IBM Workplace Client Technology Micro Edition Version 5.7.1: Application Development and Case Study

Chapter 1. Introduction to Workplace Client Technologies 13

Edition). What’s the difference? Where does each apply? This is actually an

example of the evolution of the WCT product family.

Both WCTME and WCTRE use the same Java and OSGi/SMF bundle

mechanism for applications. Both offer programmers the ability to write bundles

that extend the services provided. The easiest way to think about this is that

WCTME is the core platform, whether J2ME-based or J2SE-based, with OSGi,

and extension services including DB2e, MQe and others. WCTRE is a set of

application components that perform a variety of office tasks such as e-mail,

calendaring, word processing, spreadsheet processing, and so on. These

components are extensible and customizable through a set of programming

tools, but the primary focus of WCTRE is on these application components.

WCTME is the platform upon which WCTRE (and other OSGi/SMF, as well as

other core J2ME applications) is built. Figure 1-1 on page 9 shows the structure

of that platform. If you plan to build applications to the base platform, you use

WCTME. If you want to extend the office components, you use WCTRE.

In WCTME 5.7.1, released in August 2004, the package is built with the run times

and tools for J2ME applications. Under development is a desktop (J2SE-based)

offering analogous to the WCTME product. After that, the products should

converge into a coordinated desktop to device, end-to-end enabling offering. In

both cases, the user interface can be either a Web container (browser)-based UI,

or a rich UI, written to the Eclipse RCP and SWT.

In 2005, platform offerings are evolving that combine this into one offering. The

technologies currently exist, but they are segmented into J2ME and J2SE. You

should soon see the convergence of these segments, along with the tools and

run times to support it end-to-end. There will be applications for Web container

presentation, and also Eclipse RCP with SWT (eSWT and eRCP for embedded

Java applications and devices).

1.6 Tooling

Through all of the work to build these offerings, IBM understands that without

developers and tools, the run times are of little use. The core tool for WCTME

applications is WebSphere Studio Device Developer. This set of tools surrounds

the core Eclipse platform designed primarily for J2ME application development.

Figure 1-4 on page 14 shows an overview of WebSphere Studio Device

Developer. WebSphere Studio Device Developer is configured to fulfill the J2ME

segment of application development, supporting the various configurations and

profiles, and providing tools for profiling, optimization, debugging, and

deployment to remote devices and emulation of devices, in addition to the

standard Eclipse tools features and functions. WebSphere Studio Device

14 WCTME: Application Development and Case Study

Developer can also be used to target J2SE applications and forms the foundation

for the Micro Environment (ME) toolkit, which is a set of features and

components that facilitates the building of SMF bundles and Web, extension and

enterprise services for J2ME applications. WebSphere Studio Device Developer

baseware and the ME Toolkit give you a complete development environment to

code to the WCTME stack.

On top of this core tooling is a set of technologies you can install based on the

additional features you want to build into your applications. These include MQe,

DB2e, Mobile Media APIs (MMAPI), JDBC (JSR169) and so on. This entire set of

tooling can be further extended by installing it into, or liked with WebSphere

Studio Application Developer or Rational® Application Developer, depending on

the version you are using. This further integrates the application development

experience to the J2EE models as well.

The number of permutations can be a bit intimidating. But by looking at it the

same way as the runtime stack, you can see how you can tailor the development

environment based on the developer roles and tasks. You use one integrated

toolset without having to learn multiple tools to move from segment to segment

on the project.

Figure 1-4 WebSphere Studio Device Developer overview

The OSGi/SMF tools such as the Bundle Developer tools are extensions to

WebSphere Device Developer that are installable through the Update Manager

function of WebSphere Device Developer and Eclipse. These tools build on the

core J2ME tooling to enable enterprise functionality such as messaging (MQe),

Eclipse

Edit

Code

Completion

Refactoring

Wizards

Visual Editor

Team

Development

United Emulator

Interface

On-Target Debuffer (JDVJDWP)

On-Target Analyzer (JVMPI)

Smartlinker (JXE)

JIT/AOT Compile

J2ME

Profiles

Configurations

Java Powered

J9Virtual Machine

WebSphere Everyplace Micro

Environment

WebSphere Studio Device Developer