BEA has released a preview of their J2EE Builder, which allows you to create and maintain .WAR, .EAR, and EJB-JAR files. You compile your classes and write your JSPs outside of the Builder, and then use the Builder to assemble J2EE modules from classes, servlets, and JSPs.

Click here to download (login required).

The JSP-based builder tool is useful, but I still prefer the version 5.1 EJBDeployerTool Java app which allows one to create the deployment descriptors, run the ejbc compiler, jar up all the files and deploy to the WL server all from the same window. I understand in WL 6.0 one does not need to run the EJB class files through the ejbc compiler, but one still needs to create the deployment descriptor in same fashion and includes them in the JAR files for WL to deploy. On the other hand, the JSP based builder tool offers the capability to create WAR files, which was not available before.

I downloaded the J2EE Builder and read this in the readme:

WebLogic Server Builder requires the following software:

     BEA WebLogic Server 6.0 beta 1
     Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.5.x
       Netscape 6.0 is not supported for beta.
     JDK 1.3
       JDK 1.3 is bundled with WebLogic Server 6.0 beta 1 and is installed by default on your system.
     Windows NT or 2000 platform

So don't bother downloading this if, like me, you're running 5.1.