The Application Deployment Descriptor editor includes scrollable pages
and collapsible sections that represent the various properties and settings
in the deployment descriptor (application.xml) and other metadata written
to bindings and extensions files. The editor is dynamic, and sections and
pages are created based on the application deployment descriptor version and
the workbench capabilities that are enabled.
The core function is typically located at the top of an editor page. To
see core pages and sections, set focus on the editor and press alt-shift-c.
The core pages, sections, headers, and tabs will highlight blue and remain
in this state until you press alt-shift-c again. The extensions and bindings
are usually nested sections and found at the bottom of the editor pages. Collapsing
a section hides the content, but leaves the heading information. This is useful
in filtering through the data and properties on each page. The editor remember
the sections that you collapse when you close and reopen the editor. Also,
you can resize sections by dragging a hidden border at the end or beginning
of each section.
The application deployment descriptor editor typically modifies the following
resources:
- application.xml
- ibm-application-bnd.xmi
- ibm-application-ext.xmi
- .modulemaps
The application deployment descriptor editor typically displays the following
pages, sections, and views:
Overview page
The Overview page in the application
editor provides a quick summary of the contents in the application deployment
descriptor. It includes the following sections: General Information, Modules,
Security Roles, Icons, and WebSphere
® Extensions.
- General Information section
- Use the General Information section to view the display name and description
for the enterprise application, as stored in the application.xml file.
- Modules section
- On the Overview page, the Modules section displays the names of the modules
that are defined for the application, and provides a quick link to the Module
page of the editor.
- Security Roles section
- On the Overview page, the Security roles section displays the security
roles that are defined for the application, and provides a quick link to the
Security page of the editor.
- Icons section
- Use the Icons section to choose icons that represent your enterprise application.
These icons are mainly used for identification on the server. In order to
use an icon, you must first import the graphic file into the enterprise application
project (basically, it must be contained inside the EAR file in order for
it to be found at deploy time). Once the file has been imported into the project,
you will be able to select it within the icon dialog on the application deployment
descriptor editor. If you do not import the file into the project, you will
not see any icons within the dialogs.
- WebSphere Extensions
section
- (For applications that target WebSphere Application Server) On the Overview
page, the WebSphere Extension section provides a place to set the
reload interval and shared session context properties.
Module page
Use the Module page to add, edit, browse,
and remove EJB, Web, and Application Client modules from the enterprise application.
When you select a module in the Modules list, its attributes are displayed
on the fields on the right side of the pane. The list of fields changes dynamically
to match the type of module selected.
For more information, see Adding modules to an enterprise application.
- Project Utility JARs section
- Use this section to add a Java™ project as a utility JAR file that
can be used by modules in the enterprise application. For each Java project,
a utility JAR will be created when the EAR file is exported.
Security page
Use the Security page to view, add, remove,
gather, and combine security roles. The
Gather option
rolls up all security roles defined in modules that are included in the application.
The resulting list is the union of all roles in all modules in the application.
The
Replace option replaces an original role with another,
existing role. The original role is removed from the application and any modules
within the application.
For more information, see Defining security roles.
- WebSphere bindings
section
- (For applications that target WebSphere Application Server) On the Security
page, the WebSphere bindings section provides a place to add users
and groups to the security roles.
- Security role run as bindings section
- (For applications that target WebSphere Application Server) Use the Security
role run as bindings section to specify the security identity that a bean
will execute as.
Deployment page
For enterprise applications that are
targeted to use a WebSphere Application Server runtime environment, you can
use the Deployment page to specify additional options for deploying to the
server. For example, you can define JDBC providers, data sources, resource
properties, and the applications that you want to deploy on the server.
Source page
Use the Source page to view and modify
the application.xml file directly. The XML on the source page changes dynamically
when the deployment descriptor is edited, and the other pages of the application
deployment descriptor editor reflect changes that you make on the Source page.
Editing the XML source is not the recommended method for editing the deployment
descriptor. It is suggested that you make as many changes as possible using
the other pages and sections of the editor.