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Note
titleHow to Contribute to this Wiki

See instructions on the Community page

Info
titleAbout this Confluence Space

This space contains general information about WebObjects. It was originally started as a wiki book on wikipedia, and then it was deprecated there and imported to the objectstyle.org confluence to consolidate the content for the WebObjects community.

WebObjects is a an integrated suite of freely available Java frameworks and tools that helps in developing scalable, sophisticated applications for the Internet on computers with Java support.

Wiki Modernization In Progress

The content on this Wiki is in the process of being updated to reflect modern WebObjects development. Pages that refer to old development techniques, e.g. Xcode, WOBuilder, etc., will be either updated to reflect the current toolset, or be moved to the Deprecated section. An RSS Feed is available for those that want to be updated as pages are modified. If you have a favorite page that you want to make sure you are in-the-loop on any changes, you can easily Watch it by selecting Watch from the Tools popup menu on that page. If you wish to partipate in an effort to improve this documentation, send an email to docs-group-on@wocommunity.org.

Special Note: URLs are changing as part of this effort. Confluence does a good job of guessing what page you wanted if the link you requested no longer exists, so pain should be minimal.

Tip

This site replaces the wikibook, which has been deprecated.

WebObjects is an integrated suite of Java frameworks for rapidly developing scalable, sophisticated Internet and Enterprise applications. It is the most mature platform available for enterprise-level web, web service and java client (three-tier client-server development, providing object-oriented framework support for relational database object persistence (in any JDBC compliant database)) application development.

It provides a powerful and mature set of Object-Oriented frameworks for managing Object-Relational Mapping (ORM) to any JDBC-compliant database, Session Management, Undo/Redo/Revert, Ajax, Web Services, streaming media, full Java Client applications, Rapid Application Development, Streaming Media, file upload/download and many other popular web internet and enterprise application technologies.

Originally developed by NeXT Computer Inc., in the mid 1990s, it was ported by Apple to Mac OS X and Mac OS X Server in Objective-C and then completely translated to Java for version 5.0. The latest available release of WebObjects is version 5.4.3, made available as Mac OS X installer package in September, 2008.

It is the technology on which an incredibly flexible set of frameworks exemplified by Apple's own use of it for such varied applications as the iTunes Music Store is developed, the on-line Apple Store, the MobileMe group of services including Web-Mail and Calendaring and their website.

It has a very active developer community with mailing list support at the WO Developer Mailing List.

Contents

Section
  1. #Introduction
  2. #License
  3. #Foundation
  4. #Enterprise Object Framework (EOF)
    1. #Introduction
    2. #Modeling
    3. #Using EOF
  5. #Web Applications
    1. #Introduction
    2. #Development
    3. #Deployment
  6. #Web Services
  7. #Complementary Frameworks
    1. #Project WONDER
    2. #WireHose
    3. #LEWOStuff
    4. #GVC Frameworks and GVC.SiteMaker
    5. #Houdah WebObjects Frameworks
  8. #Development Tools
  9. Best Practices
  10. #Direct-To
  11. #Case Studies
  12. #Java Client
  13. #Integration with other clients
  14. #Testing
  15. #Database Compatibility/Comparisons
  16. #Alternative Technologies Pros/Cons
  17. #Additional Resources

and offers excellent support through the very popular WebObjects Development and WebObjects Deployment email lists.

Tip
titleDownload WebObjects Here!

The WebObjects543.dmg file is the last WebObjects installer package available from Apple (dated September 2008). It installs the WebObjects frameworks and support files as four sub-packages ("WebObjectsDevelopment", "WebObjectsDocumentation", "WebObjectsExamples" and "WebObjectsRuntime"), into the appropriate directories on a Mac OS X system for incorporation into Apple's Xcode 3.1 IDE.

The "WebObjectsRuntime" sub-package is the critical one because it contains the Java libraries (in both "Framework" and jar packaging) required to develop and deploy a WebObjects application. Since such applications are now developed using the multi-platform Eclipse IDE, and not Xcode, and are deployed on as many, or more, platforms, the "WebObjectsRuntime" package is also available for multi-platform use from the community that brings you the page you are reading now!

The currently recommended WebObjects installation procedure for all platforms is at Step 2.2 on the Project Wonder Installation page.

Contents

Section
Table of Contents
indent20px
styledisc

Introduction

License

As of WebObjects 5.3, the deployment of WebObjects built -based server applications is now permitted on any platform. The XCode Xcode 3.1 license (within which WebObjects is included) readsThe last that included any reference to WebObjects) stated this:

D. WebObjects Software. Subject to the terms and conditions of this License, you may use, install and permit others to access incorporate the WebObjects deployment software Software included with in the Developer Software to deploy into application programs developed using Apple's WebObjects Software(both client and server) that you develop on an Apple-branded computer. You may also reproduce and distribute : (1) over a network, components of the WebObjects deployment software for installation and use by others ("Java Client End Users") on any remote computer's volatile memory (e.g. RAM) to enable Java Client functionality for the sole purpose of communicating with Apple's WebObjects Software that may be installed and executed on the same Apple-labeled computer on which you have installed the Developer Software (the "Licensed System"); and (2) both manually and automatically over a network, components of the WebObjects deployment software for installation and use by Java Client End Users on any remote computer's non-volatile memory (e.g. ROM) to enable Java Client functionality for the sole purpose of communicating with Apple's WebObjects Software that may be installed and executed on the Licensed System; provided that all distributions to Java Client End Users are made the WebObjects Software unmodified, in binary form only, on any platform but solely as incorporated into such application programs and only for use by end-users under terms that are at least as restrictive as of those set forth in this License and contain the disclaimers and limitations set forth in Sections (including, without limitation, Sections 2, 6 and 7 of this License. Subject to the terms and conditions of this License).For avoidance of doubt, you may also deploy server applications built with not distribute the WebObjects Software on any platform.

...

a stand-alone basis, and you may not develop application programs using the WebObjects Software (or any portion thereof) on any non-Apple branded computer.

Foundation

Enterprise Object Framework (EOF)

Introduction

Modeling

Using EOF

Web Applications

Introduction

Deployment

Web Services

Direct To Web (D2W)

Include Page
Direct To Web (D2W and ERD2W)
Direct To Web (D2W and ERD2W)

Java Client, Direct to Java Client (D2JC)

Complementary Frameworks

Project WONDER

WireHose

...

GVC Frameworks and GVC.SiteMaker

Houdah WebObjects Frameworks

WOGWT (Google Web Toolkit Integration)

JBND Data binding

Validation Next Generation (enhanced validation)

Validation Next Generation

Development Tools

Direct-To

Case Studies

Java Client

Integration with other clients

Testing

Testing

Database Compatibility / Comparisons

Alternative Technologies Pros / Cons

Additional Resources