The JBoss Integration Plug-in for the IntelliJ
IDEA, Part 1.
Douglas Lyon, Fairfield University, Fairfield CT, U.S.A.
Martin Fuhrer, President of Furher Engineering AG, Biel , Switzerland
Thomas Rowland, Pitney Bowes, Shelton CT, U.S.A.
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COLUMN
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The man who claims
to be the boss in his own home
will lie about other things as well.
– Amish saying
Abstract
This paper describes the use of a new plug-in that eases the integration
of a popular IDE, called IntelliJ with a popular open-source application
server, called JBoss.
The IntelliJ IDEA is an Integrated Development Environment (IDE)
used for Java development. It is known for its strong refactoring capabilities.
It is a closed-source, proprietary product, which is used in both
educational
and industrial settings. IntelliJ functionality is extended by a
set of open APIs that third-party developers can use to integrate their
solutions by the development of plug-ins.
This paper describes the installation and use of the JBoss plug-in
with the IntelliJ IDE. The JBoss integration plug-in was first
conceived and implemented by Martin Fuhrer at Fuhrer Engineering.
1. THE DISTRIBUTED COMPUTING MODEL
It is typical for enterprise systems to be run on multiple computers.
For example, a web server, an application server and a development
machine are often run on three different computers.
The web server’s primary goal is to quickly serve static data
(HTML, images, audio, etc.) to a browser, over the Internet, using
HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol). This is typically done in a stop-and-wait
protocol, and as such, throughput during the waiting period drops to
zero while a request is processed. Thus, there is a distinct advantage
to minimizing processing time for HTTP requests in order to provide
a positive experience for the web client.
The application server’s primary goal is to run programs that
create dynamic data (servlets, JSP’s, EJB’s, etc.). This
is typically done using a framework based on a large, and sometimes
computationally cumbersome, API. Part of the API may be sourced from
a vendor (like Sun), but often the API contains custom business logic
that was authored by in-house programmers. As a result, the speed of
execution of methods in the application server, as well as their reliability,
may not be at the same standard as a more widely available API. Typically,
systems run daemon tasks in order to handle requests for services.
They are often started by a single task that runs multiple threads,
thus enabling fast context switching (due, in part, to the shared memory
architecture used by multi-threaded systems). Even so, a few slow threads
can make a task, and even a whole computer system, seem sluggish.
The development machine is generally under direct control of a programmer.
During the process of development, machines can crash, or be deliberately
rebooted. Bugs can be introduced into code that cause slow-downs
and the development environment itself can cause a major computational
load.
The environment of having one-programmer with one application server
may prove to be increasingly rare in an industrial setting. Frequently,
there will be multiple programmers and several application servers,
some of which are development machines, and others that are live
(i.e., production machines). This is illustrated in Figure 1.
Figure 1. A Simplified Distributed Enterprise Architecture
Figure 1 depicts an oversimplification of an enterprise architecture.
There are frequently large repositories of company proprietary data
in relational database management systems (RDBMS) as well as firewalls,
perimeter networks, bastion (i.e., DMZ) machines, etc.
One of the basic questions is “why JBoss?” There are
many application severs on the market, and JBoss is just one of many,
as
documented in [Lyon 2004]. Some of them are even free and open-source.
However, JBoss has doubled in popularity between 2002 and 2003, taking
over 26% of the application server market [BUSINESS WIRE 2004].
The remainder of this article will address how to install the JBoss
plug-in, and create an IntelliJ IDEA project using JBoss as the application
server.
2. THE JBOSS PLUG-IN
This section describes how to download and install the JBoss plug-in.
From the IntelliJ IDE, select the File:Settings menu item,
then select the Plugins icon, as shown in Figure 2.1.
Figure 2.1 Accessing the plug-ins
The Plugins dialog displays two tabs. Select the Available tab and
accept the prompt to download latest repository information. Sort the
list of plug-ins by category, proceed to the J2EE category and select JBoss as shown in Figure 2.2. Right-click and Select Download
and Install Plugin.
Figure 2.2 Selecting the JBoss plug-in for download
and install
Accept the prompt to install the JBoss plug-in. A dialog will appear
that says “you need to shut down the IDE to activate the plug-ins”.
Select Yes and the IntelliJ IDE will shut down. Restart the IDE and
you are ready for the next section.
3. CONFIGURE INTELLIJ TO RECOGNIZE JBOSS
Select the File:Settings menu item to bring up the Settings dialog. Select
the Application Servers icon. Select Add and then JBoss
Server, as shown
in Figure 3.1
Figure 3.1 Adding a new application server to the IntelliJ
IDE
Once the JBoss Server is selected, its home location must be identified
to the IDE. JBoss can be run remotely on another machine; however, there
are libraries that are required in order for compilation to work. These
libraries must be on the local (i.e., developer’s) machine. Select
the JBoss home, as shown in Figure 3.2, and select OK.
Figure 3.2 Select the JBoss Home
The Application Servers dialog shows the location of the libraries
(needed for a successful linkage). Select OK to finish.
Figure 3.3 The Application Servers dialog
4. CREATING A PROJECT WITH EJB AND WEB MODULES
This section describes the procedure for creating a multi-module project
that contains both an EJB and a web module. From the IntelliJ IDE, select
the File:New Project menu item in order to bring up the New
Project dialog.
Set the project file name and location, As shown in Figure 4.1. Accept
any prompts to create the project directory.
Figure 4.1 The Project Dialog Box
Select Next, select/configure the project JDK (not shown here) and select Next again. Select the Create/configure
multi-module project radio button, as shown in Figure 4.2.
Figure 4.2 Creating a Multi-module project
Selecting Finish will display the Add Module dialog. You are now ready
to add an EJB Module. Select Create new module -
Ejb Module as shown in
Figure 4.3.
Figure 4.3 Creating a new EJB Module
Select Next and enter in the module name, as shown in Figure 4.4.
Figure 4.4 Setting the EJB Module name and location
Select Next through the next set of screens (the defaults should be acceptable)
and then select Finish. This will reveal the Paths dialog, as shown in
Figure 4.5.
Figure 4.5 The Paths Dialog with EJB module
Select Add in the Paths dialog and select Web Modules as shown in Figure
4.6.
Figure 4.6 Creating a New Web Module
Select Next and enter in the module name, as shown in Figure 4.7.
Figure 4.7 Setting the Web Module name and location
Select Next through the next set of screens (the defaults, as they appear,
are typically reasonable), and then select Finish. This will return you
to the Paths dialog, as shown in Figure 4.8.
Figure 4.8 The Paths dialog with EJB and Web modules
With the Web module selected, select the Dependencies tab and check the
checkbox labeled ejb, as shown in Figure 4.9
Figure 4.9 Setting the EJB Dependency
Selecting OK will save your settings, close the Paths dialog, to return
you to the project window. The J2EE tab will enable a project windows display
that now shows the new files, as shown in Figure 4.10. 
Figure 4.10 The new modules displayed in the Project Window
5. CONCLUSION
The JBoss plug-in is freely available and its download is integrated
into the IntelliJ IDEA IDE.
In this paper we discussed how to download and install the JBoss plug-in,
allowing the JBoss application server to integrate into the IntelliJ
IDEA development environment. We created a project with EJB and web
modules, and marked the EJB module as a web module dependency.
In Part 2 we will describe how to add a session bean, implementing
a local or remote interface to our bean.
REFERENCES
[BUSINESS WIRE 2004] (BW)(GA-JBOSS-GROUP) Independent Survey Shows Surge
in Use of Open Source JBoss Application Server, Business Editors/High-Tech
Writers, ATLANTA-- (BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 20, 2004-- http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/f_headline.cgi?bw.012004/240205555
[Lyon 2004] Java for Programmers, by Douglas A. Lyon, Prentice Hall,
2004. Available from http://www.docjava.com.
About the authors
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After receiving his Ph.D. from Rensselaer
Polytechnic Institute, Dr. Lyon worked at AT&T Bell Laboratories.
He has also worked for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory at the California
Institute of Technology. He is currently the Chairman of the
Computer Engineering Department at Fairfield University, a senior
member of the IEEE and President of DocJava, Inc., a consulting
firm in Connecticut. E-mail Dr. Lyon at Lyon@DocJava.com. His
website is http://www.DocJava.com.
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Thomas Rowland has a B.S. in Electrical
Engineering and an M.S. in Software Engineering. He has been
consulting as a Software Engineer for the past four years, working
for Pfizer Pharmaceutical, Travelers Life & Annuity, and
currently at Pitney Bowes. He has also worked for Hyperion Solutions
for over 5 years. Mr. Rowland has also had some teaching stints
along the way. He is listed in the National Register’s
2005-2006 edition of the Who’s Who in Executives and Professionals.
He resides in Connecticut and can be reached at rowlandtf@netscape.net.
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Martin Fuhrer has a degree as engineer
in computer science from the School of Engineering and Information
Technology in Biel/Switzerland. He is founder and president of
Fuhrer Engineering Inc., a software development company located
in Biel/Switzerland. He's mainly working in the field of web-based
financial services and the online processing of realtime stock
exchange data. He can be reached at info@fuhrer.com or through
http://www.fuhrer.com.
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Cite this column as follows: D. Lyon, M. Fuhrer and Th. Rowland: “The
JBoss Integration Plug-in for the IntelliJ
IDEA, Part 1.",
in Journal of Object Technology,
vol. 4, no. 5, July-August 2005, pp. 7-17 http://www.jot.fm/issues/issue_2005_07/column1
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