Glacier2 Application Class

The Ice::Application helper class encapsulates some basic Ice functionality such as communicator initialization, communicator destruction, and proper handling of signals and exceptions. The Glacier2::Application extends Ice::Application to add functionality that is commonly needed by Glacier2 clients:

  • Keeps a session alive by periodically sending "heartbeat" requests
  • Automatically restarts a session if a failure occurs
  • Optionally creates an object adapter for callbacks
  • Destroys the session when the application completes

Glacier2 Application is defined as follows :

namespace Glacier2
{
    class Application : public Ice::Application
    {
    public:

        using Ice::Application::Application;

        virtual std::shared_ptr<Glacier2::SessionPrx> createSession() = 0;
        virtual int runWithSession(int argc, char* argv[]) = 0;
        virtual void sessionDestroyed();

        static void restart();
    
        static std::shared_ptr<Glacier2::RouterPrx> router(); 
        static std::shared_ptr<Glacier2::SessionPrx> session();
 
        static std::string categoryForClient();
        static Ice::Identity createCallbackIdentity(const std::string&);
        static std::shared_ptr<Ice::ObjectPrx> addWithUUID(const std::shared_ptr<Ice::Object>& servant);
        static std::shared_ptr<Ice::ObjectAdapter> objectAdapter();
    
        ...
    };
}
namespace Glacier2
{
    class Application : public Ice::Application
    {
    public:

        Application(Ice::SignalPolicy signalPolicy = Ice::HandleSignals);

        virtual Glacier2::SessionPrx createSession() = 0;
        virtual int runWithSession(int argc, char* argv[]) = 0;
        virtual void sessionDestroyed();

        static void restart();
    
        static Glacier2::RouterPrx router(); 
        static Glacier2::SessionPrx session();
 
        static std::string categoryForClient();
        static Ice::Identity createCallbackIdentity(const std::string&);
        static Ice::ObjectPrx addWithUUID(const Ice::ObjectPtr& servant);
        static Ice::ObjectAdapterPtr objectAdapter();

        ...
    };
}  
namespace Glacier2
{
    public abstract class Application : Ice.Application
    {
        public Application(Ice.SignalPolicy signalPolicy = Ice.SignalPolicy.HandleSignals) { ... }
 
        public abstract Glacier2.SessionPrx createSession();
        public abstract int runWithSession(string[] args);
        public virtual void sessionDestroyed() {}

        public static void restart() { ... }
 
        public static Glacier2.RouterPrx router() { ... }
        public static SessionPrx session() { ... }
 
        public static string categoryForClient() { ... }
        public static Ice.Identity createCallbackIdentity(string name) { ... }
        public static Ice.ObjectPrx addWithUUID(Ice.Object servant) { ... }
        public static Ice.ObjectAdapter objectAdapter() { ... }
 
        ...
    }
}


package com.zeroc.Glacier2;
 
public abstract class Application extends com.zeroc.Ice.Application
{
    public static class RestartSessionException extends Exception
    {
    }
    public Application() { ... }  
    public Application(com.zeroc.Ice.SignalPolicy signalPolicy) { ... }
 
    public abstract com.zeroc.Glacier2.SessionPrx createSession();
    public abstract int runWithSession(String[] args) throws RestartSessionException;
    public void sessionDestroyed() {}
   
    public static void restart() throws RestartSessionException { ... }
 
    public static com.zeroc.Glacier2.RouterPrx router() { ... }
    public static com.zeroc.Glacier2.SessionPrx session() { ... }
   
    public static String categoryForClient() throws SessionNotExistException { ... }
    public static com.zeroc.Ice.Identity createCallbackIdentity(String name) throws SessionNotExistException  { ... }
    public static com.zeroc.Ice.ObjectPrx addWithUUID(com.zeroc.Ice.Object servant) throws SessionNotExistException  { ... }
    public static com.zeroc.Ice.ObjectAdapter objectAdapter() throws SessionNotExistException  { ... }
    
    ...
}
package Glacier2;
 
public abstract class Application extends Ice.Application
{
    public static class RestartSessionException extends Exception
    {
    }
    public Application() { ... }  
    public Application(Ice.SignalPolicy signalPolicy) { ... }
 
    public abstract Glacier2.SessionPrx createSession();
    public abstract int runWithSession(String[] args) throws RestartSessionException;
    public void sessionDestroyed() {}
   
    public static void restart() throws RestartSessionException { ... }
 
    public static Glacier2.RouterPrx router() { ... }
    public static Glacier2.SessionPrx session() { ... }
   
    public static String categoryForClient() throws SessionNotExistException { ... }
    public static Ice.Identity createCallbackIdentity(String name) throws SessionNotExistException  { ... }
    public static Ice.ObjectPrx addWithUUID(Ice.Object servant) throws SessionNotExistException  { ... }
    public static Ice.ObjectAdapter objectAdapter() throws SessionNotExistException  { ... }
    
    ...
}
# in Glacier2 module
class Application(Ice.Application):

    def __init__(self, signalPolicy=0):

    def createSession(self, args):
    def runWithSession(self, args):
    def sessionDestroyed(self):

    def restart(self):
    def router(self):
    def session(self):

    def categoryForClient(self):
    def createCallbackIdentity(self, name):
    def addWithUUID(self, servant):
    def objectAdapter(self):

The intent of this class is that you specialize Glacier2 Application and implement the pure virtual functions or abstract methods createSession and runWithSession in your derived class. 

This Application class provides the following functions or methods:

  • Constructor
    Like the Ice Application constructor, you can construct a Glacier2 application that handles signals (the default) or does not.

  • createSession
    This pure virtual function or abstract method must be overridden by a subclass to create the application's Glacier2 session. A successful call to createSession is followed by a call to runWithSession. The application terminates if createSession throws an Ice LocalException.

  • runWithSession
    This pure virtual function or abstract method must be overridden by a subclass and represents the "main loop" of the application. It is called after the communicator has been initialized and the Glacier2 session has been established. The arguments passed to runWithSession contain the arguments passed to main on Application with all Ice-related options removed. The implementation of runWithSession must return zero to indicate success and non-zero to indicate failure; the value returned by runWithSession becomes the return value of main. 

    runWithSession can call restart to restart the session. This destroys the current session, creates a new session (by calling createSession), and calls runWithSession again. The Application base class also restarts the session if runWithSession raises (or allows to be raised) any of the following exceptions:

    • Ice::ConnectionLostException
    • Ice::ConnectionRefusedException
    • Ice::RequestFailedException
    • Ice::TimeoutException
    • Ice::UnknownLocalException

    All other exceptions cause the current session to be destroyed without restarting.

  • sessionDestroyed
    A subclass can optionally override this function or method to take action when connectivity with the Glacier2 router is lost.
  • router
    Returns the proxy for the Glacier2 router.
  • session
    Returns the proxy for the current session.
  • restart
    Causes Application to destroy the current session, create a new session (by calling createSession), and start a new main loop (in runWithSession). This function or method does not return but rather throws a RestartSessionException, later caught by Application.
  • categoryForClient
    Returns the category to be used in the identities of all of the client's callback objects. Clients must use this category for the router to forward callback requests to the intended client. This function or method raises SessionNotExistException if no session is currently active.
  • createCallbackIdentity
    Creates a new Ice identity for a callback object with the given identity name.
  • addWithUUID
    Adds a servant to the callback object adapter's Active Servant Map using a UUID for the identity name.
  • objectAdapter
    Returns the object adapter used for callbacks, creating the object adapter if necessary.

Application and Threads

Just like Ice Application, Glacier2 Application should be considered single-threaded until you call main. Then, in createSession and runWithSession, you can call concurrently Application's functions or methods from multiple threads. If you create threads, you must join them before or when runWithSession returns. 

The thread you use to call main is used to initialize the Communicator and then to call createSession and later runWithSession. On Linux and macOS with C++, this thread must be the only thread of the process at the time you call main for signal handling to operate correctly.

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