Getting Started

 

The following sections describe what you need to do before starting to develop applications that extend WebLogic Server:

• Registering with BEA

• Obtaining the WebLogic Server Software

• Licensing a BEA WebLogic Product

• Creating an Entry Point to WebLogic Server

Registering with BEA

To register with BEA Systems, Inc. and participate in the BEA WebLogic Server Developer Community you register and set your membership login account only once. The BEA Systems Download Center provides access to the registration and sign-in sections, as well as a set of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) to help guide you through the process.

If you are an existing BEA customer, your profile information is filled in automatically during registration, and you only have to make updates as necessary. You can also edit your profile at any time after registration.

Note: Customers who have an active WebSUPPORT account can use the same login password for software downloads.

Obtaining the WebLogic Server Software

Once you are a registered BEA developer, you can download the BEA WebLogic Server software from the WebLogic Server web site. The software will have an evaluation license. For information about obtaining licenses, see Licensing a BEA WebLogic Product.

Licensing a BEA WebLogic Product

Customers choose WebLogic Server product licenses based on their development needs.

The following products are licensed separately:

• WebLogic Core Server

  A Core Server license provides developers and their customers full access to WebLogic Server's implementation of J2EE sandards, including EJBs, Servlets, Java Server Pages (JSP), Java Messaging Service (JMS), Java Database Connectivity Service (JDBC), connection pools, workspaces, and events.

• Clustering

  A special set of license keys is required to enable clustering, and must be specifically requested. Clustered WebLogic servers can provide transparent failover services for greater scalability and fault tolerance.

• Secure Sockets Layer (SSL)

  A special license provides encrypted, authenticated connections through Secure Sockets Layer (SSL). ISVs who have major security issues with an application that is built and deployed on WebLogic Server, such as applications developed for distribution outside the United States, should request an SSL license key. See also http://www.weblogic.com/docs/classdocs/API_secure.html.

• Type 4 JDBC Drivers

  As an optional feature, WebLogic Server provides Type 4 JDBC drivers for Microsoft SQL Server and Informix. These are pure Java drivers that do not require any native client libraries, and must be obtained separately. The licenses are in XML format, but special code must be written to enable the Type 4 driver license.

Choosing a License Key Format

You can choose from two license key formats, Java or XML, based on the following criteria:

• Java license key format-For customers who useg WebLogic Server 5.1 or older, prefer to use a Java class file license, and do not need to support Type 4 JCBC drivers.

• XML license key format -For customers who use WebLogic Server 6.0 or newer, or who need to support Type 4 JDBC drivers.

Choosing a License Type

BEA provides three types of licenses.

• Evaluation License-An evaluation license is a limited license that a customer uses to evaluate WebLogic Server. It has a time limit, and is generally obtained when the customer downloads WebLogic Server for evaluation purposes only.

• Developer License-A developer license gives a customer access to all WebLogic Server functionality, but restricts the number of server connections. This type of license is typically used in a development environment where a developer is preparing an application to run on top of WebLogic Server; a production license is required for product deployment.

• Production License-A production license allows the development of unlimited connections for an unrestricted period of time for a specific IP address. ISVs receive an extended version of a production license that allows them to distribute the server to many customers, while keeping control of the license through a special encryption key that is specified during server startup.

Creating an Entry Point to WebLogic Server

Developers who want to extend WebLogic Server to support their own products use the ISVServer API to create a programmatic entry point into WebLogic Server, or start WebLogic Server using command-line arguments.

Creating an entry point into WebLogic Server is explored in the following sections:

• Running WebLogic Server at Startup

• Using WebLogic Server JDBC Drivers

Running WebLogic Server at Startup

The WebLogic Server Administration Guide provides extensive information about creating and using simple command-line startup scripts in the following sections:

• "Starting the WebLogic Administration Server"

• "Starting the WebLogic Managed Servers Using Scripts"

• "Starting the WebLogic Administration Server from the Command Line"

Using WebLogic Server JDBC Drivers

Java Database Connectivity (JDBC) is a Java API for executing SQL statements. The API consists of a set of classes and interfaces written in the Java programming language. JDBC provides a standard API for tool and database developers, and makes it possible to write database applications using a pure Java API. JDBC is a low-level interface, which means that it is used to directly call or invoke SQL commands. In addition, JDBC is a base upon which to build higher-level interfaces and tools, such as Java Messaging Service (JMS) and Enterprise Java Beans (EJB).

Additional information is available in Programming WebLogic JDBC, "Introduction to WebLogic JDBC."

Types of JDBC Drivers

WebLogic Server uses the following types of JDBC drivers that work in conjunction with each other to provide database access:

• Two-tier drivers provide database access directly between a Java application and the driver vendor's database. WebLogic Server uses a DBMS vendor-specific JDBC driver, such as the WebLogic jDrivers for Oracle, Informix and Microsoft SQL Server, to connect to a back-end database.

• Type 4 JDBC drivers contain no "native" code-they are pure Java, which means they can run on any standard Java platform without additional software from the DBMS vendor.

• Multitier drivers provide vendor-neutral database access. A Java client application can use a multitier driver to access any database configured in WebLogic Server. BEA offers three multitier drivers-Remote Method Invocation (RMI), Pool, and Java Transaction Service (JTS).

The middle tier architecture allows you to manage database resources centrally in WebLogic Server. The vendor-neutral multitier JDBC drivers makes it easier to adapt purchased components to your DBMS environment and to write more portable code.

For more details, see Programming WebLogic JDBC, "Overview of JDBC Drivers."