1 Introduction and Roadmap

This document describes how to develop applications that include Java EE resource adapters and how to deploy them on WebLogic Server. It is written for resource adapter users, deployers, and software developers, and also contains information that is useful for business analysts and system architects who are evaluating WebLogic Server or considering the use of WebLogic Server resource adapters for a particular application.

The following sections describe the contents and organization of this guide—Developing Resource Adapters for Oracle WebLogic Server.

Document Scope and Audience

The topics in this document are relevant during the design and development phases of a software project. The document also includes topics that are useful in solving application problems that are discovered during test and pre-production phases of a project.

This document does not address production phase administration, monitoring, or performance tuning topics. For links to WebLogic Server documentation and resources for these topics, see Related Documentation.

It is assumed that the reader is familiar with Java EE and resource adapter concepts. The foundation document for resource adapter development is the JSR 322: Java EE Connector Architecture 1.6 (Final Release). See http://jcp.org/aboutJava/communityprocess/final/jsr322/index.html. Resource adapter developers should become familiar with the Java EE Connector Architecture 1.6 specification. This document, Developing Resource Adapters for Oracle WebLogic Server, emphasizes the value-added features provided by WebLogic Server resource adapters and key information about how to use WebLogic Server features and facilities to get a resource adapter up and running.

Guide to This Document

Related Documentation

The foundation document for resource adapter development is JSR 322: Java EE Connector Architecture 1.6. Developing Resource Adapters for Oracle WebLogic Server document assumes you are familiar with the Java EE Connector Architecture specification, which contains design and development information that is specific to developing WebLogic Server resource adapters.

For comprehensive guidelines for developing, deploying, and monitoring WebLogic Server applications, see the following documents:

Examples for the Resource Adapter Developer

In addition to this document, Oracle provides resource adapter examples for software developers. WebLogic Server optionally installs API code examples in EXAMPLES_HOME/wl_server/examples/src/examples, where EXAMPLES_HOME is the top-level directory in which the WebLogic Server examples are installed. For more information about the WebLogic Server code examples, see "Sample Applications and Code Examples" in Understanding Oracle WebLogic Server.

Two sets of resource adapter examples are provided with this release of WebLogic Server. One set is compliant with the 1.5 Connector Architecture, and another set with the 1.6 Connector Architecture (included among the Java EE 6 examples). Oracle recommends that you examine, run, and understand these resource adapter examples before developing your own resource adapters.

New and Changed Features in This Release

In resource adapters configured with multiple connection pools, this release adds the ability to isolate failed connection pools from healthy ones during deployment. This enables you to fix them without the need to redeploy the resource adapter. For details, see Monitoring Resource Adapter Health.

For a comprehensive listing of the new WebLogic Server features introduced in this release, see What's New in Oracle WebLogic Server.