interprocess communication in webobjects (jvm, wotaskd, apache module)

Question

I am using the Java edition of Apple Webobjects and was wondering how it all works under the hood. For an app to run successfully it would appear that one needs the java WebObjects Application running in the java virtual machine, an apache instance with the webobjects adapter installed as an apache module and "wotaskd" running as a unix daemon.

How does an http request that arrives on apache end up becoming a java WORequest??

What is the purpose of wotaskd?? What role does it play in all this??

How does the adaptor "talk" to the JVM process? Shared memory? Is there any JNI involved? How does it all work?

Answer 1

wotaskd and the Apache module are only needed for deployment, for development they are not required. wotaskd is a tool/daemon that will launch your WebObjects applications and watchdog them. The Apache module (mod_WebObjects) is there to forward requests and responses between Apache and the WebObjects application. IHMO, it's all done over HTTP, no JNI involved.

Check the "Deploying_Applications" guide (you can get it at http://wiki.objectstyle.org/confluence/display/WO/Documentation), it explains everything.