PageBox API

PageBox

PageBox for Java

API

Demo

Background

PageBox API

Table of content

Presentation
Documentation

Presentation

PageBox allows installing automatically archives from remote Repositories.

This installation process involves:

The hosting Application server called to dynamically deploy and undeploy the archive when the archive is a Web archive
The installed archive whose installation class is called to perform application-dependent installation tasks such as configuration and database update

This process implies a contract between the PageBox administrator and the programmer of the installed archive. The PageBox administrator defines the resources (file system, RDBMS, JNDI resources) that the installed application can use. The programmer only uses these resources in the archive.

The installation process has other implications:

The hosting PageBox knows the URL of the Repository that required the deployment
The source Repository knows the URLs of all PageBoxes where the archive was installed

Therefore a PageBox can list all PageBoxes that have installed an archive.

Because it embeds its own post-installation procedure and because it can retrieves its clones on other Web sites a PageBox-deployed archive can be more than a regular archive if it can use an API that:

Give it access to the same resources as the installation class
Give it access to the URLs of its clones

PageBox 0.0.9 introduced extensions. An extension is an archive configured and controlled by the PageBox administrator and used by installed archives to perform tasks normally forbidden by the sandbox like calling native code.

PageBox 0.0.11 introduces a token API. PageBox 0.0.12 introduce an Active Naming. The token API allows Web applications deployed by PageBox to communicate together using an efficient token protocol. The Active Naming allows routing and balancing requests between the most convenient PageBox-deployed Web applications. PageBox 0.0.13 introduces a measurement facility that gives CPU, memory and network data. This facility is used in the API and in Active Naming.

Documentation

The user guide of the PageBox API explains how to use the PageBox API.

The implementation guide of the Pagebox API presents the design of the PageBox API and gives enough information to adapt the API or to contribute to its development.

The Extension programming guide explains the rationale for the extension support and how to implement and test an extension.

The token API user guide explains how to use the token API.

The Active Naming user guide explains how to use the Active Naming.

The token and Active naming implementation guide presents the design of the token API and of the Active naming and gives enough information to contribute to their development.

You can also look at the PageBox demo for examples of use.