Java and Bonobo communication via CORBA

["Patrick Gerzanics" <patrickg xcnetwork com>]

Hello,

I am currently attempting to gain access to Bonobo components via Java and
it's implementation of CORBA.  I have read what feels like hundreds of posts
and tutorials today but nothing I've read has a solution to the problem.  I
am quite experienced with Java but am somewhat new to CORBA and have not
played with developing for GNOME before.

I've gotten as far as utilizing the IOR for the GNOME Name Server which I
got from the xprop -id [window ID] command per this guide:
http://ww.telent.net/corba/ (Corba in Five Minutes).

I have encountered a number of hurdles:

1.  How do I specify the principal cookie to ORBit to allow me to call
methods on it.  I have tried specifying the cookie in the properties set for
the ORB, but that doesn't appear to suffice.  I attempted this by setting a
property called 'principal' with the cookie value.

2.  Is the GNOME Name Service still what I want to connect to?  Or should I
try to connect to OAF (which from what I've read doesn't have a CORBA
interface)?  Or some other naming service?

3.  Whenever I try utilizing the object from the IOR string (via the
string_to_object method) by calling a method on it, the Java process just
hangs and never returns from the call *I have read that this was a problem
with JDK versions < 1.4, but I have tried both 1.3 and 1.4).

4.  How do I get any feedback from ORBit as to what is going on?  I've
checked the system logs but did not find anything regarding ORBit.

Things I have tried:

1.  I've checked the IOR syntax and values to ensure that they point to a
valid IP and port and then tested the values via a standard telnet
connection successfully.

2.  Starting my own name service first, connecting to that, and then using
the IOR object reference.

3.  Tried connecting to ORBit in the init call via the supplied Java
properties org.omg.CORBA.ORBInitialHost and org.omg.CORBA.ORBInitialPort.

4.  Tried both JDK1.3.1 and JDK 1.4.1

5.  Tried starting a separate instance of ORBit and using it's IOR but the
process still hung when I tried connecting to it.

6.  Browsing the Java-Gnome source, but it accesses the GNOME methods and
links to Java via JNI whereas I want a true CORBA connection.

7.  Browsing the source for the various language bindings (Perl, PHP, etc.)
and found that they all also call the underlying GNOME functions.

I'm really quite at a loss as to where to go next.  Any assistance would be
greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

-Patrick