The Application Tier

Various applications dynamically create end-user pages, most typically in HTML. These applications are processed on an application server. In the past few years, the Enterprise application server market has consolidated dramatically, with two main camps now extant: the Microsoft .Net technologies and the Java technologies.

BusinessObjects Enterprise provides a Software Development Kit in three formats for each of the three most popular development environments: COM, Java, and .Net. These allow an organization maximum flexibility in integrating BusinessObjects Enterprise into its applications.

The COM SDK includes a set of COM objects that interact with BusinessObjects Enterprise via the BusinessObjects Enterprise Framework.

In prior versions of the product, the typical use and installation used the COM SDK as the primary conduit into the system. This architecture included a Web Connector on each of the web server machines and a Web Component Server (WCS) within the framework. The WCS provided application services for server side processing of Crystal Server Pages (CSP). CSP is a technology analogous to the Microsoft Active Server Pages (ASP) technology, with the key distinction that the processing occurs within the Enterprise framework in the CSP scenario. In the XI release, the default installation options include both a Java and .NET version of the packaged interfaces. The Web Component Server is removed from the framework. Support for CSP pages is provided through the Web Component Adapter running on the application server.

The BusinessObjects Java SDK includes a set of Java classes that communicate with the BusinessObjects Enterprise Framework. In a Java application server environment, no Web Connector (WC) or Web Component Service (WCS) is required. Instead the Java SDK is processed on the Web application server, which communicates via the Java SDK directly with the BusinessObjects Enterprise Framework. In addition, the BusinessObjects Enterprise Web Component Adapter (WCA) installs on the Web application server and provides the capabilities that you expect from the WCS: CSP processing and specific application support.

Microsoft produces the .Net Framework. Applications written within the .Net Framework are supported by BusinessObjects Enterprise via the .Net BOE SDK. This SDK includes primary interop assemblies and visual development controls for visual application development in Microsoft Visual Studio .Net. In a .Net application, there is no WCS, WCA, or WC required, as the native .Net assemblies are loaded into the .Net framework and communicate with BusinessObjects Enterprise via the COM SDK.

The current state of support for the SDK is both a reflection of the marketplace and a reflection of the historical progression of BusinessObjects Enterprise in response to the maturation of the Web server market. Because the previous versions of BusinessObjects Enterprise were introduced before the Web application market had matured, the product included its own application server: the WCS. Now that the Web server and Web application server markets have consolidated and matured, the WCS has been replaced by the capabilities of those application servers. Generally, all custom applications should be developed using the technology that is most appropriate: the Java or .Net SDKs. Although COM technology is supported in BusinessObjects Enterprise XI, with Microsoft's migration to .Net from COM, it is recommended that development take place in .Net over COM where possible.