InitialContext and javax.rmi.PortableRemoteObject

Question

I've been trying to locate a very annoying problem that I get when I try to bind remote objects in JNDI. I have now located the problem but I have no idea why this causes a problem or how to fix it. It seems that creating an InitialContext has different effects depending whether I create an instance of javax.rmi.PortableRemoteObject before.
Here's what I am doing...
1:Context ctx = new InitialContext(); //Create Initial context
2://Instantiate remote object (extends PortableRemoteObject and stubs gen with rmic with -iiop flag)
3:Hello hello = new HelloImpl();
4:ctx.rebind("hello", hello); //Bind to JNDI
5:System.out.println("Object bound!!!!!");
This code works fine. The problem occurs when I try to instantiate the remote object before creating the InitialContext for the first time (I.e. I move line 3 to the top) I then get the following exception:
2007-aug-13 09:32:26 com.sun.corba.ee.impl.util.Utility autoConnect
VARNING: "IOP00511403: (INV_OBJREF) Class rmi.HelloImpl not exported, or else is actually a JRMP stub"
org.omg.CORBA.INV_OBJREF: vmcid: SUN minor code: 1403 completed: No
at com.sun.corba.ee.impl.logging.UtilSystemException.objectNotExported(UtilSystemException.java:569)
at com.sun.corba.ee.impl.logging.UtilSystemException.objectNotExported(UtilSystemException.java:592)
at com.sun.corba.ee.impl.util.Utility.autoConnect(Utility.java:147)
at com.sun.corba.ee.impl.javax.rmi.CORBA.Util.writeAny(Util.java:323)
at com.sun.corba.ee.impl.presentation.rmi.DynamicMethodMarshallerImpl$10.write(DynamicMethodMarshallerImpl.java:256)
at com.sun.corba.ee.impl.presentation.rmi.DynamicMethodMarshallerImpl.writeArguments(DynamicMethodMarshallerImpl.java:407)
at com.sun.corba.ee.impl.presentation.rmi.StubInvocationHandlerImpl.privateInvoke(StubInvocationHandlerImpl.java:157)
at com.sun.corba.ee.impl.presentation.rmi.StubInvocationHandlerImpl.invoke(StubInvocationHandlerImpl.java:119)
at com.sun.corba.ee.impl.presentation.rmi.bcel.BCELStubBase.invoke(BCELStubBase.java:197)
at com.sun.enterprise.naming._SerialContextProvider_DynamicStub.rebind(_SerialContextProvider_DynamicStub.java)
at com.sun.enterprise.naming.SerialContext.rebind(SerialContext.java:403)
at javax.naming.InitialContext.rebind(Unknown Source)
at parlayxws.usecases.ejb.px_spec_v2_1.RunEjb.main(RunEjb.java:43)
Exception in thread "main" javax.naming.CommunicationException: java.rmi.NoSuchObjectException: CORBA INV_OBJREF 1398080891 No; nested exception is:
org.omg.CORBA.INV_OBJREF: vmcid: SUN minor code: 1403 completed: No
at com.sun.enterprise.naming.SerialContext.rebind(SerialContext.java:405)
at javax.naming.InitialContext.rebind(Unknown Source)
at parlayxws.usecases.ejb.px_spec_v2_1.RunEjb.main(RunEjb.java:43)
I assume the problem is in the javax.rmi.PortableRemoteObject's (HelloImpl's) constructor since that is the only code that's beeing executed. But how could that effect the instantiation of the InitialContext? I should also say that it seems that it is only the first time that an InitialContext is created that is critical. If I create on instance of it before instantiating the first PortableRemoteObject, all subsequently created instances of InitialContext succeed in binding remote (RMI-IIOP) objects.
Can someone help me understand why this happens and how to avoid it? I don't want to have to create an InitialContext the first thing I do in the code. It seems the PortableRemoteObject constructor somehow changes the configuration in a way that makes the bindings fail... How? Why? Can I prevent it from happening?
Any input appreciated!
Kristofer

Answer 1

my bean is running in my EJBServer, and I have it in the classpath of the RmiRegistry (which runs as part of my server). The RmiRegistry is an actual ".bat" file that starts an RMI Registry (I assume).
The client is not a bean and is run like this:
java com.titan.cabin.Client_1
All it does is create a cabin and then read it back. It works, it not only gets the context, but also creates, persists and reads that cabin bean.
Is it because java automatically finds all RmiRegistries running on the computer? This makes sense, but I read on java.sun.com that you need a stub class for your clients. And if it is true, then how does it get the context and remote/home interface of a bean on another server?