Create application clients

Application client projects contain programs that run on networked client systems. An application client project is deployed as a JAR file.

In the Assembly Toolkit, you can create and add an application client project to a new or existing enterprise application project.

1. Start the Assembly Toolkit.

2. Open the J2EE perspective to work with J2EE projects. Click Window > Open Perspective > Other > J2EE.

3. Click File > New > Application Client Project.

4. In the Application Client project creation dialog...

   1. Select the Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition (J2EE) specification version to which you want your project to adhere, and click Next.

   2. Name the application client project and specify its location. To change the default project location, click Browse and specify a new location. If you specify a non-default project location that is already being used by another project, the project creation will fail.

   3. Specify a new or existing enterprise application (EAR) project to be associated with your new application client project for purposes of deployment.Select an existing enterprise application project from the drop-down list or type a new project name. Or, click New and create a new enterprise application. Note that if you type a new EAR project name, the EAR project will be created in the default location with the lowest compatible J2EE version based on the version of the project being created. If you want to specify a different version or a different location for the enterprise application, click New and create a new enterprise application.

   4. (Optional)   If you are creating a new enterprise application project or if you have no module dependencies to specify, skip this step. Otherwise, click Next to specify module and JAR file dependencies. On the Module Dependencies page, select dependent JAR files or modules within the associated enterprise application project. This updates the runtime class-path and Java project build path with the appropriate JAR files. Application client modules, EJB modules, and Web modules can all have dependencies on EJB modules or utility JAR files. Modules cannot depend on WAR or application client JAR files.

   5. Click Finish to create the application client project.

5. Verify the contents of the new application client project in either of the following ways...

   • In the J2EE Hierarchy view, expand Enterprise Applications and the enterprise application associated with your application client project to view the new JAR file.

   • Click Window > Show View > Navigator to see the associated files for the application client project in a Navigator view.

After creating an application client project, you can edit the application client deployment descriptor if default properties are not sufficient. In the Client Deployment Descriptor editor, you can add enterprise bean, resource, or resource environment references as well as view and edit source code.

For detailed instructions on adding enterprise bean, resource, or resource environment references, see the Assembly Toolkit online help. In the Assembly Toolkit, click Help > Help Contents > Assembly Toolkit information > J2EE application development > Tasks > Configuring application client modules with the client deployment descriptor editor. Similar information is in the IBM WebSphere Studio Application Developer InfoCenter at http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/wsphelp/index.jsp . Click WebSphere Studio Application Developer > J2EE development > Tasks > Configuring application client modules with the client deployment descriptor editor.

 

See Also

Application clients
Enterprise applications
Assembling application clients
Assembling applications with the Assembly Toolkit
Creating enterprise applications

 

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