Advanced Topic: The Dynamic Skeleton Interface (DSI)

This document was not updated for the J2SE^TM release. If you downloaded this document as part of the J2SE^TM documentation bundle, check the Web site at http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.4.2/docs/guide/idl/jidlDSI.html for updates.

The Dynamic Skeleton Interface (DSI) allows servers to serve a servant object without prior (compile time) knowledge of the object's interface. Insead of using skeleton code compiled from the IDL interface definition, the server constructs an operation invocation dynamically.

Why Use DSI?

DSI can be used to bridge CORBA with non-CORBA environments. Such a bridge would allow CORBA clients to invoke methods on CORBA objects that are implemented as, for example, COM services.

The dynamic servant is implemented to convert the CORBA client request to a format understood by the COM server. You must write all the code to perform this work. Contrast this with a typical static object invocation. The server has access to the compiled skeletons for the interface being invoked. These skeletons are generated by compiling the IDL interface definitions with the idlj compiler. When the ORB receives a request, it uses the skeleton code to build operation arguments on the server side and to send back any result.

Home