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Always implement your service using the easiest and most appropriate language or tool. You can implement services with many different languages including Java, BeanShell Groovy, Beanshell or any BSF compliant scripting language (Jython, Jacl, JavaScript, etc), OFBiz Workflow Engine processes, OFBiz MiniLang simple-methods, and various others. Additional languages can be supported by writing simple adapters.

Most services are oriented around data mapping and handling and the simple-method is the best way to implement them. Writing a service with a simple-method is the primary best practice for writing a service. There are some cases where simple-method scripts are too restrictive or cumbersome, and in those cases a more general purpose language should be used. The two recommended secondary best practice tools for this case are Groovy and Java, with Groovy being preferred because of flexibility/extensibility features, no recompilation needed to test changes, and various other benefits.

Always call remote logic through the Service Engine. You can call remote services through various mechanisms including HTTP, SOAP, JMS, and others. You can also add remote service invocation mechanisms by creating a simple adapter.

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View data preparation logic should be specified as actions in the XML screen definition or if necessary implemented in a dynamic scripting language such as Groovy, JavaScript, BeanShell, Jython or Jacl to make it easy to modify the user interface on the fly. Generic data retreival should be implemented as services which should be called from these dynamic action scripts. This makes it easier to share and reuse this functionality in multiple pages and in other types of user interfaces.

The best practice in OFBiz for data preparation is to use one of these tools:

1. for simple data retrieval: the entity* tags in the screen action section
2. for more complex data preparation and manipulation: simple-method or Groovy
3. for larger data preparation and more reusability: implement a service and call in a screen action tag

When preparing data in view actions you should make the data available to the view template by putting it in the "context" object. All attributes in the context object will be made avilable in the context of the template, if the template languge supports that.

While the use of JSP is not recommended in OFBiz, it is supported. Note that when using JSP for a view template you cannot use JPublish the Screen Widget so the actions facility will not be available. Our recommendation for JSPs is to have a single scriplet at the top of the page that prepares the data. In this case try to call worker services or worker Java methods to do most of the work and to keep as much logic as possible out of the page.

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