Exploiting Enterprise JavaBeans in the NIIIP virtual enterprise

Enterprise JavaBeans 1.0 (EJB) defines a set of interceptor objects that mediates the invocation of a remote object by a client. They provide an environment for composing security, persistence and transaction services consistent with CORBA 2.0 protocols. The NIIIP virtual enterprise (VE), however, will require remote object invocations that support additional requirements: 1) requests that are directed to sets of objects, which collaborate to meet the needs of a VE workflow. 2) Requests that can involve negotiation over the price, schedule and quality of service for each object, which are more complex than obtaining its "lock". 3) Requests that can be so complex that finder methods must be used to mediate the ontology differences between the different members of the VE in order to identify the objects involved. 4) Requests that traverse multiple firewalls between organizations within an activity of the VE workflow. This paper discusses how Enterprise JavaBeans can be exploited to meet these VE requirements.