WebLogic JMS Thin Client

The following sections describe how to deploy and use the WebLogic JMS thin client:

• Overview
• Benefits of Using the JMS Thin Client
• Limitations of Using the JMS Thin Client
• Deploying the JMS Thin Client

 

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Overview

While the size of the weblogic.jar file may not be a problem when running server-side applications, it does cause a very large footprint for today's enterprise client-server applications that may be running thousands of clients. Having to deploy the full 20+ MB weblogic.jar file along with a client application can significantly increase the size of the deployed application, possibly making it too big to be practical (such as the case with a Java applet-based client program).

At around 400 KB, the thin client wljmsclient.jar file provides a smaller client footprint by using a client-side library that contains only the set of supporting files required by client-side programs. The JMS thin client also requires using the standard wlclient.jar (around 300 KB), which has the base client support for clustering, security, and transactions.

The thin client .jar files are supported only with the JRE 1.4.x or later. No classes other than the JRE and any user-defined classes are required on the client machine. The thin client is based upon the RMI-IIOP protocol stack available in JRE 1.4.x. The basics of making RMI requests are handled by the JRE, enabling a significantly smaller client. Client-side development is performed using standard J2EE APIs, rather than WebLogic Server APIs.

The thin client .jar files are located in the WL_HOME\server\lib subdirectory of the WebLogic Server installation directory (for example, c:\bea\weblogic81b\server\lib).

For more information on using WebLogic Servers client applications, see "Understanding WebLogic Server Applications" in Developing WebLogic Server Applications.

 

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Benefits of Using the JMS Thin Client

Although small in size, the WebLogic JMS and standard WebLogic Server thin clients provides the following functionality to client applications and applets:

• Full WebLogic JMS functionality is available—both standard JMS and WebLogic Server extensions—except for client-side XML selection for multicast sessions and the JMSHelper class methods.
• EJB (Enterprise Java Bean) access.
• JNDI access.
• RMI access (indirectly used by JMS).
• SSL access (using JSSE in JRE 1.4.x).
• Transaction capability.
• Clustering capability.
• HTTP/HTTPS tunneling.
• Fully internationalized.

 

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Limitations of Using the JMS Thin Client

The WebLogic JMS thin client does not provide all of the functionality of the normal weblogic.jar, as follows:

• JDBC
• JMX

 

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Deploying the JMS Thin Client

Deployment of the WebLogic JMS thin client depends on the following requirements:

• Each client must have the JRE 1.4.x installed.
• The thin client .jar files are located in the WL_HOME\server\lib subdirectory of the WebLogic Server installation directory (for example, c:\bea\weblogic81b\server\lib).
• The thin JMS wljmsclient.jar and standard wlclient.jar files must be in each client's classpath and installed somewhere on the client's file system.
• The WebLogic JMS thin client requires using the RMI over IIOP standard for communicating between client and server.
• URLs using t3 or t3s will transparently use iiop or iiops
• URLs using http or https will transparantly use iiop tunneling.
• Adhere to J2EE programming guidelines, in particular the use of PortableRemoteObject.narrow() rather than using casts.