Opinion: Tomcat/SOAP/Java Web Start

["Wagoner, Mark" <MW...@wildflavors.com>]

This is only slightly related to Tomcat, per se, and I apologize for that.
But I figure this is the best place to find any real-world experiences
and/or opinions with any of the above combinations.

We are considering replacing our browser-based app with a Java client using
Java Web Start primarily because of the lack of functionality possible with
an HTML client.  This is purely an intranet app, so we don't need (or even
want) to allow public access.  We are also trying to figure out how to
incorporate some new functionality that requires access to the client
hardware as well as limited off-line capability.

However, some of the client machines are scattered across the country at
home offices and it was the whole "remote installation/administration"
hassle that prompted the use of a web-based system in the first place.  Has
anyone had any real experience with Java Web Start?  Does it really make
installation and upgrades as painless as Sun claims?

Also, from what I can gather from all of the information scattered across
the web, it should be possible to create a Java client that sends SOAP
messages to a servlet, which takes care of database access, etc.  Is this a
correct conclusion?  If so, is there more to it than packaging the request
parameters in an XML document, posting it to the servlet, then extracting
the results from another XML document?

Any real-world experiences with any of these pieces (positive or negative)
would be appreciated.  Also, any pointers to more in-depth information would
be welcome as well.

Thanks for your time.
Mark

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RE: Opinion: Tomcat/SOAP/Java Web Start

[Jim Urban <ju...@parkcitysolutions.com>]

We have used JWS in an intranet application.  What you said makes sense.
The only thing we did different was we used Java's Serializable interface to
send Java data objects back and forth between the server (a servlet app
running on Tomcat) and the JWS application.  As for the install and upgrade
features of JWS the only problem we had was users didn't have the JRE or JWS
runtime installed before attempting to install our application.  Once
running, our clients like the application much more then the browser based
application they would have had.  As for the remote users, if you have a VPN
then you won't have to worry about security.  I mention this because you can
not launch JWS applications from a secure (HTTPS) site (unless Sun has
released a fix for that).  You can do HTTPS from within the application once
its started, but it's a hassle dealing with the Java code needed to create
the secure connection (this is not a JWS issue, but a core Java headache).

Good luck, don't be afraid of JWS, its great client side technology.
Jim Urban


-----Original Message-----
From: Wagoner, Mark [mailto:MWagoner@wildflavors.com]
Sent: Thursday, August 22, 2002 1:31 PM
To: Tomcat User List (E-mail)
Subject: Opinion: Tomcat/SOAP/Java Web Start

This is only slightly related to Tomcat, per se, and I apologize for that.
But I figure this is the best place to find any real-world experiences
and/or opinions with any of the above combinations.

We are considering replacing our browser-based app with a Java client using
Java Web Start primarily because of the lack of functionality possible with
an HTML client.  This is purely an intranet app, so we don't need (or even
want) to allow public access.  We are also trying to figure out how to
incorporate some new functionality that requires access to the client
hardware as well as limited off-line capability.

However, some of the client machines are scattered across the country at
home offices and it was the whole "remote installation/administration"
hassle that prompted the use of a web-based system in the first place.  Has
anyone had any real experience with Java Web Start?  Does it really make
installation and upgrades as painless as Sun claims?

Also, from what I can gather from all of the information scattered across
the web, it should be possible to create a Java client that sends SOAP
messages to a servlet, which takes care of database access, etc.  Is this a
correct conclusion?  If so, is there more to it than packaging the request
parameters in an XML document, posting it to the servlet, then extracting
the results from another XML document?

Any real-world experiences with any of these pieces (positive or negative)
would be appreciated.  Also, any pointers to more in-depth information would
be welcome as well.

Thanks for your time.
Mark

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<ma...@jakarta.apache.org>
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