java.rmi.activation (Java Platform SE 8 )
Keywords: java.rmi.activation package
Date: 2026-04-17

compact2

# Package java.rmi.activation

Provides support for RMI Object Activation.

See: Description

- Interface Summary
  Interface | Description
  --- | ---
  ActivationInstantiator | An `ActivationInstantiator` is responsible for creating instances of "activatable" objects.
  ActivationMonitor | An `ActivationMonitor` is specific to an `ActivationGroup` and is obtained when a group is reported active via a call to `ActivationSystem.activeGroup` (this is done internally).
  ActivationSystem | The `ActivationSystem` provides a means for registering groups and "activatable" objects to be activated within those groups.
  Activator | The `Activator` facilitates remote object activation.

- Class Summary
  Class | Description
  --- | ---
  Activatable | The `Activatable` class provides support for remote objects that require persistent access over time and that can be activated by the system.
  ActivationDesc | An activation descriptor contains the information necessary to activate an object: the object's group identifier, the object's fully-qualified class name, the object's code location (the location of the class), a codebase URL path, the object's restart "mode", and, a "marshalled" object that can contain object specific initialization data.
  ActivationGroup | An `ActivationGroup` is responsible for creating new instances of "activatable" objects in its group, informing its `ActivationMonitor` when either: its object's become active or inactive, or the group as a whole becomes inactive.
  ActivationGroup_Stub | `ActivationGroup_Stub` is a stub class for the subclasses of `java.rmi.activation.ActivationGroup` that are exported as a `java.rmi.server.UnicastRemoteObject`.
  ActivationGroupDesc | An activation group descriptor contains the information necessary to create/recreate an activation group in which to activate objects.
  ActivationGroupDesc.CommandEnvironment | Startup options for ActivationGroup implementations.
  ActivationGroupID | The identifier for a registered activation group serves several purposes: identifies the group uniquely within the activation system, and contains a reference to the group's activation system so that the group can contact its activation system when necessary.
  ActivationID | Activation makes use of special identifiers to denote remote objects that can be activated over time.

- Exception Summary
  Exception | Description
  --- | ---
  ActivateFailedException | This exception is thrown by the RMI runtime when activation fails during a remote call to an activatable object.
  ActivationException | General exception used by the activation interfaces.
  UnknownGroupException | An `UnknownGroupException` is thrown by methods of classes and interfaces in the `java.rmi.activation` package when the `ActivationGroupID` parameter to the method is determined to be invalid, i.e., not known by the `ActivationSystem`.
  UnknownObjectException | An `UnknownObjectException` is thrown by methods of classes and interfaces in the `java.rmi.activation` package when the `ActivationID` parameter to the method is determined to be invalid.

## Package java.rmi.activation Description

Provides support for RMI Object Activation. A remote object's reference can be made ``persistent'' and later activated into a ``live'' object using the RMI activation mechanism.

Implementations are not required to support the activation mechanism. If activation is not supported by this implementation, several specific activation API methods are all required to throw `UnsupportedOperationException`. If activation is supported by this implementation, these methods must never throw `UnsupportedOperationException`. These methods are denoted by the presence of an entry for `UnsupportedOperationException` in the Throws section of each method's specification.

Since:
  1.2

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