Enterprise JavaBeans Metadata Model

1 . A method of generating a unified metadata model for a java enterprise application comprising:

extracting metadata from program code;

building a first java model of the metadata extracted from the program code;

extracting metadata from a deployment descriptor;

building a second java model of the metadata extracted from the deployment descriptor; and

merging the first and second models.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein program code comprises java source code and bytecode.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein extracting metadata from program code comprises:

parsing the program code; and

identifying metadata in the program code.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein building the first java model from the metadata extracted from the program code comprises:

accessing a model comprising java classes representing metadata in java code;

identifying an instance of a class from the model that represents the extracted metadata; and

mapping the extracted metadata to the identified instance of the class.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein extracting metadata from a deployment descriptor comprises:

parsing the deployment descriptor; and

identifying metadata in the deployment descriptor.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein building the second java model from the metadata extracted from the deployment descriptor comprises:

accessing a model comprising java classes representing metadata in java code;

identifying an instance of a class from the model that represents the extracted metadata; and

mapping the extracted metadata to the identified instance of the class.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein merging comprises:

parsing the first metadata model;

parsing the second metadata model;

combining the first and second models in a unified model using a set of rules;

constructing a logical graph of the unified model; and

assigning each element in the unified model a unique identifier representing the absolute path to the model element in the graph.

8 . The method of claim 7 , wherein combining the first model and the second model into a unified model comprises applying the set of rules so that no conflicts exist in the application logic.

9 . An apparatus comprising:

a core metadata model to maintain java representations of metadata objects;

a first builder to construct a java model of metadata in program code using the core metadata model responsive to receiving the program code;

a second builder to construct a java model of metadata in a deployment descriptor using the core metadata model responsive to receiving the deployment descriptor; and

a merger to receive the models from the first and second builder and unite the first model and the second model.

10 . The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein each of the builders maps metadata objects to instances of classes from the core metadata model.

11 . The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the merger merges the models against a set of rules.

12 . A system to run Enterprise Java Beans (EJB) applications, the system comprising:

an input module to receive an EJB application;

a parsing module to parse the metadata in the EJB application; and

a set of builder modules to build Java models of the metadata in the EJB application;

a permanent store to store processed EJB applications; and

a network infrastructure to connect the permanent store to the container.

13 . The system of claim 12 , further comprising a logging module to log events produced by the EJB application.

14 . The system of claim 12 , wherein the set of builder modules comprises:

a first builder module to build a first Java model of metadata from Java source code; and

a second builder module to build a second Java model of metadata from a deployment descriptor.

15 . A machine readable medium having instructions therein that when executed by the machine, cause the machine to:

extract metadata from program code;

build a first java model of the metadata extracted from the program code;

extract metadata from a deployment descriptor;

build a second java model of the metadata extracted from the deployment descriptor; and

merge the first and second models.

16 . The machine readable medium of claim 15 , wherein program code comprises java source code and bytecode.

17 . The machine readable medium of claim 15 , wherein instructions causing the machine to extract metadata from program code, cause the machine to:

parse the program code; and

identify metadata in the program code.

18 . The machine readable medium of claim 15 , wherein instructions causing the machine to build the java model from the metadata extracted from the program code, cause the machine to:

access a model comprising java classes representing metadata in java code;

identify an instance of a class from the model that represents the extracted metadata; and

map the extracted metadata to the identified instance of the class.

19 . The machine readable medium of claim 15 , wherein instructions causing the machine to extract metadata from a deployment descriptor, cause the machine to:

parse the deployment descriptor; and

identify metadata in the deployment descriptor.

20 . The machine readable medium of claim 15 , wherein instructions causing the machine to build the java model from the metadata extracted from the deployment descriptor, cause the machine to:

access a model comprising java classes representing metadata in java code;

identify an instance of a class from the model that represents the extracted metadata; and

map the extracted metadata to the identified instance of the class.

21 . The machine readable medium of claim 15 , wherein instructions causing the machine to merge, cause the machine to:

parse the first metadata model;

parse the second metadata model;

compare the first metadata model to the second metadata model using a set of rules;

combine the first and second models in a unified model;

construct a logical graph of the unified model; and

assign each element in the unified model a unique identifier representing the absolute path to the model element in the graph.

22 . The machine readable medium of claim 21 , wherein instructions causing the machine to combine the first model and the second model into a unified model, cause the machine to apply the set of rules so that no conflicts exist in the application logic.