15.2.2 GIOP Message Overview

   The GIOP specifies formats for messages that are exchanged between inter-operating ORBs. GIOP message formats have the following features:

• Few, simple messages. With only seven message formats, the GIOP supports full CORBA functionality between ORBs, with extended capabilities supporting object location services, dynamic migration, and efficient management of communication resources. GIOP semantics require no format or binding negotiations. In most cases, clients can send requests to objects immediately upon opening a connection.

• Dynamic object location. Many ORBs’ architectures allow an object implementation to be activated at different locations during its lifetime, and may allow objects to migrate dynamically. GIOP messages provide support for object location and migration, without requiring ORBs to implement such mechanisms when unnecessary or inappropriate to an ORB’s architecture.

• Full CORBA support -GIOP messages directly support all functions and behaviors required by CORBA, including exception reporting, passing operation context, and remote object reference operations (such as CORBA::Object::get_interface).

   GIOP also supports passing service-specific context, such as the transaction context defined by the Transaction Service (the Transaction Service is described in CORBAservices: Common Object Service Specifications). This mechanism is designed to support any service that requires service related context to be implicitly passed with requests.