Java RMI
(Remote Method Invocation)
Dr. Abdul Haseeb Malik
Introduction
• RMI is a Java-implementation of RPC (Remote Procedure Call)
• RMI server
• creates remote objects
• makes references to those objects accessible by publishing them using an RMI
registry.
• waits for clients to invoke methods on those objects
• RMI client
• can locate remote objects from RMI registry and obtain the remote reference to
remote objects on a server
• invokes methods
• Remote communication looks like regular Java method invocations to the
programmer and details of remote communication between server and
client are handled by RMI
Simple Example
• In the following slides a simple example of Java RMI is presented in
which:
• Only a single add method will be provided on the Server
• The client will locate the object remotely and call this method to add two
numbers.
Simple Example: Remote Interface
public interface RemMethodInt extends [Link] {
public int add(int a, int b) throws RemoteException;
}
• This interface needs to be present at both sides (server and client).
• It tells both sides which methods can be remotely accessible. Here it
is only one method which is named add.
• The [Link] interface is a marker interface which is empty
and is only used to let the JVM know that these methods will be used
for remote communication.
Simple Example: RMI Server
public class RemImpl extends UnicastRemoteObject implements RemMethodInt{
//Constructor should be explicitly called.
//It creates and exports a remote object.
protected RemImpl() throws RemoteException {super();}
// Implementation of the add method defined in the interface.
public int add(int a, int b) throws RemoteException {return((a+b)); }
public static void main(String[] args) {
try { RemImpl obj = new RemImpl();
Registry reg = [Link](5556);
[Link]("adder", obj);}
catch (RemoteException e) {[Link]();}
catch (AlreadyBoundException e) { [Link]();}
}
}
Simple Example: RMI Client
public class clientImp {
public static void main(String[] args) {
try {
Registry reg = [Link]("[Link]",5556);
RemMethodInt obj = (RemMethodInt)[Link]("adder");
[Link]([Link](7, 5));
}
catch (RemoteException | NotBoundException e) {[Link]();}
}
}
Important Notes for RMI Server in Example
• A class “RemImpl” extends the [Link] to
provide support for creating and exporting remote objects.
• It also implements the “RemMethodInt” interface and implements the
methods defined in the interface.
• At the server side an object of “RemImpl” is created.
• A Registry is created using
Registry reg = [Link](5556);
Note: In this case no need to run the registry explicitly
• The object reference will be made available at the following URL
address “adder”
[Link]("adder", obj);
Important Notes for RMI Client in Example
• We locate the registry which contains references of remote objects on
the server system.
Registry reg = [Link]("[Link]",5556);
• Within the registry the client can lookup for the adder object and
return the reference of the object.
RemMethodInt obj = (RemMethodInt)[Link]("adder");
• Once the client has reference of remote object, it can call methods on
it as if it was a local object.
[Link]([Link](7, 5));
