Examine typical topologies and uses for WebSphere Application Client
to determine how you might use this technology.
Before you begin
This topic is one in a series of topics described in
Planning the installation. Consider all of the planning
scenarios that are mentioned in the parent article to determine the best approach
to installing your e-business network. This topic describes installing and
using the WebSphere Application Server Clients.
About this task
In a traditional client server environment, the client requests
a service and the server fulfills the request. Multiple clients use a single
server. Clients can also access several different servers. This model persists
for Java clients except that now these requests use a client run-time environment.
In
this model, the client application requires a servlet to communicate with
the enterprise bean, and the servlet must reside on the same machine as the
WebSphere Application Server.
The Application Client for WebSphere Application
Server, Version 6 consists of the following models:
- ActiveX application client
- Applet client
- J2EE application client
- Pluggable and thin application clients
The following graphic shows a topology for installing the Application
Client and using client applications:

The example shows two types of application
clients installed in a topology that uses client applications to access applications
and data on Machine A:
- The ActiveX application client on Machine B is a Windows only client that
uses the Java Native Interface (JNI) architecture to programmatically access
the Java virtual machine (JVM) API. The JVM code exists in the same process
space as the ActiveX application (Visual Basic, VBScript, or Active Server
Pages (ASP) files) and remains attached to the process until that process
terminates.
- The J2EE application client on Machine C is a Java application program
that accesses enterprise beans, Java Database Connectivity (JDBC) APIs, and
Java Message Service message queues. The application program must configure
the execution environment of the J2EE application client and use the Java
Naming and Directory Interface (JNDI) name space to access resources.
Use the following procedure as a example of installing the Application
Client.