Naming References and Binding Information

A resource reference is an element in a deployment descriptor that identifies the component’s coded name for the resource. More specifically, the coded name references a connection factory for the resource. In the example given in the following section, the resource reference name is jdbc/SavingsAccountDB.

The JNDI name of a resource and the name of the resource reference are not the same. This approach to naming requires that you map the two names before deployment, but it also decouples components from resources. Because of this de-coupling, if at a later time the component needs to access a different resource, you do not have to change the name in the code. This flexibility also makes it easier for you to assemble J2SE applications from preexisting components.

The following table lists recommended JNDI lookups and their associated references for the J2SE resources used by Sun Java System Web Server.

Table 12–1 JNDI Lookups and Their Associated References

JNDI Lookup Name	Associated Reference
java:comp/env	Application environment entries
java:comp/env/jdbc	JDBC DataSource resource
java:comp/env/mail	JavaMail Session Connection Factories
java:comp/env/url	URL Connection Factories