OSGi bundle installer/loader for Lucee

A simple tool for installing OSGi bundles dynamically in Lucee Server (NB: version 5+ only)

About

This CFML component allows java libraries that have been packaged as OSGi bundles to be easily installed dynamically in Lucee 5+, avoiding the need to manually deploy them in your Lucee server before they can be used.

You can use it to load a class directly from a given local bundle without worrying about whether the bundle has been installed.

More background details.

Usage

Prepare the bundle

1. Ensure the jar you wish to load has been created as an OSGi bundle. At a minimum this will mean its META-INF/MANIFEST.MF contains Bundle-SymbolicName and Bundle-Version entries. Use the manifestRead() Lucee function to check. You will need these two values when installing or loading classes from the bundle.
2. The jar/bundle can be placed wherever you like in your application (no need for it to go in the Lucee /lib directory) as long as its path is accessible to Lucee.

Load a class using CreateObject()

Lucee's CreateObject()allows you to call classes from specific bundles. Use osgiLoader to ensure the bundle has been installed. A good place to do this would be in your Application.cfc's onApplicationStart() event:

//Application.cfc
void function onApplicationStart(){
 var bundleSymbolicName = "com.cflint.CFLint";
 var bundleVersion = "1.4.0";
 var bundlePath = ExpandPath( "/path/to/CFLint.jar" );
 osgiLoader = New osgiLoader();
 if( !osgiLoader.bundleIsLoaded( bundleSymbolicName, bundleVersion ) )
  osgiLoader.installBundle( bundlePath );
}

You are then free to load classes from the bundle wherever you like in your application.

//myscript.cfm
bundleSymbolicName = "com.cflint.CFLint";
bundleVersion = "1.4.0";
className = "com.cflint.CFLint.CFLintAPI";
apiObject = CreateObject( "java", className , bundleSymbolicName , bundleVersion  );

Load a class using loadClass()

Alternatively you can let osgiLoader handle the check by using itsloadClass() method:

bundleSymbolicName = "com.cflint.CFLint";
bundleVersion = "1.4.0";
bundlePath = ExpandPath( "/path/to/CFLint.jar" );
className = "com.cflint.CFLint.CFLintAPI";
osgiLoader = New osgiLoader();
apiObject = osgiLoader.loadClass( className, bundlePath, bundleSymbolicName, bundleVersion );

This single call will install the bundle if necessary before returning the requested object. (There is negligible overhead in performing the installation check.)

Uninstalling a bundle

You can also uninstall a bundle that has been dynamically installed:

osgiLoader.uninstallBundle( bundleSymbolicName, bundleVersion );

Test Suite

The automated tests require TestBox 2.1 or later. You will need to create an application mapping for /testbox