EJB Tutorial

Enterprise Java Beans (EJB) is a development architecture for building highly scalable and robust enterprise level applications to be deployed on J2EE compliant Application Server such as JBOSS, Web Logic etc.

EJB 3.0 is being a great shift from EJB 2.0 and makes development of EJB based applications quite easy.

This tutorial will give you great understanding on EJB concepts needed to create and deploy an enterprise level application up and running.

EJB - Overview

EJB stands for Enterprise Java Beans. EJB is an essential part of a J2EE platform. J2EE platform have component based architecture to provide multi-tiered, distributed and highly transactional features to enterprise level applications.

EJB provides an architecture to develop and deploy component based enterprise applications considering robustness, high scalability and high performance. An EJB application can be deployed on any of the application server compliant with J2EE 1.3 standard specification. We'll be discussing EJB 3.0 in this tutorial.

Benefits

Simplified development of large scale enterprise level application.
Application Server/ EJB container provides most of the system level services like transaction handling, logging, load balancing, persistence mechanism, exception handling and so on. Developer has to focus only on business logic of the application.
EJB container manages life cycle of ejb instances thus developer needs not to worry about when to create/delete ejb objects.

Types

EJB are primarily of three types which are briefly described below:

Type	Description
Session Bean	Session bean stores data of a particular user for a single session. It can be stateful or stateless. It is less resource intensive as compared to entity beans. Session bean gets destroyed as soon as user session terminates.
Entity Bean	Entity beans represents persistent data storage. User data can be saved to database via entity beans and later on can be retrived from the database in the entity bean.
Message Driven Bean	Message driven beans are used in context of JMS (Java Messaging Service). Message Driven Beans can consumes JMS messages from external entities and act accordingly.

EJB - Environment Setup

EJB is a framework for Java, so the very first requirement is to have JDK installed in your machine.

System Requirement

JDK	1.5 or above.
Memory	no minimum requirement.
Disk Space	no minimum requirement.
Operating System	no minimum requirement.

Step 1 - verify Java installation in your machine

Now open console and execute the following java command.

OS	Task	Command
Windows	Open Command Console	c:\> java -version
Linux	Open Command Terminal	$ java -version
Mac	Open Terminal	machine:~ joseph$ java -version

Let's verify the output for all the operating systems:

OS	Output
Windows	java version "1.6.0_21" Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 1.6.0_21-b11) Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM (build 23.21-b01, mixed mode)
Linux	java version "1.6.0_21" Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 1.6.0_21-b11) Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM (build 23.21-b01, mixed mode)
Mac	java version "1.6.0_21" Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 1.6.0_21-b11) Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM (build 23.21-b01, mixed mode)

If you do not have Java installed, install the Java Software Development Kit (SDK) fromhttp://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/downloads/index.html. We are assuming Java 1.6.0_21 as installed version for this tutorial.

Step 2: Set JAVA environment

Set the JAVA_HOME environment variable to point to the base directory location where Java is installed on your machine. For example

OS	Output
Windows	Set the environment variable JAVA_HOME to C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.6.0_21
Linux	export JAVA_HOME=/usr/local/java-current
Mac	export JAVA_HOME=/Library/Java/Home

Append Java compiler location to System Path.

OS	Output
Windows	Append the string ;C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.6.0_21\bin to the end of the system variable, Path.
Linux	export PATH=$PATH:$JAVA_HOME/bin/
Mac	not required

Verify Java Installation using java -version command explained above.

Step 3: Download and Install NetBeans IDE

Download latest version of NetBeans IDE from https://netbeans.org/downloads/index.html. At the time of writing this tutorial, I downloaded Netbeans 7.3 which comes bundled with JDK 1.7. using following link http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/downloads/index.html

OS	Installer name
Windows	Netbeans 7.3
Linux	Netbeans 7.3
Mac	Netbeans 7.3

Step 4: Setup JBoss Application Server:

You can download the latest version of JBoss Server from http://www.jboss.org/jbossas/downloads/. Download the archive as per the platform. Extract the Jboss to any location on your machine.

OS	File name
Windows	jboss-5.1.0.GA-jdk6.zip
Linux	jboss-5.1.0.GA-src.tar.gz
Mac	jboss-5.1.0.GA-src.tar.gz

Step 5: Configure JEE Plugins to Netbeans

Open Plugin window using Tools > Plugins. Open "Available Plugin" tab and select "Java EE Base" and "EJB and EAR" under "Java Web and EE" category. Click install button. Netbeans will download and install the respective plugins. Verify plugins installation using "Installed" tab.

Step 6: Configure JBoss Server in Netbeans

Go to Services tab and right click on servers to add a new server.

Add Server Instance wizard will open. Select JBoss and in next step enter the relevant details to configure server in netbeans.

Once everything is cofigured, you'll see the following screen.

Step 7: Install Database Server (PostGreSql)

Download latest version of PostGreSql database server from http://www.postgresql.org/download/. At the time of writing this tutorial, I downloaded PostGreSql 9.2

OS	Installer name
Windows	PostGreSql 9.2
Linux	PostGreSql 9.2
Mac	PostGreSql 9.2

EJB - Create Application

To create a simple EJB module, we'll use NetBeans "New project" wizard. In example below, We'll create a ejb module project named Component.

Create Project

In NetBeans IDE, select ,File > New Project >. You'll see the following screen.

Select project type under category,Java EE, Project type as Ejb Module. Click Next > button. You'll see the following screen.

Enter project name and location. Click Next > button. You'll see the following screen.

Select Server as JBoss Application Server. Click Finish button. You'll see the following project created by NetBeans.

Create a sample EJB

To create a simple EJB, we'll use NetBeans "New" wizard. In example below, We'll create a stateless ejb class named librarySessionBean under EjbComponent project.

Select project EjbComponent in project explorer window and right click on it. Select, New > Session Bean.You'll see the New Session Beanwizard.

Enter session bean name and package name. Click Finish button. You'll see the following ejb classes created by NetBeans.

LibrarySessionBean - stateless session bean
LibrarySessionBeanLocal - local interface for session bean

I am changing local interface to remote interface as we're going to access our ejb in a console based application. Remote/Local interface are used to expose business methods that an ejb has to implement.

LibrarySessionBeanLocal is renamed to LibrarySessionBeanRemote and LibrarySessionBean implements LibrarySessionBeanRemote interface.

LibrarySessionBeanRemote

package com.only4programmers.stateless;
 
import java.util.List;
import javax.ejb.Remote;
 
@Remote
public interface LibrarySessionBeanRemote {
 
    void addBook(String bookName);
 
    List getBooks();
    
}

LibrarySessionBean

package com.only4programmers.stateless;
 
import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.List;
import javax.ejb.Stateless;
 
@Stateless
public class LibrarySessionBean implements LibrarySessionBeanRemote {
    
    List<String> bookShelf;    
    
    public LibrarySessionBean(){
       bookShelf = new ArrayList<String>();
    }
    
    public void addBook(String bookName) {
        bookShelf.add(bookName);
    }    
 
    public List<String> getBooks() {
        return bookShelf;
    }
}

Build the Project

Select EjbComponent project in Project Explorer window
Right click on it to open context menu.
Select clean and build.

You'll see the following output in NetBeans console output.

ant -f C:\\EJB\\EjbComponent clean dist
init:
undeploy-clean:
deps-clean:
Deleting directory C:\EJB\EjbComponent\build
Deleting directory C:\EJB\EjbComponent\dist
clean:
init:
deps-jar:
Created dir: C:\EJB\EjbComponent\build\classes
Copying 3 files to C:\EJB\EjbComponent\build\classes\META-INF
Created dir: C:\EJB\EjbComponent\build\empty
Created dir: C:\EJB\EjbComponent\build\generated-sources\ap-source-output
Compiling 2 source files to C:\EJB\EjbComponent\build\classes
warning: [options] bootstrap class path not set in conjunction with -source 1.6
Note: C:\EJB\EjbComponent\src\java\com\only4programmers\stateless
\LibraryPersistentBean.java uses unchecked or unsafe operations.
Note: Recompile with -Xlint:unchecked for details.
1 warning
compile:
library-inclusion-in-archive:
Created dir: C:\EJB\EjbComponent\dist
Building jar: C:\EJB\EjbComponent\dist\EjbComponent.jar
dist:
BUILD SUCCESSFUL (total time: 3 seconds)

Start the Application Server

Select JBoss application server under Servers in Services window
Right click on it to open context menu.
Select start.

You'll see the following output in NetBeans ,output under JBoss Application Server .

Calling C:\jboss-5.1.0.GA\bin\run.conf.bat
=========================================================================
 
  JBoss Bootstrap Environment
 
  JBOSS_HOME: C:\jboss-5.1.0.GA
 
  JAVA: C:\Program Files (x86)\Java\jdk1.6.0_21\bin\java
 
  JAVA_OPTS: -Dprogram.name=run.bat -Xms128m -Xmx512m -server
 
  CLASSPATH: C:\jboss-5.1.0.GA\bin\run.jar
 
=========================================================================
 
16:25:50,062 INFO  [ServerImpl] Starting JBoss (Microcontainer)...
16:25:50,062 INFO  [ServerImpl] Release ID: JBoss [The Oracle] 5.1.0.GA (build: SVNTag=JBoss_5_1_0_GA date=200905221634)
...
 
16:26:40,420 INFO  [TomcatDeployment] deploy, ctxPath=/admin-console
16:26:40,485 INFO  [config] Initializing Mojarra (1.2_12-b01-FCS) for context '/admin-console'
16:26:42,362 INFO  [TomcatDeployment] deploy, ctxPath=/
16:26:42,406 INFO  [TomcatDeployment] deploy, ctxPath=/jmx-console
16:26:42,471 INFO  [Http11Protocol] Starting Coyote HTTP/1.1 on http-127.0.0.1-8080
16:26:42,487 INFO  [AjpProtocol] Starting Coyote AJP/1.3 on ajp-127.0.0.1-8009
16:26:42,493 INFO  [ServerImpl] JBoss (Microcontainer) [5.1.0.GA (build: SVNTag=JBoss_5_1_0_GA date=200905221634)] Started in 52s:427ms

Deploy the Project

Select EjbComponent project in Project Explorer window
Right click on it to open context menu.
Select Deploy.

You'll see the following output in NetBeans console output.

ant -f C:\\EJB\\EjbComponent -DforceRedeploy=true -Ddirectory.deployment.supported=false -Dnb.wait.for.caches=true run
init:
deps-jar:
compile:
library-inclusion-in-archive:
Building jar: C:\EJB\EjbComponent\dist\EjbComponent.jar
dist-directory-deploy:
pre-run-deploy:
Checking data source definitions for missing JDBC drivers...
Distributing C:\EJB\EjbComponent\dist\EjbComponent.jar to [org.jboss.deployment.spi.LocalhostTarget@1e4f84ee]
Deploying C:\EJB\EjbComponent\dist\EjbComponent.jar
Applicaton Deployed
Operation start started
Operation start completed
post-run-deploy:
run-deploy:
run:
BUILD SUCCESSFUL (total time: 2 seconds)

JBoss Application server log output

16:30:00,963 INFO  [DeployHandler] Begin start, [EjbComponent.jar]
...
16:30:01,233 INFO  [Ejb3DependenciesDeployer] Encountered deployment AbstractVFSDeploymentContext@12038795{vfszip:/C:/jboss-5.1.0.GA/server/default/deploy/EjbComponent.jar/}
...
16:30:01,281 INFO  [JBossASKernel]    jndi:LibrarySessionBean/remote-com.only4programmers.stateless.LibrarySessionBeanRemote
16:30:01,281 INFO  [JBossASKernel]    Class:com.only4programmers.stateless.LibrarySessionBeanRemote
16:30:01,281 INFO  [JBossASKernel]    jndi:LibrarySessionBean/remote
16:30:01,281 INFO  [JBossASKernel]  Added bean(jboss.j2ee:jar=EjbComponent.jar,name=
LibrarySessionBean,service=EJB3) to KernelDeployment of: EjbComponent.jar
16:30:01,282 INFO  [JBossASKernel] installing bean: jboss.j2ee:jar=EjbComponent.jar,name=BookMessageHandler,service=EJB3
16:30:01,282 INFO  [JBossASKernel]   with dependencies:
16:30:01,282 INFO  [JBossASKernel]   and demands:
16:30:01,282 INFO  [JBossASKernel]    jboss.ejb:service=EJBTimerService
...
16:30:01,283 INFO  [EJB3EndpointDeployer] Deploy AbstractBeanMetaData@5497cb{name=jboss.j2ee:jar=EjbComponent.jar, name=LibrarySessionBean, service=EJB3_endpoint bean=org.jboss.ejb3.endpoint.deployers.impl.EndpointImpl properties=[container] constructor=null autowireCandidate=true}
...
16:30:01,394 INFO  [SessionSpecContainer] Starting jboss.j2ee:jar=EjbComponent.jar,name=LibrarySessionBean,service=EJB3
16:30:01,395 INFO  [EJBContainer] STARTED EJB: com.only4programmers.stateless.LibrarySessionBean ejbName: LibrarySessionBean
16:30:01,401 INFO  [JndiSessionRegistrarBase] Binding the following Entries in Global JNDI:
   LibrarySessionBean/remote - EJB3.x Default Remote Business Interface
   LibrarySessionBean/remote-com.only4programmers.stateless.LibrarySessionBeanRemote - EJB3.x Remote Business Interface
16:30:02,723 INFO  [SessionSpecContainer] Starting jboss.j2ee:jar=EjbComponent.jar,name=LibrarySessionBean,service=EJB3
16:30:02,723 INFO  [EJBContainer] STARTED EJB: com.only4programmers.stateless.LibrarySessionBean ejbName: LibrarySessionBean
16:30:02,731 INFO  [JndiSessionRegistrarBase] Binding the following Entries in Global JNDI:
 
   LibrarySessionBean/remote - EJB3.x Default Remote Business Interface
   LibrarySessionBean/remote-com.only4programmers.stateless.LibrarySessionBeanRemote - EJB3.x Remote Business Interface

Create Client to access EJB

In NetBeans IDE, select ,File > New Project >.
Select project type under category,Java, Project type as Java Application. Click Next > button.
Enter project name and location. Click Finish > button. We've chosen name as EjbTester.
Right click on project name in Project explorer window. Select properties.
Add ejb component project created earlier under libraries using Add Project button in compiletab.
Add jboss libraries using Add jar/folder button in compile tab. Jboss libraries can be located at <jboss installation folder>> client folder.

create jndi.properties under project say EjbTester.

jndi.properties

java.naming.factory.initial=org.jnp.interfaces.NamingContextFactory
java.naming.factory.url.pkgs=org.jboss.naming:org.jnp.interfaces
java.naming.provider.url=localhost

Create package com.only4programmers.test and EJBTester.java class under it.

EJBTester.java

package com.only4programmers.test;
 
import com.only4programmers.stateless.LibrarySessionBeanRemote;
import java.io.BufferedReader;
import java.io.FileInputStream;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.io.InputStreamReader;
import java.util.List;
import java.util.Properties;
import javax.naming.InitialContext;
import javax.naming.NamingException;
 
 
public class EJBTester {
 
   BufferedReader brConsoleReader = null; 
   Properties props;
   InitialContext ctx;
   {
      props = new Properties();
      try {
      props.load(new FileInputStream("jndi.properties"));
      } catch (IOException ex) {
      ex.printStackTrace();
      }
      try {
      ctx = new InitialContext(props);            
      } catch (NamingException ex) {
      ex.printStackTrace();
      }
      brConsoleReader = 
      new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(System.in));
   }
   public static void main(String[] args) {
 
      EJBTester ejbTester = new EJBTester();
 
      ejbTester.testStatelessEjb();
   }
   private void showGUI(){
      System.out.println("**********************");
      System.out.println("Welcome to Book Store");
      System.out.println("**********************");
      System.out.print("Options \n1. Add Book\n2. Exit \nEnter Choice: ");
   }
   private void testStatelessEjb(){
      try {
         int choice = 1; 
         LibrarySessionBeanRemote libraryBean = 
         (LibrarySessionBeanRemote)ctx.lookup("LibrarySessionBean/remote");
         while (choice != 2) {
            String bookName;
            showGUI();
            String strChoice = brConsoleReader.readLine();
            choice = Integer.parseInt(strChoice);
            if (choice == 1) {
               System.out.print("Enter book name: ");
               bookName = brConsoleReader.readLine();                    
               libraryBean.addBook(bookName);          
            }else if (choice == 2) {
               break;
            }
         }
         List<String> booksList = libraryBean.getBooks();
         System.out.println("Book(s) entered so far: " + booksList.size());
         for (int i = 0; i < booksList.size(); ++i) {
         System.out.println((i+1)+". " + booksList.get(i));
         }
         LibrarySessionBeanRemote libraryBean1 = 
         (LibrarySessionBeanRemote)ctx.lookup("LibrarySessionBean/remote");
         List<String> booksList1 = libraryBean1.getBooks();
         System.out.println(
         "***Using second lookup to get library stateless object***");
         System.out.println(
         "Book(s) entered so far: " + booksList1.size());
         for (int i = 0; i < booksList1.size(); ++i) {
            System.out.println((i+1)+". " + booksList1.get(i));
         }
      } catch (Exception e) {
         System.out.println(e.getMessage());
         e.printStackTrace();
      }finally {
         try {
            if(brConsoleReader !=null){
               brConsoleReader.close();
            }
         } catch (IOException ex) {
            System.out.println(ex.getMessage());
         }
      }
   }  
}

Run Client to access EJB

Locate EJBTester.java in project explorer. Right click on EJBTester class and select run file.

Verify the following output in Netbeans console.

run:
**********************
Welcome to Book Store
**********************
Options 
1. Add Book
2. Exit 
Enter Choice: 1
Enter book name: Learn Java
**********************
Welcome to Book Store
**********************
Options 
1. Add Book
2. Exit 
Enter Choice: 2
Book(s) entered so far: 1
1. Learn Java
***Using second lookup to get library stateless object***
Book(s) entered so far: 0
BUILD SUCCESSFUL (total time: 13 seconds)

In following chapters, we'll cover multiple aspects of this complete ejb application.

EJB - Stateless Bean

A stateless session bean is a type of enterprise bean which is normally used to do independent operations. A stateless session bean as per its name does not have any associated client state, but it may preserve its instance state. EJB Container normally creates a pool of few stateless bean's objects and use these objects to process client's request. Because of pool, instance variable values are not guaranteed to be same across lookups/method calls.

Following are the steps required to create a stateless ejb.

Create a remote/local interface exposing the business methods.
This interface will be used by the ejb client application.
Use @Local annotation if ejb client is in same environment where ejb session bean is to be deployed.
Use @Remote annotation if ejb client is in different environment where ejb session bean is to be deployed.
Create a stateless session bean implementing the above interface.
Use @Stateless annotation to signify it a stateless bean. EJB Container automatically creates the relevant configurations or interfaces required by reading this annotation during deployment.

Remote Interface

import javax.ejb.Remote;
 
@Remote
public interface LibrarySessionBeanRemote {
   //add business method declarations
}

Stateless EJB

@Stateless
public class LibrarySessionBean implements LibrarySessionBeanRemote {
   //implement business method 
}

Example Application

Let us create a test EJB application to test stateless EJB.

Step	Description
1	Create a project with a name EjbComponent under a package com.only4programmers.stateless as explained in the EJB - Create Application chapter. You can also use the project created in EJB - Create Application chapter as such for this chapter to understand stateless ejb concepts.
2	Create LibrarySessionBean.java and LibrarySessionBeanRemote as explained in the EJB - Create Application chapter. Keep rest of the files unchanged.
3	Clean and Build the application to make sure business logic is working as per the requirements.
4	Finally, deploy the application in the form of jar file on JBoss Application Server. JBoss Application server will get started automatically if it is not started yet.
5	Now create the ejb client, a console based application in the same way as explained in theEJB - Create Application chapter under topic Create Client to access EJB.

EJBComponent (EJB Module)

LibrarySessionBeanRemote.java

package com.only4programmers.stateless;
 
import java.util.List;
import javax.ejb.Remote;
 
@Remote
public interface LibrarySessionBeanRemote {
   void addBook(String bookName);
   List getBooks();
}

LibrarySessionBean.java

 
package com.only4programmers.stateless;
 
import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.List;
import javax.ejb.Stateless;
 
@Stateless
public class LibrarySessionBean implements LibrarySessionBeanRemote {
    
   List<String> bookShelf;    
 
   public LibrarySessionBean(){
      bookShelf = new ArrayList<String>();
   }
 
   public void addBook(String bookName) {
      bookShelf.add(bookName);
   }    
 
   public List<String> getBooks() {
      return bookShelf;
   }
}

As soon as you deploy the EjbComponent project on JBOSS, notice the jboss log.
JBoss has automatically created a JNDI entry for our session bean -LibrarySessionBean/remote.
We'll using this lookup string to get remote business object of type -com.only4programmers.stateless.LibrarySessionBeanRemote

JBoss Application server log output

...
16:30:01,401 INFO  [JndiSessionRegistrarBase] Binding the following Entries in Global JNDI:
   LibrarySessionBean/remote - EJB3.x Default Remote Business Interface
   LibrarySessionBean/remote-com.only4programmers.stateless.LibrarySessionBeanRemote - EJB3.x Remote Business Interface
16:30:02,723 INFO  [SessionSpecContainer] Starting jboss.j2ee:jar=EjbComponent.jar,name=LibrarySessionBean,service=EJB3
16:30:02,723 INFO  [EJBContainer] STARTED EJB: com.only4programmers.stateless.LibrarySessionBeanRemote ejbName: LibrarySessionBean
16:30:02,731 INFO  [JndiSessionRegistrarBase] Binding the following Entries in Global JNDI:
 
   LibrarySessionBean/remote - EJB3.x Default Remote Business Interface
   LibrarySessionBean/remote-com.only4programmers.stateless.LibrarySessionBeanRemote - EJB3.x Remote Business Interface
...

EJBTester (EJB Client)

jndi.properties

java.naming.factory.initial=org.jnp.interfaces.NamingContextFactory
java.naming.factory.url.pkgs=org.jboss.naming:org.jnp.interfaces
java.naming.provider.url=localhost

These properties are used to initialize the InitialContext object of java naming service
InitialContext object will be used to lookup stateless session bean

EJBTester.java

package com.only4programmers.test;
   
import com.only4programmers.stateful.LibrarySessionBeanRemote;
import java.io.BufferedReader;
import java.io.FileInputStream;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.io.InputStreamReader;
import java.util.List;
import java.util.Properties;
import javax.naming.InitialContext;
import javax.naming.NamingException;
 
public class EJBTester {
 
   BufferedReader brConsoleReader = null; 
   Properties props;
   InitialContext ctx;
   {
      props = new Properties();
      try {
         props.load(new FileInputStream("jndi.properties"));
      } catch (IOException ex) {
         ex.printStackTrace();
      }
      try {
         ctx = new InitialContext(props);            
      } catch (NamingException ex) {
         ex.printStackTrace();
      }
      brConsoleReader = 
      new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(System.in));
   }
   
   public static void main(String[] args) {
 
      EJBTester ejbTester = new EJBTester();
 
      ejbTester.testStatelessEjb();
   }
   
   private void showGUI(){
      System.out.println("**********************");
      System.out.println("Welcome to Book Store");
      System.out.println("**********************");
      System.out.print("Options \n1. Add Book\n2. Exit \nEnter Choice: ");
   }
   
   private void testStatelessEjb(){
 
      try {
         int choice = 1; 
 
         LibrarySessionBeanRemote libraryBean =
         LibrarySessionBeanRemote)ctx.lookup("LibrarySessionBean/remote");
 
         while (choice != 2) {
            String bookName;
            showGUI();
            String strChoice = brConsoleReader.readLine();
            choice = Integer.parseInt(strChoice);
            if (choice == 1) {
               System.out.print("Enter book name: ");
               bookName = brConsoleReader.readLine();
               Book book = new Book();
               book.setName(bookName);
               libraryBean.addBook(book);          
            } else if (choice == 2) {
               break;
            }
         }
 
         List<Book> booksList = libraryBean.getBooks();
 
         System.out.println("Book(s) entered so far: " + booksList.size());
         int i = 0;
         for (Book book:booksList) {
            System.out.println((i+1)+". " + book.getName());
            i++;
         }       
         LibrarySessionBeanRemote libraryBean1 = 
            (LibrarySessionBeanRemote)ctx.lookup("LibrarySessionBean/remote");
         List<String> booksList1 = libraryBean1.getBooks();
         System.out.println(
            "***Using second lookup to get library stateless object***");
         System.out.println(
            "Book(s) entered so far: " + booksList1.size());
         for (int i = 0; i < booksList1.size(); ++i) {
            System.out.println((i+1)+". " + booksList1.get(i));
         }   
      } catch (Exception e) {
         System.out.println(e.getMessage());
         e.printStackTrace();
      }finally {
         try {
            if(brConsoleReader !=null){
               brConsoleReader.close();
            }
         } catch (IOException ex) {
            System.out.println(ex.getMessage());
         }
      }
   }
}

EJBTester is doing the following tasks.

Load properties from jndi.properties and initialize the InitialContext object.
In testStatelessEjb() method, jndi lookup is done with name - "LibrarySessionBean/remote" to obtain the remote business object (stateless ejb).
Then user is shown a library store User Interface and he/she is asked to enter choice.
If user enters 1, system asks for book name and saves the book using stateless session bean addBook() method. Session Bean is storing the book in its instance variable.
If user enters 2, system retrieves books using stateless session bean getBooks() method and exits.
Then another jndi lookup is done with name - "LibrarySessionBean/remote" to obtain the remote business object (stateless ejb) again and listing of books is done.

Run Client to access EJB

Locate EJBTester.java in project explorer. Right click on EJBTester class and select run file.

Verify the following output in Netbeans console.

run:
**********************
Welcome to Book Store
**********************
Options 
1. Add Book
2. Exit 
Enter Choice: 1
Enter book name: Learn Java
**********************
Welcome to Book Store
**********************
Options 
1. Add Book
2. Exit 
Enter Choice: 2
Book(s) entered so far: 1
1. Learn Java
***Using second lookup to get library stateless object***
Book(s) entered so far: 0
BUILD SUCCESSFUL (total time: 13 seconds)

Run Client again to access EJB

Locate EJBTester.java in project explorer. Right click on EJBTester class and select run file.

Verify the following output in Netbeans console.

run:
**********************
Welcome to Book Store
**********************
Options 
1. Add Book
2. Exit 
Enter Choice: 2
Book(s) entered so far: 0
***Using second lookup to get library stateless object***
Book(s) entered so far: 1
1. Learn Java
BUILD SUCCESSFUL (total time: 12 seconds)

Output shown above may vary depending upon how many stateless ejb object JBoss is maintaining.
In case a single stateless ejb object is maintained, you may see the same list of books after each lookup.
EJB Container may return same stateless ejb object for every lookup.
Stateless ejb bean is keeping value of instance variable till the server is not restarted.

EJB - Stateful Bean

A stateful session bean is a type of enterprise bean which preserve the conversational state with client. A stateful session bean as per its name keeps associated client state in its instance variables. EJB Container creates a separate stateful session bean to process client's each request. As soon as request scope is over, statelful session bean is destroyed.

Following are the steps required to create a stateful ejb.

Create a remote/local interface exposing the business methods.
This interface will be used by the ejb client application.
Use @Local annotation if ejb client is in same environment where ejb session bean is to be deployed.
Use @Remote annotation if ejb client is in different environment where ejb session bean is to be deployed.
Create a stateful session bean implementing the above interface.
Use @Stateful annotation to signify it a stateful bean. EJB Container automatically creates the relevant configurations or interfaces required by reading this annotation during deployment.

Remote Interface

import javax.ejb.Remote;
 
@Remote
public interface LibraryStatefulSessionBeanRemote {
   //add business method declarations
}

Stateful EJB

@Stateful
public class LibraryStatefulSessionBean implements LibraryStatefulSessionBeanRemote {
   //implement business method 
}

Example Application

Let us create a test EJB application to test stateful EJB.

Step	Description
1	Create a project with a name EjbComponent under a package com.only4programmers.stateful as explained in the EJB - Create Application chapter. You can also use the project created in EJB - Create Application chapter as such for this chapter to understand stateful ejb concepts.
2	Create LibraryStatefulSessionBean.java and LibraryStatefulSessionBeanRemote as explained in the EJB - Create Application chapter. Keep rest of the files unchanged.
3	Clean and Build the application to make sure business logic is working as per the requirements.
4	Finally, deploy the application in the form of jar file on JBoss Application Server. JBoss Application server will get started automatically if it is not started yet.
5	Now create the ejb client, a console based application in the same way as explained in theEJB - Create Application chapter under topic Create Client to access EJB.

EJBComponent (EJB Module)

LibraryStatefulSessionBeanRemote.java

package com.only4programmers.stateful;
 
import java.util.List;
import javax.ejb.Remote;
 
@Remote
public interface LibraryStatefulSessionBeanRemote {
   void addBook(String bookName);
   List getBooks();
}

LibraryStatefulSessionBean.java

 
package com.only4programmers.stateful;
 
import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.List;
import javax.ejb.Stateful;
 
@Stateful
public class LibraryStatefulSessionBean implements LibraryStatefulSessionBeanRemote {
    
   List<String> bookShelf;    
 
   public LibraryStatefulSessionBean(){
      bookShelf = new ArrayList<String>();
   }
 
   public void addBook(String bookName) {
      bookShelf.add(bookName);
   }    
 
   public List<String> getBooks() {
      return bookShelf;
   }
}

As soon as you deploy the EjbComponent project on JBOSS, notice the jboss log.
JBoss has automatically created a JNDI entry for our session bean -LibraryStatefulSessionBean/remote.
We'll using this lookup string to get remote business object of type -com.only4programmers.stateful.LibraryStatefulSessionBeanRemote

JBoss Application server log output

...
16:30:01,401 INFO  [JndiSessionRegistrarBase] Binding the following Entries in Global JNDI:
   LibraryStatefulSessionBean/remote - EJB3.x Default Remote Business Interface
   LibraryStatefulSessionBean/remote-com.only4programmers.stateful.LibraryStatefulSessionBeanRemote - EJB3.x Remote Business Interface
16:30:02,723 INFO  [SessionSpecContainer] Starting jboss.j2ee:jar=EjbComponent.jar,name=LibraryStatefulSessionBean,service=EJB3
16:30:02,723 INFO  [EJBContainer] STARTED EJB: com.only4programmers.stateful.LibraryStatefulSessionBeanRemote ejbName: LibraryStatefulSessionBean
16:30:02,731 INFO  [JndiSessionRegistrarBase] Binding the following Entries in Global JNDI:
 
   LibraryStatefulSessionBean/remote - EJB3.x Default Remote Business Interface
   LibraryStatefulSessionBean/remote-com.only4programmers.stateful.LibraryStatefulSessionBeanRemote - EJB3.x Remote Business Interface
...

EJBTester (EJB Client)

jndi.properties

java.naming.factory.initial=org.jnp.interfaces.NamingContextFactory
java.naming.factory.url.pkgs=org.jboss.naming:org.jnp.interfaces
java.naming.provider.url=localhost

These properties are used to initialize the InitialContext object of java naming service
InitialContext object will be used to lookup stateful session bean

EJBTester.java

package com.only4programmers.test;
   
import com.only4programmers.stateful.LibraryStatefulSessionBeanRemote;
import java.io.BufferedReader;
import java.io.FileInputStream;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.io.InputStreamReader;
import java.util.List;
import java.util.Properties;
import javax.naming.InitialContext;
import javax.naming.NamingException;
 
public class EJBTester {
 
   BufferedReader brConsoleReader = null; 
   Properties props;
   InitialContext ctx;
   {
      props = new Properties();
      try {
         props.load(new FileInputStream("jndi.properties"));
      } catch (IOException ex) {
         ex.printStackTrace();
      }
      try {
         ctx = new InitialContext(props);            
      } catch (NamingException ex) {
         ex.printStackTrace();
      }
      brConsoleReader = 
      new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(System.in));
   }
   
   public static void main(String[] args) {
 
      EJBTester ejbTester = new EJBTester();
 
      ejbTester.testStatelessEjb();
   }
   
   private void showGUI(){
      System.out.println("**********************");
      System.out.println("Welcome to Book Store");
      System.out.println("**********************");
      System.out.print("Options \n1. Add Book\n2. Exit \nEnter Choice: ");
   }
   
   private void testStatelessEjb(){
 
      try {
         int choice = 1; 
 
         LibraryStatefulSessionBeanRemote libraryBean =
         LibraryStatefulSessionBeanRemote)ctx.lookup("LibraryStatefulSessionBean/remote");
 
         while (choice != 2) {
            String bookName;
            showGUI();
            String strChoice = brConsoleReader.readLine();
            choice = Integer.parseInt(strChoice);
            if (choice == 1) {
               System.out.print("Enter book name: ");
               bookName = brConsoleReader.readLine();
               Book book = new Book();
               book.setName(bookName);
               libraryBean.addBook(book);          
            } else if (choice == 2) {
               break;
            }
         }
 
         List<Book> booksList = libraryBean.getBooks();
 
         System.out.println("Book(s) entered so far: " + booksList.size());
         int i = 0;
         for (Book book:booksList) {
            System.out.println((i+1)+". " + book.getName());
            i++;
         }       
         LibraryStatefulSessionBeanRemote libraryBean1 = 
            (LibraryStatefulSessionBeanRemote)ctx.lookup("LibraryStatefulSessionBean/remote");
         List<String> booksList1 = libraryBean1.getBooks();
         System.out.println(
            "***Using second lookup to get library stateful object***");
         System.out.println(
            "Book(s) entered so far: " + booksList1.size());
         for (int i = 0; i < booksList1.size(); ++i) {
            System.out.println((i+1)+". " + booksList1.get(i));
         }   
      } catch (Exception e) {
         System.out.println(e.getMessage());
         e.printStackTrace();
      }finally {
         try {
            if(brConsoleReader !=null){
               brConsoleReader.close();
            }
         } catch (IOException ex) {
            System.out.println(ex.getMessage());
         }
      }
   }
}

EJBTester is doing the following tasks.

Load properties from jndi.properties and initialize the InitialContext object.
In testStatefulEjb() method, jndi lookup is done with name - "LibraryStatefulSessionBean/remote" to obtain the remote business object (stateful ejb).
Then user is shown a library store User Interface and he/she is asked to enter choice.
If user enters 1, system asks for book name and saves the book using stateful session bean addBook() method. Session Bean is storing the book in its instance variable.
If user enters 2, system retrieves books using stateful session bean getBooks() method and exits.
Then another jndi lookup is done with name - "LibraryStatefulSessionBean/remote" to obtain the remote business object (stateful ejb) again and listing of books is done.

Run Client to access EJB

Locate EJBTester.java in project explorer. Right click on EJBTester class and select run file.

Verify the following output in Netbeans console.

run:
**********************
Welcome to Book Store
**********************
Options 
1. Add Book
2. Exit 
Enter Choice: 1
Enter book name: Learn Java
**********************
Welcome to Book Store
**********************
Options 
1. Add Book
2. Exit 
Enter Choice: 2
Book(s) entered so far: 1
1. Learn Java
***Using second lookup to get library stateful object***
Book(s) entered so far: 0
BUILD SUCCESSFUL (total time: 13 seconds)

Run Client again to access EJB

Locate EJBTester.java in project explorer. Right click on EJBTester class and select run file.

Verify the following output in Netbeans console.

run:
**********************
Welcome to Book Store
**********************
Options 
1. Add Book
2. Exit 
Enter Choice: 2
Book(s) entered so far: 0
***Using second lookup to get library stateful object***
Book(s) entered so far: 0
BUILD SUCCESSFUL (total time: 12 seconds)

Output shown above states that for each lookup a different stateful ejb instance is returned.
Stateful ejb object is keeping value for single session only. As in second run, we're not getting any value of books.

EJB - Persistence

EJB 3.0, entity bean used in EJB 2.0 is largely replaced by persistence mechanism. Now entity bean is a simple POJO having mapping with table.

Following are the key actors in persistence API

Entity - A persistent object representing the data-store record. It is good to be serializable.
EntityManager - Persistence interface to do data operations like add/delete/update/find on persistent object(entity). It also helps to execute queries using Query interface.
Persistence unit (persistence.xml) - Persistence unit describes the properties of persistence mechanism.
Data Source (*ds.xml) - Data Source describes the data-store related properties like connection url. user-name,password etc.

To demonstrate ejb persistence mechanism, we're going to do the following tasks.

Step 1. Create table in database.
Step 2. Create Entity class corresponding to table.
Step 3. Create Data Source and Persistence Unit
Step 4. Create a stateless ejb having EntityManager instance.
Step 5. Update stateless ejb. Add methods to add records and get records from database via entity manager.
Step 6. A console based application client will access the stateless ejb to persist data in database.

Create table

Create a table books in default database postgres.

CREATE TABLE books (
   id     integer PRIMARY KEY,
   name   varchar(50)
);

Create Entity class

//mark it entity using Entity annotation 
//map table name using Table annoation
@Entity
@Table(name="books")
public class Book implements Serializable{
    
   private int id;
   private String name;

   public Book(){        
   }

   //mark id as primary key with autogenerated value
   //map database column id with id field
   @Id
   @GeneratedValue(strategy= GenerationType.IDENTITY)
   @Column(name="id")
   public int getId() {
      return id;
   }
   ...
}

Create DataSource and persistence unit

DataSource (jboss-ds.xml)

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<datasources>
   <local-tx-datasource>
      <jndi-name>PostgresDS</jndi-name>
      <connection-url>jdbc:postgresql://localhost:5432/postgres</connection-url>
      <driver-class>org.postgresql.driver</driver-class>
      <user-name>sa</user-name>
      <password>sa</password>
      <min-pool-size>5</min-pool-size>
      <max-pool-size>20</max-pool-size>
      <idle-timeout-minutes>5</idle-timeout-minutes>
   </local-tx-datasource>
</datasources>

Persistence Unit (persistence.xml)

<persistence version="1.0" xmlns="http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/persistence" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xsi:schemaLocation="http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/persistence http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/persistence/persistence_1_0.xsd">
   <persistence-unit name="EjbComponentPU" transaction-type="JTA">
      <jta-data-source>java:/PostgresDS</jta-data-source>
      <exclude-unlisted-classes>false</exclude-unlisted-classes>
      <properties/>
   </persistence-unit>
   <persistence-unit name="EjbComponentPU2" transaction-type="JTA">
      <provider>org.hibernate.ejb.HibernatePersistence</provider>
      <jta-data-source>java:/PostgresDS</jta-data-source>
      <exclude-unlisted-classes>false</exclude-unlisted-classes>
      <properties>
         <property name="hibernate.hbm2ddl.auto" value="update"/>
      </properties>
   </persistence-unit>
</persistence>

Create Stateless EJB having EntityManager instance

@Stateless
public class LibraryPersistentBean implements LibraryPersistentBeanRemote {
 
   //pass persistence unit to entityManager.
   @PersistenceContext(unitName="EjbComponentPU")
   private EntityManager entityManager;         

   public void addBook(Book book) {
      entityManager.persist(book);
   }    

   public List<Book> getBooks() {        
      return entityManager.createQuery("From Books").getResultList();
   }
   ...
}

After building the ejb module, we need a client to access the stateless bean which we'll be going to create in next section.

Example Application

Let us create a test EJB application to test EJB persistence mechanism.

Step	Description
1	Create a project with a name EjbComponent under a package com.only4programmers.entity as explained in the EJB - Create Application chapter. You can also use the project created in EJB - Create Application chapter as such for this chapter to understand ejb persistence concepts.
2	Create Book.java under package com.only4programmers.entity and modify it as shown below.
3	Create LibraryPersistentBean.java and LibraryPersistentBeanRemote as explained in the EJB - Create Application chapter and modify them as shown below.
4	Create jboss-ds.xml in EjbComponent > setup folder and persistence.xml in EjbComponent > src > conf folder. These folder can be seen in files tab in Netbeans. Modify these files as shown above.
5	Clean and Build the application to make sure business logic is working as per the requirements.
6	Finally, deploy the application in the form of jar file on JBoss Application Server. JBoss Application server will get started automatically if it is not started yet.
7	Now create the ejb client, a console based application in the same way as explained in theEJB - Create Application chapter under topic Create Client to access EJB. Modify it as shown below.

EJBComponent (EJB Module)

Book.java

package com.only4programmers.entity;

import java.io.Serializable;
import javax.persistence.Column;
import javax.persistence.Entity;
import javax.persistence.EntityListeners;
import javax.persistence.GeneratedValue;
import javax.persistence.GenerationType;
import javax.persistence.Id;
import javax.persistence.Table;

@Entity
@Table(name="books")
public class Book implements Serializable{
    
   private int id;
   private String name;

   public Book(){        
   }

   @Id
   @GeneratedValue(strategy= GenerationType.IDENTITY)
   @Column(name="id")
   public int getId() {
      return id;
   }

   public void setId(int id) {
      this.id = id;
   }

   public String getName() {
      return name;
   }

   public void setName(String name) {
      this.name = name;
   }    
}

LibraryPersistentBeanRemote.java

package com.only4programmers.stateless;

import com.only4programmers.entity.Book;
import java.util.List;
import javax.ejb.Remote;

@Remote
public interface LibraryPersistentBeanRemote {

   void addBook(Book bookName);

   List<Book> getBooks();
    
}

LibraryPersistentBean.java

package com.only4programmers.stateless;

import com.only4programmers.entity.Book;
import java.util.List;
import javax.ejb.Stateless;
import javax.persistence.EntityManager;
import javax.persistence.PersistenceContext;

@Stateless
public class LibraryPersistentBean implements LibraryPersistentBeanRemote {
    
   public LibraryPersistentBean(){
   }

   @PersistenceContext(unitName="EjbComponentPU")
   private EntityManager entityManager;         

   public void addBook(Book book) {
      entityManager.persist(book);
   }    

   public List<Book> getBooks() {
      return entityManager.createQuery("From Book").getResultList();
   }
}

As soon as you deploy the EjbComponent project on JBOSS, notice the jboss log.
JBoss has automatically created a JNDI entry for our session bean -LibraryPersistentBean/remote.
We'll using this lookup string to get remote business object of type -com.only4programmers.stateless.LibraryPersistentBeanRemote

JBoss Application server log output

...
16:30:01,401 INFO  [JndiSessionRegistrarBase] Binding the following Entries in Global JNDI:
   LibraryPersistentBean/remote - EJB3.x Default Remote Business Interface
   LibraryPersistentBean/remote-com.only4programmers.stateless.LibraryPersistentBeanRemote - EJB3.x Remote Business Interface
16:30:02,723 INFO  [SessionSpecContainer] Starting jboss.j2ee:jar=EjbComponent.jar,name=LibraryPersistentBeanRemote,service=EJB3
16:30:02,723 INFO  [EJBContainer] STARTED EJB: com.only4programmers.stateless.LibraryPersistentBeanRemote ejbName: LibraryPersistentBean
16:30:02,731 INFO  [JndiSessionRegistrarBase] Binding the following Entries in Global JNDI:

   LibraryPersistentBean/remote - EJB3.x Default Remote Business Interface
   LibraryPersistentBean/remote-com.only4programmers.stateless.LibraryPersistentBeanRemote - EJB3.x Remote Business Interface
...

EJBTester (EJB Client)

jndi.properties

java.naming.factory.initial=org.jnp.interfaces.NamingContextFactory
java.naming.factory.url.pkgs=org.jboss.naming:org.jnp.interfaces
java.naming.provider.url=localhost

These properties are used to initialize the InitialContext object of java naming service
InitialContext object will be used to lookup stateless session bean

EJBTester.java

package com.only4p.test;
   
import com.only4programmers.stateless.LibraryPersistentBeanRemote;
import java.io.BufferedReader;
import java.io.FileInputStream;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.io.InputStreamReader;
import java.util.List;
import java.util.Properties;
import javax.naming.InitialContext;
import javax.naming.NamingException;

public class EJBTester {

   BufferedReader brConsoleReader = null; 
   Properties props;
   InitialContext ctx;
   {
      props = new Properties();
      try {
         props.load(new FileInputStream("jndi.properties"));
      } catch (IOException ex) {
         ex.printStackTrace();
      }
      try {
         ctx = new InitialContext(props);            
      } catch (NamingException ex) {
         ex.printStackTrace();
      }
      brConsoleReader = 
      new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(System.in));
   }
   
   public static void main(String[] args) {

      EJBTester ejbTester = new EJBTester();

      ejbTester.testEntityEjb();
   }
   
   private void showGUI(){
      System.out.println("**********************");
      System.out.println("Welcome to Book Store");
      System.out.println("**********************");
      System.out.print("Options \n1. Add Book\n2. Exit \nEnter Choice: ");
   }
   
   private void testEntityEjb(){

      try {
         int choice = 1; 

         LibraryPersistentBeanRemote libraryBean =
         LibraryPersistentBeanRemote)ctx.lookup("LibraryPersistentBean/remote");

         while (choice != 2) {
            String bookName;
            showGUI();
            String strChoice = brConsoleReader.readLine();
            choice = Integer.parseInt(strChoice);
            if (choice == 1) {
               System.out.print("Enter book name: ");
               bookName = brConsoleReader.readLine();
               Book book = new Book();
               book.setName(bookName);
               libraryBean.addBook(book);          
            } else if (choice == 2) {
               break;
            }
         }

         List<Book> booksList = libraryBean.getBooks();

         System.out.println("Book(s) entered so far: " + booksList.size());
         int i = 0;
         for (Book book:booksList) {
            System.out.println((i+1)+". " + book.getName());
            i++;
         }           
      } catch (Exception e) {
         System.out.println(e.getMessage());
         e.printStackTrace();
      }finally {
         try {
            if(brConsoleReader !=null){
               brConsoleReader.close();
            }
         } catch (IOException ex) {
            System.out.println(ex.getMessage());
         }
      }
   }
}

EJBTester is doing the following tasks.

Load properties from jndi.properties and initialize the InitialContext object.
In testStatefulEjb() method, jndi lookup is done with name - "LibraryStatefulSessionBean/remote" to obtain the remote business object (stateful ejb).
Then user is shown a library store User Interface and he/she is asked to enter choice.
If user enters 1, system asks for book name and saves the book using stateless session bean addBook() method. Session Bean is persisting the book in database via EntityManager call.
If user enters 2, system retrieves books using stateful session bean getBooks() method and exits.
Then another jndi lookup is done with name - "LibraryStatelessSessionBean/remote" to obtain the remote business object (stateless ejb) again and listing of books is done.

Run Client to access EJB

Locate EJBTester.java in project explorer. Right click on EJBTester class and select run file.

Verify the following output in Netbeans console.

run:
**********************
Welcome to Book Store
**********************
Options 
1. Add Book
2. Exit 
Enter Choice: 1
Enter book name: Learn Java
**********************
Welcome to Book Store
**********************
Options 
1. Add Book
2. Exit 
Enter Choice: 2
Book(s) entered so far: 1
1. learn java
BUILD SUCCESSFUL (total time: 15 seconds)

Run Client again to access EJB.

Restart the JBoss before accessing the EJB.

Locate EJBTester.java in project explorer. Right click on EJBTester class and select run file.

Verify the following output in Netbeans console.

run:
**********************
Welcome to Book Store
**********************
Options 
1. Add Book
2. Exit 
Enter Choice: 1
Enter book name: Learn Spring
**********************
Welcome to Book Store
**********************
Options 
1. Add Book
2. Exit 
Enter Choice: 2
Book(s) entered so far: 2
1. learn java
2. Learn Spring
BUILD SUCCESSFUL (total time: 15 seconds)

Output shown above states that books are getting stored in persistent storage and are retrieved from database.

EJB - Message Driven Beans

A message driven bean is a type of enterprise bean which is invoked by EJB container when it receives a message from queue or topic. Message driven bean is a stateless bean and is used to do task asynchronously.

To demonstrate use of message driven bean, we'll make use of ejb-persistence chapter and we're going to do the following tasks.

Step 1. Create table in database (Refer to EJB-Persistence chapter).
Step 2. Create Entity class corresponding to table (Refer to EJB-Persistence chapter).
Step 3. Create DataSource and Persistence Unit (Refer to EJB-Persistence chapter).
Step 4. Create a stateless ejb having EntityManager instance (Refer to EJB-Persistence chapter).
Step 5. Update stateless ejb.Add methods to add records and get records from database via entity manager (Refer to EJB-Persistence chapter).
Step 6. Create a Queue named BookQueue in JBoss default application directory.
Step 7. A console based application client will send message to this queue.
Step 8. Create a Message driven bean which will use the stateless bean to persist the client data.
Step 9. EJB Container of jboss will call the above message driven bean and pass it the message that client will be sending to.

Create Queue

Create a file named jbossmq-destinations-service.xml if not exists in <JBoss Installation Folder> > server > default > deploy folder.

Here we're creating a queue named BookQueue

jbossmq-destinations-service.xml

<mbean code="org.jboss.mq.server.jmx.Queue"  
   name="jboss.mq.destination:service=Queue,name=BookQueue">  
   <depends optional-attribute-name="DestinationManager">
      jboss.mq:service=DestinationManager
   </depends>  
</mbean>

When you start the JBoss, you'll see the a similar entry in jboss log

...
10:37:06,167 INFO  [QueueService] Queue[/queue/BookQueue] started, fullSize=200000, pageSize=2000, downCacheSize=2000
...

Create Message Driven Bean

@MessageDriven(
   name = "BookMessageHandler",
   activationConfig = {
      @ActivationConfigProperty( propertyName = "destinationType", 
                                 propertyValue = "javax.jms.Queue"),
      @ActivationConfigProperty( propertyName = "destination", 
                                 propertyValue ="/queue/BookQueue")
   }
)
public class LibraryMessageBean implements MessageListener {
 
   @Resource
   private MessageDrivenContext mdctx;  
 
   @EJB
   LibraryPersistentBeanRemote libraryBean;
 
   public LibraryMessageBean(){        
   }
 
   public void onMessage(Message message) {
   }
}

LibraryMessageBean is annoatated with @MessageDriven annotation to mark it as message driven bean.
Its properties are defined as destinationType - Queue and destination - /queue/BookQueue.
It implements MessageListener interface which exposes onMessage method.
It has MessgeDrivenContext as resource.
LibraryPersistentBeanRemote stateless bean is injected in this bean for persistence purpose.

Build the EjbComponent project and deploy it on JBoss. After building and deploying the ejb module, we need a client to send a message to jboss queue.

Example Application

Let us create a test EJB application to test Message Driven Bean.

Step	Description
1	Create a project with a name EjbComponent under a package com.only4programmers.entity as explained in the EJB - Create Application chapter. You can also use the project created in EJB - Create Application chapter as such for this chapter to understand ejb persistence concepts.
2	Create Book.java under package com.only4programmers.entity as created in EJB-Persistencechapter
3	Create LibraryPersistentBean.java and LibraryPersistentBeanRemote as created in EJB-Persistence chapter
4	Create jboss-ds.xml in EjbComponent > setup folder and persistence.xml in EjbComponent > src > conf folder. These folder can be seen in files tab in Netbeans as created in EJB-Persistence chapter
5	Create LibraryMessageBean.java under a package com.only4programmers.messagebean and modify it as shown below.
6	Create BookQueue queue in Jboss as described above.
7	Clean and Build the application to make sure business logic is working as per the requirements.
8	Finally, deploy the application in the form of jar file on JBoss Application Server. JBoss Application server will get started automatically if it is not started yet.
9	Now create the ejb client, a console based application in the same way as explained in theEJB - Create Application chapter under topic Create Client to access EJB. Modify it as shown below.

EJBComponent (EJB Module)

LibraryMessageBean.java

package com.only4programmers.messagebean;
 
import com.only4programmers.entity.Book;
import com.only4programmers.stateless.LibraryPersistentBeanRemote;
import javax.annotation.Resource;
import javax.ejb.ActivationConfigProperty;
import javax.ejb.EJB;
import javax.ejb.MessageDriven;
import javax.ejb.MessageDrivenContext;
import javax.jms.JMSException;
import javax.jms.Message;
import javax.jms.MessageListener;
import javax.jms.ObjectMessage;
 
@MessageDriven(
   name = "BookMessageHandler",
   activationConfig = {
      @ActivationConfigProperty( propertyName = "destinationType", 
                                 propertyValue = "javax.jms.Queue"),
      @ActivationConfigProperty( propertyName = "destination", 
                                 propertyValue ="/queue/BookQueue")
   }
)
public class LibraryMessageBean implements MessageListener {
 
   @Resource
   private MessageDrivenContext mdctx;  
 
   @EJB
   LibraryPersistentBeanRemote libraryBean;
 
   public LibraryMessageBean(){        
   }
 
   public void onMessage(Message message) {
      ObjectMessage objectMessage = null;
      try {
         objectMessage = (ObjectMessage) message;
         Book book = (Book) objectMessage.getObject(); 
         libraryBean.addBook(book);
 
      } catch (JMSException ex) {
         mdctx.setRollbackOnly();
      }       
   }   
}

EJBTester (EJB Client)

EJBTester.java

package com.only4programmers.test;
   
import com.only4programmers.entity.Book;
import com.only4programmers.stateless.LibraryPersistentBeanRemote;
import java.io.BufferedReader;
import java.io.FileInputStream;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.io.InputStreamReader;
import java.util.List;
import java.util.Properties;
import javax.jms.ObjectMessage;
import javax.jms.Queue;
import javax.jms.QueueConnection;
import javax.jms.QueueConnectionFactory;
import javax.jms.QueueSender;
import javax.jms.QueueSession;
import javax.naming.InitialContext;
import javax.naming.NamingException;
 
public class EJBTester {
 
   BufferedReader brConsoleReader = null; 
   Properties props;
   InitialContext ctx;
   {
      props = new Properties();
      try {
         props.load(new FileInputStream("jndi.properties"));
      } catch (IOException ex) {
         ex.printStackTrace();
      }
      try {
         ctx = new InitialContext(props);            
      } catch (NamingException ex) {
         ex.printStackTrace();
      }
      brConsoleReader = 
      new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(System.in));
   }
   
   public static void main(String[] args) {
 
      EJBTester ejbTester = new EJBTester();
 
      ejbTester.testMessageBeanEjb();
   }
   
   private void showGUI(){
      System.out.println("**********************");
      System.out.println("Welcome to Book Store");
      System.out.println("**********************");
      System.out.print("Options \n1. Add Book\n2. Exit \nEnter Choice: ");
   }
   
   private void testMessageBeanEjb(){
 
      try {
         int choice = 1; 
         Queue queue = (Queue) ctx.lookup("/queue/BookQueue");
         QueueConnectionFactory factory =
         (QueueConnectionFactory) ctx.lookup("ConnectionFactory");
         QueueConnection connection =  factory.createQueueConnection();
         QueueSession session = 
         connection.createQueueSession(false, QueueSession.AUTO_ACKNOWLEDGE);
         QueueSender sender = session.createSender(queue);
 
         while (choice != 2) {
            String bookName;
            showGUI();
            String strChoice = brConsoleReader.readLine();
            choice = Integer.parseInt(strChoice);
            if (choice == 1) {
               System.out.print("Enter book name: ");
               bookName = brConsoleReader.readLine();
               Book book = new Book();
               book.setName(bookName);
               ObjectMessage objectMessage = 
                  session.createObjectMessage(book);
               sender.send(objectMessage); 
            } else if (choice == 2) {
               break;
            }
         }
 
         LibraryPersistentBeanRemote libraryBean = 
         (LibraryPersistentBeanRemote)
         ctx.lookup("LibraryPersistentBean/remote");
 
         List<Book> booksList = libraryBean.getBooks();
 
         System.out.println("Book(s) entered so far: " + booksList.size());
         int i = 0;
         for (Book book:booksList) {
            System.out.println((i+1)+". " + book.getName());
            i++;
         }           
      } catch (Exception e) {
         System.out.println(e.getMessage());
         e.printStackTrace();
      }finally {
         try {
            if(brConsoleReader !=null){
               brConsoleReader.close();
            }
         } catch (IOException ex) {
            System.out.println(ex.getMessage());
         }
      }
   }   
}

EJBTester is doing the following tasks.

Load properties from jndi.properties and initialize the InitialContext object.
In testStatefulEjb() method, jndi lookup is done with name - "/queue/BookQueue" to obtain treference of queue available in Jboss. Then sender is created using queue session.
Then user is shown a library store User Interface and he/she is asked to enter choice.
If user enters 1, system asks for book name and sender sends the book name to queue. When JBoss container receives this message in queue, it calls our message driven bean's onMessage method. Our message driven bean then saves book using stateful session bean addBook() method. Session Bean is persisting the book in database via EntityManager call.
If user enters 2, then another jndi lookup is done with name - "LibraryStatefulSessionBean/remote" to obtain the remote business object (stateful ejb) again and listing of books is done.

Run Client to access EJB

Locate EJBTester.java in project explorer. Right click on EJBTester class and select run file.

Verify the following output in Netbeans console.

run:
**********************
Welcome to Book Store
**********************
Options 
1. Add Book
2. Exit 
Enter Choice: 1
Enter book name: Learn EJB
**********************
Welcome to Book Store
**********************
Options 
1. Add Book
2. Exit 
Enter Choice: 2
Book(s) entered so far: 2
1. learn java
1. learn EJB
BUILD SUCCESSFUL (total time: 15 seconds)

Output shown above states that our Message driven bean is receiving the message and storing book in persistent storage and books are retrieved from database.

EJB - Annotations

Annotations were introduced in Java 5.0. Purpose of annotation is to attach additional information in the class or a meta-data of a class within its source code. In EJB 3.0, annotations are used to describe configuration meta-data in ejb classes. By this way EJB 3.0 eliminates the need to describe configuration data in configuration XML files.

EJB container uses compiler tool to generate required artifacts like interfaces, deployment descriptors by reading those annotations. Following is the list of commonly used annotations.

Sr. No.	Name	Description
1	javax.ejb.Stateless	Specifies that a given ejb class is a stateless session bean. Attributes name - Used to specify name of the session bean. mappedName - Used to specify the JNDI name of the session bean. description - Used to provide description of the session bean.
2	javax.ejb.Stateful	Specifies that a given ejb class is a stateful session bean. Attributes name - Used to specify name of the session bean. mappedName - Used to specify the JNDI name of the session bean. description - Used to provide description of the session bean.
3	javax.ejb.MessageDrivenBean	Specifies that a given ejb class is a message driven bean. Attributes name - Used to specify name of the message driven bean. messageListenerInterface - Used to specify message listener interface for the message driven bean. activationConfig - Used to specify the configuration details of the message-driven bean in operational environment of the message driven bean. mappedName - Used to specify the JNDI name of the session bean. description - Used to provide description of the session bean.
4	javax.ejb.EJB	Used to specify or inject a dependency as ejb instance into another ejb. Attributes name - Used to specify name which will be used to locate the referenced bean in environment. beanInterface - Used to specify the interface type of the referenced bean. beanName - Used to provide name of the referenced bean. mappedName - Used to specify the JNDI name of the referenced bean. description - Used to provide description of the referenced bean.
5	javax.ejb.Local	Used to specify Local interface(s) of a session bean. This local interface states the business methods of the session bean (which can be stateless or stateful). This interface is used to expose the business methods to local clients which are running in same deployment/application as EJB. Attributes value - Used to specify the list of local interfaces as an array of interfaces.
6	javax.ejb.Remote	Used to specify Remote interface(s) of a session bean. This remote interface states the business methods of the session bean (which can be stateless or stateful). This interface is used to expose the business methods to remote clients which are running in different deployment/application as EJB. Attributes value - Used to specify the list of remote interfaces as an array of interfaces.
7	javax.ejb.ActivationConfigProperty	Used to specify properties required for a message driven bean. For example end point, destination, message selector etc. This annotation is passed as a parameter to activationConfig attribute of javax.ejb.MessageDrivenBean annotation. Attributes propertyName - name of the property. propertyValue - value of the property.
8	javax.ejb.PostActivate	Used to specify callback method of ejb lifecycle. This method will be called when EJB container just activated/reactivated the bean instance. This interface is used to expose the business methods to local clients which are running in same deployment/application as EJB.

EJB - Callbacks

Callback is a mechanism by which life cycle of an enterprise bean can be intercepted. EJB 3.0 specification has specified callbacks for which callback handler methods are to be created. EJB Container calls these callbacks. We can define callback methods in the ejb class itself or in a separate class. EJB 3.0 has provided many annotations for callbacks

Following is the list of callback annotations for stateless bean.

Annotation	Description
@PostConstruct	method is invoked when a bean is created for the first time
@PreDestroy	method is invoked when a bean is removed from the bean pool or is destroyed.

Following is the list of callback annotations for stateful bean.

Annotation	Description
@PostConstruct	method is invoked when a bean is created for the first time
@PreDestroy	method is invoked when a bean is removed from the bean pool or is destroyed.
@PostActivate	method is invoked when a bean is loaded to be used.
@PrePassivate	method is invoked when a bean is put back to bean pool.

Following is the list of callback annotations for message driven bean.

Annotation	Description
@PostConstruct	method is invoked when a bean is created for the first time
@PreDestroy	method is invoked when a bean is removed from the bean pool or is destroyed.

Following is the list of callback annotations for entity bean.

Annotation	Description
@PrePersist	method is invoked when an entity is created in database.
@PostPersist	method is invoked after an entity is created in database.
@PreRemove	method is invoked when an entity is deleted from the database.
@PostRemove	method is invoked after an entity is deleted from the database.
@PreUpdate	method is invoked before an entity is to be updated in the database.
@PostLoad	method is invoked when a record is fetched from database and loaded into the entity.

Example Application

Let us create a test EJB application to test various callbacks in EJB.

Step	Description
1	Create a project with a name EjbComponent under a package com.only4programmers.stateless as explained in the EJB - Create Application chapter. You can also use the project created in EJB - Persistence chapter as such for this chapter to add various callbacks to ejbs.
2	Create LibrarySessionBean.java and LibrarySessionBeanRemote as explained in the EJB - Create Application chapter. Keep rest of the files unchanged.
3	Use Beans created in the EJB - Persistence chapter. Add callback methods as shown below. Keep rest of the files unchanged.
4	Create a java class BookCallbackListener under package com.only4programmers.callback. This class will demonstrates the seperation of callback methods.
5	Clean and Build the application to make sure business logic is working as per the requirements.
6	Finally, deploy the application in the form of jar file on JBoss Application Server. JBoss Application server will get started automatically if it is not started yet.
7	Now create the ejb client, a console based application in the same way as explained in theEJB - Create Application chapter under topic Create Client to access EJB.

EJBComponent (EJB Module)

BookCallbackListener.java

package com.only4programmers.callback;

import javax.persistence.PrePersist;
import javax.persistence.PostLoad;
import javax.persistence.PostPersist;
import javax.persistence.PostRemove;
import javax.persistence.PostUpdate;
import javax.persistence.PreRemove;
import javax.persistence.PreUpdate;
import com.only4programmers.entity.Book;


public class BookCallbackListener {
    
   @PrePersist
   public void prePersist(Book book){
      System.out.println("BookCallbackListener.prePersist:" 
         + "Book to be created with book id: "+book.getId());
   }

   @PostPersist
   public void postPersist(Object book){
      System.out.println("BookCallbackListener.postPersist::"
         + "Book created with book id: "+((Book)book).getId());
   }

   @PreRemove
   public void preRemove(Book book)
   {
      System.out.println("BookCallbackListener.preRemove:"
         + " About to delete Book: " + book.getId());
   }

   @PostRemove
   public void postRemove(Book book)
   {
      System.out.println("BookCallbackListener.postRemove::"
         + " Deleted Book: " + book.getId());
   }

   @PreUpdate
   public void preUpdate(Book book)
   {
      System.out.println("BookCallbackListener.preUpdate::"
         + " About to update Book: " + book.getId());
   }

   @PostUpdate
   public void postUpdate(Book book)
   {
      System.out.println("BookCallbackListener.postUpdate::"
         + " Updated Book: " + book.getId());
   }

   @PostLoad
   public void postLoad(Book book)
   {
      System.out.println("BookCallbackListener.postLoad::"
         + " Loaded Book: " + book.getId());
   }
}

Book.java

package com.only4programmers.entity;
 
import java.io.Serializable;
import javax.persistence.Column;
import javax.persistence.Entity;
import javax.persistence.EntityListeners;
import javax.persistence.GeneratedValue;
import javax.persistence.GenerationType;
import javax.persistence.Id;
import javax.persistence.Table;
 
@Entity
@Table(name="books")
public class Book implements Serializable{
    
   private int id;
   private String name;
 
   public Book(){        
   }
 
   @Id
   @GeneratedValue(strategy= GenerationType.IDENTITY)
   @Column(name="id")
   public int getId() {
      return id;
   }
 
   public void setId(int id) {
      this.id = id;
   }
 
   public String getName() {
      return name;
   }
 
   public void setName(String name) {
      this.name = name;
   }    
}

LibraryStatefulSessionBean.java

package com.only4programmers.stateful;

import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.List;
import javax.annotation.PostConstruct;
import javax.annotation.PreDestroy;
import javax.ejb.PostActivate;
import javax.ejb.PrePassivate;
import javax.ejb.Stateful;

@Stateful
public class LibraryStatefulSessionBean 
   implements LibraryStatefulSessionBeanRemote {
   List<String> bookShelf;    

   public LibraryStatefulSessionBean(){
      bookShelf = new ArrayList<String>();
   }

   public void addBook(String bookName) {
      bookShelf.add(bookName);
   }    

   public List<String> getBooks() {
      return bookShelf;
   }

   @PostConstruct
   public void postConstruct(){
      System.out.println("LibraryStatefulSessionBean.postConstruct::"
         + " bean created.");
   }

   @PreDestroy
   public void preDestroy(){
      System.out.println("LibraryStatefulSessionBean.preDestroy:"
         + " bean removed.");
   }

   @PostActivate
   public void postActivate(){
      System.out.println("LibraryStatefulSessionBean.postActivate:"
         + " bean activated.");
   }

   @PrePassivate
   public void prePassivate(){
      System.out.println("LibraryStatefulSessionBean.prePassivate:"
         + " bean passivated.");
   }    
}

LibraryStatefulSessionBeanRempote.java

package com.only4programmers.stateful;

import java.util.List;
import javax.ejb.Remote;

@Remote
public interface LibraryStatefulSessionBeanRemote {
   void addBook(String bookName);
   List getBooks();
}

LibraryPersistentBean.java

package com.only4programmers.stateless;

import com.only4programmers.entity.Book;
import java.util.List;
import javax.annotation.PostConstruct;
import javax.annotation.PreDestroy;
import javax.ejb.Stateless;
import javax.persistence.EntityManager;
import javax.persistence.PersistenceContext;

@Stateless
public class LibraryPersistentBean 
   implements LibraryPersistentBeanRemote {
    
   public LibraryPersistentBean(){}

   @PersistenceContext(unitName="EntityEjbPU")
   private EntityManager entityManager;         

   public void addBook(Book book) {
      entityManager.persist(book);
   }    

   public List<Book> getBooks() {     
      return entityManager.createQuery("From Book")
         .getResultList();
   }

   @PostConstruct
   public void postConstruct(){
      System.out.println("postConstruct:: LibraryPersistentBean session bean"
         + " created with entity Manager object: ");
   }

   @PreDestroy
   public void preDestroy(){
      System.out.println("preDestroy: LibraryPersistentBean session"
      + " bean is removed ");
   }
}

LibraryPersistentBeanRemote.java

package com.only4programmers.stateless;

import com.only4programmers.entity.Book;
import java.util.List;
import javax.ejb.Remote;

@Remote
public interface LibraryPersistentBeanRemote {

   void addBook(Book bookName);

   List<Book> getBooks();
    
}

As soon as you deploy the EjbComponent project on JBOSS, notice the jboss log.
JBoss has automatically created a JNDI entry for our session bean -LibraryPersistentBean/remote.
We'll using this lookup string to get remote business object of type -com.only4programmers.stateless.LibraryPersistentBeanRemote

JBoss Application server log output

...
16:30:01,401 INFO  [JndiSessionRegistrarBase] Binding the following Entries in Global JNDI:
   LibraryPersistentBean/remote - EJB3.x Default Remote Business Interface
   LibraryPersistentBean/remote-com.only4programmers.stateless.LibraryPersistentBeanRemote - EJB3.x Remote Business Interface
16:30:02,723 INFO  [SessionSpecContainer] Starting jboss.j2ee:jar=EjbComponent.jar,name=LibraryPersistentBean,service=EJB3
16:30:02,723 INFO  [EJBContainer] STARTED EJB: com.only4programmers.stateless.LibrarySessionBeanRemote ejbName: LibraryPersistentBean
...

EJBTester (EJB Client)

jndi.properties

java.naming.factory.initial=org.jnp.interfaces.NamingContextFactory
java.naming.factory.url.pkgs=org.jboss.naming:org.jnp.interfaces
java.naming.provider.url=localhost

These properties are used to initialize the InitialContext object of java naming service
InitialContext object will be used to lookup stateless session bean

EJBTester.java

package com.only4programmers.test;
   
import com.only4programmers.stateful.LibrarySessionBeanRemote;
import java.io.BufferedReader;
import java.io.FileInputStream;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.io.InputStreamReader;
import java.util.List;
import java.util.Properties;
import javax.naming.InitialContext;
import javax.naming.NamingException;

public class EJBTester {

   BufferedReader brConsoleReader = null; 
   Properties props;
   InitialContext ctx;
   {
      props = new Properties();
      try {
         props.load(new FileInputStream("jndi.properties"));
      } catch (IOException ex) {
         ex.printStackTrace();
      }
      try {
         ctx = new InitialContext(props);            
      } catch (NamingException ex) {
         ex.printStackTrace();
      }
      brConsoleReader = 
      new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(System.in));
   }
   
   public static void main(String[] args) {

      EJBTester ejbTester = new EJBTester();

      ejbTester.testEntityEjb();
   }
   
   private void showGUI(){
      System.out.println("**********************");
      System.out.println("Welcome to Book Store");
      System.out.println("**********************");
      System.out.print("Options \n1. Add Book\n2. Exit \nEnter Choice: ");
   }
   
   private void testEntityEjb(){    
      try {
      int choice = 1; 

      LibraryPersistentBeanRemote libraryBean = 
      (LibraryPersistentBeanRemote)
      ctx.lookup("LibraryPersistentBean/remote");

      while (choice != 2) {
         String bookName;
         showGUI();
         String strChoice = brConsoleReader.readLine();
         choice = Integer.parseInt(strChoice);
         if (choice == 1) {
            System.out.print("Enter book name: ");
            bookName = brConsoleReader.readLine();
            Book book = new Book();
            book.setName(bookName);
            libraryBean.addBook(book);          
         } else if (choice == 2) {
            break;
         }
      }

      List<Book> booksList = libraryBean.getBooks();

      System.out.println("Book(s) entered so far: " + booksList.size());
      int i = 0;
      for (Book book:booksList) {
         System.out.println((i+1)+". " + book.getName());
         i++;
      }           

      } catch (Exception e) {
         System.out.println(e.getMessage());
         e.printStackTrace();
      }finally {
         try {
            if(brConsoleReader !=null){
               brConsoleReader.close();
            }
         } catch (IOException ex) {
            System.out.println(ex.getMessage());
         }
      }    
   }    
}

EJBTester is doing the following tasks.

Load properties from jndi.properties and initialize the InitialContext object.
In testStatelessEjb() method, jndi lookup is done with name - "LibrarySessionBean/remote" to obtain the remote business object (stateless ejb).
Then user is shown a library store User Interface and he/she is asked to enter choice.
If user enters 1, system asks for book name and saves the book using stateless session bean addBook() method. Session Bean is storing the book in the database.
If user enters 2, system retrieves books using stateless session bean getBooks() method and exits.

Run Client to access EJB

Locate EJBTester.java in project explorer. Right click on EJBTester class and select run file.

Verify the following output in Netbeans console.

run:
**********************
Welcome to Book Store
**********************
Options 
1. Add Book
2. Exit 
Enter Choice: 1
Enter book name: Learn Java
**********************
Welcome to Book Store
**********************
Options 
1. Add Book
2. Exit 
Enter Choice: 2
Book(s) entered so far: 1
1. Learn Java
BUILD SUCCESSFUL (total time: 13 seconds)

JBoss Application server log output

You can find the following callback entries in JBoss log

14:08:34,293 INFO  [STDOUT] postConstruct:: LibraryPersistentBean session bean created with entity Manager object
...
16:39:09,484 INFO  [STDOUT] BookCallbackListener.prePersist:: Book to be created with book id: 0
16:39:09,531 INFO  [STDOUT] BookCallbackListener.postPersist:: Book created with book id: 1
16:39:09,900 INFO  [STDOUT] BookCallbackListener.postLoad:: Loaded Book: 1
...

EJB - Timer Service

Timer Service is a mechanism using which scheduled application can be build. For example, salary slip generation on 1st of every month. EJB 3.0 specification has specified @Timeout annotation which helps in programming the ejb service in a stateless or message driven bean. EJB Container calls the method which is annotated by @Timeout.

EJB Timer Service is a service provided by Ejb container which helps to create timer and to schedule callback when timer expires.

Steps to create Timer

Inject SessionContext in bean using @Resource annotation

@Stateless
public class TimerSessionBean {

   @Resource
   private SessionContext context;
   ...
}

Use SessionContext object to get TimerService and to create timer. Pass time in milliseconds and message.

public void createTimer(long duration) {
   context.getTimerService().createTimer(duration, "Hello World!");
}

Steps to Use Timer

Use @Timeout annotation to a method. Return type should be void and pass a parameter of type Timer. We are canceling the timer after first execution otherwise it will keep running after fix intervals.

@Timeout
public void timeOutHandler(Timer timer){
   System.out.println("timeoutHandler : " + timer.getInfo());        
   timer.cancel();
}

Example Application

Let us create a test EJB application to test Timer Service in EJB.

Step	Description
1	Create a project with a name EjbComponent under a package com.only4programmers.timer as explained in the EJB - Create Application chapter.
2	Create TimerSessionBean.java and TimerSessionBeanRemote as explained in the EJB - Create Application chapter. Keep rest of the files unchanged.
3	Clean and Build the application to make sure business logic is working as per the requirements.
4	Finally, deploy the application in the form of jar file on JBoss Application Server. JBoss Application server will get started automatically if it is not started yet.
5	Now create the ejb client, a console based application in the same way as explained in theEJB - Create Application chapter under topic Create Client to access EJB.

EJBComponent (EJB Module)

TimerSessionBean.java

package com.only4programmers.timer;

import javax.annotation.Resource;
import javax.ejb.SessionContext;
import javax.ejb.Timer;
import javax.ejb.Stateless;
import javax.ejb.Timeout;

@Stateless
public class TimerSessionBean implements TimerSessionBeanRemote {

   @Resource
   private SessionContext context;

   public void createTimer(long duration) {
      context.getTimerService().createTimer(duration, "Hello World!");
   }

   @Timeout
   public void timeOutHandler(Timer timer){
      System.out.println("timeoutHandler : " + timer.getInfo());        
      timer.cancel();
   }
}

TimerSessionBeanRemote.java

package com.only4programmers.timer;


import javax.ejb.Remote;

@Remote
public interface TimerSessionBeanRemote {
   public void createTimer(long milliseconds);
}

As soon as you deploy the EjbComponent project on JBOSS, notice the jboss log.
JBoss has automatically created a JNDI entry for our session bean -TimerSessionBean/remote.
We'll using this lookup string to get remote business object of type -com.only4programmers.timer.TimerSessionBeanRemote

JBoss Application server log output

...
16:30:01,401 INFO  [JndiSessionRegistrarBase] Binding the following Entries in Global JNDI:
   TimerSessionBean/remote - EJB3.x Default Remote Business Interface
   TimerSessionBean/remote-com.only4programmers.timer.TimerSessionBeanRemote - EJB3.x Remote Business Interface
16:30:02,723 INFO  [SessionSpecContainer] Starting jboss.j2ee:jar=EjbComponent.jar,name=TimerSessionBean,service=EJB3
16:30:02,723 INFO  [EJBContainer] STARTED EJB: com.only4programmers.timer.TimerSessionBeanRemote ejbName: TimerSessionBean

...

EJBTester (EJB Client)

jndi.properties

java.naming.factory.initial=org.jnp.interfaces.NamingContextFactory
java.naming.factory.url.pkgs=org.jboss.naming:org.jnp.interfaces
java.naming.provider.url=localhost

These properties are used to initialize the InitialContext object of java naming service
InitialContext object will be used to lookup stateless session bean

EJBTester.java

package com.only4programmers.test;
   
import com.only4programmers.stateful.TimerSessionBeanRemote;
import java.io.BufferedReader;
import java.io.FileInputStream;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.io.InputStreamReader;
import java.util.List;
import java.util.Properties;
import javax.naming.InitialContext;
import javax.naming.NamingException;

public class EJBTester {

   BufferedReader brConsoleReader = null; 
   Properties props;
   InitialContext ctx;
   {
      props = new Properties();
      try {
         props.load(new FileInputStream("jndi.properties"));
      } catch (IOException ex) {
         ex.printStackTrace();
      }
      try {
         ctx = new InitialContext(props);            
      } catch (NamingException ex) {
         ex.printStackTrace();
      }
      brConsoleReader = 
      new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(System.in));
   }
   
   public static void main(String[] args) {

      EJBTester ejbTester = new EJBTester();

      ejbTester.testTimerService();
   }
   
   private void showGUI(){
      System.out.println("**********************");
      System.out.println("Welcome to Book Store");
      System.out.println("**********************");
      System.out.print("Options \n1. Add Book\n2. Exit \nEnter Choice: ");
   }
   
   private void testTimerService(){
      try {
         TimerSessionBeanRemote timerServiceBean = (TimerSessionBeanRemote)ctx.lookup("TimerSessionBean/remote");

         System.out.println("["+(new Date()).toString()+ "]" + "timer created.");
         timerServiceBean.createTimer(2000);            

      } catch (NamingException ex) {
         ex.printStackTrace();
      }
   }
}

EJBTester is doing the following tasks.

Load properties from jndi.properties and initialize the InitialContext object.
In testTimerService() method, jndi lookup is done with name - "TimerSessionBean/remote" to obtain the remote business object (timer stateless ejb).
Then createTimer is invoked passing 2000 milliseconds as schedule time.
EJB Container calls the timeoutHandler method after 2 seconds.

Run Client to access EJB

Locate EJBTester.java in project explorer. Right click on EJBTester class and select run file.

Verify the following output in Netbeans console.

run:
[Wed Jun 19 11:35:47 IST 2013]timer created.
BUILD SUCCESSFUL (total time: 0 seconds)

JBoss Application server log output

You can find the following callback entries in JBoss log

...
11:35:49,555 INFO  [STDOUT] timeoutHandler : Hello World!
...

EJB - Dependency Injection

EJB 3.0 specification provides annotations which can be applied on fields or setter methods to inject dependencies. EJB Container uses the global JNDI registry to locate the dependency. Following annotations are used in EJB 3.0 for dependency injection.

@EJB - used to inject other EJB reference.
@Resource - used to inject datasource or singleton services like sessionContext, timerService etc.

Steps to use @EJB

@EJB can be used on fields or on methods in following manner.

public class LibraryMessageBean implements MessageListener {
   //dependency injection on field. 
   @EJB
   LibraryPersistentBeanRemote libraryBean;
   ...
}

public class LibraryMessageBean implements MessageListener {
  
   LibraryPersistentBeanRemote libraryBean;
   
   //dependency injection on method. 
   @EJB(beanName="com.only4programmers.stateless.LibraryPersistentBean")
   public void setLibraryPersistentBean(
   LibraryPersistentBeanRemote libraryBean)
   {
      this.libraryBean = libraryBean;
   }
   ...
}

Steps to use @Resource

@Resource is normally used to inject EJB Container provided singletons.

public class LibraryMessageBean implements MessageListener {
   @Resource
   private MessageDrivenContext mdctx;  
   ...
}

Example Application

Let us create a test EJB application to test Dependency Injection Service in EJB.

Step	Description
1	Create a project with a name EjbComponent under a package com.only4programmers.timer as explained in the EJB - Create Application chapter.
3	Use Beans created in the EJB - Message Driven Bean chapter. Keep rest of the files unchanged.
5	Clean and Build the application to make sure business logic is working as per the requirements.
6	Finally, deploy the application in the form of jar file on JBoss Application Server. JBoss Application server will get started automatically if it is not started yet.
7	Now create the ejb client, a console based application in the same way as explained in theEJB - Create Application chapter under topic Create Client to access EJB.

EJBComponent (EJB Module)

LibraryMessageBean.java

package com.tuturialspoint.messagebean;
 
import com.only4programmers.entity.Book;
import com.only4programmers.stateless.LibraryPersistentBeanRemote;
import javax.annotation.Resource;
import javax.ejb.ActivationConfigProperty;
import javax.ejb.EJB;
import javax.ejb.MessageDriven;
import javax.ejb.MessageDrivenContext;
import javax.jms.JMSException;
import javax.jms.Message;
import javax.jms.MessageListener;
import javax.jms.ObjectMessage;
 
@MessageDriven(
   name = "BookMessageHandler",
   activationConfig = {
      @ActivationConfigProperty( propertyName = "destinationType", 
                                 propertyValue = "javax.jms.Queue"),
      @ActivationConfigProperty( propertyName = "destination", 
                                 propertyValue ="/queue/BookQueue")
   }
)
public class LibraryMessageBean implements MessageListener {
 
   @Resource
   private MessageDrivenContext mdctx;  
 
   @EJB
   LibraryPersistentBeanRemote libraryBean;
 
   public LibraryMessageBean(){        
   }
 
   public void onMessage(Message message) {
      ObjectMessage objectMessage = null;
      try {
         objectMessage = (ObjectMessage) message;
         Book book = (Book) objectMessage.getObject(); 
         libraryBean.addBook(book);
 
      } catch (JMSException ex) {
         mdctx.setRollbackOnly();
      }       
   }   
}

EJBTester (EJB Client)

EJBTester.java

package com..test;
   
import com.only4programmers.entity.Book;
import com.only4programmers.stateless.LibraryPersistentBeanRemote;
import java.io.BufferedReader;
import java.io.FileInputStream;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.io.InputStreamReader;
import java.util.List;
import java.util.Properties;
import javax.jms.ObjectMessage;
import javax.jms.Queue;
import javax.jms.QueueConnection;
import javax.jms.QueueConnectionFactory;
import javax.jms.QueueSender;
import javax.jms.QueueSession;
import javax.naming.InitialContext;
import javax.naming.NamingException;
 
public class EJBTester {
 
   BufferedReader brConsoleReader = null; 
   Properties props;
   InitialContext ctx;
   {
      props = new Properties();
      try {
         props.load(new FileInputStream("jndi.properties"));
      } catch (IOException ex) {
         ex.printStackTrace();
      }
      try {
         ctx = new InitialContext(props);            
      } catch (NamingException ex) {
         ex.printStackTrace();
      }
      brConsoleReader = 
      new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(System.in));
   }
   
   public static void main(String[] args) {
 
      EJBTester ejbTester = new EJBTester();
 
      ejbTester.testMessageBeanEjb();
   }
   
   private void showGUI(){
      System.out.println("**********************");
      System.out.println("Welcome to Book Store");
      System.out.println("**********************");
      System.out.print("Options \n1. Add Book\n2. Exit \nEnter Choice: ");
   }
   
   private void testMessageBeanEjb(){
 
      try {
         int choice = 1; 
         Queue queue = (Queue) ctx.lookup("/queue/BookQueue");
         QueueConnectionFactory factory =
         (QueueConnectionFactory) ctx.lookup("ConnectionFactory");
         QueueConnection connection =  factory.createQueueConnection();
         QueueSession session = connection.createQueueSession( 
         false, QueueSession.AUTO_ACKNOWLEDGE);
         QueueSender sender = session.createSender(queue);
 
         while (choice != 2) {
            String bookName;
            showGUI();
            String strChoice = brConsoleReader.readLine();
            choice = Integer.parseInt(strChoice);
            if (choice == 1) {
               System.out.print("Enter book name: ");
               bookName = brConsoleReader.readLine();
               Book book = new Book();
               book.setName(bookName);
               ObjectMessage objectMessage = 
               session.createObjectMessage(book);
               sender.send(objectMessage); 
            } else if (choice == 2) {
               break;
            }
         }
 
         LibraryPersistentBeanRemote libraryBean = 
         (LibraryPersistentBeanRemote)
		 ctx.lookup("LibraryPersistentBean/remote");
 
         List<Book> booksList = libraryBean.getBooks();
 
         System.out.println("Book(s) entered so far: " 
         + booksList.size());
         int i = 0;
         for (Book book:booksList) {
            System.out.println((i+1)+". " + book.getName());
            i++;
         }           
      } catch (Exception e) {
         System.out.println(e.getMessage());
         e.printStackTrace();
      }finally {
         try {
            if(brConsoleReader !=null){
               brConsoleReader.close();
            }
         } catch (IOException ex) {
            System.out.println(ex.getMessage());
         }
      }
   }   
}

EJBTester is doing the following tasks.

Load properties from jndi.properties and initialize the InitialContext object.
In testStatefulEjb() method, jndi lookup is done with name - "/queue/BookQueue" to obtain treference of queue available in Jboss. Then sender is created using queue session.
Then user is shown a library store User Interface and he/she is asked to enter choice.
If user enters 1, system asks for book name and sender sends the book name to queue. When JBoss container receives this message in queue, it calls our message driven bean's onMessage method. Our message driven bean then saves book using stateful session bean addBook() method. Session Bean is persisting the book in database via EntityManager call.
If user enters 2, then another jndi lookup is done with name - "LibraryStatefulSessionBean/remote" to obtain the remote business object (stateful ejb) again and listing of books is done.

Run Client to access EJB

Locate EJBTester.java in project explorer. Right click on EJBTester class and select run file.

Verify the following output in Netbeans console.

run:
**********************
Welcome to Book Store
**********************
Options 
1. Add Book
2. Exit 
Enter Choice: 1
Enter book name: Learn EJB
**********************
Welcome to Book Store
**********************
Options 
1. Add Book
2. Exit 
Enter Choice: 2
Book(s) entered so far: 2
1. learn java
1. learn EJB
BUILD SUCCESSFUL (total time: 15 seconds)

Output shown above states that our Message driven bean is receiving the message and storing book in persistent storage and books are retrived from database.

Our Message driven bean is using LibraryPersistentBean injected into it using @EJB annotation and in case of exception MessageDrivenContext object is used to rollback the transaction.

EJB - Interceptors

EJB 3.0 provides specification to intercept business methods calls using methods annotated with @AroundInvoke annotation. An interceptor method is called by ejbContainer before business method call it is intercepting. Following is the example signature of an interceptor method

@AroundInvoke
public Object methodInterceptor(InvocationContext ctx) throws Exception
{
   System.out.println("*** Intercepting call to LibraryBean method: " 
   + ctx.getMethod().getName());
   return ctx.proceed();
}

Interceptor methods can be applied or bound at three levels

Default - Default interceptor is invoked for every bean within deployment.Default interceptor can be applied only via xml (ejb-jar.xml).
Class - Class level interceptor is invoked for every method of the bean. Class level interceptor can be applied both by annotation of via xml(ejb-jar.xml).
Method - Method level interceptor is invoked for a particular method of the bean. Method level interceptor can be applied both by annotation of via xml(ejb-jar.xml).

We are discussing Class level interceptor here.

Interceptor class

package com.only4programmers.interceptor;

import javax.interceptor.AroundInvoke;
import javax.interceptor.InvocationContext;

public class BusinessInterceptor {
   @AroundInvoke
   public Object methodInterceptor(InvocationContext ctx) throws Exception
   {
      System.out.println("*** Intercepting call to LibraryBean method: " 
      + ctx.getMethod().getName());
      return ctx.proceed();
   }
}

Remote Interface

import javax.ejb.Remote;

@Remote
public interface LibraryBeanRemote {
   //add business method declarations
}

Intercepted Stateless EJB

@Interceptors ({BusinessInterceptor.class})
@Stateless
public class LibraryBean implements LibraryBeanRemote {
   //implement business method 
}

Example Application

Let us create a test EJB application to test intercepted stateless EJB.

Step	Description
1	Create a project with a name EjbComponent under a package com.only4programmers.interceptoras explained in the EJB - Create Application chapter. You can also use the project created inEJB - Create Application chapter as such for this chapter to understand intercepted ejb concepts.
2	Create LibraryBean.java and LibraryBeanRemote under packagecom.only4programmers.interceptor as explained in the EJB - Create Application chapter. Keep rest of the files unchanged.
3	Clean and Build the application to make sure business logic is working as per the requirements.
4	Finally, deploy the application in the form of jar file on JBoss Application Server. JBoss Application server will get started automatically if it is not started yet.
5	Now create the ejb client, a console based application in the same way as explained in theEJB - Create Application chapter under topic Create Client to access EJB.

EJBComponent (EJB Module)

LibraryBeanRemote.java

package com.only4programmers.interceptor;

import java.util.List;
import javax.ejb.Remote;

@Remote
public interface LibraryBeanRemote {
   void addBook(String bookName);
   List getBooks();
}

LibraryBean.java

package com.only4programmers.interceptor;

import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.List;
import javax.ejb.Stateless;
import javax.interceptor.Interceptors;

@Interceptors ({BusinessInterceptor.class})
@Stateless
public class LibraryBean implements LibraryBeanRemote {
    
   List<String> bookShelf;    

   public LibraryBean(){
      bookShelf = new ArrayList<String>();
   }

   public void addBook(String bookName) {
      bookShelf.add(bookName);
   }    

   public List<String> getBooks() {
      return bookShelf;
   }   
}

As soon as you deploy the EjbComponent project on JBOSS, notice the jboss log.
JBoss has automatically created a JNDI entry for our session bean - LibraryBean/remote.
We'll using this lookup string to get remote business object of type -com.only4programmers.interceptor.LibraryBeanRemote

JBoss Application server log output

...
16:30:01,401 INFO  [JndiSessionRegistrarBase] Binding the following Entries in Global JNDI:
   LibraryBean/remote - EJB3.x Default Remote Business Interface
   LibraryBean/remote-com.only4programmers.interceptor.LibraryBeanRemote - EJB3.x Remote Business Interface
16:30:02,723 INFO  [SessionSpecContainer] Starting jboss.j2ee:jar=EjbComponent.jar,name=LibraryBean,service=EJB3
16:30:02,723 INFO  [EJBContainer] STARTED EJB: com.only4programmers.interceptor.LibraryBeanRemote ejbName: LibraryBean
16:30:02,731 INFO  [JndiSessionRegistrarBase] Binding the following Entries in Global JNDI:

   LibraryBean/remote - EJB3.x Default Remote Business Interface
   LibraryBean/remote-com.only4programmers.interceptor.LibraryBeanRemote - EJB3.x Remote Business Interface
...

EJBTester (EJB Client)

jndi.properties

java.naming.factory.initial=org.jnp.interfaces.NamingContextFactory
java.naming.factory.url.pkgs=org.jboss.naming:org.jnp.interfaces
java.naming.provider.url=localhost

These properties are used to initialize the InitialContext object of java naming service
InitialContext object will be used to lookup stateless session bean

EJBTester.java

package com.only4programmers.test;
   
import com.only4programmers.stateful.LibraryBeanRemote;
import java.io.BufferedReader;
import java.io.FileInputStream;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.io.InputStreamReader;
import java.util.List;
import java.util.Properties;
import javax.naming.InitialContext;
import javax.naming.NamingException;

public class EJBTester {

   BufferedReader brConsoleReader = null; 
   Properties props;
   InitialContext ctx;
   {
      props = new Properties();
      try {
         props.load(new FileInputStream("jndi.properties"));
      } catch (IOException ex) {
         ex.printStackTrace();
      }
      try {
         ctx = new InitialContext(props);            
      } catch (NamingException ex) {
         ex.printStackTrace();
      }
      brConsoleReader = 
      new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(System.in));
   }
   
   public static void main(String[] args) {

      EJBTester ejbTester = new EJBTester();

      ejbTester.testInterceptedEjb();
   }
   
   private void showGUI(){
      System.out.println("**********************");
      System.out.println("Welcome to Book Store");
      System.out.println("**********************");
      System.out.print("Options \n1. Add Book\n2. Exit \nEnter Choice: ");
   }
   
   private void testInterceptedEjb(){

      try {
         int choice = 1; 

         LibraryBeanRemote libraryBean =
         LibraryBeanRemote)ctx.lookup("LibraryBean/remote");

         while (choice != 2) {
            String bookName;
            showGUI();
            String strChoice = brConsoleReader.readLine();
            choice = Integer.parseInt(strChoice);
            if (choice == 1) {
               System.out.print("Enter book name: ");
               bookName = brConsoleReader.readLine();
               Book book = new Book();
               book.setName(bookName);
               libraryBean.addBook(book);          
            } else if (choice == 2) {
               break;
            }
         }

         List<Book> booksList = libraryBean.getBooks();

         System.out.println("Book(s) entered so far: " + booksList.size());
         int i = 0;
         for (Book book:booksList) {
            System.out.println((i+1)+". " + book.getName());
            i++;
         }                
      } catch (Exception e) {
         System.out.println(e.getMessage());
         e.printStackTrace();
      }finally {
         try {
            if(brConsoleReader !=null){
               brConsoleReader.close();
            }
         } catch (IOException ex) {
            System.out.println(ex.getMessage());
         }
      }
   }
}

EJBTester is doing the following tasks.

Load properties from jndi.properties and initialize the InitialContext object.
In testInterceptedEjb() method, jndi lookup is done with name - "LibraryBean/remote" to obtain the remote business object (stateless ejb).
Then user is shown a library store User Interface and he/she is asked to enter choice.
If user enters 1, system asks for book name and saves the book using stateless session bean addBook() method. Session Bean is storing the book in its instance variable.
If user enters 2, system retrieves books using stateless session bean getBooks() method and exits.

Run Client to access EJB

Locate EJBTester.java in project explorer. Right click on EJBTester class and select run file.

Verify the following output in Netbeans console.

run:
**********************
Welcome to Book Store
**********************
Options 
1. Add Book
2. Exit 
Enter Choice: 1
Enter book name: Learn Java
**********************
Welcome to Book Store
**********************
Options 
1. Add Book
2. Exit 
Enter Choice: 2
Book(s) entered so far: 1
1. Learn Java
BUILD SUCCESSFUL (total time: 13 seconds)

JBoss Application server log output

Verify the following output in JBoss Application server log output.

....
09:55:40,741 INFO  [STDOUT] *** Intercepting call to LibraryBean method: addBook
09:55:43,661 INFO  [STDOUT] *** Intercepting call to LibraryBean method: getBooks

Wednesday 31 July 2013

EJB(Enterprise Java Beans)

EJB Tutorial

EJB - Overview

Benefits

Types

EJB - Environment Setup

System Requirement

Step 1 - verify Java installation in your machine

Step 2: Set JAVA environment

Step 3: Download and Install NetBeans IDE

Step 4: Setup JBoss Application Server:

Step 5: Configure JEE Plugins to Netbeans

Step 6: Configure JBoss Server in Netbeans

Step 7: Install Database Server (PostGreSql)

EJB - Create Application

Create Project

Create a sample EJB

Build the Project

Start the Application Server

Deploy the Project

Create Client to access EJB

Run Client to access EJB

EJB - Stateless Bean

Example Application

EJBComponent (EJB Module)

LibrarySessionBeanRemote.java

LibrarySessionBean.java

JBoss Application server log output

EJBTester (EJB Client)

jndi.properties

EJBTester.java

Run Client to access EJB

Run Client again to access EJB

EJB - Stateful Bean

Example Application

EJBComponent (EJB Module)

LibraryStatefulSessionBeanRemote.java

LibraryStatefulSessionBean.java

JBoss Application server log output

EJBTester (EJB Client)

jndi.properties

EJBTester.java

Run Client to access EJB

Run Client again to access EJB

EJB - Persistence

Create table

Create Entity class

Create DataSource and persistence unit

Create Stateless EJB having EntityManager instance

Example Application

EJBComponent (EJB Module)

Book.java

LibraryPersistentBeanRemote.java

LibraryPersistentBean.java

JBoss Application server log output

EJBTester (EJB Client)

jndi.properties

EJBTester.java

Run Client to access EJB

Run Client again to access EJB.

EJB - Message Driven Beans

Create Queue

Create Message Driven Bean

Example Application

EJBComponent (EJB Module)

LibraryMessageBean.java

EJBTester (EJB Client)

EJBTester.java

Run Client to access EJB

EJB - Annotations

EJB - Callbacks

Example Application

EJBComponent (EJB Module)

BookCallbackListener.java

Book.java

LibraryStatefulSessionBean.java

LibraryStatefulSessionBeanRempote.java

LibraryPersistentBean.java

LibraryPersistentBeanRemote.java