Enterprise javabeans container

The present invention relates to Enterprise JavaBeans (EJB) and more particularly to the provision of a new type of EJB container. (Enterprise JavaBean and EJB are registered trade marks of Sun Micrsosytems Inc.) The present invention provides a more flexible version of an EJB container which permits easy definition an EJB component which observes a behavior pattern which is not typical of a session, entity or message driven bean types. In this flexible EJB container, behavior characteristics normally fixed by the bean type of the EJB component, such as passivation policy, usage, recoverability, and relocatability can be separately defined for each EJB component.