Resource adaptors (RAs) are SLEE components which let particular network protocols or APIs be used in the SLEE.

They typically include a set of configurable properties (such as address information of network endpoints, URLs to external systems, or internal timer-timeout values). These properties may include default values. A resource adaptor entity is a particular configured instance of a resource adaptor, with defined values for all of that RA’s configuration properties.

The resource adaptor entity lifecycle

The SLEE specification presents the operational lifecycle of a resource adaptor entity — illustrated, defined, and summarised below.

RA lifecycle

Resource adaptor entity lifecycle states

The SLEE lifecycle states are:

State Definition
INACTIVE

The resource adaptor entity has been configured and initialised. It is ready to be activated, but may not yet create activities or fire events to the SLEE. Typically, it is not connected to network resources.

ACTIVE

The resource adaptor entity is connected to the resources it needs to function (assuming they are available), and may create activities and fire events to the SLEE.

STOPPING

The resource adaptor entity may not create new activities in the SLEE, but may fire events to the SLEE on already existing activities. A resource adaptor entity transitions out of the STOPPING state, returning to the INACTIVE state, when all activities it owns have either ended or been assigned to another node for continued processing.

Note
Creating activities in the STOPPING state

By default, Rhino 2.6 prevents a resource adaptor from creating an activity in the STOPPING state.

This behaviour is controlled by the rhino.skip_lifecycle_checks system property, which defaults to false.

When set to true, Rhino does not enforce this restriction. Resource adaptors should check the state before creating an activity, to avoid a situation where a resource adaptor entity never deactivates because new activities are being created.

The default value in earlier versions of Rhino was true.

Independent lifecycle state machines

As explained in About SLEE Operational States, each event-router node in a Rhino cluster maintains its own lifecycle state machine, independent of other nodes in the cluster. This is also true for each resource adaptor entity: one resource adaptor entity might be INACTIVE on one node in a cluster, ACTIVE on another, and STOPPING on a third. The operational state of a resource adaptor entity on each cluster node also persists to the disk-based database.

A resource adaptor entity will enter the INACTIVE state, after node bootup and initialisation completes, if the database’s persistent operational state information for that resource adaptor entity is missing, or is set to INACTIVE or STOPPING.

And, like node operational states, you can change the operational state of a resource adaptor entity at any time, as long as least one node in the cluster is available to perform the management operation (regardless of whether or not the node whose operational state being changed is a current cluster member). For example, you might activate a resource adaptor entity on node 103 before node 103 is booted — then, when node 103 boots, and after it completes initialisation, that resource adaptor entity will transition to the ACTIVE state.

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Rhino Version 2.6.1