Managing BlackBerry Java Applications and BlackBerry Device Software

You can use the BlackBerry® Administration Service to install and manage the BlackBerry® Device Software and BlackBerry Java® Applications on BlackBerry devices.

To send BlackBerry Java Applications to devices, you must first add the applications to the application repository. You can use the application repository to store and manage all versions of the BlackBerry Java Applications that you want to install on, update on, or remove from devices.

In the BlackBerry Administration Service, you create software configurations to specify the versions of the BlackBerry Device Software and BlackBerry Java Applications that you want to install on, update on, or remove from devices. You also use software configurations to specify which applications are required, optional, or not permitted. When you create a software configuration, you must also specify whether users can install applications that are not listed in the software configuration.

When you add a BlackBerry Java Application to a software configuration, you must assign an application control policy to the application to specify what resources the application can access. You can use default application control policies or you can create and use custom application control policies. If you permit users to install unlisted applications, you must create an application control policy for unlisted applications that specifies what resources the applications can access.

When you assign a software configuration to a group or individual user accounts, the BlackBerry Administration Service creates a deployment job to install the BlackBerry Device Software and BlackBerry Java Applications on devices and to apply application control policies to the devices. A deployment job consists of a number of tasks. Each task manages the delivery of a specific object (for example, a BlackBerry Java Application or an application control policy) by communicating with the appropriate BlackBerry® Enterprise Server components.

If you assign more than one software configuration to a user account, all of the settings in the multiple software configurations are applied to the user's device. The BlackBerry Enterprise Server resolves conflicting settings using predefined reconciliation rules and prioritized rankings that you can specify using the BlackBerry Administration Service. After you install the BlackBerry Device Software and BlackBerry Java Applications on devices, you can view details about how the BlackBerry Administration Service resolved software configuration conflicts.

Developing BlackBerry Java Applications for BlackBerry devices

Application developers can use the BlackBerry® Java® Development Environment or the BlackBerry® Java® Plug-in for Eclipse® to create and test BlackBerry Java Applications for BlackBerry devices, and to package BlackBerry Java Applications to install them on BlackBerry devices using a user’s computer or over the wireless network. Application developers can use the BlackBerry JDE or the BlackBerry Java Plug-in for Eclipse to generate .cod files that contain the compiled application code for a BlackBerry Java Application. BlackBerry devices execute .cod files to run BlackBerry Java Applications. The BlackBerry JDE and the BlackBerry Java Plug-in for Eclipse also include tools to generate .jad files or .alx descriptor files that provide information about a BlackBerry Java Application that is used when the application is compiled.

MIDlets are Java applications that conform to the MIDP standard and can run on any mobile device that runs Java applications. Most MIDlets are distributed as .jar files. The BlackBerry JDE and the BlackBerry Java Plug-in for Eclipse include tools that you can use to convert existing MIDlets that are in .jad and .jar file formats to .cod file formats for use on BlackBerry devices.