Basics of the Web Profile

The JEE 6 web profile is a specified minimal configuration targeted for small footprint servers that support "typical" web applications.  The Web profile is a minimal specification, so an implementation is free to add additional services or allow applications to provision additional services.  The required elements of the web profile are:

• Servlet 3.0
• JavaServer Pages (JSP) 2.2
• ExpressionLanguage (EL) 2.2
• Debugging Support for Other Languages (JSR-45) 1.0
• Standard Tag Library for JavaServer Pages (JSTL) 1.2
• JavaServer Faces (JSF) 2.0
• Common Annotations for Java Platform (JSR-250) 1.1
• Enterprise JavaBeans (EJB) 3.1 Lite
• Java Transaction API (JTA) 1.1
• Java Persistence API (JPA) 2.0  

Details on the current state of each of these is traced below.  Geronimo is already at the current level for some of these components, for others we'll need to located updated versions.  Hopefully, this will be just new releases of components we already use, but this might also require developing some elements directly as part of Geronimo.

In addition, the Geronimo spec tree contains versions of the API classes for these different interfaces, so we will probably need to develop new versions of the API classes.

As a first step in developing these, we might want to create a plugin group that is an embodiment of the web profile using the JEE5 components currently in Geronimo.  This will give use a platform for experimenting with how to configure the server for the smaller footprint and how to allow additional services to be added to the mimimal profile configuration.  Also, as JEE6 compatible implementations become available, we can create additional plugins that allow the newer versions to be swapped in to the configurations. 

Component Details

The current known state for each of these components in Geronimo is detailed here.  Feel free to update this information as new details emerge.

Component: Servlet 3.0 

Current Geronimo Spec Versions

Servlet 2.4

Current Geronimo Provider

The servlet container can be either Tomcat 6.0.18 or Jetty 7?  The Tomcat artifact Geronimo uses contains patches applied on top of the Tomcat 6.0.18 version.

Status of JEE6 Activity

Unknown.  In the Tomcat community, this appears to have been discussed, but is not really under active development.  The Jetty community seems to be tracking the Servlet 3.0 activity a little more closely, but I've not found any projections for availability. 

Additional Notes

Component: JavaServer Pages 2.2

Current Geronimo Spec Versions

JSP 2.1

Current Geronimo Provider

Geronimo is currently relying on Jasper for the JSP on Tomcat.  I'm not sure I understand what the Jetty story is on this.  

Status of JEE6 Activity

I've not been able to locate many signs of activity on this. 

Additional Notes

Component:  Expression Language (EL) 2.2

Current Geronimo Spec Versions

EL 1.0 

Current Geronimo Provider

This is provided by the JSP provider, so they're fairly tightly coupled.  

Status of JEE6 Activity

This tends to be tightly coupled with the JSP providers, do it's difficult to say what the story is.

Additional Notes

The spec version appears to be a bit of a muddle.  The spec jar is getting built claiming it is 1.0, but the latest version defined in the Web Profile appears to be in lock-step with the JSP version numbers.  It's not clear what version we are actually at currently, but it is possible that there have not been any API changes in this area since the 1.0 version. 

Component:  Debugging Support for Other Languages (JSR-45) 1.0

Current Geronimo Spec Versions

1.0

Current Geronimo Provider

This is really JSP debugging support, and is implemented by the JSP provider.  We're currently getting this from Jasper. 

Status of JEE6 Activity

Nothing new for JEE6 in this area.

Additional Notes

Component:  Standard Tag Library for JavaServer Pages (JSTL) 1.2

Current Geronimo Spec Versions

 None?

Current Geronimo Provider

It's not clear from the pom where the jstl version comes from.  The version number is 1.2, so we might be good here.

Status of JEE6 Activity

?????

Additional Notes

Component:  JavaServer Faces (JSF) 2.0

Current Geronimo Spec Versions

None?

Current Geronimo Provider

MyFaces 1.2.6, which is at a JSF 1.2 level.

Status of JEE6 Activity

There is an active MyFaces 2.0 project, though I've not been able to find much status about where this is in implementation. 

Additional Notes

Component:  Common Annotations for Java Platform (JSR-250) 1.1

Current Geronimo Spec Versions

geronimo-annotation_1.0_spec-1.1.1

Current Geronimo Provider

Geronimo implemented. 

Status of JEE6 Activity

Not started, but this should be a fairly simple item to complete. 

Additional Notes

This is really just a set of annotations classes that can be shared across different JEE components. 

Component:  Enterprise JavaBeans (EJB) 3.1 Lite

Current Geronimo Spec Versions

geronimo-ejb_3.0_spec_-1.01

Current Geronimo Provider

OpenEJB 

Status of JEE6 Activity

Like the web profile itself, this appears to describe a minimal feature set, but an implementation can provide more than the minimum, if desired.  This appears fairly easy to meet, once the 3.1 feature set is implemented.  Portions of the 3.1 features have already been implemented in OpenEJB. 

Additional Notes

Component: Java Transaction API (JTA) 1.1

Current Geronimo Spec Versions

geronimo-jta_1.1_spec-1.1.1

Current Geronimo Provider

Implemented by Geronimo directly. 

Status of JEE6 Activity

No revisions required for JEE6, 

Additional Notes

Component: Java Persistence API (JPA) 2.0

Current Geronimo Spec Versions

geronimo-jpa_3.0_spec-1.1.1 

Current Geronimo Provider

OpenJPA 1.2.1

Status of JEE6 Activity

The 2.0 version is actively being developed by the OpenJPA community on trunk (2.0.0-SNAPSHOT.) 

Additional Notes

JPA 2.0 Spec API is being developed in specs/trunk/geronimo-jpa_2.0_spec.  As new public spec drafts are released, we move the existing API to branches to preserve building OpenJPA Milestone releases.  Also, there is a JCP legal restriction that the current JPA artifacts must be labeled as Early Access and for testing purposes only (see the included NOTICE file.)

Currently, OpenJPA 2.0.0 Milestone 2 is using the 1.0-EA2-SNAPSHOT branch and includes most features that were defined in the Spec before the latest PFD dated March 13, 2009.