Installing the Branch Transformation Toolkit on a development workstation

To set up the development workstation, do the following:
  1. According to your business need, install WebSphere(R) Studio Application Developer or WebSphere Studio Application Developer Integration Edition.
  2. Insert the Branch Transformation Toolkit CD into the workstation and browse the CD. If you want to install Branch Transformation Toolkit 5.1 for windows, run C55HDML.exe in the Windows(R) platform. If you want to install Branch Transformation Toolkit 5.1 for Linux(R) , run C55HEML.bin in the Linux platform. This starts the Installation Wizard for Branch Transformation Toolkit.
  3. During the installation, the Installation Wizard detects if any version of Branch Transformation Toolkit is installed on your system. Branch Transformation Toolkit version 5.1 can coexist with that of version 4.3. If you already have version 5.1 installed, the Installation Wizard will display a warning that you already have version 5.1 installed. If you continue with the installation, your previous installation of version 5.1 will be overridden.
  4. The Installation Wizard also checks the WebSphere Studio Application Developer you installed. If you installed WebSphere Studio Application Developer, the Install Wizard will install toolkit components designed for WebSphere Studio Application Developer and those for WebSphere Application Server. If you have WebSphere Studio Application Developer Integration Edition installed, the Install Wizard will install toolkit components designed for WebSphere Studio Application Developer Integration Edition, and it will prompt you which set of runtime components you want to install - components designed for the WebSphere Application Server, or components designed for WebSphere Business Integration Server Foundation.

    The Branch Transformation Toolkit installation program creates the following set of directories on the target machine.

    Table 1. Directories created by installation
    Directory name Description of contents
    dbtools Scripts to manage database tables for the CHA component
    desktop Desktop DTD file
    doc The Branch Transformation Toolkit documentation plug-ins to WebSphere Studio Application Developer Integration Edition
    plugins
    • Visual beans plug-in to WebSphere Studio Application Developer Integration Edition
    • Eclipse Modeling Framework (EMF) plug-in
    • Graphical Builder plug-in
    • Struts Tools BTT Extensions plug-in
    • CHA Editor plug-in
    • Format Editor plug-in
    • Business Process BTT Wizard plug-in
    • Migration Tool plug-in
    ear EAR files to provide the infrastructure for the CHA, CHA formatter service, and Service Infrastructure components of the toolkit. You can use the EARs to build applications on the Branch Transformation Toolkit
    jars The Branch Transformation Toolkit code separated into various JARs according to the functional unit to which the code belongs.  A solution built on the Branch Transformation Toolkit can use the JARs for the functional units that it is using. See Functional units, packages, and dependencies for a listing of the JARs and their contents and corequisites
    samples EAR files to run the sample applications provided by the Branch Transformation Toolkit in the WebSphere Studio Application Developer workbench. This directory also contains the source code of the samples.
    services Runtime files that are needed by some of the services of the framework
    source Source code of selected Branch Transformation Toolkit components to provide a better understanding of the functional units. This helps in tasks such as extending the framework and reduces the development cycle. The source code must not be modified
    javadoc  
  5. Start WebSphere Studio Application Developer.
  6. Set some preferences before you import Branch Transformation Toolkit Java(TM) source:
    • To work with complex projects, you should use the source folders as source containers instead of creating packages directly inside the project. To do this, you create source folders as children of the project and create your packages inside these source folders. To automate this, go to Window > Preferences. Expand the Java node and select the New Project node. Enable the Folders check box.
    • To develop with the Branch Transformation Toolkit, add the framework functional units (the JAR files containing the classes) to the application classpath. You can use any approach to do this but you must account for the class loader policies.

      A recommended approach is to add an overall classpath variable named BTT to point to the root directory of the Branch Transformation Toolkit installation. To do this:

      1. Go to Window > Preferences.
      2. Expand the Java node and select Classpath Variables.
      3. Click New and in the Name entry field, type the following:
        BTT
      4. In the Path entry field, type the path to where the Branch Transformation Toolkit was installed.
      5. Click OK.

      In the same way, add another classpath variable named, for example, BTT_EXTERNAL to point to the external dependencies. To make the external classpath variable work, all the required external JARs must be in the directory to which this variable points. The overall classpath variables make it easier for you to select the Branch Transformation Toolkit JAR files for your Java project.

      Another approach is to define a classpath variable for each functional unit available in the product. Each classpath variable points to the concrete JAR associated with the functional unit (see the tables in Functional units, packages, and dependencies).

      The remainder of this procedure and all the other procedures assume that you are using the recommended approach.  

  7. Create a Java project for application. To create the project:
    1. Select File > New > Project.
    2. Select Java in the left panel and then select Java Project in the right panel. Click Next.
    3. Type the name of the project, such as HomeBanking, and click Finish.
  8. When deploying an application, you must embed Branch Transformation Toolkit functional units, along with the required application resources, inside the J2EE EAR file. The Branch Transformation Toolkit uses functional units to provide a coherent structure of JAR files that you use to build an application. The JARs in the functional units contain the required set of classes for a given execution environment.

    To make the functional units available to your project, you can either add the compiled JARs to the project's classpath or you can import the JARs into the workspace. You can choose the second option if you want to embed the JARs and resources into your application when, for example, it is self-contained and independently deployed.

    For either option, you only add or import the JARs and their corequisites needed for the application to optimize the deployment and distribution of the application. Consult Functional units, packages, and dependencies to obtain these corequisites.

    If you are unsure of the actual dependencies among the JARs, add the ones that you are not sure about. You can always remove unneeded jars later. For examples of the JARs that you should select, browse the list of jars used by the sample applications shipped in the <Toolkit root>/samples folder. If you open, for example, the BTTHtmlSampleWeb.war file that is inside the BBTTHtmlSample.ear file, you can see that the following functional units have been used to build the application:

    • BTTBase(bttbase.jar)
    • BTTInvoker(bttinvoker.jar)
    • BTTJavaClient(bttjavaclient.jar)
    • BTTServerBean(bttsvrbean.jar)
    • BTTSessionManagement(bttsm.jar)
    • BTTStrutsExtension(bttstruts.jar)
    • BTTHTMLSampleEJB(BTTHTMLSampleEJB.jar)

    To add the required JARs to the project's classpath:

    1. Right-click the project and select Properties.
    2. Select JavaBuildPath and then select the Libraries tab.
    3. Select Add Variable and, in the New Variable Classpath Entry window, select the classpath variable ( BTT) and click Extend.
    4. In the Variable Extension window, expand the jars directory and select the BTT JAR that you want to add to your project. Click OK.
    5. If the JAR you have just added to your project has source code shipped with the Branch Transformation Toolkit (see Functional units, packages, and dependencies), you may want to attach the source code to the JAR to enable source-level stepping and browsing of classes contained in the binary JAR file. To do this:
      1. Click Attach Source.
      2. In the Attachments For BTT/jars/<JAR name>.jar window, click the Variable button next to the Archive variable path text field.
      3. Select the classpath variable (BTT) and click OK.
      4. Click Extension.
      5. In the JAR/ZIP File Selection window, open the source directory and double click the ZIP file containing the source code corresponding to the JAR file you added to your project. Click OK.
    6. Repeat this procedure for each JAR file that you want to add. Keep in mind the dependencies that a JAR or functional unit may have. Consult Appendix A to obtain these dependencies.

Once you have installed the Branch Transformation Toolkit in WebSphere Studio Application Developer Integration Edition, you can start developing Branch Transformation Toolkit-based solutions. For a high level overview of the development process and where to get information, see the Creating an application documentation. For examples of Branch Transformation Toolkit-based applications, including how to install and run them on the various supported platforms, see the Java Sample Application and HTML Sample Application documentation.