COM-Java bridges

[seanwinship]

I have a requirement to expose a set of Java interfaces as one or more
COM objects. My COM experience is limited, at best. From the Java
Glossary I've identified ComfyJ
(http://www.jniwrapper.com/pages/comfyj/overview), J-Integra
(http://j-integra.intrinsyc.com/products/com/), and JACOB
(http://www.nevaobject.com/_docs/_java2com/java2com.htm) as those that
support bidirectional communication between COM and Java.

Has anyone here used any of these products in production?

Are there other products I should be considering? I only need to
invoke Java from COM, not vice versa.

Do all of these products allow the creation of a COM server? The
machines using the COM interface don't have sufficient capacity to run
Java as well as their existing application.

In my ideal world, I could simply run a script against my Java classes
and generate all necessary COM files. Is this possible with any of
these tools?

Thanks,

Sean

 

[Thomas Weidenfeller]

I have a requirement to expose a set of Java interfaces as one or more
COM objects.

If I am not mistaken this is something the AxtiveX bridge from Sun does.
It comes with the Windows JDK.

http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.5.0/docs/guide/beans/axbridge/developerguide/index.html

/Thomas

 

[j-integra_support]

J-Integra is a commercial product, but is faster and more robust than
other Java COM solutions (eg, it is used by companies in sectors such
as financial, government, military, etc). Depending on what your
requirements are, one of the open source (free) solutions may be
adequate for you. Test drive all your options before deciding.

As for J-Integra, it comes with a 'java2com' tool which automatically
generates a COM TLB which can be imported by your VB or C++ client for
early binding access to Java objects. It also supports late binding
where no wrappers need to be generated. Regardless of whether early
binding or late binding is used, the COM client and Java server can be
located on separate machines.

For "VB to Java" and "C++ to Java" examples, see the documentation at
http://j-integra.intrinsyc.com/support/com/doc/.

Regards,
Shane Sauer

 

[eugene.toporov]

Hi!

It looks as ComfyJ (http://www.jniwrapper.com/pages/comfyj/features)
provides the simplest possible solution. There is no need to generate
any TLB file. You just run the 'Server Manager' utility supplied with
the product, register your Java class as COM object and voila!

-Eugene

http://www.teamdev.com
TeamDev Ltd.

 

[richardsosborn]

I've been on project using JIntegra commercially (CNN uses it). Its
very robust.
Some problems are overloaded methods, etc. Otherwise it was very
adequate.

 

[TalkingRain]

I've been on project using JIntegra commercially (CNN uses it). Its
very robust.
Some problems are overloaded methods, etc. Otherwise it was very
adequate.

I am glad for that fact that jintregra is used by CNN, but just take a
look on JNIWrapper's customers page:
http://www.jniwrapper.com/pages/contact/clients Doesn't it speak for
itself?
And speaking about robustness... well, most such products are robust
otherwise they got nothing to do in this business, so this is not the
big point in comparison of such products also. But apparently
JNIWrapper(ComfyJ) has the best price/quality value plus great support.