Introduction Introduction| What is the the SMC SDK? ~ SMC SDK Components ~ Features and Benefits of the SMC SDK ~ SMC SDK Contents |
The SMC (Solaris Management Console) SDK is a software development kit designed to give developers a platform on which to develop and deploy distributed applications. For example, Sun Microsystems, Inc. is using the SMC SDK to develop Solaris system management applications which plug into the SolarisTM Management ConsoleTM 2.0.
A distinguishing feature of the SMC SDK is its ability to present to the end user a unified console consisting of user interface components that may have been built using several different development platforms and middleware services. For example, a user interface created with the SMC SDK might combine a simple disk management tool with a WBEM-based user management tool, both of which would appear in the same console on the user's desktop.
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This version of the SMC SDK Programming Guide is for the SMC SDK for the Solaris 8 Operating Environment only! |
The SMC SDK environment comprises five general components:
| Component | Description |
|---|---|
| Tools | Client-side applications; in SMC, all tools are written as sets of JavaBeans |
| Consoles | A container for SMC client tools; the SMC "desktop" from which users perform management tasks |
| Services | Server-side applications that support SMC tools; native SMC services are generally a combination of Java and platform-specific code |
| Look and Feel | The presentation layer used in a console; in SMC, "Look and Feel" is a pluggable component, and you can use whatever look and feel -- including a command-line interface -- that is most appropriate for your tools and customers |
| Infrastructure | The "glue" that holds everything together; the SMC infrastructure includes a set of core services and an  RMI-based communication model, although SMC tools and services can also be implemented using other infrastructures, such as CIM/WBEM, and SunMC. |
See the Getting Started section for a more complete description of the SMC architecture.
The SMC SDK provides several important features and benefits:
Common platform for all your tools -- Perhaps the biggest benefit the SMC SDK provides is a common platform for deploying end user components. These components can all share a common user model, and look and behave in the same manner, regardless of the back end services the components might use.
Convenient core services --The SMC SDK also provides a convenient middleware platform with a set of core services such as authorization, logging, messaging, and others. See Bundled Common Services for more information about the SMC SDK core services.
Rapid and secure -- Another benefit of working with the SMC SDK is the rapid development of secure, distributed applications. For server-side development, the SMC SDK utilizes Java developers' existing knowledge of standard Java RMI (Remote Method Invocation) and avoids presenting developers with any new paradigms or technologies. For client-side development, the SMC SDK simply extends the set of lightweight user interface components found in the Java Foundation Classes (JFC, a.k.a. Swing) with new components and features such as wizards, property sheet editors, filtering, sorting, and more.
Pure Java -- Because the SMC SDK is nearly 100% pure Java, it can be made available on any platform with a Java2 runtime environment. A completely platform-independent version of the SMC SDK is possible, as the only portions of the SMC SDK which are platform dependent are for functions such as user authentication and authorization. These portions can be replaced with different implementations on platforms other than Solaris.
The SMC SDK is a complete distributed application environment, including a server providing remote services and a local console client providing an integrated user interface. The SMC SDK includes: