Implementation Configuration File (ICF)

The BEA Tuxedo CORBA TP Framework application programming interface (API) provides callback methods for object activation and deactivation. These methods provide the ability for application code to implement flexible state management schemes for CORBA objects.

State management is the way you control the saving and restoring of object state during object deactivation and activation. State management also affects the duration of object activation, which influences the performance of servers and their resource usage. The external API of the TP Framework includes the activate_object() and deactivate_object() methods, which provide a possible location for state management code. Additionally, the TP Framework API includes the deactivateEnable() method to enable the user to control the timing of object deactivation. The default duration of object activation is controlled by policies assigned to implementations at OMG IDL compile time.

While CORBA objects are active, their state is contained in a servant. This state must be initialized when objects are first invoked (that is, the first time a method is invoked on a CORBA object after its object reference is created) and on subsequent invocations after objects have been deactivated.

While a CORBA object is deactivated, its state must be saved outside the process in which the servant was active. When an object is activated, its state must be restored. The object's state can be saved in shared memory, in a file, in a database, and so forth. It is up to the programmer to determine what constitutes an object's state, and what must be saved before an object is deactivated and restored when an object is activated.

You can use the Implementation Configuration File (ICF) to set activation policies to control the duration of object activations in each implementation. The ICF file manages object state by specifying the activation policy. The activation policy determines the in-memory activation duration for a CORBA object. A CORBA object is active in a Portable Object Adapter (POA) if the POA's active object map contains an entry that associates an object ID with an existing servant. Object deactivation removes the association of an object ID with its active servant.

ICF Syntax

ICF syntax is as follows:

[#pragma activation_policy method|transaction|process]
[#pragma transaction_policy never|ignore|optional|always]
[#pragma concurrency_policy user_controlled|system_controlled]
[Module module-name {]
   implementation [implementation-name]
     {
     implements (module-name::interface-name);
     [activation_policy (method|transaction|process);]
     [transaction_policy (never|ignore|optional|always);]
     [concurrency_policy (user_controlled|system_controlled);]
     };
  [};]

Sample ICF File

Listing 2-1 Sample ICF

module POA_University1
    {
    implementation CourseSynopsisEnumerator_i
        {
        activation_policy ( process );
        transaction_policy ( optional );
        implements ( University1::CourseSynopsisEnumerator );
        };
         
    };

module POA_University1
    {
    implementation Registrar_i
        {        
        activation_policy ( method );
        transaction_policy ( optional );
        implements ( University1::Registrar );
        };
 
   };

module POA_University1
   {
   implementation RegistrarFactory_i
       {
       activation_policy ( process );
       transaction_policy ( optional );
       implements ( University1::RegistrarFactory );
       };

   };

Creating the ICF File