is the RMI-IIOP application server's responsibility to instantiate the ORB instance and call the run() method explicitly to have the server wait for client connections.

VisiBroker for C++

Compilation of 32 bit applications on 64 bit platform (for AIX platform only)

Applications written to refer to 32 bit libraries on 64 bit deployment platform will not work when compiled. Instead, we recommend using 32 bit platform for compiling 32 bit applications.

VisiNotify

VisiTransact

VisiSecure for Java

Platform information

Important: For information on minimum hardware requirements, certified operating systems, JDKs, and compilers, please refer to the Product Platforms Page.

C++ 64-bit security support

The VisiBroker Edition 64-bit port does not provide a C++ security component.

VisiTransact 64-bit support

The VisiBroker Edition 64-bit port does not provide a VisiTransact component.

JDK

IPv6

VisiBroker can now be run on dual-stack hosts supporting IPv6 and IPv4. IPv6 is supported on platforms which are IPv6 enabled.

VisiBroker for Java supports IPv6 only on:

VisiBroker for C++ supports IPv6 only on:

Enabling IPv6 for VisiBroker for C++ on HP

In order to make use of the IPv6 feature please do the following for HP platforms:

HP 32-bit platforms:

  1. Navigate to <install_dir/lib>
  2. Copy libvport_ipv6_r.so to libvport_r.so

HP 64-bit platforms:

  1. Navigate to <install_dir/lib>
  2. Copy libvport64_ipv6_r.so to libvport64_r.so

Printing version information

The product provides mechanisms for printing version information for the binaries and libraries included in this release. In general, use the executable vbver followed by the file to query version information.

For example osagent.exe prints: 

Information for:        osagent.exe
Product Name:           VisiBroker for C++
Version:                05.02.00.C2.09
Copyright:              (C) 1996, 2002
Company:                Borland Software Corporation
Build Date:             01/21/2003 07:58:48

Similarly, vbver vbjorb.jar prints:

Information for:        vbjorb.jar
Product Name:           VisiBroker Developer for Java
Version:                05.02.00.C2.09
Copyright:              (C) 1996-2001
Company:                Borland Software Corp.
Build Date:             01/21/2003 13:51:22

To obtain version information for the utilities (such as idl2java, irep,idl2ir, and such), pass the -version argument to the utility.