System and method for application container architecture

• US 20050267856A1
• Filed: 05/19/2005
• Published: 12/01/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 05/19/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Oracle International Corporation (Oracle Corporation)
• Original Assignee: BEA Systems Incorporated (Oracle Corporation)
• Inventors: Woollen, Rob
• Granted Patent: US 7,707,572 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/61 Installation

Abstract

There are provided mechanisms and methods for enabling the deployment of applications into new execution environments by adding extensions to base deployment capability for each of the new containers. These mechanisms and methods can enable embodiments to instantiate modules that augment deployment and/or execution environments for applications being deployed. The ability of embodiments to provide augmented deployment and/or execution environments can enable server embodiments to become more flexible environments from the point of view of developers seeking to implement applications on the server.

Claims

1. A method for deploying applications, the method comprising:

detecting, in a deployment descriptor of an application to be deployed, a reference to a module, the module associated with at least one of a plurality of containers for receiving applications to be deployed; and

utilizing an extension associated with the at least one container to prepare an instance of a module associated with the at least one container.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein utilizing an extension associated with the at least one container to prepare an instance of a module associated with the at least one container comprises:

retrieving a class that adds functionality to a base class comprising functionality for deploying modules.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the module is at least one of:

an Enterprise Java Bean (EJB), a web application, and a connector.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein detecting, in a deployment descriptor of an application to be deployed, a reference to a module, the module associated with at least one of a plurality of containers for receiving applications to be deployed comprises:

detecting a reference to a specific container for a module in the deployment descriptor.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein utilizing an extension associated with the at least one container to prepare an instance of a module associated with the at least one container comprises:

requesting that an instance of the module be instantiated based upon a type of the extension.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

receiving an instance of the module responsive to the request.

7. A machine readable medium having instructions stored thereon, which instructions when executed by a processor cause a system to perform the following steps:

detecting, in a deployment descriptor of an application to be deployed, a reference to a module, the module associated with at least one of a plurality of containers for receiving applications to be deployed; and

utilizing an extension associated with the at least one container to prepare an instance of a module associated with the at least one container.

8. The machine readable medium of claim 7, wherein the instructions for utilizing an extension associated with the at least one container to prepare an instance of a module associated with the at least one container include instructions that when executed by the processor cause the system to perform the step of:

retrieving a class that adds functionality to a base class comprising functionality for deploying modules.

9. The machine readable medium of claim 7, wherein the module is at least one of:

an Enterprise Java Bean (EJB), a web application, and a connector.

10. The machine readable medium of claim 7, wherein the instructions for detecting, in a deployment descriptor of an application to be deployed, a reference to a module, the module associated with at least one of a plurality of containers for receiving applications to be deployed include instructions that when executed by the processor cause the system to perform the step of:

detecting a reference to a specific container for a module in the deployment descriptor.

11. The machine readable medium of claim 7, wherein the instructions for utilizing an extension associated with the at least one container to prepare an instance of a module associated with the at least one container include instructions that when executed by the processor cause the system to perform the step of:

requesting that an instance of the module be instantiated based upon a type of the extension.

12. The machine readable medium of claim 11, further comprising instructions that when executed by the processor cause the system to perform the step of:

receiving an instance of the module responsive to the request.

13. A method for deploying an application, the method comprising:

receiving the application to be deployed;

determining a type of container in which to deploy the application; and

preparing an instance of a module associated with the type of container, the module providing additional functionality for deploying the application into the container.

14. The application container of claim 13, wherein receiving the application to be deployed comprises:

receiving a deployment descriptor indicating how to deploy the application.

15. The application container of claim 13, wherein determining a type of container in which to deploy the application comprises:

determining the type of container in which to deploy the application based upon a deployment descriptor of the application.

16. The application container of claim 13, wherein preparing an instance of a module associated with the type of container, the module providing additional functionality for deploying the application into the container comprises:

instantiating an instance of a class comprising extensions that add functionality for deploying applications of the type of the application to be deployed to a base class that provides functionality common to deploying a plurality of types of applications.

17. A machine readable medium having instructions stored thereon, which instructions when executed by a processor cause a system to perform the following steps:

receiving an application to be deployed;

determining a type of container in which to deploy the application; and

preparing an instance of a module associated with the type of container, the module providing additional functionality for deploying the application into the container.

18. A method for deploying an application, the method comprising:

receiving the application to be deployed;

determining a type of execution environment in which to deploy the application; and

preparing an instance of a module associated with the type of execution environment, the module providing additional functionality for deploying the application into the execution environment.

19. A machine readable medium having instructions stored thereon, which instructions when executed by a processor cause a system to perform the following steps:

receiving an application to be deployed;

determining a type of execution environment in which to deploy the application; and

preparing an instance of a module associated with the type of execution environment, the module providing additional functionality for deploying the application into the execution environment.

20. A server apparatus, comprising:

a processor; and

one or more stored sequences of instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to carry out the steps of;

receiving the application to be deployed;

determining a type of execution environment in which to deploy the application; and

preparing an instance of a module associated with the type of execution environment, the module providing additional functionality for deploying the application into the execution environment.