[Enterprise Extensions only]

The Internationalization Service solution

The WebSphere Enterprise Internationalization Service solves the locale and time zone mismatch problems without the traditional limitations by managing the distribution of Internationalization context (locale and time zone) across the various components of Enterprise JavaBean applications, including Java client applications, Enterprise JavaBeans, and servlets. Server-side components can use the Internationalization context API to access distributed Internationalization context and then localize computations according to the locale or time zone of remote, client-side components.

The service works by associating an Internationalization context with every thread of execution within an application. When a client-side program invokes a remote business method, the Internationalization Service transparently interposes by obtaining the context associated with the current thread and attaching it to the outgoing request. At the server-side, the Internationalization Service again interposes by detaching the caller’s context from the incoming request and associating it with the thread on which the remote business method will run. The service will propagate this context on subsequent remote business method invocations in the same manner and thus distribute the context of the originating request over the call chain.

This basic operation is precisely defined by the service’s Internationalization context management policies, which specify how context propagates over all supported component types, the context under which a component executes, and the usage guidelines an end-user will follow to programmatically access context using the Internationalization context API.

To programmatically manage Internationalization context, an application component first resolves the appropriate Internationalization Service API references. Depending on the API reference employed and the applicable context management policy, a component can access different types of Internationalization context elements, such as the caller locale or the invocation time zone.

For information about Internationalization context types and how to programmatically manage them, see:

To utilize Internationalization context within an application, the service must be enabled in the Enterprise JavaBeans client container (if the application has an Enterprise JavaBeans client program) and in all application servers containing the application’s Enterprise JavaBeans and servlets.

Information about configuring Internationalization service function appear in: