Glossary

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CORBA ActiveX Online Help

Glossary

activation

The process of preparing an object for execution.

activation policy

The policy that determines the in-memory activation duration for a CORBA object.

ActiveX

A set of technologies from Microsoft that enables software components to interact with one another in a networked environment, regardless of the language in which the components were created. ActiveX is built on the Component Object Model (COM) and includes OLE functionality, such as OLE Automation.

ActiveX view

A representation of a CORBA object that conforms to the ActiveX standards, including implementations of all the interfaces and mapping of data types to those data types supported by ActiveX.

API

See application programming interface.

application

In the BEA Tuxedo CORBA system, a single computer program designed to do a certain type of work.

applications development environment (ADE)

A set of tools (often presented or accessed via a GUI) to help programmers build applications.

application programming interface (API)

The verbs and environment that exist at the application level to support a particular system software product. A set of well-defined programming interfaces (that is, entry points, calling parameters, and return values) by which one software program uses the services of another.

Application-to-Transaction Monitor Interface (ATMI)

A UNIX international standard interface that BEA Tuxedo application programs can use to start and commit global transactions, send and receive messages, maintain corrections, manage typed buffers, and perform similar tasks. The ATMI interface is supported by all BEA Tuxedo-based systems and is the basis of the X/Open TX and XATMI interfaces.

asynchronous process

A process that executes independently of another process. When a request is processed asynchronously, the client application continues to perform other operations while it waits for the service request to be filled.

asynchronous request

A request that lets the client do other work while the request is being processed, enhancing parallelism within an application.

ATMI

See application to transaction monitor interface.

attribute

An identifiable association between an object and a value.

authenticate

To reliably determine a user's or processor's identity, often using a password or series of passwords. Once authenticated, an identity can be mapped against the authorization tables of services and objects. This mapping generally takes place in the access control list.

authentication

A method consisting of application passwords and security services that is used to verify users and allow users to join applications.

BEA ActiveX Client

The component of BEA Tuxedo CORBA that provides interoperability between a BEA Tuxedo domain and the ActiveX object system. The ActiveX Client translates into ActiveX methods the interfaces of CORBA objects that are located in the BEA Tuxedo domain.

BEA Tuxedo application

One or more Tuxedo domains cooperating to support a single business function.

BEA Tuxedo client application

A program that was written to be used with BEA Tuxedo CORBA and that requests services from other applications.

BEA Tuxedo CORBA server application

A program that was written to be used with BEA Tuxedo CORBA and that performs a task requested of it by a client application.

BEA Tuxedo CORBA TP framework

A run-time library of default implementations that the BEA Tuxedo CORBA server application build procedure links to the server application executable image. The TP (transaction processing) framework consists of a set of convenience functions that make it easy for you to write code that does the following:

Initializes the server application and executes startup and shutdown routines.
Ties the server application to BEA Tuxedo domain resources.
Manages objects, bringing them into memory when needed, flushing them from memory when no longer needed, and managing reading and writing of data for persistent objects.
Performs object housekeeping.

BEA Tuxedo domain

For CORBA applications, a collection of servers, services, and associated resource managers defined by a single UBBCONFIG file.

For ATMI applications, a specific instance of the BEA Tuxedo system, plus customer server applications, plus a single UBBCONFIG file to configure the BEA Tuxedo domain.

BEA Tuxedo foreign client application

A client application that is implemented on an ORB that is not a product of BEA Systems, Inc., such as Netscape Navigator. The ActiveX Client component of BEA Tuxedo CORBA is not a foreign client application; although the ORB is implemented on a Microsoft product, the ORB is provided by BEA Systems, Inc.

BEA Tuxedo native client application

A client application that invokes operations defined in OMG IDL statements to talk to BEA Tuxedo CORBA server applications. Remote and native client applications are the same. Their requests are handled transparently and differently depending on whether or not the applications are co-located on a machine that is running in he BEA Tuxedo domain. BEA Tuxedo remote client applications are typically not located on a machine that is running in the BEA Tuxedo domain. The ActiveX Client component of BEA Tuxedo CORBA is a remote client application.

BEA Tuxedo remote client application

A client application that invokes operations defined in OMG IDL statements to talk to remote BEA Tuxedo CORBA server applications using IIOP. Remote and native client applications are the same. Their requests are handled transparently and differently depending on whether or not the applications are co-located on a machine that is running in the BEA Tuxedo domain. The ActiveX Client component of BEA Tuxedo CORBA is a remote client application.

BEA Tuxedo software

The BEA Tuxedo product as the customer receives it from BEA Systems, Inc.

BEA Tuxedo system

The BEA Tuxedo software and the hardware on which the BEA Tuxedo software is running.

binding

The association of the interface of a CORBA object to another object system, such as an ActiveX object system.

broadcast

To send the same message to every node on a network.

business object

An application-level component that can be used in unpredictable combinations. A business object is independent of any single application and represents a recognizable, ordinary entity, such as a document processor. It is a self-contained deliverable that has a user interface state, and that can cooperate with other separately developed business objects to perform a desired task.

C++

An object-oriented programming language developed at AT&T Bell Laboratories in the early 1980s. C++ is a "hybrid" language based on the non-object-oriented C language.

call

An instruction that is used by an application program to request services.

class

A template for an object containing variables and methods representing behavior and attributes. Class can inherit public and protected variables and methods from other classes.

client

(1) Software that asks a server to perform a task. In client/server terminology, a client application typically contains the user interface, and the server application typically stores and manipulates the data. A software program that makes a request for a service in a client/server architecture. (2) A process that generates service requests handled by BEA Tuxedo software and receives responses to those requests from BEA Tuxedo software.

client/server

A programming model in which application programs are structured as clients or servers. A client program is an application program that requests services to be performed. A server program is an entity that dispatches service routines to satisfy requests from client programs. A service routine is an application program module that performs one or more specific functions on behalf of client programs.

client stub

A file created by the IDL compiler when you compile an application's OMG IDL statements. The client stub contains code that is generated during the client application build process. The client stub maps OMG IDL operation definitions for an object type to the methods in the server application that the BEA Tuxedo domain calls when it is invoking a request. The code is used to send the request to the server application.

command-line interface

A style of user interface that allows user interaction by entering command strings at a system prompt.

commit

(1) Complete a transaction so that changes are recorded and stable. Protected resources are released. (2) The declaration or process of making a transaction's updates and messages visible to other transactions. When a transaction commits, all its effects become public and durable. After commitment, the effects of a transaction cannot be reversed automatically.

Component Object Model (COM)

The object model used on Microsoft platforms. COM is different from CORBA in many ways. For example, there are differences in the mechanisms by which objects are referenced, and in the process by which objects are created.

COM view

A representation of an object that conforms to the Component Object Model (COM) standards, including implementation of all necessary interfaces.

constructor

A pseudo-method that creates an object. In Java, constructors are instance methods with the same name as their class. Java constructors are invoked using the new keyword.

conversational server

A server whose services conduct conversations with requesters.

conversational service

A service routine that is invoked by means of conversational communication from a client program. When the connection is established and the service is invoked, the client and service exchange data in a manner specific to the application. When the service returns, the connection ends.

CORBA

Common Object Request Broker Architecture. A multivendor standard published by the Object Management Group for distributed object-oriented computing.

CORBA facilities

The adopted OMG Common Facilities. Common Facilities provide horizontal end user-oriented frameworks that are applicable to most domains, and defined in OMG IDL.

CORBA interface

A set of operations and attributes. A CORBA interface is defined by using OMG IDL statements to create an interface definition. The definition contains operations and attributes that can be used to manipulate an object.

CORBA object

An entity that complies with the CORBA standard upon which operations are performed. An object is defined by its interface.

CORBA ORB

Any Object Request Broker (ORB) that complies with the CORBA standard. A CORBA ORB is a communications intermediary between client and server applications that typically are distributed across a network. The BEA Tuxedo ORB is a CORBA ORB.

core class

A public class (or interface) that is a standard member of the Java platform. The intent is that the Java core classes, at a minimum, are available on all operating systems where the Java platform runs.

daemon

A system process that processes and runs in the background.

database

A collection of interrelated or independent data items stored together without redundancy to serve one or more applications.

database management system (DBMS)

A program or set of programs that let users structure and manipulate the data in the tables of a database. A DBMS ensures privacy, recovery, and integrity of data in a multiuser environment.

data-dependent routing

Routing that directs a request to be processed by a particular group based on the value in a data field of the message.

DBMS

See database management system.

deployment package

In ActiveX Client, a self-registering OLE custom control executable that contains the type libraries, Windows registration entries, and application needed to use an ActiveX view of a CORBA object in a client application.

design pattern

A document that encapsulates, in structured format, solutions to design problems. These patterns are essentially the articulation of rules and forms that have proved useful in the context of object-oriented application design.

desktop client

A client application that operates on a Microsoft desktop platform, such as Windows 2000 or Windows 98. Desktop client applications use the Component Object Model (COM) and communicate with the BEA Tuxedo domain by using the ActiveX Client to translate between COM and CORBA.

distributed application

An application that is separated into two or more parts (such as a client and a server) on different computers that communicate through a network.

distributed application framework

A middleware suite for building and managing client/server applications. The framework also includes products providing connectivity across multiple operating environments, development services, and management.

distributed transaction

A transaction involving multiple transaction managers. In a distributed transaction environment, a client application may send requests to several servers resulting in resource updates at multiple resource managers. To complete the transaction, the transaction manager for each participant (client, servers, and resource managers) must be polled to coordinate the commit process for each participant within its domain.

distributed transaction processing (DTP)

A form of processing in which multiple application programs update multiple resources (such as databases) in a coordinated manner. Programs and resources can reside on one or more computers access a network.

domain

See BEA Tuxedo domain.

dynamic link libraries (DLL)

A collection of functions grouped into a load module that is dynamically linked with an executable program at run time for a Windows or OS/2 application.

environmental object

Any support object that provides independence from the underlying environment (for example, independence from the operating system). The Bootstrap object is an environmental object.

event

The occurrence of a condition, state change, or the availability of some information, that is of interest to one or more modules.

exception

An abnormal condition, such as an I/O error encountered in processing or data set or a file, or using any resource.

factory

Any CORBA object that returns an object reference to other CORBA objects. A factory is located in the server application.

factory finder

The object that locates the factories that an application needs. Both client applications and server applications can use a factory finder.

framework

The software environment tailored to the needs of a specific application domain. Frameworks include a collection of software components that programmers use to build applications for the domain the framework addresses. Frameworks can contain specialized APIs, services, and tools, which reduce the knowledge a user or programmer needs to have to accomplish a specific task.

garbage collection

The automatic detection and freeing of memory that is no longer in use. The Java run-time system performs garbage collection so that programmers never explicitly free objects.

global transaction

(1) A transaction that spans one or more resource managers comprising local transactions. The Transaction Manager name for a transaction that uses multiple servers or multiple resource manager interfaces and is coordinated as an atomic unit of work. (2) The BEA Tuxedo name for a transaction that uses multiple servers or multiple resource manager interfaces and is coordinated as an atomic unit of work.

graphical user interface (GUI)

A high-level interface that uses windows and menus with graphic symbols instead of typed system commands to provide an interactive environment for a user.

GUI

See graphical user interface.

host

A computer that is attached to a network and provides services other than acting as a communication switch.

identifier

The name of an item in a Java program.

IDL

See OMG IDL.

IDL interface

A declaration in OMG IDL of an interface to a CORBA object. The interface declaration contains IDL operations and attributes. The OMG IDL interface declaration is used to generate stubs and skeletons for BEA Tuxedo CORBA objects.

See also CORBA object.

object ID (OID)

A value that uniquely identifies a distributed object of a given interface.

object implementation

The code you write that implements the operations defined for an interface.

object interface

The interface of an object, as defined in an application's OMG IDL statements. The object interface identifies the set of operations that can be performed on an object, such as withdrawals, deposits, and transfers.

object model

The model that represents as objects the overall object-oriented design of an application or system.

object reference

An identifier that associates an object definition with an instance of the object, such as an employee identification number.

object system

A software system that stores, manipulates, and uses a collection of objects according to a set of system-specific standards. An object system specifies how information is exchanged between objects, and how objects are implemented in accordance with an object model, such as CORBA or COM.

octet

A byte that consists of eight bits.

OLE

Object linking and embedding. A set of Microsoft technologies that address problems in software development, ranging from embedding documents from one application into another application to more complex problems. OLE enables the linking of clients and servers in a manner that is transparent to the user.

OLE Automation

A technology that lets software packages expose their unique features to scripting tools and other applications. OLE Automation uses the OLE Component Object Model (COM), but may be implemented independently from other OLE features.

OMG IDL

Object Management Group Interface Definition Language. A definition language specified by the OMG for describing an object's interface (that is, the characteristics and behavior of an object, including the operations that can be performed on the object).

operation

An action that can be performed by an object.

Portable Object Adapter (POA)

A run time library of functions that are built in to the server application executable image. The POA creates and manages object references to all objects used by the application. In addition, the POA managers object state and provides the infrastructure for support of persistent objects and the portability of object implementations between different ORB products. The BEA Tuxedo server application procedure automatically builds the POA into the server application. The BEA Tuxedo CORBA TP framework automatically handles all the server application interactions with the POA.

request

A message sent by a client application that identifies an operation to be performed. The message is sent to the Object Request Broker (ORB) and is relayed to the appropriate server application, which fulfills the request.

resource manager

An interface and associated software that provides access to a collection of information and processes; for example, a database management system. Resource managers provide transaction capabilities and permanence of actions; they are the entities accessed and controlled within a global transaction.

rollback

(1) Terminate a transaction such that all resources updated within a transaction revert to the original state before the transaction started. (2) The event that ends a transaction and nullifies or undoes all changes to resources that were specified during that transaction.

scalability

The extent to which developers can apply a solution to problems of different sizes. Ideally, a solution should work well across the entire range of complexity. In practice, however, there are usually simpler solutions for problems of lower complexity.

security

The protection of information from unauthorized modification or disclosure and the protection of resources from unauthorized use.

SecurityCurrent

The object that provides access to the security features of the system.

servant

The instance of the class that implements the interface defined in an application's OMG IDL statements. A servant contains the method code that implements the operations of one or more CORBA objects.

server

See BEA Tuxedo server application.

server group

A collection of servers on a machine, often associated with a resource manager. A server group is an administrative unit used for booting, shutting down, and migrating servers.

Server object

The object that performs server application initialization functions, creates one or more servants, and performs server application shutdown and cleanup procedures.

skeleton

The BEA Tuxedo CORBA Object Request Broker (ORB) component that is specific to the object interface and that assists an Object Adapter in passing requests to particular methods. The skeleton is produced by the IDL compiler and is used at run time by the BEA Tuxedo ORB to invoke specific methods to satisfy requests.

state

A description (typically in memory) of the current situation of an object.

stateless application

An application that flushes state information from memory after a service or an operation has been fulfilled.

subscriber

An application program that subscribes to an event or set of events, and declares what action should take place when an event is posted.

thread

A unit of execution or an execution context. An executing sequence of instructions and the memory they manipulate.

three-tier client/server

An implementation of n-tier client/server.

See transaction manager.

transaction

(1) A complete unit of work that transforms a database from one consistent state to another. In DTP, a transaction can include multiple units of work performed on one or more systems. (2) A logical construct through which applications perform work on shared resources (e.g., databases). The work done on behalf of the transaction conforms to the four ACID Properties: atomicity, consistency, isolation, and durability.

transaction coordinator

A system software component that provides the infrastructure that guarantees the integrity and consistency of an operation and the data involved in a transaction.

TransactionCurrent

The object that is used to manage transactions. The TransactionCurrent object supports APIs to open and close the resource manager.

transaction manager

A system software component that manages global transactions on behalf of application programs. A transaction manager coordinates commands from application programs and communication resource managers to start and complete global transactions by communicating with all resource managers that are participating in those transactions. When resource managers fail during global transactions, transaction managers help resource managers decide whether to commit or rollback pending global transactions.