IceBox.*

In C++, entry_point has the form path[,version]:function.

The path and optional version components are used to construct the name of a DLL or shared library. If no version is supplied, the version is the empty string. The function component is the name of a function with extern C linkage. For example, the entry point IceStormService,38:createIceStorm implies a shared library name of libIceStormService.so.38 on Linux, libIceStormService.38.dylib on macOS, and IceStormService38.dll on Windows. Furthermore, a Windows debug build of the Ice library appends a d to the version (e.g., IceStormService38d.dll).

The function must be declared with extern C linkage and have the following signature:

IceBox::Service* function(const Ice::CommunicatorPtr&);

Note that the function must return a raw pointer and not a shared_ptr. IceBox deallocates the object when it unloads the library. The communicator instance passed to this function is the server's communicator, which is not the same as the communicator passed to the service's start method.

The path component may optionally contain a relative or absolute path name, indicated by the presence of a path separator (/ or \). In this case, the last component of the path is used to construct the name of the shared library or DLL. Consider this example:

IceBox.Service.IceStorm=./IceStormService,38:createIceStorm

The use of a relative path means the Ice runtime will look in the current working directory for libIceStormService.so.38 on Linux or IceStormService38.dll on Windows.

If the path component contains spaces, the entire entry point must be enclosed in quotes:

IceBox.Service.IceStorm="C:\Program Files\ZeroC\Ice-3.8\bin\IceStormService,38:createIceStorm"

If the path component does not include a leading path name, Ice delegates to the operating system to locate the shared library or DLL, which typically means that the plug-in can reside in any of the directories in your shared library or DLL search path.

In C#, entry_point has the form assembly:class.

The assembly can be a partially or fully qualified assembly name, such as myplugin,Version=0.0.0.0,Culture=neutral, or an assembly DLL name such as myplugin.dll, and may optionally include a leading relative or absolute path name.

The specified class must implement the IceBox.Service interface and provide at least one of the constructors shown in the example below:

public class MyService : IceBox.Service
{
    public MyService(Ice.Communicator serverCommunicator) { ... }
    public MyService() { ... }

    // ...
}

The constructor taking an Ice.Communicator argument is invoked if present, otherwise the parameterless constructor is invoked.

If you specify a relative path name in the entry point, the assembly is located relative to the program's current working directory:

IceBox.Service.MyService=..\MyService.dll:MyService

Enclose the assembly's path name in quotes if it contains spaces:

IceBox.Service.MyService="C:\Program Files\MyService\MyService.dll:MyServiceClass"

Finally, if the assembly uses a leading path name, be sure to include the .dll extension.

In Java, entry_point has the form [path:]class.

The class component must be the name of a class that implements the com.zeroc.IceBox.Service interface and provides at least one of the constructors shown in the example below:

public class MyService implements com.zeroc.IceBox.Service {
    public MyService(com.zeroc.Ice.Communicator serverCommunicator);
    public MyService();

    // ...
}

The constructor taking a Communicator argument is invoked if present, otherwise the default constructor is invoked.

If path is specified, it may be the path name of a JAR file or class directory, as shown below:

IceBox.Service.MyService=MyService.jar:MyService
IceBox.Service.MyOtherService=/classes:MyOtherService

If path contains spaces, it must be enclosed in quotes:

IceBox.Service.MyService="factory classes.jar":MyService

IceBox uses a single class loader to load all services having the same value for path.

If class is specified without a path, IceBox attempts to load the class with the current thread's context class loader, then with Class.forName, and finally with the system class loader.