Java Reference
In-Depth Information
Java Naming and Directory Interface API
The Java Naming and Directory Interface (JNDI) API provides naming and directory
functionality, enabling applications to access multiple naming and directory services such
as LDAP, DNS, and NIS. The JNDI API provides applications with methods for perform-
ing standard directory operations, such as associating attributes with objects and searching
for objects using their attributes. Using JNDI, a Java EE application can store and retrieve
any type of named Java object, allowing Java EE applications to coexist with many legacy
applications and systems.
Java EE naming services provide application clients, enterprise beans, and web compon-
ents with access to a JNDI naming environment. A
naming environment
allows a compon-
ent to be customized without the need to access or change the component's source code.
A container implements the component's environment and provides it to the component
as a JNDI
naming context
.
A Java EE component can locate its environment naming context by using JNDI in-
terfaces. A component can create a
javax.naming.InitialContext
object and
look up the environment naming context in
InitialContext
under the name
java:comp/env
. A component's naming environment is stored directly in the environ-
ment naming context or in any of its direct or indirect subcontexts.
A Java EE component can access named system-provided and user-defined objects. The
names of system-provided objects, such as JTA
UserTransaction
objects, are stored
in the environment naming context
java:comp/env
. The Java EE platform allows a
component to name user-defined objects, such as enterprise beans, environment entries,
JDBC
DataSource
objects, and message connections. An object should be named with-
in a subcontext of the naming environment according to the type of the object. For ex-
ample, enterprise beans are named within the subcontext
java:comp/env/ejb
, and
JDBC
DataSource
references are named within the subcontext
java:comp/env/
jdbc
.
JavaBeans Activation Framework
The JavaBeans Activation Framework (JAF) is used by the JavaMail API. JAF provides
standard services to determine the type of an arbitrary piece of data, encapsulate access to
it, discover the operations available on it, and create the appropriate JavaBeans compon-
ent to perform those operations.
Java API for XML Processing
The Java API for XML Processing (JAXP), part of the Java SE platform, supports the pro-
cessing of XML documents using Document Object Model (DOM), Simple API for XML
