Server Smalltalk Guide


Startup and shutdown

Many objects within the system require a coordinated startup and shutdown procedure. To facilitate this, SST adopts a standard set of methods and defines when they are executed and what they should do. The startUp methods (in the IuSstStartable interface) are:

startUp
Starts the receiver. In general this means starting related processes, allocating resources and building interobject links. Once startUp has completed the receiver is ready to fulfill its prescribed role.

shutDown
Stops the receiver. In general this means stopping related processes, releasing allocated resources and removing some interobject links. An object which has been shutDown can typically be restarted using startUp though it may not restart with exactly the same behavior as before it was shutDown.

clear
Ensures that the receiver is shutDown and then clear out its instance variables such that no dangling pointers to complex objects remain. startUp cannot be sent to the receiver once it has been cleared.

The startUp and shutDown methods are not related to the normal VisualAge Smalltalk application startup and shutdown protocol. That is, they are not called automatically on image startup and shutdown.


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