This is a feature of JBuilder Enterprise.
To open the Properties dialog box for an IDL file, right-click an IDL file in the project pane and select Properties. In order for this dialog box to display, a properly configured CORBA setup must be selected for the project on the CORBA tab of the Tools|Enterprise Setup dialog box, and that compiler must be selected as the IDL Compiler on the Build page of the Project|Project Properties dialog box.
Configurations for both VisiBroker and OrbixWeb are provided, with corresponding ORB-specific IDL Properties dialog boxes. If you select your own custom CORBA configuration - defined in the Tools|Enterprise Setup dialog box - the Generic IDL Properties dialog box displays.
To learn more about developing distributed applications using JBuilder, see the Distributed Application Developer's Guide. For information on creating a CORBA application with interfaces defined in IDL, see "Exploring CORBA-based distributed applications in JBuilder."
The Properties dialog box for an IDL compiler enables you to specify options for compiling remote interfaces defined in the Interface Definition Language (IDL). When an IDL file is compiled, it generates Java interface definitions and Java client stubs and server skeletons. This allows a Java client to transparently invoke an IDL object that resides on a remote server or allows a Java server to define objects that can be transparently invoked from IDL clients.
When the IDL compiler is invoked by right-clicking an IDL file and selecting Make or Rebuild, the IDL source file is compiled, and a directory structure containing the Java mappings for the IDL declarations is created. Typically, one IDL file will be mapped to many Java files that marshall/unmarshall Java data types to CORBA types and provide IIOP messaging. IDL file names must end with the .idl
extension.
When this option is selected, you can set compiler options, add the compiled files and/or packages to the current project, and view compiler output.
When this option is on, selecting OK sets the options to be used by the IDL compiler you have designated in your CORBA setup when the IDL file is compiled. Set the correct options so that when compiled, Java interface definitions and Java client and server stubs and skeletons are generated.
When the Process This IDL File option is not checked, selecting OK saves the selected options, but excludes the file from the build process. This means that the client stubs and server skeletons are not generated when the IDL file is compiled.
The first step to creating an application of this type to specify all of your objects and their interfaces using the OMG's Interface Definition Language (IDL). The IDL can be mapped to a variety of programming languages.
The interface specification you created is used to generate stub routines for the client program and skeleton code for the object implementation. The stub routines are used by the client program for the method invocations. You use the skeleton code, along with code you write, to create the server that implements the object. The code for the client and object, once completed, is used as input to your Java compiler to produce a Java applet or application and an object server.
This page provides options for modifying the Java source code generated when an IDL source file is compiled. By default, a Java-based preprocessor compiles an IDL source file and creates a directory structure containing the Java mappings for the IDL declarations. Typically, one IDL file will be mapped to many Java files because Java allows only one public interface or class per file.
Opens a dialog box that allows you to select a directory to be searched for the list of files to include in the build. You must select a directory that contains an .idl
file.
This field allows you to specify options that are not available in this dialog box.
Displays a list of symbols defined for conditional IDL compilation. Click New to add a new symbol, click Delete to delete the highlighted symbol.
Opens a dialog box that enables you to define a symbol name for conditional IDL compilation, for example #define name def
.
This button enables you to delete the selected symbol from the list of symbols defined for conditional compilation.
When the Process This IDL File option is checked, selecting OK sets the options to be used by the IDL compiler. Set the correct options so that when compiled, Java interface definitions and Java client and server stubs and skeletons are generated in a subdirectory of the project with the same name as the project.
When the Process This IDL File option is not checked, selecting OK saves the selected options, but excludes the file from the build process. This means that the client stubs and server skeletons are not generated when the IDL file is compiled.