# Creating EJB projects

An EJB project is used to organize the resources contained in an EJB module.

An EJB module is used to assemble one or more enterprise beans into a single deployable unit. It is deployed in a standard Java™ archive (JAR) file. An EJB module can be used as a standalone application, or it can be combined with other modules to create a J2EE enterprise application. An EJB module is installed and run in an enterprise bean container. An EJB project must be referenced by an enterprise application project (defined as a module in an EAR) in order to be deployed successfully and run on a server.

An EJB module contains the following:

- One or more deployable enterprise beans.
- A deployment descriptor, stored in an Extensible Markup Language (XML) file. This file declares the contents of the module, defines the structure and external dependencies of the beans in the module, and describes how the enterprise beans are to be used at run time.

To create a new EJB project:

1. In the J2EE perspective, select File > New > Other > EJB > EJB Project. The New EJB Project wizard opens.
2. In the Name field, type a name for the EJB project. To change the default Project location, click the Browse button to select a new location.

   If you specify a non-default project location that is already being used by another project, the project creation will fail.

3. Click Show Advanced.
4. In the Target server drop-down list, select the application server that you want to target for your development. This selection affects the compilation and runtime settings by modifying the class path entries for the project.
5. In the EJB version drop-down list, select the EJB specification version to which you want your EJB project to adhere.
   Note: If you plan on using EJB 2.1 enterprise beans, you must specify an EJB 2.1 project. You can add EJB 1.1 enterprise beans to EJB 2.x projects. An EJB 2.1 project must exist in a J2EE 1.4 enterprise application project. An EJB 2.0 project requires a minimum level of J2EE 1.3 for its enterprise application project.
6. Specify whether you want to add the new module to an enterprise application (EAR) project.
7. In the EAR application combination box, type a new project name or select an existing enterprise application project from the drop-down list. Or, click the New button to launch the New Enterprise Application Project wizard.
   Note: If you type a new EAR project name, the EAR project will be created in the default location with the lowest compatible J2EE version based on the version of the project being created. If you want to specify a different version or a different location for the enterprise application, you must use the New Enterprise Application Project wizard.
8. Optional: Select the Create an EJB Client JAR Project to hold the client interfaces and classes check box if you want the client interface classes for your enterprise beans to be kept in a separate EJB client JAR file. This EJB client JAR file will be added to the enterprise application as a project utility JAR file.
9. Optional: Select the Add support for annotated Java classes check box if you want the generated classes to use XDoclet annotations.
10. If you are creating an EJB Client JAR project, click Next to specify the client JAR project options. Otherwise, click Finish.

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