11.2.12. About the ORB Portability API

The Object Request Broker (ORB) is a process which sends and receives messages to transaction participants, coordinators, resources, and other services distributed across multiple application servers. An ORB uses a standardized Interface Description Language (IDL) to communicate and interpret messages. Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA) is the IDL used by the ORB in JBoss EAP 6.

The main type of service which uses an ORB is a system of distributed Java Transactions, using the Java Transaction Service (JTS) protocol. Other systems, especially legacy systems, may choose to use an ORB for communication, rather than other mechanisms such as remote Enterprise JavaBeans or JAX-WS or JAX-RS Web Services.

The ORB Portability API provides mechanisms to interact with an ORB. This API provides methods for obtaining a reference to the ORB, as well as placing an application into a mode where it listens for incoming connections from an ORB. Some of the methods in the API are not supported by all ORBs. In those cases, an exception is thrown.

The API consists of two different classes:

Refer to the JBoss EAP 6 Javadocs bundle on the Red Hat Customer Portal for specific details about the methods and properties included in the ORB Portability API.