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Marc Batchelor Help - License For Generated Java Files
Hey all,
I've been searching all over for this answer to no avail. When I generate .java files from the partner .wsdl, what is the license type for the .java files? Are they considered public domain, or is there an open-source license I can distribute it under?
I have a customer that wants to remove anything from my distribution that does not have an explicit license, and this is a blocker for me.
Note - this isn't an explicit cross-post - I asked a similar question in the General forum several days ago asking about the license type for the .wsdl files (no answers to that thread). This is ultimately what I'm looking to get an answer to.
Finally - if you don't have an answer, but can tell me where to find the answer (or who to contact at sf.com), I'd be most grateful.
Thanks!
It'll depend on the toolkit you're using, (and the licenses for any libraries that the generated code uses), which soap toolkit are you using?
Thanks for the response Simon. I'm not using a toolkit per-se - I'm generating classes from the partner wsdl file.
Steps:
1- Download the partner.wsdl
2- Use wsdl2java utility to generate java classes from the wsdl
3- Jar the generated classes into a partner .jar file
What license can partner.jar be provided to my customers under?
The steps were derived from this:
http://www.salesforce.com/us/developer/docs/api90/Content/sforce_api_quickstart_steps.htm
There is no mention of a distribution license anywhere.
wsdl2java is part of a soap toolkit, are you using Axis, wsc, jax-ws ?
We're using Axis, but I can't see how that could impact the license for the partner .jar file that was generated from the partner WSDL.
Thanks,
Marc
Becuause it was generated by Axis, the WSDL is just metadata and can't impact the license of the code generated from it.
Thanks for your patience Simon, but I'm afraid that's not quite the point.
I've downloaded a .wsdl file from sf.com (partner.wsdl) - there is no published license for that .wsdl file, and it isn't mine. I then use a utility (wsdl2java) and create a bunch of .java classes. I compile those classes and create a .jar file. At this point, I've created a .jar file using a .wsdl file that I don't have a license for.
So, if I distribute the partner.jar file to someone, I need to provide them a license for it's presence. Even if I don't include Axis or make a single web service call, I'm still distributing .class files that resulted from a .wsdl file for which I have no license.
Here is a simpler example... If I download the mysql JDBC driver (it's a GPL license) and add it to my distribution, I've just introduced GPL into my distribution. I don't have to make a single explicit call to the MySQL JDBC driver, simply by distributing the .jar file, I'm distributing GPL.
Fast forward to the Salesforce web service jar I created from Salesforce WSDL... My customer rightly asks - "What license is this salesforce.jar"?
My answer is.... what?
Thanks,
Marc
I would think the salesforce.com MSA (master subsriber agreement) covers the license for the WSDL. I understand your question, I don't believe that the license for the WSDL has any affect on the license for the code generated from it, but I'm not a lawyer, I don't even play one on TV, If axis doesn't clearly document the license for the generated code, then I suspect you're going to need to talk to your legal folks.
Hi Marc,
You're bringing up a good question. Just like Simon, I am not a lawyer either, but I will check with our legal team.
The WSDL file contains a mix of IP from both Salesforce.com and yourself (your custom objects). These probably have to be treated separately. If we made our IP available using a non-viral, business-friendly license, then I think you should be free to license the combined work the way you want. Right now, we don't specify what license our standard objects are available under. Hopefully I can get back to your with more specifics on this soon.
Thank-you very much for your response. Since I'm using the partner wsdl and not the enterprise wsdl, doesn't this mean that there aren't any of my company's specific bits in there? Or, in the case that someone gets a shiny new subscription to sf.com and has no customizations - wouldn't the partner wsdl just be stuff from sf.com?
Regardless though - assuming I don't care about my stuff and my licenses ... I'm concerned about my authority to distribute code build from sf.com partner wsdl file. If I don't have a valid license to distribute it, then a piece of my product needs to be disabled - and that would probably apply to anyone building sf.com data connectors for EAI, ETL, etc.
Mostly, I believe it to be in sf.com's best interest to have a really open and friendly license for the partner wsdl - and not just because I want one - :-) The wsdl is pretty meaningless (or at least useless) if you don't have a subscription to sf.com. Then, by extension, the generated .java classes would be pretty useless to anyone without a sf.com subscription.
Hi Marc,
We are too looking for the same. We are in the testing phase of integrating the 'API WSDL'(Partnet WSDL file) in our application to access/sync something with salesforce. Could you please help us, is there any license agreement for the Partner WSDL file?
Thanks in advance.
Regards,
Prince