The application assembler

The application assembler creates applications that use enterprise beans. He combines enterprise beans and hand-written client code into a client/server application. Although he must be familiar with the functionality provided by the enterprise beans' component and home interfaces, he does not need to have any knowledge of the enterprise beans' implementation.

The input to the application assembler is one or more ejb-jar files produced by the bean provider. His output is one or more ejb-jar files that contain the enterprise beans, along with their application assembly instructions and customized environment settings. He has inserted the application assembly instructions, security roles, and environment values into the deployment descriptors.

The application assembler may also combine enterprise beans with other types of application components—for example, JavaBeans—when assembling an application.

Typically, the application assembly step occurs before the deployment of the enterprise beans. However, sometimes assembly may be performed after the deployment of all or some of the enterprise beans.