Chapter 12 Calling Jaguar Component Methods from PowerDynamo

How do Jaguar and PowerDynamo work together?

Dynamo is an application server that dynamically generates HTML pages which are in turn delivered to Web browsers through an HTTP protocol.

Jaguar, on the other hand, is a component transaction server that can serve up components to any client that makes MASP, Java, CORBA C++, ActiveX or C method calls. Jaguar components contain business logic that is completely independent of the client or clients accessing the component. In addition, you can configure Jaguar to host your Dynamo Web pages, making them accessible from a Web browser. See the Jaguar CTS System Administration Guide for information about hosting Dynamo Web pages.

The combination of PowerDynamo and Jaguar CTS allows you to create pure HTML applications that dynamically make use of business logic from Jaguar CTS components.

Figure 12-1 demonstrates a scenario in which a Dynamo client connects to Jaguar to process a Dynamo script that contains a Method as a Stored Procedure (MASP) call to a Jaguar component.

Figure 12-1: Dynamo client calling Jaguar component

These steps correspond to the numbers in the diagram:

A browser requests a Web page, which is a PowerDynamo script that contains HTML, SQL queries, and a MASP call to a Jaguar component.
The Web server passes the request to Dynamo.
The script is retrieved from the Web site (not shown in graphic). The HTML in the Dynamo script and the SQL query begin to be processed.
An ODBC or Open Client connection is made to a database to retrieve the necessary information for the SQL query.
The data is returned to PowerDynamo. Processing continues until the Jaguar component call is encountered.
Because a MASP call is being made, an ODBC or Open Client connection is made to Jaguar CTS to access the Jaguar component and called method.
The component method is executed. If the method requires database access, a connection is made to a database to retrieve the appropriate data.
The data is returned to Jaguar CTS through an ODBC, Open Client, or JDBC connection.
The results from the Jaguar function are returned to PowerDynamo through an ODBC or Open Client connection.
PowerDynamo passes the results, in HTML format, back to the Web server.
The results are passed back to the client through an HTTP connection.

Notes

Jaguar and Dynamo can access several different databases even though the diagram displays only one database.
Jaguar components can access data from many different (non-Sybase) types of databases.
The client, PowerDynamo, and Jaguar can either all reside on one machine or on separate machines.

A Web author may embed calls to Jaguar components within a Dynamo script or template. The Dynamo script executes in the regular manner until the call to the Jaguar component is encountered. At this point, a connection (through PowerDynamo) is made to the Jaguar server, the appropriate method will be executed and the results are returned to PowerDynamo. PowerDynamo processes the information and returns pure HTML.