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