WebObjects

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WebObjects
Original author(s)NeXT Software Inc.
Developer(s)Apple Inc.
Initial releaseMarch 28, 1996; 27 years ago (1996-03-28)
Final release
5.4.3 / September 15, 2008; 15 years ago (2008-09-15)
Written inJava
Operating systemOS X
SuccessorProject Wonder
TypeWeb application server
LicenseProprietary
Websitewww.apple.com/webobjects/ Edit this on Wikidata
Project Wonder
Developer(s)WebObjects Community Association
Repositorygithub.com/wocommunity
PlatformLinux, macOS, Windows, and possibly others
Available inJava
LicenseBSD-like
Websitewocommunity.org

WebObjects is a discontinued

web application framework originally developed by NeXT Software, Inc.

WebObject's hallmark features are its

web services
.

The deployment

WebSphere
.

WebObjects was maintained by Apple for quite a while. However, because Apple has stopped maintaining the software, it now is instead maintained by an online community of volunteers. This community calls it "Project Wonder".

History

NeXT creates WebObjects

WebObjects was created by

.

Apple acquires NeXT, and continues to maintain the software

Following

— which was WebObjects' highest-profile implementation at the time.

WebObjects was part of Apple's strategy of using software to drive hardware sales, and in 2000 the price was lowered from $50,000 (for the full deployment license) to $699. From May 2001, WebObjects was included with

Mac OS X Server
, and no longer required a license key for development or deployment.

WebObjects transitioned from a stand-alone product to be a part of Mac OS X with the release of version 5.3 in June 2005. The developer tools and frameworks, which previously sold for US$699, were bundled with Apple's Xcode IDE. Support for other platforms, such as Windows, was then discontinued. Apple said that it would further integrate WebObjects development tools with Xcode in future releases. This included a new EOModeler Plugin for Xcode. This strategy, however, was not pursued further.

In 2006, Apple announced the deprecation of Mac OS X's Cocoa-Java bridge with the release of Xcode 2.4 at the August 2006 Worldwide Developers Conference, and with it all dependent features, including the entire suite of WebObjects developer applications: EOModeler, EOModeler Plugin, WebObjects Builder, WebServices Assistant, RuleEditor and WOALauncher. Apple had decided to concentrate its engineering resources on the runtime engine of WebObjects, leaving the future responsibility for developer applications with the open-source community. The main open-source alternative — the Eclipse IDE with the WOLips suite of plugins — had matured to such an extent that its capabilities had, in many areas, surpassed those of Apple's own tools, which had not seen significant updates for a number of years.

Apple promised to provide assistance to the community in its efforts to extend such tools and develop new ones. In a posting to the webobjects-dev mailing list,[1] Daryl Lee from Apple's WebObjects team publicly disclosed the company's new strategy for WebObjects. It promised to "make WebObjects the best server-side runtime environment" by:

  • Improving performance, manageability, and standards compliance
  • Making WebObjects work well with Ant and the most popular IDEs, including Xcode and Eclipse
  • Opening and making public all standards and formats that WebObjects depends upon

WebObjects 5.4, which shipped with Mac OS X Leopard in October 2007, removed the license key requirement for both development and deployment of WebObjects applications on all platforms. All methods for checking license limitations were then deprecated.

The end of WebObjects, and the beginning of Project Wonder

In 2009, Apple stopped issuing new releases of WebObjects outside Apple. The community decided to continue development with Project Wonder, an open-source framework which is built on top of the core WebObjects frameworks and which extends them. For example, Project Wonder has updated development tools and provides a REST framework that was not part of the original WebObjects package.

Though once included in the default installation of Mac OS X Server, WebObjects was no longer installed by default starting with Mac OS X Snow Leopard Server and shortly after, Apple ceased promoting or selling WebObjects. As of 2016, WebObjects is actively supported by its developer community, the "WOCommunity Association", by extending the core frameworks and providing fixes with Project Wonder. The organization last held a Worldwide WebObjects Developer Conference, WOWODC, in 2013.[2][3]

In May 2016, Apple confirmed that WebObjects had been discontinued.[4]

Tools

As of 2016 most WebObjects architects and engineers are using the tools being developed by the WebObjects community. These tools run within the

Eclipse IDE and are open-source. The WebObjects plug-ins for Eclipse are known as WOLips
.

Building WebObjects frameworks and applications for deployment is typically achieved using the WOProject set of tools for Apache Ant or Apache Maven. These tools are distributed with WOLips.

Core frameworks

A WebObjects application is essentially a server-side executable, created by combining prebuilt application framework objects with the developer's own custom code. WebObjects' frameworks can be broken down into three core parts:

  • The WebObjects Framework (WOF) is at the highest level of the system. It is responsible for the application's user interface and state management. It uses a template-based approach to take that object graph and turn it into
    HTML-templates
    and creates the .wod-file linking, for instance, a Java String object to interface objects like an input field in a web form.
  • The Enterprise Objects Framework (EOF) is, perhaps, the hallmark feature of WebObjects. EOF communicates with relational databases and turns database rows into an object graph. Using EOModeler the developer can create an abstraction of the database in the forms of Java objects. In order to access or insert information into the database the developer simply accesses the Java Enterprise Objects (EOs) from their business logic. After that EOF manages the Enterprise Objects and automatically creates the required SQL-code to commit the changes to the database.
  • Java Foundation. Both Enterprise Objects and WebObjects rest on the aptly named Java Foundation classes. This framework contains the fundamental data structure implementations and utilities used throughout the rest of WebObjects. Examples include basic value and collection classes, such as
    JDK
    . However, they persist largely for reasons of backwards-compatibility and developers are free to use whichever frameworks they prefer.

Rules-Based Rapid Application Development (RBRAD)

WebObjects features a set of rapid development technologies that can automatically create a Web application without the need to write any Java code. Given a model file for a database, WebObjects will create an interface supporting nine common database tasks, including querying, editing and listing. Such applications are useful for prototyping or administering a database, perhaps to check relationships or to seed the database with data.

The user interface is generated dynamically, on-the-fly at runtime using a rules-based system—no code is generated. Consequently, one can modify an application's configuration at

runtime
(using an assistant program) without recompiling or relaunching the application.

Developers can utilize one of three different technologies, depending upon the type of interface they wish to employ:

  • Direct To Web (D2W) allows developers to rapidly create an HTML-based Web application that accesses a database.
  • Direct To Java Client allows developers to rapidly create a client desktop application using the Java Swing toolkit. An advantage of Java Client applications is that they can take advantage of the processing power of the client computer to perform operations such as sorting a list of items received from the server.
  • Direct To Web Services allows developers to rapidly develop Web service-based applications that provide access to a data store.

Advantages of RBRAD

  • Vastly decreased development and debugging time;
  • Increased stability through the use of highly exercised code;
  • By using the information contained in the data model file, applications will not violate database integrity. Normally you would have to write code to avoid such situations and handle errors generated by bad data;
  • Fully utilizes the validation services provided by WebObjects and Enterprise Objects.

Java compatibility

WebObjects is a 100% Java product with the following Java-based features:

  • Deployment: Applications can be deployed on any operating system that has Java 1.3 or later. Many developers have successfully deployed on
    JBoss
    .
  • Java EE integration: WebObjects applications can be packaged in a single directory (an exploded .war file) that make it easier to deploy to a
    servlet
    container.
  • JDBC: Since WebObjects uses
    DBMS
    that has a JDBC-driver can be used within WebObjects.
  • Swing interface: WebObjects applications can be delivered to the user as a "Java Client application" or as a Java applet.

Version history

WebObjects was originally released by NeXT Computer in March 1996, but was acquired by Apple Inc. with their acquisition of NeXT in December of that year.

1.0 — March 28, 1996
  • Debut release.
2.0 — June 25, 1996
  • Pre-release version of WebObjects Builder application.
3.0 — November 1996
3.1
  • Supports a subset of the Java APIs (NT only).
3.5 — December 1997
  • Enhanced Java support (NT only): all objects and components can be worked on as a set of Java APIs based on a complete implementation of the JDK 1.1.3.
4.0 — September 1998
4.5 —; March 2000
  • Integrated XML support using IBM's
    alphaWorks
    parser.
  • New WebObjects Builder interface, specifically in the main window toolbar, the user interface for binding keys, and the table editing user interface. A path view, an API editor, and component validation have been added.
  • Application profiling tools.
  • EOF 4.5 comes with a new sample adaptor: the LDAP adaptor.
  • Direct to Web now allows you to create your own visual style and exposes a great deal of new API.
  • Java Client extended considerably, including a new user interface generation layer, Direct to Java Client.
4.5.1
5.0[5] — May 2001
5.1[6] — January 10, 2002
5.1.2[7] — May 7, 2002
  • Contains general bug fixes for WebObjects 5.1 on all platforms.
5.1.3[8] — June 7, 2002
  • Contains targeted bug fixes for WebObjects 5.1 on all platforms.
5.1.4[9] — August 22, 2002
  • Compatibility with Mac OS X 10.2.
5.2[10] — November 12, 2002
  • Web Services support.
  • Improvements to
    Java EE
    integration
  • Java Web Start support.
  • Improvements to robustness and stability of Enterprise Objects.
  • Major bug fixes led many developers to hail this as the first stable 5.x release of WebObjects.
5.2.1[11] — March 21, 2003
  • Resolved some incompatibilities with the latest Java 1.4.1 implementation for Mac OS X.
5.2.2[12] — October 22, 2003
  • Compatibility with Mac OS X 10.3 Panther and the Xcode IDE.
  • JBoss on Panther Server qualification.
  • Qualified for Java 1.4.1.
  • Fixes for EOF runtime and WOFileUpload.
5.2.3[13] — March 16, 2004
  • Performance and stability update addressing issues with CLOSE_WAIT states in deployment using JavaMonitor and wotaskd and issues related to EOF under high load.
  • Qualified for Java 1.4.2.
5.2.4[14] — May 2, 2005
5.3 (developer) for Mac OS X 10.4[15] — June 6, 2005
5.3 (deployment) for Mac OS X Server 10.4 — June 23, 2005
  • Installer updates the Application Server components in Mac OS X Server 10.4 to WebObjects 5.3.
5.3.1[16] — November 10, 2005
  • Addresses incompatibilities with Xcode 2.2 Developer tools on Mac OS X 10.4.
  • Adds a modified Developer tools license that allows WebObjects applications developed with Xcode 2.2 to be deployed on any compatible platform. The license is available at /System/Library/Frameworks/JavaWebObjects.framework/Resources/License.key after installation.
  • Adds better SQL Generation in the EOModeler Plug-in design tool in Xcode.
  • Improved FetchSpecification building in the EOModeler Plugin design tool in Xcode.
  • Adds a "components and elements" window for improved workflow in WebObjects Builder.
  • Bug fixes.
5.3.2[17] — August 7, 2006
  • Addresses incompatibilities with Xcode 2.4 Developer tools on Mac OS X 10.4.
  • Security improvements.
  • Other improvements.
  • As part of the simultaneous release of Xcode 2.4, the Cocoa Java bridge is deprecated along with the following WebObjects applications: EOModeler, EOModeler Plugin, WebObjects Builder, WebServices Assistant, RuleEditor and WOALauncher.
5.3.3[18] — February 15, 2007
  • "WebObjects DST Update": Updates WebObjects 5.3 systems to observe the Daylight Saving Time (DST) changes due to come into effect in March 2007 in many countries, including the United States and Canada. Uses the latest DST and time zone information available as of January 8, 2007.
5.4[19] — October 26, 2007
  • License key no longer required or supported
  • Deprecations: Java Client Nib based applications, Direct to JavaClient based applications, EOCocoaClient based applications, OpenBase no longer example database, Tools (EOModeler, WebObjects Builder, Rule editor)
  • Combined Component Template Parser that reduces .wo components to single .html files
  • Generation of XHTML compliant pages
  • AJAX request handler for enhanced page caching
  • Added support for secure URL generation
  • JMX monitoring support
  • Entity index management in the model
  • Improved the synchronization with the database
  • Added support for index generation
  • Support for enum in attribute conversion
  • Improved support for vendor specific prototypes (EOJDBCOraclePrototype, EOJDBCFrontBasePrototype, etc.)
  • Derby support (Embedded database)
  • Support for Generics
  • WebServices update (Axis 1.4)
  • Full support for Apple XML plist (Read and Write)
  • Ant build support
  • Open Specifications
5.4.1[20] — February 11, 2008
  • "WebObjects 5.4.1 is an update release for the version of WebObjects included in the Mac OS X Leopard tools. This release fixes several bugs in areas such as web services serialization, deployment tools, and database compatibility, among others. This update can be installed on Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard."
  • Fixed bugs in web services serialization, deployment, databases.
5.4.2[21] — July 11, 2008
  • Addresses WOComponent parser issues
  • Includes WebServices data types and API changes
  • Includes EOF SQL Generation fixes
  • Resolves additional issues
5.4.3[22] — September 15, 2008
  • EOF Database snapshot not updating
  • Webassistant not available for D2W apps
  • Exceptions when using WOTextField with formatters
  • Duplicate primary keys generated by FrontBase JDBC Adaptor under load
  • Additional issue fixes

WOWODC

Since 2007, the community has held an annual conference for WebObjects developers, WOWODC. In 2007 and 2008, the conference was held the weekend before WWDC, and in 2009, the community promoted two conferences: WOWODC West in San Francisco on June 6 and 7, immediately before WWDC, and WOWODC East in Montreal on August 29 and 30. WOWODC 2010 was held in Montreal on August 27, 28 and 29, 2010. WOWODC 2011 was held in Montreal on July 1, 2 and 3 in 2011. WOWODC 2012 was held in Montreal on June 30, July 1 and 2, 2012. WOWODC 2013 was held in Montreal. WOWODC 2014 was held in Montreal (April 12, 13 and 14). WOWODC 2015 was held in Hamburg on April 25, 26 and 27. WOWODC 2016 was held in Montréal on June 24, 25 and 26

Open-source alternatives

Interest in OpenSource alternatives to WebObjects that use the

OpenGroupware.org groupware server for about eight years, and GNUstepWeb, which is part of the GNUstep project. Open-source rewrites of the EOF frameworks also exist (AJRDatabase, GDL2).[24][25]

There are also Java-based alternatives:

  • GETobjects is another framework[31] with an API similar to WebObjects 5.x that is related to SOPE.[23]

An attempt to do a Swift version based on SOPE / GETobjects is available as SwiftObjects.[32] The implementation for Swift 4 is limited due to the reflection capabilities of that Swift version.

See also

References

  1. ^ Apple Mailing Lists: RE: Xcode 2.4 Deprecation Announcements by Daryl Lee
  2. ^ WebObjects Community Association (WOCommunity) (official web site).
  3. ^ [1](WOWODC '12) official web site.
  4. ^ Leswing, Kif. "Apple officially killed one of Steve Jobs' favorite projects". Business Insider. Business Insider. Retrieved May 5, 2016.
  5. ^ WebObjects 5.0 Release Notes
  6. ^ WebObjects 5.1 Release Notes
  7. ^ WebObjects 5.1.2: Update Overview
  8. ^ WebObjects 5.1.3: Update Overview
  9. ^ WebObjects 5.1.4: Update Overview
  10. ^ WebObjects 5.2 Release Notes
  11. ^ WebObjects 5.2.1: Update Overview
  12. ^ WebObjects 5.2.2: Update Overview
  13. ^ WebObjects 5.2.3: Update Overview
  14. ^ WebObjects 5.2.4: Update Overview
  15. ^ WebObjects 5.3 Release Notes
  16. ^ WebObjects 5.3.1: Update Overview
  17. ^ WebObjects 5.3.2: Update Overview
  18. ^ WebObjects 5.3.3: Update Overview
  19. ^ WebObjects 5.4: Update in Leopard Server
  20. ^ 5.4.1: Update in Leopard Client
  21. ^ About the WebObjects 5.4.2 Update
  22. ^ About the WebObjects 5.4.3 Update
  23. ^ a b SOPE Frameworks for Objective-C
  24. ^ AJRDatabase
  25. ^ GDL2
  26. ^ Wotonomy Project
  27. ^ "Wotonomy moves to maven, removes non-free software" - Christian Gruber
  28. ^ "Wotonomy moves subversion" - Christian Gruber
  29. ^ "Wotonomy web is coming together" - Micheal Powers
  30. )
  31. ^ GETobjects
  32. ^ SwiftObjects

External links