Overview of Applic ation Overview of Applic ation Adapter Technology Adapter Technology Kenneth Baik Kenneth Baik April 10, 2003 April 10, 2003 ECE1770 - Expe rt To pic ECE1770 - Expe rt To pic 2 Agenda Agenda  Main reasons for EAI Main reasons for EAI  Primary objective of Application Adapter Primary objective of Application Adapter  Typical Issues with Adapter Typical Issues with Adapter  Basic Functions of Adapter Basic Functions of Adapter  Adapter Methodology Adapter Methodology  One of Adapter Technologies One of Adapter Technologies  Simple Demo Simple Demo  Summary Summary 3 Application System Integration Application System Integration Heterogeneous Platforms Heterogeneous Platforms ERP Systems ERP Systems In-house Proprietary Apps In-house Proprietary Apps Mainframe Applications Mainframe Applications Consumers Consumers Trading Partners Trading Partners Suppliers Suppliers Distributors Distributors Business Partners Business Partners Internet / Internet / Virtual Private Network Virtual Private Network B 2 B B 2 B I n t e g r a t i o n I n t e g r a t i o n A 2 A A 2 A B 2 C B 2 C  B2B Corporate procurement, supply chain, industry portals  B2C Web Storage System, customer relationship management  Application Integration Combining applications into new processes Connecting internal, external applications 4 Two main reasons for Two main reasons for Application System Integration Application System Integration  To connect between the existing application systems To connect between the existing application systems  A typical Fortune 1000 company has many Mission Critical A typical Fortune 1000 company has many Mission Critical Application Systems Application Systems  A typical large enterprise has more than 5000 major A typical large enterprise has more than 5000 major application systems application systems  These systems are logically interconnected These systems are logically interconnected  Corporate information is scattered in disparate and Corporate information is scattered in disparate and heterogeneous application systems. These application systems heterogeneous application systems. These application systems are called “Legacy” systems. are called “Legacy” systems.  Approximately 70% of corporate data resides on legacy hosts, Approximately 70% of corporate data resides on legacy hosts, such as mainframe and AS/400 platform such as mainframe and AS/400 platform  Therefore, the most of enterprises have a mandate to integrate Therefore, the most of enterprises have a mandate to integrate legacy systems to share, exchange, analyze and consolidate the legacy systems to share, exchange, analyze and consolidate the corporate data corporate data 5 Two main reasons for Two main reasons for Application System Integration Application System Integration  To connect the existing application systems with new To connect the existing application systems with new application systems on new platform such as Web application application systems on new platform such as Web application systems systems  As the Internet gets more attention from business sectors, the As the Internet gets more attention from business sectors, the requirements of connecting the legacy systems to the Web requirements of connecting the legacy systems to the Web application systems arise to the surface application systems arise to the surface  Rewriting a legacy system into Web application system does Rewriting a legacy system into Web application system does not make sense financially and technically not make sense financially and technically  There are too many risks for mission critical applications There are too many risks for mission critical applications  To provide a means of exchange for business information To provide a means of exchange for business information flowing between business partners, legacy systems and Web flowing between business partners, legacy systems and Web application systems must be integrated. application systems must be integrated. 6 Core component of EAI Products Core component of EAI Products  The requirement for communication between The requirement for communication between disparate and heterogeneous application systems disparate and heterogeneous application systems leads to development of Enterprise Application leads to development of Enterprise Application Integration products Integration products  A core component of this is “ A core component of this is “ Adapter Adapter ” ” “ “ Application Adapter Application Adapter ” is ” is one of the core components of EAI product one of the core components of EAI product ! ! 7 Definition of Adapter Definition of Adapter  The term “ The term “ Adapter Adapter ” could mean different things ” could mean different things depending on the context and the application architecture depending on the context and the application architecture  Example 1 Example 1 a simple a simple servlet servlet is called an adapter is called an adapter  Example 2 Example 2 an entire application, such as an entire application, such as EDI gateway EDI gateway , could be , could be called an adapter called an adapter  Regardless of its size and context, Regardless of its size and context, an an adapter’s primary adapter’s primary objective is objective is to facilitate integration of the application for to facilitate integration of the application for which it has been designed which it has been designed 8 Developing an Adapter Developing an Adapter  Often enterprises end up with multiple homegrown Often enterprises end up with multiple homegrown adapters, each exposing a subset of the application adapters, each exposing a subset of the application functionality functionality  Developing an adapter can be very costly and time- Developing an adapter can be very costly and time- consuming consuming  Therefore, for well-known packaged applications such as Therefore, for well-known packaged applications such as SAP and Siebel, off-the-shelf adapters are available that SAP and Siebel, off-the-shelf adapters are available that integrate the packaged application to the integration integrate the packaged application to the integration backbone with little or no coding effort backbone with little or no coding effort  Custom adapters can also be written for legacy systems Custom adapters can also be written for legacy systems for which such ready-made adapters are not available for which such ready-made adapters are not available  EAI vendors provide adapter SDKs to facilitate this EAI vendors provide adapter SDKs to facilitate this development development 9 Typical Issues with an Adapter Typical Issues with an Adapter Many EAI vendors build an application adapter for a specific client Many EAI vendors build an application adapter for a specific client and later package it as a product. The design of such an adapter and later package it as a product. The design of such an adapter could have the following limitations: could have the following limitations:  Limited functionality Limited functionality : “First customer” specific customizations and : “First customer” specific customizations and shortcuts render it ineffective in a different scenario shortcuts render it ineffective in a different scenario  Version tie-in Version tie-in : Tie-in to a specific version of the packaged : Tie-in to a specific version of the packaged application (ie. PeopleSoft 7, PeopleSoft 8, SAP R/3, etc.) implies application (ie. PeopleSoft 7, PeopleSoft 8, SAP R/3, etc.) implies substantial additional effort whenever the application version is substantial additional effort whenever the application version is upgraded upgraded  Non-scalable design Non-scalable design : Improper design may render an application’s : Improper design may render an application’s inherent scalability completely ineffective inherent scalability completely ineffective  Most of all, Most of all, each adapter is application-specific each adapter is application-specific due to the due to the uniqueness of API uniqueness of API 10 Basic Functions of Adapter Basic Functions of Adapter  Data Transformation Data Transformation  When two independently written application systems When two independently written application systems communicate each other, their datasets between two systems communicate each other, their datasets between two systems do not match. Therefore, there is a need for message do not match. Therefore, there is a need for message transformation between the originator and the recipient. transformation between the originator and the recipient.  A source adapter transforms the source message to a common A source adapter transforms the source message to a common form while a target adapter changes the common form to that form while a target adapter changes the common form to that required by the recipient. required by the recipient.  Data Transportation Data Transportation  The transformed data in the source application has to be The transformed data in the source application has to be transferred to the target application system by specific protocol transferred to the target application system by specific protocol such as FTP, HTTP, HTTPS, SMTP, etc. such as FTP, HTTP, HTTPS, SMTP, etc. [...]... one way for developers to isolate an application’s integration logic However, application adapters use application-specific APIs and this is not ideal as access mechanisms, since the API will most likely be different for most applications So, platform-neutral standards such as XML, SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol) and J2EE (the Java 2 platform, Enterprise Edition) are ideal building blocks for developers... X12, EDIFACT, and other document formats HTTP, HTTPS, SMTP, MSMQ, File, DCOM, and other protocols Mapping Between Document Formats Programmable Interfaces for Submitting and Receiving Documents and for Administration Content-Based Routing of Documents Data Tracking and Analysis 14 BizTalk Server Messaging Tools  BizTalk Editor   BizTalk Mapper   Maps one document format to another using document...Basic Functions of Adapter EIS Data Transformation Data Transportation Document Specification (API) Data Mapping Data Mapping Document Specification (API) Application1 11 Integration-ready Appl system  For an application system to be integration-ready, there are two requirements One is to isolate and expose its different... non-XML) Administers agreements with trading partners and applications Messaging Port – defines Transport Target Location Messaging Channel – defines input/output document specification and a map for data transformation BizTalk Administration Tool   Manages queues (receive function/MSMQ) Configures transport integration (HTTP, File, SMTP, etc) 15 Document Interchange Example Management Desk Tools 1... Items Tracking XML PO Channel External Application XSL Transform Serialize to IDOC Interne t SAP IDOC SAP IDOC 18 DCOM DCOM SAP Integration Component SAP R/3 Simple Demo 19 Summary  Middleware is software that sits between the back-end or database tier and the front-end or presentation tier of an application Various types of middleware perform functions such as data access, messaging, data aggregation,... Various types of middleware perform functions such as data access, messaging, data aggregation, data integration, and transaction management  Application Adapter is an Integration Middleware that is used for process integration or data integration and aggregation 20 Que s tio ns ? 21 . systems do not match. Therefore, there is a need for message do not match. Therefore, there is a need for message transformation between the originator. risks for mission critical applications There are too many risks for mission critical applications  To provide a means of exchange for business information