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35Provides the mapping of the OMG CORBA APIs to the Java<SUP><FONT 
36SIZE=-2>TM</FONT></SUP>
37programming language, including the class <TT>ORB</TT>, which is implemented
38so that a programmer can use it as a fully-functional Object Request Broker
39(ORB).
40
41<P>For a precise list of supported sections of official CORBA specifications with which 
42the Java[TM] Platform, Standard Edition 6 complies, see <A 
43HREF="doc-files/compliance.html"><em>Official Specifications for CORBA support in 
44Java[TM] SE 6</em></A>.
45
46
47<H1>General Information</H1>
48The information in this section is information relevant to someone who 
49compiles Interface Definition Language (IDL) files and uses the
50ORB to write clients and servers.
51
52<P>The classes and interfaces described in this section can be put into 
53four groups: <tt>ORB classes</tt>, Exceptions, <tt>Helper</tt> classes,
54and <tt>Holder</tt> classes.
55
56<H2>
57The <tt>ORB</tt> Class</H2>
58
59<P>An ORB handles (or brokers) method invocations between a client and
60the method's implementation on a server. Because the client and server
61may be anywhere on a network, and because the invocation and implementation
62may be written in different programming languages, an ORB does a great
63deal of work behind the scenes to accomplish this communication.
64
65<P>Most of what an ORB does is completely transparent to the user, and a major
66portion of the <TT>CORBA</TT> package consists of classes used by the ORB
67behind the scenes. The result is that most programmers will use only a
68small part of this package directly. In fact, most programmers will use
69only a few methods from the <TT>ORB</TT> class, some exceptions, and 
70occasionally,
71a holder class. 
72<H3>
73<TT>ORB</TT> Methods</H3>
74
75<P>Before an application can enter the CORBA environment, it must first: 
76<P>
77<UL>
78<LI>Be initialized into the ORB and possibly the object adapter (POA) environments.
79<LI>Get references to ORB object (for use in future ORB operations) 
80and perhaps other objects (including the root POA or some Object Adapter objects). 
81</UL>
82<P>The following operations are provided to initialize applications and obtain
83 the appropriate object references:
84 <P>
85 <UL>
86 <LI>Operations providing access to the ORB, which are discussed in this
87 section.
88 <LI>Operations providing access to Object Adapters, Interface Repository, 
89 Naming Service, and other Object Services. These operations are described 
90 in <a href="#adv"><em>Other Classes</em></a>.
91 </UL>
92 <P>
93When an application requires a CORBA environment it needs a mechanism to 
94get an ORB object reference and possibly an OA object reference 
95(such as the root POA). This serves two purposes. First, it initializes 
96an application into the ORB and OA environments. Second, it returns the 
97ORB object reference and the OA object reference to the application 
98for use in future ORB and OA operations. 
99
100<P>In order to obtain an ORB object reference, applications call 
101the <tt>ORB.init</tt> operation. The parameters to the call can comprise an 
102identifier for the ORB for which the object reference is required,
103 and an arg_list, which is used to allow environment-specific data to be 
104 passed into the call. 
105
106<P>These are the <TT>ORB</TT> methods
107 that provide access to the ORB:
108<UL>
109<LI>
110<TT><bold>init</bold>()</TT> 
111
112<LI>
113<TT><bold>init</bold>(String [] args, Properties props)</TT>
114
115<LI>
116<TT><bold>init</bold>(Applet app, Properties props)</TT>
117</UL>
118
119<P>Using the <tt>init()</tt> method without parameters initiates 
120a singleton ORB,  which can only
121give typecode creation <tt>any</tt>s needed in code generated
122in Helper classes by <tt>idlj</tt>.
123
124<P>Applications require a portable means by which to obtain their 
125initial object references. References are required for the root 
126POA, POA Current, Interface Repository, and various Object Services 
127instances.  The functionality required by the application is similar
128 to that provided by the Naming Service. However, the OMG does not 
129 want to mandate that the Naming Service be made available to all 
130 applications in order that they may be portably initialized. 
131 Consequently, the operations shown in this section provide a 
132 simplified, local version of the Naming Service that applications 
133 can use to obtain a small, defined set of object references which 
134 are essential to its operation. Because only a small well-defined 
135 set of objects are expected with this mechanism, the naming context
136 can be flattened to be a single-level name space. This simplification
137 results in only two operations being defined to achieve the functionality
138  required.
139  
140<P>Initial references are obtained via two operations provided in 
141the ORB object interface, providing facilities to list and 
142resolve initial object references.  These are:
143<UL>
144<LI>
145<TT><bold>resolve_initial_references</bold>(String name)</TT>
146<LI>
147<TT><bold>list_initial_services</bold>()</TT>
148<LI>
149<TT><bold>register_initial_reference</bold>(String id, 
150org.omg.CORBA.Object obj)</TT>
151</UL>
152
153<P>An example that uses some of these methods is <A 
154HREF="{@docRoot}/../technotes/guides/idl/GShome.html">
155<em>Getting Started with Java IDL</em></A>.
156
157<H2>
158Exceptions</H2>
159Exceptions in Java IDL are similar to those in any code written in the
160Java programming language. If a method is defined to throw an exception,
161then any code using that method must have a <TT>try</TT>/<TT>catch</TT>
162block and handle that exception when it is thrown.
163
164<P>The documentation on <A 
165HREF="{@docRoot}/../technotes/guides/idl/jidlExceptions.html"><em>Java
166IDL exceptions</em></A> has more information and explains the difference between
167system exceptions and user-defined exceptions.
168
169<P>The following is a list of the system exceptions (which are unchecked
170exceptions inheriting through <TT><a href="SystemException.html">
171org.omg.CORBA.SystemException</a></TT> from
172<TT>java.lang.RuntimeException</TT>) that are defined in the package 
173<TT>org.omg.CORBA</TT>:
174<PRE><code>
175&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; BAD_CONTEXT
176&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; BAD_INV_ORDER
177&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; BAD_OPERATION
178&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; BAD_PARAM
179&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; BAD_TYPECODE
180&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; COMM_FAILURE
181&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; DATA_CONVERSION
182&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; FREE_MEM
183&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; IMP_LIMIT
184&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; INITIALIZE
185&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; INTERNAL
186&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; INTF_REPOS
187&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; INVALID_TRANSACTION
188&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; INV_FLAG
189&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; INV_IDENT
190&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; INV_OBJREF
191&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; INV_POLICY
192&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; MARSHAL
193&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <a href="#NO_IMPLEMENT">NO_IMPLEMENT</a>
194&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; NO_MEMORY
195&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; NO_PERMISSION
196&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; NO_RESOURCES
197&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; NO_RESPONSE
198&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; OBJECT_NOT_EXIST
199&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; OBJ_ADAPTER
200&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; PERSIST_STORE
201&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; TRANSACTION_REQUIRED
202&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; TRANSACTION_ROLLEDBACK
203&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; TRANSIENT
204&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; UNKNOWN
205</code></PRE>
206<P>
207The following is a list of user-defined exceptions defined in the package
208<TT>org.omg.CORBA</TT>.
209<PRE><code>
210&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Bounds
211&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; UnknownUserException
212&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; WrongTransaction&nbsp;
213&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; PolicyError
214</code></PRE>
215
216 <H2>Subpackages</H2>
217There are some packages inside the <TT>CORBA</TT> package with
218"Package" as part of their names. These packages are generally quite small
219because all they do is provide exceptions or classes for use by interfaces
220and classes in the <TT>CORBA</TT> package.
221
222<P>For example, the package <TT><a href="TypeCodePackage/package-summary.html">
223org.omg.CORBA.TypeCodePackage</a></TT> contains
224two exceptions thrown by methods in the class <TT>TypeCode</TT>. These
225exceptions are:
226<UL>
227<LI>
228<TT>BadKind</TT>
229
230<LI>
231<TT>Bounds</TT>
232</UL>
233The package <TT><a href="ORBPackage/package-summary.html">
234org.omg.CORBA.ORBPackage</a></TT> contains two exceptions:
235<UL>
236<LI>
237<TT>InvalidName</TT>
238
239<LI>
240<TT>InconsistentTypeCode</TT>
241</UL>
242
243<P>Another package that is a subpackage of <tt>CORBA</tt> is the <tt>
244<a href="portable/package-summary.html">portable</a></tt> package.  It 
245provides a set of ORB APIs that makes it 
246possible for code generated by one vendor's IDL compiler to run
247on another vendor's ORB. 
248
249
250
251
252<H2>
253Holder classes</H2>
254 
255
256<P>Support for out and inout parameter passing modes requires the use of 
257additional  <em><a href="doc-files/generatedfiles.html#holder">holder  
258classes</a></em>. Because the Java programming language does not support out or 
259inout parameters, holder classes are needed as a means of passing a parameter
260that can be modified.   To support portable stubs and skeletons, holder classes also implement
261 the <tt><a href="portable/Streamable.html">org.omg.CORBA.portable.Streamable</a>
262 </tt> interface.
263 
264 <P>Holder classes are named by appending "Holder" to the name of the type.
265 The name of the type refers to its name in the Java programming language.  For
266 example, a holder class for the interface named <tt>Account</tt> in the Java programming
267 language would be named <tt>AccountHolder</tt>.
268
269
270<P>Holder classes are available for all of the basic IDL
271 datatypes in the <tt>org.omg.CORBA</tt> package.  So, for example, 
272  there are already-defined classes for <tt>LongHolder</tt>, <tt>ShortHolder</tt>,
273 <tt>FloatHolder</tt>, and so on.  Classes are also generated for 
274 all named user-defined IDL types except those defined by <tt>typedefs</tt>. 
275 (Note that in this context user defined includes types that are 
276 defined in OMG specifications such as those for the Interface
277  Repository, and other OMG services.) 
278
279
280<P>Each holder class has:
281<P>
282<UL>
283<LI>a constructor from an instance
284<LI>a default constructor
285<LI>a public instance member, <tt>value</tt> which is the typed value. 
286<LI>a method for reading an input stream and assigning the contents to the 
287type's <tt>value</tt> field
288<LI>a method for writing the value of the <tt>value</tt> field to an output stream
289<LI>a method for getting the typecode of the type
290</UL>
291
292<P>The default constructor sets the value field to the default value for the 
293type as defined by the Java language: 
294<P>
295<UL>
296<LI><tt>false</tt> for boolean
297<LI><tt>0</tt> for numeric and char types
298<LI><tt>null</tt> for strings and object references
299</UL>
300
301
302
303<P>
304As an example, if the interface <code>Account</code>, defined in OMG IDL,
305were mapped to the Java programming language, the following holder class
306would be generated:
307<PRE>
308public final class AccountHolder implements 
309    org.omg.CORBA.portable.Streamable
310{
311  // field that holds an Account object
312  public Account value = null;
313
314  // default constructor
315  public AccountHolder ()
316  {
317  }
318  
319  // creates a new AccountHolder from initialValue
320  public AccountHolder (Account initialValue)
321  {
322    value = initialValue;
323  }
324  
325  // reads the contents of i and assigns the contents to value
326  public void _read (org.omg.CORBA.portable.InputStream i)
327  {
328    value = AccountHelper.read (i);
329  }
330
331  // writes value to o
332  public void _write (org.omg.CORBA.portable.OutputStream o)
333  {
334    AccountHelper.write (o, value);
335  }
336 
337  // returns the typecode for Account
338  public org.omg.CORBA.TypeCode _type ()
339  {
340    return AccountHelper.type ();
341  }
342
343}
344</PRE>
345
346<P>For more information on Holder classes, see Chapter 1.4, <em>Mapping for
347Basic Types</em> in the <a href="http://www.omg.org/cgi-bin/doc?ptc/00-01-08">
348<em>OMG IDL to Java Language Mapping</em></a>. The Holder classes defined 
349in the package <TT>org.omg.CORBA</TT> are:
350<PRE>
351&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>AnyHolder
352</TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>AnySeqHolder
353</TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>BooleanHolder
354</TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>BooleanSeqHolder
355</TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>ByteHolder
356</TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>CharHolder
357</TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>CharSeqHolder
358</TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>CurrentHolder
359</TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>DoubleHolder
360</TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>DoubleSeqHolder
361</TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>FixedHolder
362</TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>FloatHolder
363</TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>FloatSeqHolder
364</TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>IntHolder
365</TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>LongHolder
366</TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>LongLongSeqHolder
367</TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>LongSeqHolder
368</TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>ObjectHolder
369</TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>OctetSeqHolder
370</TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>ParameterModeHolder
371</TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>PolicyErrorHolder
372</TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>PolicyListHolder
373</TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>PrincipalHolder
374</TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>ServiceInformationHolder
375</TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>ShortHolder
376</TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>ShortSeqHolder
377</TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>StringHolder
378</TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>StringSeqHolder
379</TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>TypeCodeHolder
380</TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>ULongLongSeqHolder
381</TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>ULongSeqHolder
382</TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>UnknownUserExceptionHolder
383</TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>UShortSeqHolder
384</TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>ValueBaseHolder
385</TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>WCharSeqHolder
386</TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>WrongTransactionHolder
387</TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>WStringSeqHolder</TT>
388
389</PRE>
390
391<h2>Helper Classes </h2>
392<P>Helper files supply several static methods needed to manipulate the type.
393 These include:
394 <P>
395 <UL>
396 <LI><tt>Any</tt> insert and extract operations for the type
397 <LI>getting the repository id
398 <LI>getting the typecode
399 <LI>reading and writing the type from and to a stream
400 <LI>implement the <code>ValueHelper</code> interface (if it is  a user-defined
401   value type)
402 </UL> 
403
404<P>The helper class for a mapped IDL interface or abstract interface
405 also include narrow operation(s). The static narrow method allows 
406 an <tt>org.omg.CORBA.Object</tt> to be narrowed to the object reference 
407 of a more specific type. The IDL exception <tt>CORBA.BAD_PARAM</tt> 
408 is thrown if the narrow fails because the object reference does not 
409 support the requested type. A different system exception is raised 
410 to indicate other kinds of errors. Trying to narrow a <tt>null</tt> will always
411  succeed with a return value of <tt>null</tt>. Generally, the only helper method an application programmer uses is
412the <code>narrow</code> method.  The other methods are normally used behind
413the scenes and are transparent to the programmer.
414
415<P>Helper classes
416fall into two broad categories, <a href="#value">helpers for value types</a> and
417<a href="#basic">helpers for non value types</a>. Because all of the helper 
418classes in one category
419provide the same methods, one generic explanation of each 
420category of helper classes is presented here.
421
422<P>
423When OMG IDL is mapped to the Java programming language, 
424a "helper" class is generated for each user-defined type.
425This generated class will have the name of the user-defined type with
426the suffix <code>Helper</code> appended.  For example, if the
427interface <code>Account</code> is defined in OMG IDL, the
428<code>idlj</code> compiler will automatically generate a class named
429<code>AccountHelper</code>.  The <code>AccountHelper</code> class
430will contain the static methods needed for manipulating instances of the type,
431in this case, <code>Account</code> objects. 
432
433
434<a name="narrow"></a>
435<h3>The <code>narrow</code> Method</h3>
436When an object is the return value for a method, it is returned in the
437form of a generic object, either an <code>org.omg.CORBA.Object</code> object
438or a <code>java.lang.Object</code> object. This object must be cast to its
439more specific type before it can be operated on.  For example, an
440<code>Account</code> object will be returned as a generic object and must
441be narrowed to an <code>Account</code> object so that <code>Account</code>
442methods may be called on it.
443<P>
444The <code>narrow</code> method has two forms, one that takes an
445<code>org.omg.CORBA.Object</code> object and one that takes a
446<code>java.lang.Object</code> object. Whether the interface is abstract or
447not determines which <code>narrow</code> method its helper class will provide.
448The helper class for an interface
449that is not abstract will have a <code>narrow</code> method that takes a CORBA
450object, whereas the <code>narrow</code> method for an interface that is abstract 
451will
452take an object in the Java programming language.  The helper class for a
453non-abstract interface that has at least one abstract base interface will provide
454both versions of the <code>narrow</code> method.
455<P>The <A HREF="{@docRoot}/../technotes/guides/idl/jidlExample.html"><em>Hello World</em></A> 
456tutorial uses a <tt>narrow</tt> method that looks 
457like this:
458<P>
459<PRE>
460        // create and initialize the ORB
461	ORB orb = ORB.init(args, null);
462
463        // get the root naming context
464        org.omg.CORBA.Object objRef = 
465	    orb.resolve_initial_references("NameService");
466        // Use NamingContextExt instead of NamingContext. This is 
467        // part of latest Inter-Operable naming Service.  
468        NamingContextExt ncRef = NamingContextExtHelper.narrow(objRef);
469 
470        // resolve the Object Reference in Naming
471        String name = "Hello";
472        helloImpl = HelloHelper.narrow(ncRef.resolve_str(name));
473</PRE>
474
475<a name="basic"></a>
476<h3>Example of a Basic Helper Class</h3>
477A basic helper class, for purposes of this explanation, is one with
478the methods that are provided by every helper class, plus a <code>narrow</code> 
479method if the type defined in OMG IDL maps to an interface in the Java
480programming language.  Types that are not value types will have a basic
481helper class generated for them.
482<P>
483For example, assuming that the interface <code>Account</code> is not a
484value type IDL type and is also not an abstract interface and has no
485abstract base interfaces, its <code>AccountHelper</code> class will look
486like this:
487<PRE>
488abstract public class AccountHelper
489{
490  private static String  _id = "IDL:Account:1.0";
491
492  // inserts an Account object into an Any object
493  public static void insert (org.omg.CORBA.Any a, Account that)
494  {
495    org.omg.CORBA.portable.OutputStream out = a.create_output_stream ();
496    a.type (type ());
497    write (out, that);
498    a.read_value (out.create_input_stream (), type ());
499  }
500
501  // extracts an Account object from an Any object
502  public static Account extract (org.omg.CORBA.Any a)
503  {
504    return read (a.create_input_stream ());
505  }
506
507  
508  private static org.omg.CORBA.TypeCode __typeCode = null;
509  // gets the typecode for this type
510  synchronized public static org.omg.CORBA.TypeCode type ()
511  {
512    if (__typeCode == null)
513    {
514      __typeCode = org.omg.CORBA.ORB.init ().create_interface_tc (AccountHelper.id (), "Account");
515    }
516    return __typeCode;
517  }
518
519  // gets the repository id for this type
520  public static String id ()
521  {
522    return _id;
523  }
524
525  // reads an Account object from an input stream
526  public static Account read (org.omg.CORBA.portable.InputStream istream)
527  {
528    return narrow (istream.read_Object (_AccountStub.class));
529  }
530
531  // writes an Account object to an outputstream
532  public static void write (org.omg.CORBA.portable.OutputStream ostream, Account value)
533  {
534    ostream.write_Object ((org.omg.CORBA.Object) value);
535  }
536
537  // converts (narrows) an Object to an Account object
538  public static Account narrow (org.omg.CORBA.Object obj)
539  {
540    if (obj == null)
541      return null;
542    else if (obj instanceof Account)
543      return (Account)obj;
544    else if (!obj._is_a (id ()))
545      throw new org.omg.CORBA.BAD_PARAM ();
546    else
547    {
548      org.omg.CORBA.portable.Delegate delegate = ((org.omg.CORBA.portable.ObjectImpl)obj)._get_delegate ();
549      _AccountStub stub = new _AccountStub ();
550      stub._set_delegate(delegate);
551      return stub;
552    }
553  }
554
555}
556</PRE>
557<P>
558
559<h3>Value Type Helper Classes</h3>
560A helper class for a value type includes different renderings of
561the same methods generated for non-value type methods. The main difference
562 is that value types are types that can be
563passed by value as parameters or return values of a method, which means that
564they must be serializable.
565<P>Assuming that <code>Address</code> is a value type, the
566<code>AddressHelper</code> class will look like this:
567<pre>
568abstract public class AddressHelper
569{
570  private static String  _id = "IDL:Address:1.0";
571
572  // same as for non-value type
573  public static void insert (org.omg.CORBA.Any a, Address that)
574  {
575    org.omg.CORBA.portable.OutputStream out = a.create_output_stream ();
576    a.type (type ());
577    write (out, that);
578    a.read_value (out.create_input_stream (), type ());
579  }
580
581  // same as for non-value type
582  public static Address extract (org.omg.CORBA.Any a)
583  {
584    return read (a.create_input_stream ());
585  }
586
587  private static org.omg.CORBA.TypeCode __typeCode = null;
588  private static boolean __active = false;
589  
590  // getting the typecode for the type
591  synchronized public static org.omg.CORBA.TypeCode type ()
592  {
593    if (__typeCode == null)
594    {
595      synchronized (org.omg.CORBA.TypeCode.class)
596      {
597        if (__typeCode == null)
598        {
599          if (__active)
600          {
601            return org.omg.CORBA.ORB.init().create_recursive_tc ( _id );
602          }
603          __active = true;
604          org.omg.CORBA.ValueMember[] _members0 = new org.omg.CORBA.ValueMember[0];
605          org.omg.CORBA.TypeCode _tcOf_members0 = null;
606          __typeCode = org.omg.CORBA.ORB.init ().create_value_tc (_id, "Address", org.omg.CORBA.VM_NONE.value, null, _members0);
607          __active = false;
608        }
609      }
610    }
611    return __typeCode;
612  }
613
614  // same as for non-value type
615  public static String id ()
616  {
617    return _id;
618  }
619
620  // reads a serializable instance of Address from the given input stream
621  public static Address read (org.omg.CORBA.portable.InputStream istream)
622  {
623    return (Address)((org.omg.CORBA_2_3.portable.InputStream) istream).read_value (id ());
624  }
625
626  // writes a serializable instance of Address to the given output stream
627  public static void write (org.omg.CORBA.portable.OutputStream ostream, Address value)
628  {
629    ((org.omg.CORBA_2_3.portable.OutputStream) ostream).write_value (value, id ());
630  }
631
632
633}
634</pre>
635
636<P>The Helper classes defined in the package <TT>org.omg.CORBA</TT> are:
637<PRE><code>
638&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>AnySeqHelper
639</TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>BooleanSeqHelper
640</TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>CharSeqHelper
641</TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>CompletionStatusHelper
642</TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>CurrentHelper
643</TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>DefinitionKindHelper
644</TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>DoubleSeqHelper
645</TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>FieldNameHelper
646</TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>FloatSeqHelper
647</TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>IdentifierHelper
648</TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>IDLTypeHelper
649</TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>LongLongSeqHelper
650</TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>LongSeqHelper
651</TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>NameValuePairHelper
652</TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>ObjectHelper
653</TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>OctetSeqHelper
654</TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>ParameterModeHelper
655</TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>PolicyErrorCodeHelper
656</TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>PolicyErrorHelper
657</TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>PolicyHelper
658</TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>PolicyListHelper
659</TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>PolicyTypeHelper
660</TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>RepositoryIdHelper
661</TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>ServiceDetailHelper
662</TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>ServiceInformationHelper
663</TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>SetOverrideTypeHelper
664</TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>ShortSeqHelper
665</TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>StringSeqHelper
666</TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>StringValueHelper
667</TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>StructMemberHelper
668</TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>ULongLongSeqHelper
669</TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>ULongSeqHelper
670</TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>UnionMemberHelper
671</TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>UnknownUserExceptionHelper
672</TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>UShortSeqHelper
673</TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>ValueBaseHelper
674</TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>ValueMemberHelper
675</TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>VersionSpecHelper
676</TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>VisibilityHelper
677</TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>WCharSeqHelper
678</TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>WrongTransactionHelper
679</TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>WStringSeqHelper
680</TT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <TT>WStringValueHelper</TT>
681
682</code></PRE>
683<a name="adv"></a>
684<H1>
685Other Classes</H1>
686The other classes and interfaces in the <TT>CORBA</TT> package, which are
687used behind the scenes, can be put into four groups. Three of the groups
688are used with requests in some capacity, and the fourth group, concerning
689the Interface Repository, is a category by itself.
690<H2>
691Classes Created by an ORB</H2>
692The first group contains classes that are created by an ORB and contain
693information used in request operations. 
694<UL>
695<LI>
696<TT>TCKind</TT> -- indicates the kind (datatype) for a <TT>TypeCode</TT>
697object
698
699<LI>
700<TT>TypeCode</TT> -- indicates a datatype and possibly other information
701
702<LI>
703<TT>Any</TT> -- contains a value and its typecode
704
705<LI>
706<TT>NamedValue</TT> -- contains a name, an <TT>Any</TT> object, and an
707argument mode flag. <TT>NamedValue</TT> objects contain information about
708method arguments, method return values, or a context.
709
710<LI>
711<TT>ContextList</TT> -- a list of strings that describe the contexts that
712need to be resolved and sent with an invocation
713
714<LI>
715<TT>ExceptionList</TT> -- a list of <TT>TypeCode</TT>s for exceptions that
716may be thrown by a method
717
718<LI>
719<TT>Environment</TT> -- a container for the exception thrown during a method
720invocation
721
722<LI>
723<TT>Context</TT> -- a list of <TT>NamedValue</TT> objects used to pass
724auxiliary information from client to server
725
726<LI>
727<TT>NVList</TT> -- a list of <TT>NamedValue</TT> objects, used to pass
728arguments or get results
729</UL>
730
731<H2>
732Classes That Deal with Requests</H2>
733The second group of classes deals with requests:
734<UL>
735<LI>
736<TT>Object</TT> -- the base class for all CORBA object references
737
738<LI>
739<TT>Request</TT> -- the main class in the DII, which contains methods for
740adding arguments to the request, for accessing information about the method
741being invoked (the method name, its arguments, exceptions it throws, and
742so on), and for making invocations on the request
743
744<LI>
745<TT>DynamicImplementation</TT> -- the base class for server implementations
746using the DSI. It has the method <TT>invoke</TT>, which is used by an 
747implementation
748of this class to determine the state of a <TT>ServerRequest</TT> object
749and to set its result or exception
750
751<LI>
752<TT>ServerRequest</TT> -- captures the explicit state of a request for
753the Dynamic Skeleton Interface
754</UL>
755
756<H2>
757Interfaces That Serve as Constants</H2>
758The third group contains interfaces that serve as constants. The IDL-to-Java
759mapping mandates that IDL enums are mapped to a Java class with the enumerated
760values represented as public static final fields in that class (e.g. 
761DefinitionKind).
762On the other hand IDL constants defined outside of an IDL interface are
763mapped to a Java interface for each constant.
764
765<P>This is why several interfaces in the <TT>org.omg.CORBA</TT> package
766consist of a single field, <TT>value</TT>, which is a <TT>short</TT>. This
767field is a constant used for such things as an error code or value modifier.
768For example, the <TT>value</TT> field of the interface <TT>BAD_POLICY</TT>
769is one of the possible reasons for the exception <TT>PolicyError</TT> to
770be thrown. To specify this error code, you would use <TT>BAD_POLICY.value</TT>.
771
772<P>The exception <TT>PolicyError</TT> uses the <TT>value</TT> field of
773the following interfaces as its possible error codes.
774<UL>
775<LI>
776<TT>BAD_POLICY</TT>
777
778<LI>
779<TT>BAD_POLICY_TYPE</TT>
780
781<LI>
782<TT>BAD_POLICY_VALUE</TT>
783
784<LI>
785<TT>UNSUPPORTED_POLICY</TT>
786
787<LI>
788<TT>UNSUPPORTED_POLICY_VALUE</TT>
789</UL>
790The method <TT>TypeCode.type_modifier</TT> returns the <TT>value</TT> field
791of one of the following interfaces. The <TT>VM</TT> in the names of these
792interfaces stands for "value modifier."
793<UL>
794<LI>
795<TT>VM_NONE</TT>
796
797<LI>
798<TT>VM_ABSTRACT</TT>
799
800<LI>
801<TT>VM_CUSTOM</TT>
802
803<LI>
804<TT>VM_TRUNCATABLE</TT>
805</UL>
806The following constants are returned by a <code>ValueMember</code> object's
807access method to denote the visibility of the <code>ValueMember</code> object.
808<UL>
809<LI>
810<TT>PRIVATE_MEMBER</TT>
811
812<LI>
813<TT>PUBLIC_MEMBER</TT>
814</UL>
815These flags, used in <TT>NamedValue</TT> objects or as parameters to methods,
816are defined in the following interfaces:
817<UL>
818<LI>
819<TT>ARG_IN</TT>
820
821<LI>
822<TT>ARG_INOUT</TT>
823
824<LI>
825<TT>ARG_OUT</TT>
826
827<LI>
828<TT>CTX_RESTRICT_SCOPE</TT>
829</UL>
830
831<H2>
832Interface Repository Interfaces and Classes</H2>
833A fourth group contains the Interface Repository interfaces and classes,
834which are generated by the <TT>idlj</TT> compiler from the OMG IDL
835interface <TT>ir.idl</TT>. The purpose of the Interface Repository is to
836identify the interfaces stored in it so that they can be accessed by an
837ORB. Each module, type, interface, attribute, operation, parameter, exception,
838constant, and so on is described completely by the Interface Repository
839API.
840
841<P>An ORB does not require that there be an interface repository, and Java
842IDL does not include one. Even though this release does not include an
843implementation of an interface repository, the following IR classes and
844interfaces have been included for the purpose of creating typecodes (see
845create_value_tc, create_struct_tc, create_union_tc and create_exception_tc
846methods in interface org.omg.CORBA.ORB):
847<BR>&nbs
848<UL>
849<LI>
850IRObject
851
852<LI>
853IDLType
854
855<LI>
856DefinitionKind
857
858<LI>
859StructMember
860
861<LI>
862UnionMember
863
864<LI>
865ValueMember
866</UL>
867<!-- End Page Data -->
868<HR>
869<H1>
870Related Documentation</H1>
871For overviews, guides, and a tutorial, please see:
872<UL>
873<LI>
874<A HREF="{@docRoot}/../technotes/guides/idl/index.html">Java IDL home page</A>
875</UL>
876
877
878
879
880<P><A NAME="unimpl"></A>
881<H1>
882CORBA Features Not Implemented in Java IDL</H1>
883
884<P>Some of the API included in <TT>org.omg</TT> subpackages is provided for
885conformance with the current OMG CORBA specification but is not implemented
886in Sun's release of the JDK<SUP><FONT SIZE=-2>TM</FONT></SUP>. This enables
887other JDK licensees to provide implementations of this API in standard
888extensions and products.
889
890<P><A NAME="NO_IMPLEMENT"></A>
891<h2>Features That Throw NO_IMPLEMENT</h2>
892
893<P>Some of the API included in <TT>org.omg</TT> subpackages throw 
894<tt>NO_IMPLEMENT</tt> exceptions for various reasons.  Among these reasons
895are:
896<P>
897	<UL>
898	<LI>In some cases, for example <tt>LocalObject</tt>, the complete
899	implementation according to the specification indicates that 
900	these API should throw <tt>NO_IMPLEMENT</tt>.
901	<P>
902	<LI>In most cases, for example methods in <tt>ORB.java</tt>, 
903	methods that throw  
904	<tt>NO_IMPLEMENT</tt> are actually implemented in subclasses
905	elsewhere in the ORB code.
906	<P>
907	<LI>In some cases, for example <tt>_get_interface_def()</tt> 
908	and <tt>_get_interface</tt>, API are really not yet implemented.
909	</UL>
910
911
912
913
914<H2>
915General Summary of Features or API Not Implemented in This Release:</H2>
916
917<UL>
918<LI>
919Interface Repository. An Interface Repository is not required for normal
920operation of Java IDL.
921
922<LI>
923Java IDL does not support <TT>long double</TT>.  
924
925
926<LI>
927Policies (<TT><a href="Policy.html">org.omg.CORBA.Policy</a></TT>) and methods for getting them are not implemented.
928
929<LI>
930Domain managers (<TT><a href="DomainManager.html">org.omg.CORBA.DomainManager</a></TT>) and methods for
931getting them are not implemented.
932
933<LI>
934Service Information <TT><a href="ServiceInformation.html">org.omg.CORBA.ServiceInformation</a></TT> and ORB method <TT>public boolean get_service_information(short service_type, 
935ServiceInformationHolder
936service_info)</TT>  are not implemented.
937
938<LI>ORB methods for supporting single-threading (<tt>perform_work</tt>, <tt>work_pending</tt>) are not implemented.
939
940<LI>IDL contexts.
941</UL>
942
943<HR>
944<H2>
945Specific List of Unimplemented Features in Package <TT>org.omg.CORBA</TT></H2>
946
947
948<H3>
949Unimplemented Methods in package <TT>org.omg.CORBA</TT>:</H3>
950
951<UL>
952<LI>
953<TT>ORB</TT>
954
955<UL>
956<LI>
957<TT>public org.omg.CORBA.Policy create_policy(int type, org.omg.CORBA.Any
958val)</TT>
959
960
961
962<LI>
963<TT>public void perform_work()</TT>
964
965<LI>
966<TT>public boolean work_pending()</TT>
967
968<LI>
969<TT>public org.omg.CORBA.Current get_current()</TT>
970
971<LI>
972<TT>create_operation_list</TT>
973
974<LI>
975<TT>get_default_context</TT>
976
977<LI>
978<TT>get_service_information</TT>
979
980<LI>
981obsolete <TT>DynAnys</TT> (deprecated in favor of <tt>DynamicAny</tt> package)
982
983
984</UL>
985
986
987
988</UL>
989@since JDK1.2
990@serial exclude
991</BODY>
992</HTML>
993