using the powerbuilder application server plugin alex pratt systems consultant sybase emea...

Using the PowerBuilder Application Server Plugin

Alex Pratt

Systems Consultant

Sybase EMEA

apratt@sybase.com

Prelude

Enable PowerBuilder for Distributed/Web Applications has been high on the agenda in the last 10 years.

There have been many solutions or frameworks developed or supported by Sybase.

Most of these solutions require Sybase EAServer.

Cost, Market pressure,… made life for a PowerBuilder developer tough. ( ie. Corporate decision to use WebLogic as J2EE container).

Productivity, Agility rely on the the portability and re-use of legacy/existing code.

Prelude

Different methods to go n-tier :

- Rewrite to Java/Javascript for both- Labor intensive- Risky- Platform/infrastructure independent

- Use EAServer; requires application partitioning- Older applications require refactoring- UI needs to be rewritten but not the business logic

- PowerBuilder Appeon a ‘converter’- Supports both business logic and user interface- Rich Web UI- 95% of PB code supported- Requires EAServer- Cost

- PB 11 .Net Webforms- Supports business logic and user interface- Rich Web UI- 90-95% of PB code supported- Low cost- Requires IIS

Prelude

There was room for a solution that allows:- Deploying PowerBuilder logic in different containers

(J2EE)- Preserved the investment made into PB code and

allowed to continue use PB in J2EE projects.- Enables the use of open source infrastructure.- Integrated into “SOA philosophy” ( support for

webservices…)

The PowerBuilder Application Server Plugin answers these requirements

PowerBuilder Application Server Plugin

What is it? Platforms IDE Integration Installation Configuration Development Deployment Debugging Security Troubleshooting Licensing, Pricing, Release…

What is it?

A Deployment Tool that wraps PowerBuilder NVOs as EJB Session Beans (optionally as J2EE 1.4 Web Services) for deployment into a J2EE 1.3+ compliant application server.

A Server Runtime Library that integrates the PowerBuilder Virtual Machine with the EJB container and transaction and connection managers of the application server.

A Remote Debugging Component that permits debugging from the PowerBuilder IDE.

A Web DataWindow Component that permits browser-based clients to utilize DataWindow functionality.(certified in v1.x)

A Proxy Server that permits PB clients to call deployed PB NVOs without the use of a client side Java virtual machine. Also permits PB clients and components to call “pure” EJBs.

Architecture Diagram

Application Server

Deployment Tool(Jaguar Compiler)PowerBuilder

IDERemote Debugging

Component

Server Runtime Library (Java, C++)

PowerBuilder VM

Web DataWindow Component

EJB ContainerEJB Client

PB Client

Web Container

Proxy Server

Server

Web Client

Client

Developer

PB Components(EJB Session Beans)

(EJB Web Services)

Supported Application Servers

JBoss 4.0.4 WebLogic 9.2 WebSphere 6.1 Geronimo (but not in initial release)

Supported Operating Systems

Development environment• Windows (PowerBuilder IDE)

Server runtime environment• Windows (2000, 2003, XP)• Solaris (after initial release…NOT YET!!)• Linux (after initial release…NOT YET!!)

Supported PowerBuilder Versions

10.5.1+ You might find that 10.0+ releases before 10.5.1 work,

but they will not be officially “supported”, and they will not be QA certified.

PowerBuilder IDE Integration

The deployment tool runs on your application server machine, and emulates the Sybase EAServer PB NVO deployment API.

To create a component (in PowerBuilder IDE)• New -> Target -> Application Server Component, or• New -> Project -> Application Server Component, or• New -> Project -> Application Server Component Wizard

To deploy a component (in project painter)• “Deploy Button”, or Design -> Deploy Project

PowerBuilder IDE integration

Installation

The PB Server Plugin is installed on the application server host.

This does not need to be the same machine where the PowerBuilder IDE is running.

The PowerBuilder VM must also be installed on the application server host. The plugin installer will take care of this.

(you can also use the Runtime packager to install the PowerBuilder components necessary)

Installation - Continued

Default installation directory (Windows)• c:\Program Files\Sybase\PBServer

If you have a new or updated copy of the plugin in a JAR or ZIP archive, just extract into the selected installation directory.

(Optional) Define system level environment variable PB_SERVER_HOME to refer to this directory.

You can install multiple copies on a machine, each copy in a separate installation directory.

Configuration - General

The PB server plugin is configured on the application server host.

Configuration uses:• Batch files (Windows)• Shell scripts (Unix), with file extension “.sh”• Ant XML scripts (all platforms)

To customize, edit the XML scripts. Shut down your application server before running

configuration tasks. Ensure that file bin\set-java-home.bat refers to the JDK

used by your application server.

Configuration - JBoss

Run the following commands (Windows)• cd %PB_SERVER_HOME%• bin\set-admin-password• bin\configure pb-server-jboss

–Djboss.home=jboss-home-dir To customize the configuration XML scripts edit:

• config\ejb-proxy-jboss.xml• config\pb-server-jboss.xml

If you edit an XML script, re-run the above ‘configure’ command. Hint: check if the scripts require editing before running ‘configure’ for the first time.

Demo

Step 1: all the components are installed ( PASP, JBOSS, JDK)

Step 2: set-java-home.bat adjustments ( we are using the jdk 1.5)

Step 3: set-admin-password.bat ( only if you have not done this during the install)

Step 4: check that pb-server-jboss.xml and ejb-server-jboss.xml are adapted.

Step 5: run configure.bat pb-server-jboss « -Djboss.home=c:\jboss-4.0.4.GA »

C:\PBAppServer1\bin>configure.bat pb-server-jboss "-Djboss.home=c:\jboss-4.0.4.GA« 

Buildfile: C:\PBAppServer1\bin\..\config\pb-server-jboss.xml

configure:

configure-server-onetime:

configure-server-onetime-tasks: [mkdir] Created dir: C:\PBAppServer1\genfiles\jboss [jar] Building jar: C:\jboss-4.0.4.GA\server\default\lib\init-pb-server.jar [copy] Copying 1 file to C:\jboss-4.0.4.GA\server\default\lib [copy] Copying 1 file to C:\jboss-4.0.4.GA\server\default\lib [copy] Copying 1 file to C:\jboss-4.0.4.GA\server\default\deploy

configure-client-onetime: [copy] Copying 2 files to C:\PBAppServer1\lib

configure-proxy:

configure:

configure-pb-server-test:

BUILD SUCCESSFULTotal time: 12 seconds

Server Startup - General

When starting your server, the following must be ensured.• Java system property pb.server.home refers to the plugin

installation directory.• %PB_SERVER_HOME%\lib\pb-server-(14 or 15).jar is in the

CLASSPATH or otherwise shared by all deployed applications in the JVM (most of the provided scripts take care of this)

• %PB_SERVER_HOME%\lib is in the system PATH or java.library.path.

• Your PowerBuilder directory containing pbvmXXX.dll or libpbvmXXX.* is in the system PATH (Windows),LD_LIBRARY_PATH (Solaris), etc.

• Environment variable JAGUAR is set to plugin install dir.• Enviromnent variable JAGSSL is set to true.

Generated Startup Script

The configuration task creates a batch / script file that can be used to start your server with the necessary options. It will start your server assuming a “standard” installation of your server.

The generated batch/script file can be used as a sample that you can use to determine what needs to be done before startup for the plugin to work with your server.• bin\start-jboss.*, run-jboss.*• bin\start-weblogic.*• bin\start-websphere.*

You should probably consult your application server administrator to determine the best startup script.

Lets do it!!!

C:\PBAppServer1\bin>start-jboss.bat

C:\PBAppServer1\bin>start "JBoss" "C:\PBAppServer1\bin\..\bin\run-jboss.bat »

If it is the first time make sure you see these lines in the console or the pb-server.log

15:44:40,823 INFO [STDOUT] Compiling: BCD.idl 15:44:41,120 INFO [STDOUT] Compiling: MJD.idl 15:44:41,198 INFO [STDOUT] Compiling: CTS.idl 15:44:41,229 INFO [STDOUT] Compiling: XDT.idl 15:44:41,823 INFO [STDOUT] Compiling: CtsComponents.idl 15:44:43,011 INFO [STDOUT] Compiling: CtsServices.idl 15:44:43,073 INFO [STDOUT] Compiling: TabularResults.idl 15:44:43,417 INFO [STDOUT] Compiling: CosNaming.idl 15:44:43,526 INFO [STDOUT] Compiling: DataWindow.idl 15:44:43,745 INFO [STDOUT] Compiling: SessionManager.idl

Deployment – JBoss Notes

Ensure that automatic deployment is enabled.• http://wiki.jboss.org/wiki/Wiki.jsp?page=

ConfiguringTheDeploymentScannerInConfjbossSystem.xml• Make sure that the ScanEnabled attribute is not set to false.

Note: automatic redeployment doesn’t always seem to work properly with JBoss, when tested by Sybase.• You may need to restart JBoss after deployment, to pick up your

changes.

Development – Components

Develop components as if you were writing NVOs for deployment to Sybase EAServer.

Check the PowerBuilder documentation for general instructions.

The deployment tool will wrap your PB NVOs as standard EJB session beans.

Target-specific deployment descriptors are generated to automate the binding of JNDI names and JDBC data source resource references.

Development – Data Sources

PowerScript (in NVO source code):

sqlca.dbms = “JDBC”

sqlca.dbparm = “CacheName=’MyCache’”(I use SybaseDB)

connect; // check error code

... // use embedded SQL or DataStore

disconnect; // check error code

Whatever “cache names” you use in your code must be mapped to application server “data source” names.

Development – Data Sources

%PB_SERVER_HOME%\config\pb-server-XXX.xml must be edited to map PB “cache names” to app. server “data source” JNDI names. Re-run the “configure” command afterwards.

Add -Dcom.sybase.jaguar.jcm=true-Dcom.sybase.jaguar.jcm=true to the java options of the application server to get more debug info on the connection cache in the pb-server.log file.

Remember you need to add the jdbc-driver.jar to %jboss_home%\server\default\lib

16:55:39,328ERROR[STDERR]

com.sybase.powerbuilder.jdbc.PbjdbcJagCache.GetConnectionFromJaguar(PbjdbcJagCache.java:297)

And add reference to it in pb-server.jboss.xml

Development – Native Data Sources

We support Sybase, Oracle, Oracle Unicode, ODBC,. ODBC Unicode. We have a “fake” JDBC driver for each data source type. The application server doesn’t realize it is managing native connections!

Check the documentation for full details. Basic steps (in addition to those on previous page) are:

• (PowerScript Code) Set the sqlca.dbms, e.g.– sqlca.dbms = “SYJ” // Sybase Native

• (App. Server Config) Define your application server data source to use the appropriate “fake” JDBC driver class, e.g.– com.sybase.jaguar.jcm.sybase.SybaseDriver

• (App. Server Config) Set the connection URL, e.g.– jdbc:sybase:jcm:sybase:databaseName=MyDB;user=xx;password=yy

Development – Data Types

PowerBuilder data types are mapped to Java data types in the generated EJB remote interface. Check docs for full details.

Basic types:• PB: Boolean, Char, Byte, Integer, Long, LongLong, Real, Double, Decimal• Java: boolean, char, byte, short, int, long, float, double, java.math.BigDecimal

Other types:• PB: Blob, String, Date / Time / DateTime, ResultSet• Java: byte[], String, java.util.Calendar, java.sql.ResultSet

PB structures map to Java serializable classes with public fields. PB variable-sized arrays map to Java arrays, don’t use PB fixed

size arrays. Don’t use “by reference” parameters, all results must be by the

“return” type. You may need to return PB structures.

Development – Null Values

If you want to propagate null values, you need to use the “XDT” data types.• XDT_IntValue maps to java.lang.Integer.• XDT_LongValue maps to java.lang.Long.• You get the idea!

To generate the “XDT” data types, use the “Application Server Proxy” wizard to generate proxies for package “XDT”. It may be useful to save these generated types in a PBL for convenient reuse in multiple projects.

Each “XDT” type has a ‘value’ field and an ‘isNull’ field. Set ‘isNull’ to true to propagate a null value.

Development – DataStore Type

The PB DataStore type, in combination with the PB ResultSet return type, is particularly useful for PB NVOs running in an application server.

You should use DataStore only internally within your component.

For improved performance, use PB NVO instance variables and create the DS and assign the “dataobject” in your NVO constructor.• But check application server memory usage!

PB ErrorLogging Class

Writes to plugin log file.• %PB_SERVER_HOME%\logs\pb-server.log

PowerScript Usage:ErrorLogging logger

getContextService(“ErrorLogging”, logger)

logger.log(“My Message”)

PB TransactionServer Class

Supported methods:• CreateInstance, DisableCommit, EnableCommit, IsCallerInRole,

IsTransactionAborted, SetAbort, SetComplete. CreateInstance notes (for NVO to NVO inter-component calls):

• Use the two argument form and specify full JNDI name of target component, e.g. (error checking code omitted for brevity)TransactionServer tsgetContextService(“TransactionServer”, ts)pbtest_MyComp comp // remember to generate and use proxiests.createInstance(comp, “pbtest/MyComp”)// call methods on comp

• If the target NVO is not in the same EJB-JAR as the calling NVO, you might encounter issues with your application server’s class loader (e.g. ClassCastException). Sybase will NOT support NVO inter-component calls across EJB-JAR boundaries if you encounter class loader issues. Consult your application server vendor for assistance with class loader issues across EJB-JAR boundaries.

Development – EJB Clients

For EJB clients, use your application server’s facilities for EJB client access.

If your package is named “MyPackage”, and your component is named “MyComp”:• The generated EJB home interface is named

MyPackage.ejb.MyCompHome• The generated EJB remote interface is named

MyPackage.ejb.MyComp• The Java package for home and remote interfaces can be

overridden. See “Deployment – Java Packages”.• The JNDI name is “MyPackage/MyComp”.

For co-located clients (e.g. JSP, servlet, other EJBs) you can use ejb-refs or direct JNDI lookups.

Development – PB Clients

PowerBuilder has built-in facilities for calling EJBs in third party application servers: EJB proxy Project

Check the PowerBuilder documentation for the EJBConnection class and your application server documentation for general instructions.

Alternatively, we provide a proxy server to permit native IIOP communication (without client-side JVM) from PB clients to NVOs running in your EJB server. See next page…

PB Clients – Proxy Server

Check the PowerBuilder documentation for usage of the Connection.CreateInstance method.

The Proxy Server runs alongside your application server on your application server machine. It starts automatically when your application server starts the plugin.

You can define multiple proxy servers if you have multiple application servers. Your client can use multiple connection URLs for load balancing and failover, e.g.• iiop://myhost1:2000;iiop://myhost:2000

To configure your proxy server(s), edit:• config\ejb-proxy-XXX.xml

We will provide a redistributable “Client Edition” of the proxy server, in case you don’t want to run it on the server host.

Proxies for “pure” EJBs

You can also generate proxies to allow PB clients and PB components to call “pure” EJBs.

Use the “deploy” command:• bin\deploy –proxy myejb.jar

Then use the “Application Server Proxy” features of the PB IDE to generate PowerBuilder proxies.

Use Connection.CreateInstance to call from PB clients. Use TransactionServer.CreateInstance to call from PB

components. There are some restrictions on data types that can be

mapped, check the documentation for full details.

Web DataWindow

Supports browser-based clients using XML, XHTML, HTML. See DataWindow Programmer's Guide for general information.• http://sybooks.sybase.com/onlinebooks/group-pb/pbg10

00e/dwprgug Check PB Server Plugin documentation for latest

details on using the Web DataWindow. This is not considered a “P1” feature for the initial

release of the PB server plugin. If we run into problems, we may defer full support of this feature to a subsequent release.(This is the case in version 1.0, it might work but is not guarantied)

Deployment – General

In the PB Project Painter, for your component project(s), specify connection information as follows:• Host name: TCP host name for server machine• Port - 9000• Login ID - admin@system• Login password - (remember, you set it!)

You can override the host name and port number that the server uses for its deployment listener by changing the deploy.host and deploy.port properties inconfig/pb-server-XXX.xml.

Remember to re-run ‘configure’.

Demo

Step 1: lets do a simple NVO deployement using the Application Server Component Target

Step 2: lets test the deployed component with the pb-server-test.bat(NB. We can get here a nice gage of the expected performance, compare

with EAServer 6!!!)

Step 3: create a connection cache for the test database.

(customise sybase-ds.xml and save it into %jboss_home%\server\default\deploy)

Step 4: add some more functions to the NVO to test different aspects ( time management, db connectivity…)

Step 5: let’s look at a couple of sample applications and see what can go wrong!!!

Deployment – Test & Debug

“Live Editing” is useful for quickly testing changes without a full redeploy.• Check the PowerBuilder “Application Techniques” document

for details.• Set the ejbDeployIfUnchanged property to false when using

live editing. This is in:– %PB_SERVER_HOME%\config\pb-server-XXX.xml

And remember to re-run ‘configure’!

“Remote Debugging” is very useful too!

Remote Debugging

Use the “Start Remote” button in the PowerBuilder debugger to start a remote debugging session, as if debugging a component in Sybase EAServer.

Check the PowerBuilder documentation for detailed instructions.

Deployment – Web Services

Not enabled by default. Enable via check-box in Project Painter Properties. Your application server must support J2EE 1.4. The ResultSet return type is not supported for web

services. Use array and structure types instead.

Deployment – Java Packages

Defaults to “xyz.ejb” for NVO package “xyz”.

In the Project Painter Properties, you can specify an alternate Java package.

Recommendation: use Java package naming conventions, e.g. “com.example.bank”.

This is required for NVO to be exposed as Webservice.

Deployment – Generated Code

Base directory for generated files:

• %PB_SERVER_HOME%\genfiles\java Subdirectories for:

• applications• classes• ejbjars• src

You can generally delete generated code after deployment, but this will slow down subsequent redeployments. If using the “Proxy Server”, don’t delete the generated files. The Proxy Server uses some of them at run time.

Deployment – Naming Conventions

Enable “camel case” option to map PB identifiers to Java style identifiers.• bin\configure camel-case-on• bin\configure camel-case-off (if you don’t like it)

PowerScript identifiers with underscore are mapped to Java “camel case” for parameter names and NVO methods, e.g. “my_simple_method” maps to “mySimpleMethod”.

A leading capital is used for structure types e.g. “my_structure” maps to “MyStructure”. Structure field names are not changed.

Component names are not changed from what you specify in the Project Painter. We recommend using the Java class naming conventions (e.g. “MyComp”).

Your NVO implementation class can use any name. Note: You must enable the camel case option if you will be

exposing components as web services.

Deployment – Repository Files

Base directory for repository files:• %PB_SERVER_HOME%\Repository

Subdirectories for:• IDL (interface definitions)• Component (component properties and PBDs)• Instance (server and data source properties)• Package (package properties)

These are needed during deployment and at runtime.

Deployment – Security Roles

Default to “unchecked”. In the Project Painter Properties dialog, you can specify

required roles (logical role names) for each component. Use your application server’s facilities (if necessary) for

mapping these logical role names onto physical roles.

Deployment – Cluster Notes

If your application server is running in a cluster, and each server has its own copy of the PB plugin directory, you must either:• Deploy all components to all servers, or• Copy the contents of the “config”, “deploy”, “genfiles” and

“Repository” directories to all target servers, and use your application server’s facilities for distributing the deployed EJB-JAR files across the cluster.

Deployment – Validation Test

Using the PowerBuilder IDE, define a component with package name “pbtest” and component name “MyComp”.

Add some business methods of your choice. If you are feeling brave, you might want to try some methods with database access

Deploy to your application server. Run the following commands:

• cd %PB_SERVER_HOME%• bin\pb-server-test

The test program will try to call all methods of your component with “fake” parameter values (e.g. 1, 2, “S1”, S2”, …)

If you have a method named “perftest”, the test program will call it repeatedly to provide basic performance metrics.

Source code for the test client program can be found in src/java/com/sybase/pb/server/PbServerTest.java.

Troubleshooting

PB application server plugin log:• %PB_SERVER_HOME%\logs\pb-server.log

PB application server proxy log:• %PB_SERVER_HOME%\logs\ejb-proxy.log

Your application server log file(s). Your application server console window (if applicable).

Licensing, Pricing, Release…

• Licensing: runtime deployment fee• Pricing: < $500 per CPU• Release date: Q4 2006

Questions?

Configuration - WebLogic

Run the following commands (Windows)• cd %PB_SERVER_HOME%• bin\set-admin-password• bin\configure pb-server-weblogic

–Dwls.home=wls-home-dir (e.g. “–Dwls.home=c:\bea\weblogic90”)

To customize the configuration XML scripts edit:• config\ejb-proxy-weblogic.xml• config\pb-server-weblogic.xml

If you edit an XML script, re-run the above ‘configure’ command. Hint: check if the scripts require editing before running ‘configure’ for the first time.

Configuration - WebSphere

Run the following commands (Windows)

• cd %PB_SERVER_HOME%• bin\set-admin-password• bin\configure pb-server-websphere

–Dwas.home=was-home-dir (e.g. “–Dwas.home=c:\Program Files\IBM\WebSphere\AppServer”)

To customize the configuration XML scripts edit:

• config\ejb-proxy-websphere.xml• config\pb-server-websphere.xml

If you edit an XML script, re-run the above ‘configure’ command. Hint: check if the scripts require editing before running ‘configure’ for the first time.

Once Only Tasks – WebLogic

Start the server. Using the WebLogic console, define a Startup Class

using class name com.sybase.pb.server.PbServerStart. Shutdown the server.

Once Only Tasks - WebSphere

Start the server. Using the WebSphere admin console, Enable the

“Startup beans service”, and then deploy the PB startup service:• %PB_SERVER_HOME%\deploy\websphere\pb-

startup.jar Shutdown the server.

Deployment – WebLogic Notes

Ensure that your server is running in “development” mode.

To configure the deployment directory, set the “deploy.dir” property in:• %PB_SERVER_HOME%\config\pb-server-weblogic.xml

Also check the “wls.domain” property is correct for your server.

(you’ll realise it very quickly).

Deployment - WebSphere

To customize the WebSphere Ant deployment options, edit(under %PB_SERVER_HOME%):• config/ws-ejb-deploy.xml• config/ws-install-app.xml

Consult your WebSphere documentation for further details. WebSphere EJB-JAR deployment can be a bit slow If you get impatient, you might consider using a free server

such as JBoss or EAServer Developer Edition 6.0 for initial development, and deploying to WebSphere once your application is tested.