Article - Resource Adapter (JCA) Requirements, Architecture & Development Methodology
By Manpreet Vohra
Introduction
This document outlines the architecture, software and development methodology for development of adapters conforming JCA specifications
 
Assumptions
This document assumes a team of 5 software engineers working on development of JCA adapters to CORBA and XML/HTTP interfaces.
 
Hardware Requirement

• Minimal hardware requirements are as follows:
• Database Server - SunSolaris / Linux
• App Server (Dev1) - SunSolaris / Linux
• App Server (Dev2) - SunSolaris / Linux
• Development Machines (5) - Win2000

 
Software Requirement

• Weblogic Server 7.0 SP 1/2 / Weblogic Server 6.1 SP3
• JDSK 1.3.1 or above
• Ant 1.5 or above for Build
• VisiBroker 4.5.1 for Java for CORBA development
• Xerces 2.0 XML parsing
• Castor 0.9.4.3 For XML to Object Transformation and viceversa
• Log4j 1.2.7 for logging
• CVS(preferred)/Perforce/SourceSafe
• Junit 3.7 for Unit Test
• Cactus For Container Based Tests
• Oracle 8.1 or above
• Jakarta Http Client and Http Commons Libraries
• Cruise Control For Nightly Builds

 
*Most of the above software are open source, so there is not cost and licensing issues with them.
 
Resource Utilization
Resources can be assigned responsibility in terms of role. One Resource can be assigned more than one role based on skill and area of expertise.
Team Lead (1) - works on overall Design, Architecture, Code Review etc.
Build Master (1) - Manages the Build, Deployment and Release Cycles. Manages CVS
BEA Server Administrator (1) - Configuration & Tuning related the BEA servers and Database
Developers (3) - Implementation the JCA Adapters
QA (2) - Testing of the adapters
 
Adapter Flow of Information
The diagram show below outlines the flow of information in case of Adapter to an XML/Http Interface
The diagram show below outlines the flow of information in case of Adapter to an CORBA Interface
 
Development
Unit testing and development on developer boxes.
Build and Deployment on Dev Server
Final Testing on Prod Server after testing on Dev
 
Resource
There are very limited resources available on the JCA. The resource include book, articles available on Internet etc.
 
Books
J2EE Connector Architecture and Enterprise Application Integration by Rahul Sharma, Beth Stearns, Tony Ng, Scott Dietzen
Java Connector Architecture: Building Enterprise Adaptors
by Atul Apte

About
Manpreet is a Technical Lead currently working on core BEA Weblogic Server 8.0 & J2EE Technologies. Manpreet has previously worked on technical integration projects for Siebel, BroadVision, Genesys & PeopleSoft. He can be reached at mvohra@livrona.com