Working with Java Bridge

The Java Bridge is only active when the Java Bridge component is installed and activated. The component's status and settings can be viewed and configured in the UI, on the Administration | Components page.

The Java Bridge requires that you have Oracle's JRE 1.5 (or later) or IBM's Java 1.5 (or later) installed on your computer. During (or after) installing (depending on the installation type), you are prompted to direct the installer to the JRE location. You should, therefore, already have JRE installed. More information about JRE and the latest updates can be obtained from www.java.com.

This procedure describes how to enable the Java Bridge component on IBMi.

Instructions on how to complete a procedure

To enable the Zend Java Bridge on IBMi:

  1. Select Option 12 ‘Java Bridge Management menu ’ from the Zend Server for IBM i Service menu.
  2. Select Option 2 'Start Java Bridge.
    Zend Java Bridge is enables.

This procedure describes how to install and enable the Java Bridge component depending on the Zend Server installation type.

Instructions on how to complete a procedure

Windows

  1. From the list of installed programs in your Control Panel, select Zend Server, and click Change.

    The Zend Server Installer is displayed.
  2. Select Modify, and click Next.

    The Custom dialog is displayed.
  3. Under PHP, select Zend Java Bridge, and click Next.
    The Zend Jave Bridge is installed.
  4. When the setup is completed, click Finish.
  1. Open Zend Server, and go to Administration | Components.
  2. From the components list, select the Zend Java Bridge.
  3. In the Action bar, click .

  4. In the toolbar, the restart icon lights up , indicating a restart is needed to apply changes. Click to restart server and apply changes.
    For information on restarting in Zend Server, see Server Restart.

Linux

  1. Run the following command:

aptitude install php-java-bridge-zend-server

  1. In the UI, go to Administration | Components.
  2. From the components list, select the Zend Java Bridge.
  3. In the Action bar, click .

This procedure describes how to configure the target Java runtime environment.

Instructions on how to complete a procedure

Configuring the runtime environment:

Use the following command to run JavaMW:

java com.zend.javamw.JavaServer

For correct execution, the classpath should include the javamw.jar file in the directory where JavaMW is installed.

 

Example:

UNIX, Linux, and IBM i<install_dir>/bin/javamw.jar  
Windows <install_dir>\bin\javamw.jar

The following code sample shows how you can, as an initial step, test the connection between your PHP and Java environments to ensure that the Java Bridge is defined properly and communicates with the correct Java. This code demonstrates the interaction between a PHP application and Java objects that occurs in the Java Bridge implementation.

Instructions on how to complete a procedure

To test the Java Bridge connection:

Create a new PHP script to create a Java object, as in the example below:

<?php
// create Java object
  $formatter = new Java("java.text.SimpleDateFormat",
                        "EEEE, MMMM dd, yyyy 'at' h:mm:ss a zzzz");
  // Print date through the object
  print $formatter->format(new Java("java.util.Date"))."\n";
  // You can also access Java system classes
  $system = new Java("java.lang.System");
  print $system."\n"; // will use toString in PHP5
  print "Java version=".$system->getProperty("java.version")." <br>\n";
  print "Java vendor=".$system->getProperty("java.vendor")." <p>\n\n";
  print "OS=".$system->getProperty("os.name")." ".
	$system->getProperty("os.version")." on ".$system->getProperty("os.arch")." <br>\n"; ?>

If the Java Bridge is correctly installed and running, you should receive the following response:

Friday, June 13, 2008 at 8:45:57 PM U.S Daylight Time class java.lang.System Java version=1.6.0_06 Java vendor=Sun Microsystems Inc.
OS=Linux 2.6.25.3-18.fc9.i686 on i386

This output shows the date, Java version, vendor and operating system and indicates that the connection is complete.
If you receive an error message instead of the expected output information, one of the following problems may have occurred:

  1. The Java Bridge is not installed

  2. The Java Bridge extension is not running (Administration | Components)

  3. The Java Bridge Server needs to be restarted (>Administration | Components)

  4. The requested .jar file does not appear in the environment's classpath.

Once the connection is established, you can start using the API to call Java objects from your PHP.

Before you start incorporating the Java Bridge API in your code, you must be aware that when you call Java from PHP, you must use Java coding standards to call the correct objects, because the Java Bridge does not perform dynamic data conversion. You must perform the type conversion in your PHP code.
For example,

Example:

If you call a Java method that looks like this:

public void doSomething(int i);

Using what you would expect to work in PHP:

$var = "1" $javaObject->doSomething($var);

The Java Bridge throws an exception. To avoid this, use the following line of code to convert the parameter from a string to a numeric value before the Java Bridge passes it:

$javaObject->doSomething($var + 0);

For more information, see the API, or Java Bridge Use Cases.

This procedure describes how to configure the Zend Java Bridge component. For more information on working with this component, see Working with Components.

Instructions on how to complete a procedure

To configure the component:

  1. In the UI, go to Administration | Components.
  2. From the Components list, select the component.
    The Expanded view will display the directives associated with the component.
  3. Review the assorted directives and their descriptions, and configure the component according to your personal preferences. For information on how to configure directives, see Working with Components.
  4. In the Action bar, click Save.

  5. In the toolbar, the restart icon lights up , indicating a restart is needed to apply changes. Click to restart server and apply changes.
    For information on restarting in Zend Server, see Server Restart.

For information on configuring the component daemon directives, see Configuring Component Daemon Directives (Zend Session Clustering, Zend Deployment, Zend Java Bridge, Zend Job Queue, and Zend Monitor).