sharing message object between web applications

Question

I need to share java mail message objects between two web applications(A and B).

WebApplication A obtains the message and write it to the outputStream

for(int i=0;i<messagesArr.length;i++){
  uid = pop3FolderObj.getUID(messagesArr[i]);
//storing messages with uid names inorder to maintain uniqueness
  File f = new File("F:/PersistedMessagesFolder" + uid);  
  FileOutputStream fos = new FileOutputStream(f);
  messagesArr[i].writeTo(fos);
  fos.flush();
  fos.close();
}

Is FileOutputStream the best output stream for persisting message objects? Is it possible to use ObjectOutputStream for message object persistence?

WebApplication B reads the message object via InputStream

FileInputStream fis = new FileInputStream("F:/MessagesPersistedFolder"+uid);
MimeMessage mm = new MimeMessage(sessionObj,fis);

What if the mail message object which is already written via WebApplication A is not a MimeMessage? How can I read non-mime messages using input stream?

MimeMessage constructor mandates sessionObj as the first parameter? How can I obtain this sessionObj in WebApplicationB? Do I have to again establish store connection with the same emailid,emailpassword,popserver and port(already used in WebApplication A) with the email server inorder to obtain this session object? Even if obtained, will this session object remains the same as that of the session object which is priorly obtained in WebApplicationA?

Since I am using uids to name Message objects (inorder to maintain uniqueness of file names) how can I share these uids between WebApplication A and WebApplication B? WebApplication B needs the uid inorder to access the specific file which is present in "F:/MessagesPersistedFolder"

Please help me in resolving the aforeseen issues.

Answer 1

What are the actual features you are trying to implement here? It sounds like you're trying to fit a square peg (the Javamail message classes) in a round hole (the requirement to share message data between two applications).

My advice would be either:

1) use a message queue and send the email message content from one application to the other using a javax.jms.TextMessage.

2) or save the message content to a clob field in shared database that both applications access.

At the end of the day, use the Javamail API for sending email not as a means to share data.

Also using serialization, which is what you'd be doing with an java.io.ObjectOutputStream will produce files that will only work with a specific version of the Javamail API and while I doubt Javamail changes much these days, I wouldn't want to exclude the possiblity.