Upgrading Annotations

This release incorporates support for the standard for Java annotations released with Java 5; that standard is defined in JSR 175. This topic describes how version 8.1 annotations are treated during upgrade to version 10.x. An obvious change is the difference in syntax between the two versions; version 8.1 annotations were embedded in a Javadoc-style comment, for example. When you use upgrade tools to upgrade a version 8.1 application, the tools upgrade all of the annotations that have counterparts in version 10.x. Upgrade tools generally leave the old-style annotations, which are ignored by the version 10.x runtime.

Note: For general information about Java 5 annotations, see the Annotations topic at the Sun web site.

For a more complete list of changes affecting applications upgraded from version 8.1, see Changes During Upgrade from WebLogic Workshop 8.1 to Version 10.x.

Relationship Between Version 8.1 and Version 10.x Annotations

To take advantage of the Java 5 annotations feature, version 10.x of Workshop uses migrated versions of the annotations that version 8.1 supported. So, for example, the version 8.1 @common:operation annotation is replaced in version 10.x with the @WebMethod annotation to signify that a method should be used as a web service operation.

For the most part, version 8.1 annotations have counterparts in version 10.x. However, there are a few exceptions. It's also worth noting that most of the migrated annotations are now part of the Apache Beehive project.

Note: Upgrade tools will upgrade all annotations for which there is a version 10.x counterpart.

Version 8.1 Annotation	Version 10.x Annotation	Containing Component Type
common:context	weblogic.jws.Context	Web service
common:context	org.apache.beehive.controls.api.context.Context	Control
common:control	org.apache.beehive.controls.api.bean.Control	Multiple
common:define	No version 10.x counterpart.
common:message-buffer	weblogic.jws.MessageBuffer	Web service
common:message-buffer	com.bea.control.annotations.MessageBuffer. Must be used in the control interface; no longer supported on the control implementation.	Control
common:operation	javax.jws.WebMethod	Web service
common:operation	No version 10.x counterpart	Control
common:schema	No version 10.x counterpart. This was used in conjunction with XQuery maps, which are no longer supported.
common:security	com.bea.control.annotations.Security	Control
common:security (callback-roles-allowed attribute)	weblogic.jws.security.CallbackRolesAllowed	Web service
common:security (run-as attribute)	weblogic.jws.security.RunAs	Web service
common:security (roles-referenced attribute)	weblogic.jws.security.RolesReferenced	Web service
common:target-namespace	targetNamespace attribute in javax.jws.WebService annotation.	Web service
common:xmlns	No version 10.x counterpart. This was used in conjunction with XQuery maps, which are no longer supported.	Web service
editor-info:code-gen	No version 10.x counterpart.	Custom control source
editor-info:link	No version 10.x counterpart. See Keeping Files in Sync in the Absence of IDE Support for a suggested workaround.	Web service
ejbgen:automatic-key-generation	weblogic.ejbgen.AutomaticKeyGeneration	EJBs
ejbgen:cmp-field	weblogic.ejbgen.CmpField	EJBs
ejbgen:cmr-field	weblogic.ejbgen.CmrField	EJBs
ejbgen:compatibility	weblogic.ejbgen.Compatibility	EJBs
ejbgen:create-default-dbms-tables	weblogic.ejbgen.CreateDefaultDbmsTables	EJBs
ejbgen:ejb-client-jar	weblogic.ejbgen.EjbClientJar	EJBs
ejbgen:ejb-interface	weblogic.ejbgen.EjbInterface	EJBs
ejbgen:ejb-local-ref	weblogic.ejbgen.EjbLocalRef	EJBs
ejbgen:ejb-ref	weblogic.ejbgen.EjbRef	EJBs
ejbgen:entity-cache-ref	weblogic.ejbgen.EntityCacheRef	EJBs
ejbgen:entity	weblogic.ejbgen.Entity	EJBs
ejbgen:env-entry	weblogic.ejbgen.EnvEntry	EJBs
ejbgen:file-generation	weblogic.ejbgen.FileGeneration	EJBs
ejbgen:finder	weblogic.ejbgen.Finder	EJBs
ejbgen:foreign-jms-provider	weblogic.ejbgen.ForeignJmsProvider	EJBs
ejbgen:jar-settings	weblogic.ejbgen.JarSettings	EJBs
ejbgen:jndi-name	weblogic.ejbgen.JndiName	EJBs
ejbgen:local-home-method	weblogic.ejbgen.LocalHomeMethod	EJBs
ejbgen:local-method	weblogic.ejbgen.LocalMethod	EJBs
ejbgen:message-driven	weblogic.ejbgen.MessageDriven	EJBs
ejbgen:method-isolation-level-pattern	weblogic.ejbgen.MethodIsolationLevelPattern	EJBs
ejbgen:method-permission-pattern	weblogic.ejbgen.MethodPermissionPattern	EJBs
ejbgen:relation	weblogic.ejbgen.Relation	EJBs
ejbgen:relationship-caching-element	weblogic.ejbgen.RelationshipCachingElement	EJBs
ejbgen:remote-home-method	weblogic.ejbgen.RemoteHomeMethod	EJBs
ejbgen:remote-method	weblogic.ejbgen.RemoteMethod	EJBs
ejbgen:resource-env-ref	weblogic.ejbgen.ResourceEnvRef	EJBs
ejbgen:resource-ref	weblogic.ejbgen.ResourceRef	EJBs
ejbgen:role-mapping	weblogic.ejbgen.RoleMapping	EJBs
ejbgen:security-role-ref	weblogic.ejbgen.SecurityRoleRef	EJBs
ejbgen:select	weblogic.ejbgen.Select	EJBs
ejbgen:session	weblogic.ejbgen.Session	EJBs
ejbgen:value-object	weblogic.ejbgen.ValueObject	EJBs
jc:connection	com.bea.control.JdbcControl.ConnectionDataSource	Database control
jc:conversation	com.bea.control.ServiceControl.Conversation	Service control and others.
jc:ejb	org.apache.beehive.controls.system.ejb.EJBControl.EJBHome	EJB control
jc:handler	com.bea.control.ServiceControl.Handler	Service control
jc:jms	org.apache.beehive.controls.system.jms.JMSControl.Destination	JMS control
jc:jms-headers	org.apache.beehive.controls.system.jms.JMSControl.HeaderType, org.apache.beehive.controls.system.jms.JMSControl.Priority, org.apache.beehive.controls.system.jms.JMSControl.Expiration, org.apache.beehive.controls.system.jms.JMSControl.Type	JMS control
jc:jms-property	org.apache.beehive.controls.system.jms.JMSControl.PropertyValue	JMS control
jc:location	com.bea.control.ServiceControl.Location	Service control
jc:log	No version 10.x counterpart. The current implementation of the Database control does not currently support logging.	Database control
jc:parameter-xml	No version 10.x counterpart. This was used in conjunction with XQuery maps, which are no longer supported.	Service control
jc:protocol	com.bea.control.ServiceControl.SOAPBinding and com.bea.control.ServiceControl.JmsSoapProtocol.	Service control
jc:reliable	No version 10.x counterpart.	Service control
jc:return-xml	No version 10.x counterpart. This was used in conjunction with XQuery maps, which are no longer supported.	Service control
jc:selector	No version 10.x counterpart. The JMS control in version 10.x does not support receiving messages.	Service Broker control
jc:sql	com.bea.control.JdbcControl.SQL	Database control
jc:timer	com.bea.control.TimerControl.TimerSettings	Timer control
jc:ws-security-callback	No version 10.x counterpart. This was used to support WS-Security in web services. Upgraded code should use the Web Services Policy Framework (WS-Policy) instead.	Service control
jc:ws-security-service	No version 10.x counterpart. This was used to support WS-Security in web services. Upgraded code should use the Web Services Policy Framework (WS-Policy) instead.	Service control
jcs:control-tags	No version 10.x counterpart.	Custom control source
jcs:ide	No version 10.x counterpart.	Custom control source
jcs:jc-jar	No version 10.x counterpart.	Custom control source
jcs:suppress-common-tags	No version 10.x counterpart.	Custom control source
jws:context	weblogic.jws.Context	Web service
jws:control	org.apache.beehive.controls.api.bean.Control	Web service
jws:conversation	weblogic.jws.Conversation	Web service
jws:conversation-lifetime	weblogic.jws.Conversational	Web service
jws:define	No version 10.x counterpart.	Web service
jws:handler	javax.jws.HandlerChain (for files) and javax.jws.soap.SOAPMessageHandlers (for individual classes)	Web service
jws:location	com.bea.control.ServiceControl.Location	Web service
jws:message-buffer	weblogic.jws.MessageBuffer	Web service
jws:operation	javax.jws.WebMethod	Web service
jws:parameter-xml	No version 10.x counterpart. This was used in conjunction with XQuery maps, which are no longer supported.	Web service
jws:protocol	javax.jws.soap.SOAPBinding	Web service
jws:reliable	Use WS-Policy files and the weblogic.jws.Policies annotation.	Web service
jws:return-xml	No version 10.x counterpart. This was used in conjunction with XQuery maps, which are no longer supported.	Web service
jws:schema	No version 10.x counterpart. This was used in conjunction with XQuery maps, which are no longer supported.	Web service
jws:target-namespace	targetNamespace attribute in javax.jws.WebService annotation.	Web service
jws:wsdl	wsdlLocation attribute in javax.jws.WebService annotation.	Web service
jws:ws-security-callback	No version 10.x counterpart. This was used to support WS-Security in web services. Upgraded code should use the Web Services Policy Framework (WS-Policy) instead.	Web service
jws:ws-security-service	Use the weblogic.jws.Policy and weblogic.jws.Policies annotations.	Web service
jws:xmlns	No version 10.x counterpart. This was used in conjunction with XQuery maps, which are no longer supported.	Web service
jpf:controller	org.apache.beehive.netui.pageflow.annotations.Jpf.Controller	Page flow
jpf:action	org.apache.beehive.netui.pageflow.annotations.Jpf.Action	Page flow
jpf:forward	org.apache.beehive.netui.pageflow.annotations.Jpf.Forward	Page flow
jpf:catch	org.apache.beehive.netui.pageflow.annotations.Jpf.Catch	Page flow
jpf:validation-error-forward	org.apache.beehive.netui.pageflow.annotations.Jpf.Forward	Page flow
jpf:exception-handler	org.apache.beehive.netui.pageflow.annotations.Jpf.ExceptionHandler	Page flow
jpf:message-resources	org.apache.beehive.netui.pageflow.annotations.Jpf.MessageBundle	Page flow

Resolving Ambiguity Related to Annotation Types

Unlike version 8.1, in version 10.x annotations are Java types that must either be imported or fully-qualified in code. Because code using these types is being added to your code in order to upgrade from annotations in your version 8.1 code, there can sometimes be ambiguity when the added annotations have the same names as types your code may already have been using.

For example, imagine that your version 8.1 session bean happens to use the JMS Session interface and imports javax.jms.*. Your upgraded session bean will be marked with the @Session annotation (weblogic.ejbgen.Session). Your imports will include javax.jms.* and weblogic.ejbgen.Session, but the compiler doesn't know which is intended with a simple @Session annotation.

In general, be aware that compilation errors in your upgraded code may simply be due to this ambiguity. The remedy for this issue is to fully qualify annotation type names where they're used.