2 Overview of Stand-alone Clients

In the context of this document, a stand-alone client is a client that has a runtime environment independent of WebLogic Server. (Managed clients, such as Web Services, rely on a server-side container to provide the runtime necessary to access a server.) Stand-alone clients that access WebLogic Server applications range from simple command line utilities that use standard I/O to highly interactive GUI applications built using the Java Swing/AWT classes. The following sections provide an overview:

Distributing Client Jar Files

For information on license requirements when using client JARs and other resources provided in Oracle WebLogic Server for creating stand-alone clients, see "Stand-Alone WebLogic Clients" in Oracle Fusion Middleware Licensing Information.

RMI-IIOP Clients

IIOP can be a transport protocol for distributed applications with interfaces written in Java RMI. For more information, see:

For more information, see "Using RMI over IIOP" in Oracle Fusion Middleware Programming RMI for Oracle WebLogic Server.

WebLogic Full Client (T3)

A WebLogic Full Client is a Java RMI client that uses Oracle's proprietary T3 protocol to communicate with WebLogic Server. The WebLogic Full Client requires the largest JAR file (wlfullclient.jar) among the various clients, but it has the most features and is the best overall performer. The wlfullclient.jar also provides IIOP support. See:

CORBA Clients

If you are not working in a Java-only environment, you can use IIOP to connect your Java programs with Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA) clients and execute CORBA objects. IIOP can be a transport protocol for distributed applications with interfaces written in Interface Definition Language (IDL) or Java RMI. However, the two models are distinctly different approaches to creating an interoperable environment between heterogeneous systems. When you program, you must decide to use either IDL or RMI interfaces; you cannot mix them.WebLogic Server supports the following CORBA client models:

JMX Clients

You can use a JMX client to access WebLogic Server MBeans. See "Accessing WebLogic Server MBeans With JMX" in Oracle Fusion Middleware Developing Custom Management Utilities With JMX for Oracle WebLogic Server.

JMS Clients

WebLogic Server provides a number of JMS clients that provide Java EE and WebLogic JMS functionality using smaller client footprints than the WebLogic full client (wlfullclient.jar).

Tip:

The WebLogic Full Client requires the largest JAR file (wlfullclient.jar) among the various Java clients, but it has the most features and is the best overall performer.

Web Services Clients

A stand-alone Web Services client (wseeclient.jar) uses WebLogic client classes to invoke a Web Service hosted on WebLogic Server or on other application servers. See "Invoking a Web Service from a Stand-alone Client" in Oracle Fusion Middleware Getting Started With JAX-WS Web Services for Oracle WebLogic Server.

WebLogic Tuxedo Connector Clients

WebLogic Tuxedo Connector provides inter-operability between WebLogic Server applications and Tuxedo services. See:

Client Types and Features

The following table lists the types of clients supported in a WebLogic Server environment, and their characteristics, features, and limitations.

Note:

In this release, client applications should use the wlfullclient.jar file to provide the WebLogic Server specific functionary previously provided in the weblogic.jar file. You can generate the wlfullclient.jar file for client applications using the JarBuilder tool. See Appendix B, "Using the WebLogic JarBuilder Tool."

Table 2-1 WebLogic Server Client Types and Features

Client Type Language Protocol Client Class Requirements Key Features

WL Full Client (T3)

RMI

Java

T3

wlfullclient.jar

  • Supports most WLS-specific features

  • Supports WLS clustering.

  • Supports SSL.

  • Faster and more scalable than IIOP clients.

  • Supports most JavaEE features.

  • Supports WLS JMS and JMS SAF client.

  • See Chapter 3, "Developing a WebLogic Full Client."

WLS-IIOP

(Introduced in WebLogic Server 7.0)

RMI

Java

IIOP

wlfullclient.jar

  • Supports WLS-specific features.

  • Supports WLS clustering.

  • Supports SSL.

  • Faster and more scalable than IIOP thin clients.

  • Not ORB-based.

  • Does not support WLS JMS (use T3 protocol with same Jar instead).

  • See Chapter 8, "Developing a WLS-IIOP Client."

Java EE Application Client (Thin Client)

(Introduced in WebLogic Server 8.1)

RMI

Java

IIOP

wlclient.jar

JDK 1.5 and higher

CORBA/IDL

CORBA

Languages that OMG IDL maps to, such as C++, C, Smalltalk, COBOL

IIOP

no WebLogic classes

J2SE (or JSE)

RMI

Java

IIOP

no WebLogic classes

  • Provides connectivity to WLS environment.

  • Does not support WLS-specific features. Does not support many Java EE features.

  • Uses CORBA 2.3 ORB.

  • Requires use of com.sun.jndi.cosnaming. CNCtxFactory.

  • See Chapter 7, "Developing a J2SE Client."

JMS Thin Client

(Introduced in WebLogic Server 8.1)

RMI

Java

IIOP

wljmsclient.jar

wlclient.jar

JDK 1.5 and higher

  • Thin client functionality

  • WebLogic JMS, except for client-side XML selection for multicast sessions and JMSHelper class methods.

  • Supports SSL.

  • See Chapter 5, "WebLogic JMS Thin Client."

  • Alternatively, you can use the faster WL full client with T3.

JMS SAF Client

(Introduced in WebLogic Server 9.2)

RMI

Java

IIOP

  • wlsafclient.jar

  • wljmsclient.jar

  • wlclient.jar

  • JDK 1.5 and higher

JMS C Client

(Introduced in WebLogic Server 9.0)

JNI

C

Any

  • wlfullclient.jar

or

  • wljmsclient.jar

  • wlclient.jar

  • JDK 1.5 and higher

  • C client applications that can access WebLogic JMS applications and resources.

  • Supports SSL.

  • See "WebLogic JMS C API"

JMS .NET Client

(Introduced in WebLogic Server 10.3)

T3

.NET

T3

WebLogic.Messaging.dll dynamic library

WebLogic AQ JMS Client

(Introduced in WebLogic Server 10.3.1)

JNDI/JDBC

Java

IIOP/T3 + JDBC

aqapi.jar, ojdbc6.jar, orai18n.jar and the wlclient.jar or wlfullclient.jar.

See "Stand-alone WebLogic AQ JMS Clients" in Oracle Fusion Middleware Configuring and Managing JMS for Oracle WebLogic Server.

JMX

RMI

Java

IIOP

wljmxclient.jar

See "Accessing WebLogic Server MBeans with JMX" in Oracle Fusion Middleware Developing Custom Management Utilities With JMX for Oracle WebLogic Server.

Web Services

SOAP

Java

HTTP/S

wseeclient.jar

See "Invoking a Web Service from a Stand-alone Client" in Oracle Fusion Middleware Getting Started With JAX-WS Web Services for Oracle WebLogic Server.

C++ Client

CORBA

C++

IIOP

Tuxedo libraries

Tuxedo Server and Native CORBA client

CORBA or RMI

C++

Tuxedo-General-Inter-Orb-Protocol

(TGIOP)

Tuxedo libraries

When to Use the weblogic.jar and wlfullclient.jar Files

The following sections provide information on how to use the weblogic.jar and wlfullclient.jar files:

Client-side Applications

Prior to WebLogic Server 10.0, the weblogic.jar file was required for T3 and WLS-IIOP client applications to provide WebLogic Server-specific value-added features. For WebLogic Server 10.x and later releases, client applications requiring these features should use the wlfullclient.jar file instead of the weblogic.jar. See WebLogic Tuxedo Connector Clients for more information on client types, features, and class requirements.

You can generate the wlfullclient.jar file for client applications using the JarBuilder tool. See Appendix B, "Using the WebLogic JarBuilder Tool."

Note:

Continuing to use weblogic.jar in client-side applications may result in a ClassNotFoundException.

Server-side Operations

Server-side operations continue to require a complete WebLogic Server installation, which includes the weblogic.jar. Typical operations requiring a complete WebLogic Server installation are:

  • Operations necessary for development purposes, such as the ejbc compiler.

  • Administrative operations such as deployment.

  • WLST and client-side JSR 88 applications that invoke server-side operations.