Programming Stand-alone Clients

WebLogic JMS Thin Client

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

Overview of the JMS Thin Client

The JMS thin client (the wljmsclient.jar deployed with the wlclient.jar), provides J2EE and WebLogic JMS functionality using a much smaller client footprint than the full WebLogic JAR. The smaller footprint is obtained by using:

A client-side library that contains only the set of supporting files required by client-side programs.
The RMI-IIOP protocol stack available in the JRE. RMI requests are handled by the JRE, enabling a significantly smaller client.
Standard J2EE APIs, rather than WebLogic Server APIs.

For more information on developing WebLogic Server thin client applications, see Developing a J2EE Application Client (Thin Client).

JMS Thin Client Functionality

Although much smaller in size than the full WebLogic JAR, the JMS thin client (the wljmsclient.jar and wlclient.jar) provide the following functionality to client applications and applets:

Full WebLogic JMS functionality—both standard JMS and WebLogic 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 the JRE )
Transaction capability
Clustering capability
HTTP/HTTPS tunneling
Fully internationalized

Limitations of Using the JMS Thin Client

The following limitations apply to the JMS thin client:

It does not provide the JDBC or JMX functionality of the normal weblogic.jar file.
It does not inter-operate with WebLogic Server 7.0 or earlier.
It is only supported by the JDK ORB.
It has lower performance than the thick client, especially with non-persistent messaging.

Deploying the JMS Thin Client

The wljmsclient.jar and wlclient.jar are located in the WL_HOME\server\lib subdirectory of the WebLogic Server installation directory, where WL_HOME is the top-level installation directory for the entire WebLogic Platform (for example, c:\bea\weblogic90\server\lib).

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

The JMS thin client requires the standard thin client, which contains the base client support for clustering, security, and transactions. Therefore, the wljmsclient.jar and the wlclient.jar must be installed somewhere on the client's file system. However, wljmsclient.jar has a reference to wlclient.jar so it is only necessary to put one or the other Jar in the client's CLASSPATH.
RMI-IIOP is required for client-server communication.

URLs using t3 or t3s will transparently use iiop or iiops
URLs using http or https will transparently use iiop tunneling.

To facilitate the use of IIOP, always specify a valid IP address or DNS name for the Listen Address attribute to listen for connections.

Note: The Listen Address default value of null allows it to "listen on all configured network interfaces". However, this feature only works with the T3 protocol. If you need to configure multiple listen addresses for use with the IIOP protocol, then use the Network Channel feature, as described in "Configuring Network Resources" in Configuring WebLogic Server Environments.

Each client must have the JRE 1.4.n or higher installed.
Applications must adhere to J2EE programming guidelines, in particular the use of PortableRemoteObject.narrow() rather than using casts.

For more information on developing thin client applications for WebLogic Server, see Developing a J2EE Application Client (Thin Client).