EJBWizard - the graphical generator for Enterprise Javabeans

Sample screenshot

Confused about the GUI?

See the "Gui Gotcha's" page.


Released 2002-08-09

Version 3.5.6 corrects the defective code generation for Stateful Session EJBs.

This will be the "freeze" release for 1.1 EJBs. The next Beta will start to support EJB 2.0. Suggestions welcomed!

EJBWizard Version 3.5.5 BETA RELEASE

Released 2002-07-25

Version 3.5.5 cleans up various minor-but-annoying bugs and out-of-date sample scripts. However, its main innovation is that now it is designed to be remotely driven. By using the new EJBWizardListener interface, a Java or Java-friendly application can invoke the EJBWizard as though it was a modeless dialog, pre-loading values, launching the code generator and even cross-validating inputs. If the driving app so desires, you can now even connect its text editor to the EJBWizard method editor, making it much easier to use the EJBWizard for full application lifecycle development and support.

In particular, some preliminary work has been done to make the EJBWizard usable as an Eclipse plug-in. Stay tuned - the best is yet to come!

Note on "Beta" vs. "Production" releases I tag a release as "Beta" if I've done major changes to it and am unsure if anything's broken. I tag a release as "Production" if I've done mostly minor changes and I think it's reliable. Unless explicitly specified, "Beta" releases are generally safe to use. If you do find problems, email me and let me know, and try one of the "Production" releases. This is free software, so the usual disclaimers apply, but I do try to ensure the best quality I can. If something doesn't work -- or you can't figure out how it's supposed to work, let me know - I don't always know unless someone tells me.

For information on the previous Beta Release (3.5.2), click here.

Coming Attractions

Click HERE for a peek at what's coming soon!


In Memoriam

John Ueltzhoeffer, Obit. 2001-09-11

This release is dedicated to the memory of John Ueltzhoeffer, who made valuable suggestions and contributions that led to some significant enhancements to the EJBWizard's code generator. Regrettably, he never lived to enjoy them -- John worked on the 95th floor of 1 World Trade Center.

What is the EJBWizard?

The EJBWizard is a GUI-based Java application that can be used to build the basic files for an Enterprise JavaBean (EJB). It runs in any environment that supports Java JDK1.2 or above. For best results, use JDK1.3 or higher, as JDK1.2 has proven to have some rather irritating table bugs.

>Click here for a short outline on how to create Enterprise Java Beans quickly with the EJBWizard.

For release notes and historical information Click here.

If you're getting a "Null pointer Exception" when starting the EJBWizard and you haven't set up an EJBWizard database environment, read this.


There are two tar files for the EJBWizard - the binary one and the source one. If you're using Microsoft Windows™, the WinZip utility can be used to unzip the tarfile to a temporary file and then untar the temporary file. If all you want to do is use the EJBWizard, all you need is the binary file.

In Versions 1 and 2 of the EJBWizard, you would "unzip" the file into your JOnAS root directory. Starting in Version 3, The EJBWizard has its own EJBWIZARD_ROOT directory. You will need to define the EJBWIZARD_ROOT environment variable to point to it. Please note that the sample command scripts in EJBWIZARD_ROOT/bin are for JOnAS EJB building!

Note: This is a code generator. It will completely overlay any previously existing files, especially ones with common names such as "jonas.properties". The files (if any that) existed before you started the EJBWizard are renamed from "file" to "file.bak". If you have an editing system that supports file version comparisons, you may find this convenient if you need to regenerate files and merge in changes you have made.


The EjbWizard is available for download via ftp or http. The top of this page contains links to the download pages.

Connecting to databases

The EJBWizard is designed to be able to make it easier and more reliable to generate Entity EJBs by querying databases about their table structure. The ultimate goal is to have the actual application server (JOnas), JBoss, WebLogic, Orion, etc. supply that information, but this is a little tricky, since there's no standard way to do this. Until something better comes along, database info is made available using properties files modelled after the way the JOnAS system does it. You can download a prototype of these properties file called nulljonas.zip

Important You also have to provide the proper server personality module - otherwise the default one (JOnAS) will be used. Use the "-server" command option as follows:

Your DBMS's JBDC drivers must be in the CLASSPATH when you run the EJBWizard in order to browse the databases. The model scripts refer to the PostgreSQL DBMS's drivers (postgresql.jar). You can talk to more than one kind of database as long as you have all their drivers in the CLASSPATH.

Bug reports

There's always one more. Report bugs etc. to timh@mousetech.com

Thank you, and happy bean building.

    Tim Holloway

Copyright © 2001, 2002, MTS Associates, Inc. All Rights Reserved