Introduction
Once upon a time I have an idea. Why not to study well known and relatively small Java enterprise application? We live in the world of high-level Java applications: different kind frameworks, application servers, enterprise service buses, business process management systems, etc. From one side, it’s interesting how this industry organize. From another side, yes, we have some limitations in licenses for commercial products and usually ban on de-compilation, but I will not go out of research work. I don’t want to steal anything (real thief will not write articles), and at least at this article I will work with open information – primary with library names. I will try to understand thin organization of work of one enterprise product – enterprise service bus Sonic MQ 7.6. I am interested to study code, which seems to me etalon (I think, I will be disappointed!). And I am interested in such specifics as organization of physical containers in Sonic MQ, which is main mystery in this product. I have interest also in the common technological questions – especially, using of open source libraries. For this research work I need tools – JDCore Java Decompiler (http://java.decompiler.free.fr) – it’s good that Sonic did not apply any kind obfuscation. And, certainly, I will use google for Internet search. First I will try to investigate libraries and reproduce on their functionality common mechanism – it is, in any case, good interesting task of the introspection analysis.
List of native libraries in the Sonic MQ 7.6
1. antconfig.jar
2. broker.jar
3. loggerAPI.jar
4. pluginLogger70.jar
5. pluginLogger75.jar
6. pluginLogger76.jar
7. mfcontext.jar
8. MFlaunch.jar
9. MFtriggers.jar
10. mgmt_client.jar
11. pluginMF21.jar
12. pluginMF30.jar
13. pluginMF75.jar
14. pluginMF76.jar
15. MFdirectory.jar
16. mgmt_config.jar
17. MQtriggers.jar
18. pluginMQ61.jar
19. pluginMQ70.jar
20. pluginMQ75.jar
21. pluginMQ76.jar
22. pluginMQbroker.jar
23. pluginSecurity76.jar
24. pse.jar
25. rsa_ssl.jar
26. sdf.jar
27. smc.jar
28. smq-install.jar
29. smq_tools.jar
30. smq_upgrade.jar
31. sonic_ASPI.jar
32. sonic_Channel.jar
33. sonic_Client.jar
34. sonic_Client_ext.jar
35. sonic_Crypto.jar
36. sonic_mgmt_client.jar
37. sonic_Selector.jar
38. sonic_SF.jar
39. sonic_SSL.jar
40. sonic_XA.jar
41. sonic_XMessage.jar
Grouped list of native libraries (the first approximation)
- Work with standard java tools
antconfig.jar – customization of ant
- Work of broker
broker.jar
- Logging
loggerAPI.jar – obviously, common logging library
pluginLogger70.jar – logging for Sonic 7.0
pluginLogger75.jar – logging for Sonic 7.5
pluginLogger76.jar – logging for Sonic 7.6
4. Work with physical containers (mf)
mfcontext.jar – work with container context
MFlaunch.jar – container’s launch
MFtriggers.jar
pluginMF21.jar – anything very old
pluginMF75.jar – stuff from version 7.5
pluginMF76.jar – stuff from version 7.6
MFdirectory.jar – support of the Sonic file system
pluginMF30.jar
5. Work with client (.NET-client and similar)
mgmt_client.jar
sonic_Client.jar
sonic_Client_ext.jar – work with Stream API, etc.
sonic_mgmt_client.jar – Management API
6. Work with configurations
mgmt_config.jar – don’t understand yet…
7. Work of mq-transport
MQtriggers.jar
pluginMQ61.jar – stuff for version 6.1
pluginMQ70.jar – stuff for version 7.0
pluginMQ75.jar – stuff for version 7.5
pluginMQ76.jar – stuff for version 7.6
pluginMQbroker.jar – work with broker from mq-side
smq-install.jar – installation mq?
smq_tools.jar – mq tools (Test Client, etc.)
smq_upgrade.jar – upgrade mq
sonic_ASPI.jar – JMS-implementation?
sonic_Channel.jar – work with channels
sonic_Selector.jar – work with selector API
sonic_SF.jar
8. Security
pluginSecurity76.jar
rsa_ssl.jar – link to third-party library rsa
sonic_Crypto.jar – encryption
sonic_SSL.jar – work with SSL
9. Work with Sonic file system
pse.jar – is working also with databases (PSE Pro provides an application programming interface (API) that allows you to store Java objects persistently)
- Diagnostics
sdf.jar – as I understood, for testing
- Sonic Management Console
smc.jar
- Transactions
sonic_XA.jar
- Work with xml messages
sonic_XMessage.jar
Small summary
Note existence of old versions libraries. It’s carelessness of distributive or Sonic really uses functionality of old libraries. Separate functionalities are physically placed into separate libraries as different kind APIs. Big corpus of libraries is about mq and containers, it’s not unusual, and it’s the most delicious part. Great attention have various plugins, and it’s really strange for un-plugined Sonic. Libraries have almost no reference to third-party jars, and, I think, it’s because of conscious license policy. Though few jars (pse.jar) consist of main body and sonic cover – probably, it’s simply result of several commands work. And we can find CERN-functionality in the library MFDirectory.jar, so any Sonic using organization far from atom physics can apply this functionality!
List of third-party libraries grouped on the license type
I. Free licenses (open source)
- addressing-1.0.jar
- activation.jar
- mail.jar
- jaxrpc.jar
- jndi.jar
- saaj.jar
- ant.jar
- ant-launcher.jar
- axis.jar
- bcprov-jdk14-127.jar
- bcprov-jdk15-135.jar
- commons-discovery.jar
- commons-logging.jar
- jmxri.jar
- js.jar
- opensaml.jar
- sjsxp.jar
- soap.jar
- wsdl4j.jar
- wspbeans.jar
- wss4j.jar
- xbean.jar
- xercesImpl.jar
- xmlParserAPIs.jar
- xmlsec.jarII. Commercial licenses
- asn1.jar
- certj.jar
- jsafe.jar
- jsafeJCE.jar
- sslj.jar
- mcharts.jar
Thematic list of third-party libraries
I. Security
- asn1.jar
- certj.jar
- jsafe.jar
- jsafeJCE.jar
- sslj.jar
- bcprov-jdk14-127.jar
- bcprov-jdk15-135.jar
- opensaml.jar
II. Data vizualisation
mcharts.jar
III. Web services
- addressing-1.0.jar
- saaj.jar
- axis.jar
- soap.jar
- wsdl4j.jar
- wspbeans.jar
- wss4j.jar
IV. Java beans
1. activation.jar
- V. Mail
1. mail.jar
VI. XML
- jaxrpc.jar
- sjsxp.jar
- xbean.jar
- xmlParserAPIs.jar
- xmlsec.jar
VII. JNDI
1. jndi.jar
VIII. Ant
- ant.jar
- ant-launcher.jar
IX. Common
1. commons-discovery.jar
X. Logging
1. commons-logging.jar
XI. JMX
1. jmxri.jar
XII. JavaScript
1. js.jar
XIII. XSLT
- xercesImpl.jar
List of third-party libraries with comments
- addressing-1.0.jar – Apache implementation of WS-Addressing
Apache Addressing is an implementation of the Web Services Addressing (WS-Addressing), published by the IBM, Microsoft and BEA as a joint specification, on top of Apache Axis (The Next Generation SOAP) – http://svn.apache.org/repos/asf/webservices/archive/addressing/site/index.html
- activation.jar – JavaBeans Activation Framework (Sun/Oracle) – http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/jaf11-139815.html
With the JavaBeans Activation Framework standard extension, developers who use Java technology can take advantage of standard services to determine the type of an arbitrary piece of data, encapsulate access to it, discover the operations available on it, and to instantiate the appropriate bean to perform said operation(s). For example, if a browser obtained a JPEG image, this framework would enable the browser to identify that stream of data as an JPEG image, and from that type, the browser could locate and instantiate an object that could manipulate, or view that image.
- mail.jar – JavaMail (Sun/Oracle, optional in J2SE, included in JEE) – http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javamail/index.html
- jaxrpc.jar – JSR-000101 Java(TM) API for XML-Based RPC Specification Interface Classes 1.1 Final Release (Sun/Oracle)
The Java API for XML based RPC (JAX-RPC) enables Java technology developers to build Web applications and Web services incorporating XML based RPC functionality according to the SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol) 1.1 specification.
By using JAX-RPC, developers can rapidly achieve Web services interoperability based on widely adopted standards and protocols.
http://java.sun.com/xml/downloads/jaxrpc.html
5. jndi.jar – Java Naming and Directory Interface (JNDI) (Sun/Oracle)
http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/jndi/index.html
- saaj.jar – Java Technology & XML Downloads – SOAP with Attachments API for Java (SAAJ) (Sun/Oracle)
http://java.sun.com/xml/downloads/saaj.html
- ant.jar, ant-launcher.jar – Apache Ant
http://ant.apache.org/bindownload.cgi
- asn1.jar – RSA BSAFE® Crypto-J 3.4.3
http://www.rsa.com/products/bsafe/documentation/cryptoj_343_releasenotes.pdf
certj.jar – Certificate Management Components for Java
http://www.rsa.com/products/bsafe/documentation/certj212html/certj/dev_guide/classCertJ.html
jsafe.jar, jsafeJCE.jar – RSA BSAFE® Crypto-J 2.2
http://www.rsa.com/products/bsafe/documentation/cryptoj_22_releasenotes.pdf
sslj.jar – SSL-J is a software development toolkit for building SSL security into enterprise-to-enterprise and commercial Internet applications.
Click to access sslj_416_install_guide.pdf
RSA is department of EMC (hardware, memory cards, data warehousing), and its business is informational security. Founders – Rivest, Shamir, Adleman – authors of RSA algorithm.
- axis.jar – Apache Web Services – Axis
http://axis.apache.org/axis/java/install.html
- bcprov-jdk14-127.jar, bcprov-jdk15-135.jar – Legion of the Bouncy Castle Java cryptography APIs
http://bouncycastle.org/java.html
BouncyCastlewas created inAustraliaand has no American limitations for export of crypto-algorithms. Open source
- commons-discovery.jar – Apache Commons
The Discovery component is about discovering, or finding, implementations for pluggable interfaces. It provides facilities for instantiating classes in general, and for lifecycle management of singleton (factory) classes.
http://commons.apache.org/discovery/
- commons-logging.jar – Apache Commons
The Logging package is an ultra-thin bridge between different logging implementations. A library that uses the commons-logging API can be used with any logging implementation at runtime. Commons-logging comes with support for a number of popular logging implementations, and writing adapters for others is a reasonably simple task.
http://commons.apache.org/logging/
13. jmxri.jar – Java Management Extension (JMX) 1.2.1 (Sun/Oracle)
http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/tech/download-jsp-141676.html
14. js.jar – scripting Java by means Rhino Shell (Mozilla)
http://www.mozilla.org/rhino/scriptjava.html
15. mcharts.jar – Charting platform for Java (singleton-labs)
For desktop and web
2D and 3D
http://www.singleton-labs.com/
Singleton Labs is company whose business is data visualization (graphs, charts, diagrams). Located inKaunas(Lithuania)
16. opensaml.jar
OpenSAML is a set of open source C++ & Java libraries meant to support developers working with the Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML) – authentication & authorization.(shibboleth)
Shibboleth is part of MACE-project
About MACE
In order to help create a national interoperable middleware infrastructure for research and education, Internet2 has brought together a group of leading campus IT architects to provide technical advice and direction. This group, called MACE (Middleware Architecture Committee for Education), draws its members from universities that are doing advanced work in this area. MACE aims to foster interoperability in areas such as security and directories.
https://wiki.shibboleth.net/confluence/display/OpenSAML/Home
17. sjsxp.jar – here are two JAR files in the Sun Java System XML Streaming Parser (SJSXP) implementation of JSR 173, Streaming API for XML (StAX). (Sun/Oracle)
18. soap.jar – Apache SOAP
http://www.apache.org/dyn/closer.cgi/ws/soap/
19. wsdl4j.jar – the Web Services Description Language for Java Toolkit (WSDL4J) allows the creation, representation, and manipulation of WSDL documents (sourceforge)
http://wsdl4j.sourceforge.net/
20. wspbeans.jar – GridSAM provides a job submission open standards based web service for submitting computational jobs to many commonly used distributed resource management systems. (sourceforge)
http://sourceforge.net/projects/gridsam/
21. wss4j.jar – Apache WSS4J is an implementation of the Web Services Security (WS-Security) being developed at OASIS Web Services Security TC. WSS4J is a primarily a Java library that can be used to sign and verify SOAP Messages with WS-Security information. WSS4J will use Apache Axis and Apache XML-Security projects and will be interoperable with JAX-RPC based server/clients and .NET server/clients.
22. xbean.jar – XMLBeans is a technology for accessing XML by binding it to Java types. (Apache)
http://xmlbeans.apache.org/index.html
23. xercesImpl.jar – As our charter will tell you, the Apache Xalan Project is a collaborative software development project dedicated to providing robust, full-featured, commercial-quality, and freely available XSLT support on a wide variety of platforms. (Apache)
http://xalan.apache.org/index.html
24. xmlParserAPIs.jar is part of Apache xml-commons
http://xml.apache.org/commons/
25. xmlsec.jar is part of Apache Santuario
http://santuario.apache.org/download.html
The Apache SantuarioTM project is aimed at providing implementation of the primary security standards for XML
Summary on third party libraries
For me it was discourage to find plenty of open source libraries in the commercial product. In fact, Progress paid for licenses only in the most important and complicated cases – for enterprise level security and data visualization. Why they have need in the package for drawing graphics and diagrams in the transport product – it’s question, on which I hope to find answer later. We have note once more that other libraries, and these are imposing packages on xml and web services, have free licenses (though here may be nuances), but mechanism is of special interest for me, and it’s important, that it’s building on the common accessible libraries.
It’s interesting, that we found activation.jar, which usually used for activation of bins in the enterprise level application servers. Plenty of web services libraries calls perplexity in my feelings – what do they do on the MQ-level? Probably, they make parsing messages after calling web services in a bus? Reference to the mail.jar is enigmatic too – because Sonic is not working with e-mail directly, there is special component for this work. Existence of the xslt-library calls similar questions – probably, library works for purposes of inner routing.
Common summary
We have yet more questions then answers. Sonic built in many respects on the open-source libraries. Commercial licenses are using for strictly definite purposes (data visualization, enterprise level security). Basic mechanism (brokers, containers, clients, mq, security questions) is written by Progress Sonic. And we will dig into that side – to the mechanism of containers launching, first, and this will be theme of the next article.
