RMI-IIOP (Remote Method Invocation - Internet Inter-ORB Protocol)

Initially programmers had to choose between RMI and CORBA (Java IDL) for distributed programming solutions. With each mechanism providing certain exclusive features it was often a case of sacrificing certain functionality for others when deciding upon the mechanism to use. Seeing the need for a mechanism that combined the best features of RMI and Java IDL JavaSoft produced the RMI-IIOP mechanism [3].
RMI-IIOP combines the programming ease of RMI with JavaIDL's CORBA-compliant interaction with software written in other languages. By adhering to a few restrictions, RMI programmers can now use CORBA's IIOP communications protocol to communicate with clients written entirely in Java or made up of components written in other CORBA-compliant languages [4].
RMI-IIOP comes with a new rmic compiler that can generate stubs, skeletons and emit IDL.

Implementation
RMI-IIOP implementation involves the following steps:

1. Define remote interface(s) for the Java server object(s)
2. Create implementation class(es) for the interface(s)
3. Write Java client(s)
4. Generate Stub(s) and Tie(s) for the server(s) that support the IIOP using RMIC
5. Compile the server(s) and client(s)
6. Start the Naming Server (rmiregistry)
7. Start the Java server(s)
8. Run the client(s)

The RMI-IIOP implementation is illustrated in Figure 5.

Figure 5. RMI-IIOP implementation

Overview
RMI-IIOP brings together the best of RMI and Java IDL to produce a mechanism that boasts the programming ease and CORBA compliant interaction software written in other languages. In addition, RMI-IIOP offers easy migration from existing RMI code and seamless integration into CORBA infrastructure via the use of IIOP.

 

Next Page