Packaging
Part of making your modules ready for broad use is packaging them so they can be distributed to your CTL installations. This document describes the options you have for packaging.
Modules
The most obvious and immediate way to distribute your module is via a module Jar file. The build-type command generates the module Jar file for you so you simply run that command:
ctl -m ProjectBuilder -c build-type -- -type YourModule
The built Jar file will reside under the directory specified by the -targetdir option. The module can then be deployed to a repository for distribution and then installed via the Install-Module wherever you want to install it.
ctl -m Managed-Entity -c Install-Module -- -module YourModule -version vers
Alternatively,if you want to distribute them more broadly, you can define your module as a module-deployment in the deployments.properties file and then run:
ctl-depot -p project -a install
You may need to distribute a collection of modules in one shot. The following two sections describe methods for distributing a single archive that contains multiple modules.
Extensions
An extension is an archive of modules and other supporting resources that effectively enhance the CTL framework. (See the Extension for more information about what can be included in the archive).
Building an extension archive is easy and accomplished via the build-library command with the -archive extension option:
ctl -m ProjectBuilder -c build-library -- -archive extension
The build-library command will generate a new Jar file that can be used by the ctl-extension command like so:
ctl-extension -f /path/to/targetdir/your-extension-vers.jar
Remember to run ctl-depot to pull those modules into your project depot:
ctl-depot -p project -D
Seeds
For ControlTier server users, especially those that use a sophisticated object model, a seed archive type is the preferred choice. A "seed" is short for "project seed", an archive of type definitions that are loaded into the Workbench model for the specified project. When the seed is uploaded to a Workbench project all the modules are loaded and staged into its repository. They can be downloaded by CTL installations that use those modules.
To create a seed, run the build-library command with the -archive seed option:
ctl -m ProjectBuilder -c build-library -- -archive seed
The modules will be downloaded as needed by your objects or via the ctl-depot command like so:
ctl-depot -p project -a install