Preface


The iPlanet Application Server Developer's Guide describes how to create and run Java™ 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition (J2EE) applications that follow the new open Java standards model for Servlets, Enterprise JavaBeans (EJBs), JavaServer Pages (JSPs), and Java Database Connectivity (JDBC) on the iPlanet Application Server.

This guide is intended for information technology developers in a corporate enterprise who want to extend client-server applications to a broader audience through the World Wide Web. In addition to describing programming concepts and tasks, this guide offers sample code, implementation tips, reference material, and a glossary.

This preface contains information about the following topics:

• Using the Documentation

• What You Should Already Know

• How This Guide Is Organized

• Documentation Conventions

• Related Information

Using the Documentation

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Table 1 lists the tasks and concepts that are described in the iPlanet Application Server printed manuals and online Release Notes. If you are trying to accomplish a specific task or learn more about a specific concept, refer to the appropriate guide.

Note that the printed guides are also available as online files in Portable Document Format (PDF) and Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) formats, at:

http://docs.iplanet.com/docs/manuals/ias.html

Table 1    iPlanet TM Application Server Documentation Roadmap

For information about	See the following	Shipped with
Late-breaking information about the software and the documentation	Release Notes	Available on the Web at http://docs.iplanet.com
Installing iPlanet Application Server and its various components (Web Connector plug-in, iPlanet Application Server Administrator), and configuring the sample applications	Installation Guide	iPlanet Application Server 6.5
Creating iPlanet Application Server 6.5 applications that follow the open Java standards model (Servlets, EJBs, JSPs, and JDBC), by performing the following tasks: Creating the presentation and execution layers of an application Placing discrete pieces of business logic and entities into Enterprise Java Bean (EJB) components Using JDBC to communicate with databases Using iterative testing, debugging, and application fine-tuning procedures to generate applications that execute correctly and quickly	Developer's Guide	iPlanet Application Server 6.5
Administering one or more application servers using the iPlanet Application Server Administrator Tool to perform the following tasks: Monitoring and logging server activity Implementing security for Netscape Application Server Enabling high availability of server resources Configuring web-connector plugin Administering database connectivity Administering transactions Configuring multiple servers Administering multiple-server applications Load balancing servers Managing distributed data synchronization Setting up iPlanet Application Server for development	Administrator's Guide	iPlanet Application Server 6.5
Migrating your applications to the new iPlanet Application Server 6.5 programming model from the Netscape Application Server version 2.1, including a sample migration of an Online Bank application provided with iPlanet Application Server	Migration Guide	iPlanet Application Server 6.5
Using the public classes and interfaces, and their methods in the Netscape Application Server class library to write Java applications	Server Foundation Class Reference (Java)	iPlanet Application Server 6.5
Using the public classes and interfaces, and their methods in the Netscape Application Server class library to write C++ applications	Server Foundation Class Reference (C++)	Order separately

What You Should Already Know

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This guide assumes you are familiar with the following topics:

• J2EE specification

• HTML

• Java programming

• Java APIs as defined in specifications for EJBs, JSPs, and JDBC

• Structured database query languages such as SQL

• Relational database concepts

• Software development processes, including debugging and source code control

How This Guide Is Organized

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The first part of this guide provides an iPlanet Application Server environment overview for designing programs. This part includes the following topic:

• Chapter 1 "Developing Applications"

The next part describes the programming tasks associated with presentation logic and page design. This part includes the following topics:

• Chapter 2 "Controlling Applications with Servlets"

• Chapter 3 "Presenting Application Pages with JavaServer Pages"

The next part describes the programming tasks associated with business logic and data access. This part includes the following topics:

• Chapter 4 "Introducing Enterprise JavaBeans"

• Chapter 5 "Using Session EJBs to Manage Business Rules"

• Chapter 6 "Building Entity EJBs"

• Chapter 7 "Using Message Driven Beans"

• Chapter 8 "Handling Transactions with EJBs"

• Chapter 9 "Using JDBC for Database Access"

• Chapter 10 "Developing and Deploying CORBA-Based Clients"

The next part describes issues that affect all application parts. This part includes the following topics:

• Chapter 11 "Packaging for Deployment"

• Chapter 12 "Creating and Managing User Sessions"

• Chapter 13 "Writing Secure Applications"

• Chapter 14 "Taking Advantage of the iPlanet Application Server Features"

The appendixes include the following reference material:

• Appendix A "Using the Java Message Service"

• Appendix B "Runtime Considerations"

• Appendix C "Sample Deployment Files"

Finally, a Glossary and Index are provided.

Documentation Conventions

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File and directory paths are given in Microsoft Windows format (with backslashes separating directory names). For Unix versions, the directory paths are the same, except that forward slashes are used to separate directories.

This guide uses URLs of the form:

http://server.domain/path/file.html

In these URLs, server is the server name where applications are run; domain is your Internet domain name; path is the server's directory structure; and file is an individual filename. Italic items in URLs are placeholders.

This guide uses the following font conventions:

• The monospace font is used for sample code and code listings, API and language elements (such as function names and class names), file names, pathnames, directory names, and HTML tags.

• Italic type is used for code variables.

• Italic type is also used for book titles, emphasis, variables and placeholders, and words used in the literal sense.

• Bold type is used as either a paragraph lead-in or to emphasis words used in the literal sense.

Related Information

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You can find a directory of URLs for the official specifications at install_dir/ias/docs/index.htm. Additionally, we recommend the following resources:

Programming with Servlets and JSPs:

Java Servlet Programming, by Jason Hunter, O'Reilly Publishing

Java Threads, 2nd Edition, by Scott Oaks & Henry Wong, O'Reilly Publishing

The web site is http://www.servletcentral.com.

Programming with EJBs:

Enterprise JavaBeans, by Richard Monson-Haefel, O'Reilly Publishing

The web site is http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/entjbeans2/.

Programming with JDBC:

Database Programming with JDBC and Java, by George Reese, O'Reilly Publishing

JDBC Database Access With Java: A Tutorial and Annotated Reference (Java Series), by Graham Hamilton, Rick Cattell, Maydene Fisher