OPS User Guide
- Getting Started
- Tutorial
- Core Technologies Reference
- XForms
- Page Flow
- XML Pipelines (XPL)
- OPS Technologies Reference
- Processors Reference
- API Reference
- Integration
- Obsolete
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Packaging and Deployment
1. Scope
This section explains the structure of the standard WAR distributed with
OPS and how this WAR integrates with the application server (or
Servlet container). This information is useful if you need to repackage Presentation
Server. For instance, if you want to build an EAR file, or if you need to deploy
more complex OPS applications containing Servlets, Servlet Filters,
Portlets, and Servlet context listeners.
2. WAR Structure
Files |
Description |
WEB-INF/lib/orbeon.jar
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JAR file with all the OPS classes. |
WEB-INF/lib/*.jar
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All the other JAR files in the WEB-INF/lib directory are used
either by the OPS core engine, or one of the Presentation
Server processors.
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WEB-INF/web.xml
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The standard descriptor for this WAR file. It declares
OXFServlet as the default Servlet and passes some basic
configuration parameters to this Servlet.
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WEB-INF/portlet.xml
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The standard portlet descriptor for this WAR file is required if you use
portlets. It typically declares instances of OXFPortlet . For
more information, see Writing Portlets With
OPS.
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WEB-INF/weblogic.xml
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An additional descriptor for WebLogic. This descriptor typically maps
resource names to actual resources configured in the application server
(e.g. for EJBs, users, JDBC data sources, etc).
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WEB-INF/sun-web.xml
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An additional descriptor for SunOne. This descriptor typically maps
resource names to actual resources configured in the application server
(e.g. for EJBs, users, JDBC data sources, etc).
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WEB-INF/resources/*
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Contains the resources for the OPS example application.
Most of the files in this directory will be replaced when you build your own
OPS web applications. In particular, this directory
contains properties.xml , the main OPS
configuration file.
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3. OPS Initialization
The following figure illustrates the initialization of a simple OPS
deployment in a J2EE application server:
The initialization follows this lifecycle:
-
The application server reads the
WEB-INF/web.xml file, which:
- Declares a Servlet named
oxf
implemented by the class
org.orbeon.oxf.servlet.OXFServlet
(loaded from lib/orbeon.jar )
- Defines
oxf as the default Servlet
(i.e. the Servlet handling all the requests).
<web-app> <servlet> <servlet-name>oxf</servlet-name> <servlet-class>org.orbeon.oxf.servlet.OXFServlet</servlet-class> <!-- Initialization parameters here (see below) --> </servlet> <servlet-mapping> <servlet-name>oxf</servlet-name> <url-pattern>/*</url-pattern> </servlet-mapping> </web-app>
-
The web.xml file configures the OXFServlet with a
minimal set of parameters. Those parameters tell OXFServlet :
-
What resource manager has to be used, and how this resource manager is
configured. In the default WAR bundled in the OPS
distribution, OPS loads resources from the
WEB-INF/resources directory inside the WAR. If it can't
find a resource in this directory, it will try to look for it inside
orbeon.jar . Only static resources that are part of
OPS are stored in orbeon.jar (as opposed to
OPS applications). The Resource Managers section
explains in detail how resource managers work.
-
The location of
properties.xml .
-
Optionally, what main processor or context listener
processors must be used.
-
OPS is configured through an XML file,
properties.xml , stored with the resources. The exact name and
path of this file is specified within web.xml .
properties.xml may declare the main processor to be executed by
OXFServlet , as well as optional inputs of this processor.
Alternatively, the main processor can be declared directly within
web.xml , which is the recommended approach. By default, the
Page Flow Controller is used as the main processor. If the configuration is
done in web.xml :
<!-- The main processor that OXFServlet must execute --> <context-param> <param-name>oxf.main-processor.name</param-name> <param-value>{http://www.orbeon.com/oxf/processors}page-flow</param-value> </context-param> <!-- The Page Flow Controller configuration file --> <context-param> <param-name>oxf.main-processor.input.controller</param-name> <param-value>oxf:/page-flow.xml</param-value> </context-param>
If the configuration is done in properties.xml :
<properties> <!-- The main processor that OXFServlet must execute --> <property as="xs:QName" name="oxf.main-processor.main" value="oxf:page-flow"/> <!-- The Page Flow Controller configuration file --> <property as="xs:anyURI" name="oxf.main-processor.input.controller" value="oxf:/page-flow.xml"/> </properties>
For more information about the properties file, see
OPS
Properties.
-
The
oxf.main-processor.input.controller property connects the
controller input of the Page Flow Controller to the configuration
file oxf:/page-flow.xml . The Page Flow Controller reads
this input before it starts to operate.
-
The Page Flow Controller now handles client requests and dispatches them
to other pipelines. For more information about the role of the controller,
see the Page Flow Controller
reference.
4. Main Processor
4.1. Definition
In the same way that an old-fashioned program has a main function, Presentation
Server has the concept of main processor. Within a web application, the main
processor is the processor that is run each time a Servlet, Servlet filter or
Portlet receives a client request. Within a command-line application, the main
processor is simply the processor that runs when the application is run.
In the simplest web application deployment scenario, as shown in the example
above, only one OPS Servlet needs to be configured. In more
complex scenarios, it is possible to deploy multiple OPS
Servlets, Servlet filters, and Portlets, as well as one OPS
Servlet context listener, within the same Web or Portlet Application. The
following figure illustrates this:
Additional non-OPS components can obviously be deployed within
the same Web or Portlet Application.
4.2. OPS Servlet, OPS Servlet Filter, and OPS Portlet
These components can each have their own main processor. The main processor for
such components is looked up in the following locations, in this order:
-
The component's initialization parameters in
web.xml . For
example, in the case of a Servlet:
<servlet> <servlet-name>oxf</servlet-name> <servlet-class>org.orbeon.oxf.servlet.OXFServlet</servlet-class> <!-- The main processor that OXFServlet must execute --> <init-param> <param-name>oxf.main-processor.name</param-name> <param-value>{http://www.orbeon.com/oxf/processors}page-flow</param-value> </init-param> <!-- The Page Flow Controller configuration file --> <init-param> <param-name>oxf.main-processor.input.controller</param-name> <param-value>oxf:/page-flow.xml</param-value> </init-param> </servlet>
-
properties.xml , for example:
<properties> <!-- The main processor that OXFServlet must execute --> <property as="xs:QName" name="oxf.main-processor.name" value="oxf:page-flow"/> <!-- The Page Flow Controller configuration file --> <property as="xs:anyURI" name="oxf.main-processor.input.controller" value="oxf:/page-flow.xml"/> </properties>
-
The context parameters in
web.xml
<!-- The main processor that OXFServlet must execute --> <context-param> <param-name>oxf.main-processor.name</param-name> <param-value>{http://www.orbeon.com/oxf/processors}page-flow</param-value> </context-param> <!-- The Page Flow Controller configuration file --> <context-param> <param-name>oxf.main-processor.input.controller</param-name> <param-value>oxf:/page-flow.xml</param-value> </context-param>
It is recommended to configure each Web component individually in the
component's initialization properties in web.xml , so that adding
components with different configurations is facilitated. There are situations
where several components need to share a configuration, but it is expected that
such situations will be rare.
5. Error Processor
5.1. Definition
In case an error is encoutered during the execution or the main processor,
OPS tries to execute an error processor. The error processor is
typically a pipeline that produces a page showing the exception that was
encountered. For more information, please refer to the Error Pipeline documentation.
5.2. Configuring the Error Processor
You can configure an error processor in the same way the main processor is
configured. The error processor is looked up in the following locations, in
this order:
-
The component's initialization parameters in
web.xml . For
example, in the case of a Servlet:
<servlet> <servlet-name>oxf</servlet-name> <servlet-class>org.orbeon.oxf.servlet.OXFServlet</servlet-class> <!-- The error processor that OXFServlet must execute --> <init-param> <param-name>oxf.error-processor.name</param-name> <param-value>{http://www.orbeon.com/oxf/processors}pipeline</param-value> </init-param> <!-- The pipeline to execute --> <init-param> <param-name>oxf.error-processor.input.config</param-name> <param-value>oxf:/config/error.xpl</param-value> </init-param> </servlet>
-
properties.xml , for example:
<properties> <!-- The error processor that OXFServlet must execute --> <property as="xs:QName" name="oxf.error-processor.name" value="oxf:pipeline"/> <!-- The Page Flow Controller configuration file --> <property as="xs:anyURI" name="oxf.error-processor.input.config" value="oxf:/config/error.xpl"/> </properties>
-
The context parameters in
web.xml
<!-- The error processor that OXFServlet must execute --> <context-param> <param-name>oxf.error-processor.name</param-name> <param-value>{http://www.orbeon.com/oxf/processors}pipeline</param-value> </context-param> <!-- The pipeline to execute --> <context-param> <param-name>oxf.error-processor.input.config</param-name> <param-value>oxf:/config/error.xpl</param-value> </context-param>
It is recommended to configure each Web or Portlet Application component
individually in the component's initialization properties in web.xml ,
so that adding components with different configurations is facilitated. There are
situations where several components need to share a configuration, but it is
expected that such situations will be rare.
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