1. CORBA Architecture Nitin Prabhu

2. Outline CORBA Object Model CORBA Architecture Static Invocation Dynamic Invocation CORBA Communication Model

3. CORBA Object Model Client Object Implementation Encapsulation Exception value Request CORBA Object implementations Request CORBA Types Interfaces Operations Exceptions

4. CORBA Object Object is a encapsulated entity that performs services Object is referred to by an unique object reference Client software invokes object services by generating request Object returns some results or returns exception

5. CORBA Request A request is a message sent from a client to an object. It consists of –an operation. –a target object. –zero or more parameters. –an optional request context.

6. An identifiable entity defined over values. Value Basic ValueConstructed Value Object Reference Short long Ushort Ulong Float Double Char String Boolean Octet Struct Sequence Union Array CORBA Types

7. CORBA Interface An Interface comprises a set of operations and attributes that a client may utilize to request services of an object. All interface information is public. Interfaces are defined in IDL.

8. CORBA Operations An operation is an identifiable entity, that denotes a service which can be requested. Operation Signature consists of –Operation name –Parameters required –Return Value –Exceptions thrown –Contextual Information –Execution Semantics Synchronous Asynchronous

9. CORBA Exceptions An exception is an indication that an operation request was not performed successfully. Two types –Standard Exceptions –User defined Exceptions CORBA guarantees that the client will not hang. Either it returns successfully or with an exception.

10. OMA Object Management Architecture COMMON OBJECT SERVICES APPLICATION OBJECTS COMMON FACILITIES OBJECT REQUEST BROKER persistence namingtrading security Horizontal User Interface Mail Printing Vertical Telecom Finance Health Care

11. CORBA Architecture ORB core Dynamic Invocation IDL Stubs ORB Interface Object Adapter Static IDL Skeleton Dynamic Skeleton ClientObject Implementation Standard Interface Per-Object Type Generated Interface ORB Dependent Interface Repository Implementation Repository

12. ORB Object Request Broker. Gives the communication infrastructure that is capable of relaying object requests across distributed platforms. Client calls the Object implementation through interfaces provided by ORB. Advantages: Separates Client and Server implementation Separates both client and Server from underlying communication infrastructure and protocol stack and so replaceable while migration from one implementation to other

13. Interoperable Object Reference(IOR) An ORB must create an IOR whenever an object reference is passed across ORB’s Includes ORB’s internal object reference and addressing information

14. Client Stubs Client side proxy for server. Joins to the client at one end and to the ORB core at the other end. Client-to-stub interface is decided by the standard OMG language mapping for the chosen programming language. Clients actually invoke methods on stub objects.

15. Server Skeletons Acts as client proxy for server implementation. Connects –to the server object via the mapping defined for its programming language on. –To the Object Adapter via a proprietary interface. Invocation pass through Object Adapter to skeletons, which in turn actually invoke methods on server object.

16. Object Adapter Different kind of object implementations - –objects residing in their own process and requiring activation. –others not requiring activation. –or some residing in same process as ORB. OA helps the ORB to operate with different type of objects. Most widely used OA - BOA (Basic OA) Recently standardized - POA (Portable OA)

17. Object Adapter Contd... Services provided by ORB via OA - –Registering implementations. –Generation and interpretation of object references. –Mapping object references to their corresponding implementation. –Activating and deactivating object implementation. –Invocation of methods via a skeleton.

18. Interface Repository Contains information regarding the interfaces to ORB objects. Can be used by the ORB in 2 ways - –To provide type-checking of request signatures, whether a request was issued through DII or stub. –To check correctness of inheritance graph. Client objects can use it - –To manage installation and distribution of interface definitions around your network. –Language compilers may use them to generate stubs and skeletons. Can be shared by more than one ORB or one ORB may refer to more than one interface repository.

19. Implementation Repository Contains all the information regarding object implementation. Provides a persistent record of how to activate and invoke operations on object implementations. CORBA gives vendors free-hand in handling implementations.

20. Marshaling Refers to the process of translating input parameters to a format in which it can be transmitted over the network. Unmarshaling is the reverse of marshaling. Stubs and skeletons contain code for marshaling and unmarshaling.

21. Development Steps Compile Link Compile Link StubsSkels CORBA Compile IDL Client Server

22. Static Invocation Client IDL Stub IIOP Client ORB Server ORB Server IDL Skeleton Object Adapter(BOA/POA) IOR Client Server Servant

23. Client Invocation Process Scenario Client Program 1. Object string valued 2. Obtain object Handle 4. Check exceptions object reference 3. Invoke request 5. Utilize results 6. ORBFree( ) ORB CORE ORB Interfaces Interface Stub File String_to_object( )user_fun( )Results & exceptions

24. Object Implementation Invocation Scenario Object Implementation Methods Basic Object Adapter Skeleton 1. Activate Implementation Object Request Broker Core 2. Registration of implementation 3. Activate object 4. Invoke method 5. Access BOA service

25. Dynamic Invocation Interface Generic interface for making remote invocations. Uses interface repository at run-time to discover interfaces. No need of pre-compiled stubs. Steps - –Obtain IOR. –Ask IOR of the interface name and get a reference to an object in the interface repository. –Obtain the method description. –Create the request to be passed. –Invoke the operation/method.

27. Dynamic Skeleton Interface Allows the ORB and OA to deliver requests to an object without the need of pre- compiled skeletons. Implemented via a DIR (Dynamic Invocation Routine). ORB invokes DIR for every DSI request it makes.

28. Dynamic Skeleton Interface Contd... Steps - –OA up-calls the DIR servant and provides the request information (targeted object and operation name etc.). –DIR asks IOR for the interface name of the targeted object and gets the meta-data information about it from interface repository. –Creates the request to targeted object, using other parameters from the received request. –Locates the Servant and send the request to it. –Takes the return parameteres and give them back to OA.

29. Differences between Dynamic invocation and static invocation Use SI used for general purpose DI used for special purpose where extra flexibility is needed In SI interfaces should be known at compile time,In DI interfaces are discovered during run time using data in interface repository Static Interface are easier to use and code

30. CORBA Communication model It is independent of underlying protocol suite and assumes an underlying connection-oriented protocol at transport layer. Two protocols are defined in the communication mode. GIOP-General Inter ORB Protocol IIOP- Internet Inter ORB Protocol

31. IT is a high level standard protocol for communication between ORB implementations. It is designed to directly work over any connection- oriented transport protocol GIOP defines a transfer syntax known as CDR (Common Data Representation) and seven messages that cover ORB request reply semantics. No format negotiations are needed.In most cases,clients send a request to objects immediately after they open the connection. CDR maps data types defined in IDL in to flat, networked message representation. CDR also takes care of the inter- platform issue. GIOP also defines a format for Interoperable Object References(IOR). GIOP-General Inter ORB Protocol.

32. IIOP- Internet Inter ORB Protocol It is a specialized form of GIOP for TCP/IP networks. IIOP specifies how GIOP messages will be exchanged over TCP/IP network An ORB must support IIOP in order to be considered compliant with CORBA 2.0. It consists primarily of the specification for the IIOP IOR, which contains the host name and the port number.