10.3 The cachespec.xml configuration file
WebSphere dynamic caching service policies are defined in the cachespec.xml file. This file defines, for example, which objects to cache (the <cache-entry>) and where (for example in the dynamic cache service of the appserver itself or in an external cache). Dependencies between objects can also be defined as well as timeouts and invalidation.
The cache parses the cachespec.xml file when the server starts and also dynamically when the file is changed, and extracts a set of configuration parameters from each <cache-entry> element. The <cache-entry> elements can be inside the root <cache> element or inside a <cache-instance> element. Cache entries that are in the <root> element are cached with the default cache instance. Cache entries that are in the <cache-instance> element are cached in that particular cache instance. Different cacheable objects have different <class> elements. You can define the specific object a cache policy refers to using the <name> element.