Harold Carr's Blog

October 2007 Archives

How to test Metro to .NET web service interop

My tech tip on how to test ReliableMessaging interop between a Metro client with a public .NET service is now available. It's also available as an RSS-enabled blog entry.

Being able to run these tests should give you confidence in our interoperability capabilities. We do run the entire gamut of interop tests, such as these, in both directions everyday. Knowing this info is also useful if you want to join our open source effort and contribute to developing the platform.

Note: A future article will show the reverse direction: a .NET client with a Metro service.

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Mid-West Java Tech Days Trip Report

I presented the Metro web services stack at Mid-West Java Tech Days in Columbus, Ohio and Indianapolis, Indiana last week.

These are mini-Java Ones with sessions on the NetBeans IDE, the jMaki Ajax framework, the JavaFX rich content platform, the Java Persistence API, SOA using OpenESB BPEL and NetBeans, and Java SE 6 top 10 features.

If you missed last week's sessions there are two more coming up: Minneapolis on October 16 and Chicago on October 18. Arun will be giving the Metro presentation. These are events free.

For me, the best part of giving a talk is trying to respond to the questions asked. I always learn something. Here are some questions and answers from my two sessions.

• Dynamic updates (server): Can one change the quality-of-service (e.g., Reliable Messaging, Transactions, Security) of a service at runtime?
  • No. It is easy to change the quality-of-service using NetBeans (no code changes). But the changed service must be redeployed
  • We may provide such a feature in a future release, but neither Metro nor .NET 3.x provide this feature now.
• Dynamic updates (client): If one redeploys a service with a quality-of-service change do clients automatically pick up the change?
  • No. The client proxies must be regenerated (application code does not need to change).
  • We may provide such a feature in a future release, but neither Metro nor .NET 3.x provide this feature now.
• Java only: Does one need .NET 3.x to use the Tango features of Metro?
  • No. If you need the Tango features on Java only then using Metro for both clients and services will provide all the benefits of Security, Reliability and Transactions.
• Interop with other platforms: Does Metro interoperate with other web service platforms?
  • Yes. If you use WS-I Basic Profile 1.1 or Basic Security Profile 1.0 then Metro interoperates with any web service stack that conforms to these profiles.
  • Yes. It interoperates with Windows Communication Foundation in .NET 3.0. We do extensive joint testing with Microsoft in this area.
  • Maybe. Metro might interoperate with other platforms that implement the set of WS-* specifications implemented by Metro (and .NET 3.0). We only claim and test interoperability with .NET 3.0.
• Specification: Do I need to read the WS-* specifications?
  • NO. The specifications are used by Sun, Microsoft and other engineers to build web services platforms. Engineers that are using those platforms to build web service clients and services do not need to read or even know the existence of those specifications. Those specifications enable features such as reliability, transactions, and security. We expose those feature via NetBeans. The tutorial shows you how and when to use those features.
• Interop with C++: Is is possible for Metro to interoperate with C++ based clients and services?
  • Maybe. This is really a question for Microsoft. It depends on how well their C++ is supported in their WCF platform. In theory, if WCF supports C++ then Metro should interoperate with it.
• Solaris, Sparc, Windows, etc: Many off-topic questions about open source Solaris, Java on embedded devices, Windows on Sun Hardware, and more.
  • Check the links above for more info.

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