Internationalization context: Propagation and scope

The scope of internationalization context is implicit. Every Enterprise JavaBeans (EJB) client application, servlet service method, and EJB business method invocation has two internationalization contexts under which it runs. For each application component invocation, the container enters the caller context and the invocation context, as indicated by the pertinent internationalization policy, into scope before the container delegates to the actual implementation. When the implementation returns, the service removes these contexts from scope. The internationalization service supplies no programmatic mechanism for components to explicitly manage the scope of internationalization context.

The service scopes internationalization context differently with respect to application component type:

Internationalization context observes by-value semantics over remote method requests. Changes to internationalization context elements that are scoped to an invocation do not affect the corresponding elements of the internationalization context that is scoped to the remote calling process. Also, modifications to context elements obtained using the internationalization context API do not affect the corresponding elements that are scoped to the invocation.

EJB client programs (contained)

Before it calls the main method of a client program, the J2EE client container introduces into scope invocation and caller internationalization some contexts that contain null elements. These contexts remain in scope throughout the life of the program. EJB client programs are the base in a chain of remote business method invocations and, technically, do not have a logical caller context. Accessing a caller context element yields the corresponding default element of the client JVM. On outgoing EJB business method requests, the internationalization service propagates the invocation context to the target process. Any unset (null) invocation context elements are replaced with the default of the JVM when exported by the internationalization context API or by outgoing requests.

Tip:

To propagate values other than the JVM defaults to remote business methods, EJB client programs, as well as AMI servlets or enterprise beans, must set (override) elements of the invocation context. To learn how to set invocation context elements, see Accessing invocation locales and time zone.

Servlets

On every servlet service method (doGet or doPost) invocation, the J2EE Web container introduces caller and invocation internationalization contexts into scope before delegating to the service method implementation. The caller context contains the accept-languages propagated in the HTTP servlet request, typically from a Web browser. The invocation context contains whichever context is indicated by the container internationalization attribute of the internationalization policy that is associated with the servlet. Any unset (null) invocation context elements are replaced with the default of the server JVM when exported by the internationalization context API or by outgoing requests. The caller and invocation contexts remain effective until immediately after the implementation returns, at which time the container removes them from scope.

Enterprise beans

On every EJB business method invocation, the J2EE EJB container introduces caller and invocation internationalization contexts into scope before delegating to the business method implementation. The caller context contains the internationalization context elements imported from the incoming IIOP request; if the incoming request lacks a particular internationalization context element, the container scopes a null element. The invocation context contains whichever context is indicated by the container internationalization attribute of the internationalization policy that is associated with the business method.

On outgoing EJB business method requests, the service propagates the invocation context to the target process. Any unset (null) invocation context elements are replaced with the default of the server JVM when exported by the internationalization context API or by outgoing requests. The caller and invocation contexts remain effective until immediately after the implementation returns, when the container removes them from scope.

Consider a simple EJB application with a Java client that invokes the remote myBeanMethod bean method. On the client side, the application can use the Internationalization Service API to set invocation context elements. When the client calls myBeanMethod(), the service exports the client invocation context to the outgoing request. On the server side, the service detaches the imported context from the incoming request and scopes it to the method as its caller context; the service also scopes the invocation context to the method as indicated by the associated internationalization context management policy. The EJB container then calls the myBeanMethod method, which can use the internationalization context API to access elements of either the caller or invocation contexts. When the myBeanMethod method returns, the EJB container removes these contexts from scope.

Web service client programs (contained)

Before it calls the main method of a Web service client program, the J2EE client container introduces into scope both invocation and caller internationalization contexts that contain null elements. These contexts remain in scope throughout the duration of the program. Web service client programs are the base in a chain of remote business method invocations and, technically, do not have a logical caller context. Accessing a Caller context element yields the corresponding default element of the client virtual machine.

On outgoing Web service requests, the internationalization service transparently creates a Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) header block that contains the invocation context that is associated with the current thread; the SOAP representation of invocation context is propagated through the request to the target process. Any unset (that is, null) invocation context elements are replaced with the default element of the JVM when exported by the internationalization context API or by outgoing requests. Also, because the header contains only a time zone ID, the additional state of the time zone object (java.lang.SimpleTimeZone) of the invocation context might be lost, because it does not get propagated through the request.

Tip:

To propagate values other than the JVM defaults to remote business methods, Web service client programs, as well as AMI servlets or enterprise beans, must set (override) elements of the invocation context. For more information, see "Accessing invocation locales and time zones."

Stateless session beans that are

enabled for Web services

On every method invocation of a Web service-enabled bean, the EJB container introduces caller and invocation internationalization contexts into scope before delegating control to the business method implementation. The caller context contains the internationalization context elements that are imported from the SOAP header block of the incoming request. If the incoming request lacks a particular internationalization context element, the container introduces a null element into scope. The invocation context contains whichever context is indicated by the container internationalization attribute of the internationalization policy that is associated with the business method.

On outgoing EJB business method requests, the service propagates the invocation context to the target process. Any unset (that is, null) invocation context elements are replaced with the default element of the server JVM when exported by the internationalization context API or by outgoing requests. The caller and invocation contexts remain effective until immediately after control returns from the business method implementation, at which time the container removes them from scope.

On outgoing Web service requests, the internationalization service transparently creates a SOAP header block that contains the invocation context associated with the current thread. The SOAP representation of the invocation context is propagated through the request to the target process. Any unset (that is, null) invocation context elements are replaced with the default element of the JVM when exported by the internationalization context API or by outgoing requests.

Thread association considerations

The Web and EJB containers scope internationalization contexts to a method by associating the method with the thread that run the method implementation. Similarly, methods of the internationalization context API either associate context with, or obtain context associated with, the thread on which these methods run.

In cases where new threads are spawned within an application component (for instance, a user-generated thread inside the service method of a servlet, or a system-generated event handling thread in an AWT client) the internationalization contexts associated with the parent thread does not automatically transfer to the newly-spawned thread. In such instances, the service exports the default locale and time zone of the JVM on any remote business method request and on any API calls that run on the new thread.

If the default context is inappropriate, the desired invocation context elements must be explicitly associated to the new thread by using the setXxx methods of the InvocationInternationalization interface. Currently, internationalization context management policies enable invocation context to be set within EJB client programs, as well as within servlets, session beans, and message-driven beans that use application-managed internationalization.