WebLogic Workshop Application Development Basics - Creating Applications and Projects
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As we introduced in Chapter 2, WebLogic Workshop creates J2EE enterprise applications containing one or more projects, libraries, modules, and security roles. Before Workshop, just laying out properties and configuring an application required a considerable amount of effort. However, Workshop makes creating new Web applications quick and easy. To create a basic Workshop application, select File, New, Application from the WebLogic Workshop menu. Figure 8 shows the New Application dialog box. In this figure, (A) indicates the types of applications displayed in the right pane; by default, all application types are shown. The application type list, labeled as (B), indicates the type of application being created. Default applications are basic Web applications and include XML Schema support. A default application contains a core, but minimal, application as a development starting point. Empty applications include Web application development support, but without a starting application. Portal applications are default applications that include additional portal support services, including a data project supporting rules, campaigns, and other portal features. Portal applications require a Portal-enabled server. Process applications are default applications that include integration and business process services and require an Integration-enabled server.
Figure 8 - The New Application dialog box.
The directory path, labeled (C), represents the root directory where the application will be created. The new application name, labeled (D), represents the name of the application as well as the topmost directory within the root directory. The Server text box, labeled (E), represents the target server for the application.
The Server text box is the most important field in the New Application dialog box. In the WebLogic Workshop programming world, applications and servers are tightly coupled. This tight coupling is a result of applications requiring specific services. Various servers provide different services and different feature sets. For example, an application might require WebLogic Portal or Integration support. Out of the box, WebLogic Workshop contains server definitions for the following:
Workshop—A Web application and Schema-enabled server supporting Web application development.
Portal—A WebLogic Portal–enabled server, supporting Web application and portal services and including all the services of the Workshop server.
Integration—A WebLogic Integration–enabled server, supporting Web application development using business processes and including all the services of the Workshop server.
End2end—A WebLogic Platform–enabled server containing all the services previously mentioned.
When building an application for the first time, you must choose a server that provides the required services. If you intend to create a Web application, select the Workshop server; otherwise, choose a server consistent with your development needs. Chapter 15, "Taking Your Applications from Development to Production," discusses the WebLogic Configuration Wizard. This wizard enables users to create domain definitions that can include any combination of the services required to support different application types.
On disk, Workshop applications are managed as expanded enterprise applications, but can be packaged into Enterprise Archives (EARs) easily by selecting Build, Build EAR from the main menu. The build process is examined further in "Building Applications," later in this chapter.
After creating a default Web application, WebLogic Workshop displays the Application pane (see Figure 9).
Figure 9 - A Workshop application with Schema and basic Web application support.
Starting WebLogic Server for Application Testing - Remember, you cannot test or debug applications without a running instance of WebLogic Server. Workshop has a number of menu shortcuts for starting, stopping, and running the WebLogic Server Console from the Workshop environment. To start an instance of WebLogic Server for an application, select Tools, WebLogic Server, Start WebLogic Server from the Workshop menu. To stop a running instance, select Tools, WebLogic Server, Stop WebLogic Server. To start the WebLogic Console, choose Tools, WebLogic Server, WebLogic Console. In addition, you can deploy, undeploy, or redeploy applications by using the Tools menu.
 This chapter is from BEA WebLogic Workshop 8.1, by Albert J. Saganich, Jr., et al. (Apress, 2004, ISBN: 0-672-32622-1). Check it out at your favorite bookstore today.
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