Introduction and Roadmap

Guide to this Document

This chapter, Introduction and Roadmap, introduces the organization of this guide.
Understanding Enterprise JavaBeans, reviews the different bean types, their capabilities, and how they work with other application objects and WebLogic Server.
Designing Enterprise JavaBeans, discusses design options for WebLogic Server Enterprise JavaBeans (EJBs), factors to consider during the design process, and recommended design patterns.
Implementing Enterprise JavaBeans, describes the EJB implementation process, and provides guidance for how to get an EJB up and running in WebLogic Server.
Session EJBs, describes how session beans work within the EJB container, and provides design and development guidelines that are specific to session beans.
Entity EJBs, describes how entity beans work within the EJB container, and provides design and development guidelines that are specific to entity beans.
Message-Driven EJBs, describes how message-driven beans work within the EJB container, and provides design and development guidelines that are specific to message-driven beans.
Deployment Guidelines for Enterprise JavaBeans, discusses EJB-specific deployment issues and procedures.
Deployment Descriptor Schema and Document Type Definitions Reference describes the EJB XML Schema Definitions (XSDs) and the namespace declarations that deployment descriptor files must contain.
weblogic-ejb-jar.xml Deployment Descriptor Reference, describes the EJB 2.x deployment descriptor elements in weblogic-ejb-jar.xml file, the WebLogic Server-specific deployment descriptor.
weblogic-cmp-jar.xml Deployment Descriptor Reference, describes the EJB 2.x elements in weblogic-cmp-jar.xml file, the WebLogic Server-specific deployment descriptor for container-managed persistence features.
appc Reference, is a complete reference for the WebLogic Server appc tool for compiling, validating, and generating EJB code.
Important Information for EJB 1.1 Users, contains important design and implementation information specific to EJB 1.1.
EJB Query Language (EJB-QL) and WebLogic Server, discusses issues pertinent to using EJB QL with WebLogic Server.

Parent topic: Introduction and Roadmap

Samples and Tutorials for the EJB Developer

In addition to this document, Oracle provides a variety of code samples and tutorials for EJB developers. The examples and tutorials illustrate WebLogic Server EJBs in action, and provide practical instructions on how to perform key EJB development tasks.

Oracle recommends that you run some or all of the EJB examples before developing your own EJBs.

Parent topic: Introduction and Roadmap

Avitek Medical Records Application (MedRec) and Tutorials

MedRec is an end-to-end sample Java EE application shipped with WebLogic Server that simulates an independent, centralized medical record management system. The MedRec application provides a framework for patients, doctors, and administrators to manage patient data using a variety of different clients.

MedRec demonstrates WebLogic Server and Java EE features, and highlights Oracle-recommended best practices. MedRec is optionally configured after the WebLogic Server installation in the ORACLE_HOME\user_projects\domains\medrec directory by default, where ORACLE_HOME is the directory you specified as the Oracle home when you installed Oracle WebLogic Server. See Sample Applications and Code Examples in Understanding Oracle WebLogic Server.

MedRec includes a service tier comprised primarily of EJBs that work together to process requests from Web applications, Web services, and workflow applications, and future client applications. The application includes message-driven, stateless session, stateful session, and entity EJBs.

As companion documentation to the MedRec application, Oracle provides tutorials that provide step-by-step procedures for key development tasks, including EJB-specific tasks, such as:

Exposing a stateless Session EJB as a Web service
Securing EJB resources using the WebLogic Server Administration Console

Parent topic: Samples and Tutorials for the EJB Developer

EJB Examples in the WebLogic Server Distribution

WebLogic Server optionally installs API code examples in the ORACLE_HOME\wlserver\samples\server\examples\src\examples\ejb directory, where ORACLE_HOME represents the directory in which you installed WebLogic Server. See Sample Applications and Code Examples in Understanding Oracle WebLogic Server.

Parent topic: Samples and Tutorials for the EJB Developer

New and Changed Features in This Release

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

Parent topic: Introduction and Roadmap