1 Introduction

Adapter Features

OracleAS Adapter for J.D. Edwards OneWorld provides a means to exchange real-time business data between J.D. Edwards OneWorld systems and other applications, databases, or external business partner systems. The adapter enables inbound and outbound processing with J.D. Edwards OneWorld.

OracleAS Adapter for J.D. Edwards OneWorld can be deployed as a J2EE Connector Architecture (J2CA) 1.0 resource adapter. This deployment is referred to as OracleAS J2CA adapter. It can also be deployed as a Web services servlet and is referred to as OracleAS Adapter Business Services Engine (BSE).

OracleAS Adapter for J.D. Edwards OneWorld uses XML messages to enable non-J.D. Edwards applications to communicate and exchange transactions with J.D. Edwards using services and events.

• Services: Enables applications to initiate a J.D. Edwards business event.

• Events: Enables applications to access J.D. Edwards data only when a J.D. Edwards business event occurs.

To support event functionality, the following two features are implemented:

• Port: A port associates a particular business object exposed by an adapter with a particular disposition. A disposition defines the protocol and location of the event data. The port defines the end point of the event consumption.

  The port is Oracle adapter component that pushes the event received from the Enterprise Information System (EIS) to the adapter client. The port supported in this release is Remote Method Invocation (RMI).

  
  

  Note: You do not need to create or configure ports for use with BPEL Process Manager.

  
  

• Channel: A channel represents configured connections to particular instances of back-end or other types of systems. A channel binds one or more event ports to a particular listener managed by the adapter.

  The channel is the adapter component that receives events in real time from the Enterprise Information System (EIS) application. The channel component can be a File reader, an HTTP listener, a TCP/IP listener, or an FTP listener. A channel is always EIS specific. The adapter supports multiple channels for a particular EIS. This enables the user to choose the optimal channel component based on deployment requirements.

OracleAS Adapter for J.D. Edwards OneWorld provides:

• XML schemas for the J2CA 1.0 resource adapter.

• Web services for BSE.

J.D. Edwards OneWorld Concepts

You can use OracleAS Adapter for J.D. Edwards OneWorld to call a J.D. Edwards OneWorld Master Business Function, such as Address Book, Purchase Order, and Sales Order. You can also use the adapter as part of an integration effort to connect OneWorld with non-OneWorld systems. OracleAS Adapter for J.D. Edwards OneWorld can receive an XML document, or it can run one or more J.D. Edwards Master Business Functions (MBF) by passing an XML document into OneWorld through the J.D. Edwards OneWorld ThinNet API.

Integration with J.D. Edwards OneWorld

J.D. Edwards OneWorld supports multiple methods and technologies to provide interoperability. The three supported entry points are:

• Flat files

• Database tables

• Master Business Function (MBF) interactive calls

You configure Oracle AS Adapter to send requests to J.D. Edwards OneWorld. The agent processes requests for J.D. Edwards OneWorld Master Business Functions (MBF), embedded in XML documents, and forwards them to a back-end J.D. Edwards OneWorld system. The resulting response information is then returned and processed for further routing.OracleAS Adapter for J.D. Edwards OneWorld can receive an XML request document from a client and call a specific function in the target Enterprise Information System (EIS). OracleAS Adapter for J.D. Edwards OneWorld acts as a consumer of request messages and provides a response. An agent performs the following functions:

• Receives requests from a legacy system, another EIS, or a non-EIS client.

• Transforms the XML request document into the EIS-specific format.

The request document conforms to a request XML schema.

The schema is based on metadata in the EIS.

• Calls the underlying function in the EIS and waits for its response.

• Transforms the response from the EIS-specific data format to an XML document.

The response document conforms to a response XML schema for the agent.

The schema is based on metadata in the EIS.

You can configure a listener, known as a channel, for the adapter to receive messages from J.D. Edwards OneWorld. The information the listener receives is used to build an XML record and is forwarded to any specified disposition for further processing.Listeners are consumers of EIS-specific messages and may or may not provide a response. A listener performs the following functions:

• Receives messages from an EIS client

• Transforms the EIS-specific message format into an XML format.

The XML format conforms to an XML schema.

The schema is based on metadata in the EIS.

Propagating External Listeners Into J.D. Edwards OneWorld

When integrating external listeners into OneWorld using flat file input, the files are imported through a batch program and placed on an unedited transaction table. The records on the transaction table are processed by a batch program that makes calls to the appropriate MBF.The database table method bypasses the first step in the flat file method, and records are written directly to the unedited transaction table. The records on the transaction table are processed by a batch program that makes calls to the appropriate MBF.The third method, calling the MBF directly, bypasses the batch processing completely and provides synchronous access to OneWorld.

Propagating Internal Listeners out of J.D. Edwards OneWorld

Integrating a J.D. Edwards OneWorld listener with external systems is similar to the inbound process, except in reverse. The Data Export Control table maintains the determination of whether a transaction must be integrated with an external system. When a transaction must be integrated, the MBF handles logging of all additions, changes, and deletions to the unedited transaction table. After the transaction information is written to the table, a key for that record is sent from the MBF to the subsystem data queue.The subsystem data queue triggers the processing of the new record by launching an outbound subsystem batch process that is generic and handles all outbound transactions. The outbound subsystem then accesses the Data Export Control table to determine the configured external subscriber to run.

J.D. Edwards OneWorld Interoperability Framework

J.D. Edwards OneWorld provides for integration with systems through its interoperability framework. The adapter uses the OneWorld framework and leverages various integration access methods to provide the greatest amount of flexibility and functionality.OracleAS Adapter for J.D. Edwards OneWorld supports the following integration access methods:

• J.D. Edwards OneWorld ThinNet API

• J.D. Edwards OneWorld XML

• J.D. Edwards unedited transaction tables (Z tables)

Figure 1-1 illustrates the inbound processing framework.

The agent uses the J.D. Edwards OneWorld ThinNet API to communicate with the OneWorld application. Using the ThinNet API, the agent can run one or more Master Business Functions (MBF) in a single Unit Of Work (UOW). When any of the MBF fail, the entire UOW fails, preventing partial updates. Because the agent runs the MBF, validation of data, business rules, and communications to the underlying database are handled by the OneWorld application.

Figure 1-2 illustrates the outbound processing framework.

In the outbound process, the event starts when a specific MBF is executed in the J.D. Edwards OneWorld environment. The MBF writes the required information for the event into the appropriate interface table and then notifies the subsystem Batch Function (BF) that an event occurred. The subsystem BF then places an entry about the event on the Subsystem Data Queue.The outbound subsystem retrieves the data queue entry and looks in the Data Export Control table for the external processes to notify. The outbound subsystem then calls the Oracle Application Server Adapter for J.D. Edwards OneWorld listener with notification. The listener passes the notification to the generator. The generator then uses the J.D. Edwards OneWorld ThinNet API to retrieve the appropriate information from the interface table.

Adapter Architecture

OracleAS Adapter for J.D. Edwards OneWorld works in conjunction with BSE or the Enterprise Connector for J2EE Connector Architecture (J2CA).

OracleAS Adapter Application Explorer (Application Explorer)

Application Explorer is used to configure database connections and create Web services and events. It can be configured to work in a Web services environment in conjunction with BSE or with the Enterprise Connector for J2EE Connector Architecture (J2CA). When working in a J2CA environment, the connector uses the Common Client Interface (CCI) to provide fast integration services using Adapters instead of using Web services. Both BSE and the connector for J2CA are deployed to an application server with Application Explorer and the adapters.

Application Explorer uses an explorer metaphor for browsing the J.D. Edwards OneWorld system for business functions. Application Explorer enables you to create XML schemas and Web services for the associated business function.

Resource Adapters

OracleAS Adapter for J.D. Edwards OneWorld is a J2CA-based component also known as resource adapter. Resource adapters connect one application to another when those applications were not originally designed to communicate with each other. Adapters are bidirectional, that is, they can send requests to an Enterprise Information System (EIS), as well as receive notification of events occurring in an EIS.

Oracle Application Server Adapter Business Services Engine (BSE) Architecture

Figure 1-3 shows the generic architecture for Oracle Web service adapter for packaged applications. The adapter works in conjunction with BSE, as deployed to a Web container in a J2EE application server.

Application Explorer, a design-time tool deployed along with BSE, is used to configure adapter connections, browse EIS objects, configure services, and configure listeners to listen for EIS events. Metadata created while you perform these operations are stored in the repository by BSE.

BSE uses SOAP as a protocol for consuming requests from clients, interacting with the EIS, and sending responses from the EIS back to clients. BSE receives the adapter response, wraps the response XML in a SOAP envelope, and returns it to the adapter bridge. The bridge then strips the SOAP envelope, strips the namespace prefix, if present, and passes the DTD-compliant XML to the IC Adapter agent.

Oracle Application Server Adapter Generic J2CA Architecture

Figure 1-4 shows the generic architecture for Oracle J2CA adapter for packaged applications.The J2CA connector is deployed to a standard J2CA Container and serves as host container to the adapters. The connector is configured with a repository.

Application Explorer, a design tool that works in conjunction with the connector, is used to configure adapter connections, browse EIS objects, configure services, and configure listeners to listen for EIS events. Metadata created during these operations is stored in the repository by the connector. The repository can be a file system or an Oracle database. It is deployed as a RAR file and has an associated deployment descriptor called ra.xml. You can create multiple connector factories by editing the OC4J deployment descriptor oc4j-ra.xml. See Chapter 3, "OC4J Deployment and Integration" for more information on OC4J deployment.

Processing Business Functions

OracleAS Adapter for J.D. Edwards OneWorld enables the processing of OneWorld business functions through the J.D. Edwards OneWorld ThinNet API. Using the API eliminates the requirement of creating complex and impractical batch processes. In addition, a transport layer, such as IBM MQSeries, File, or HTTP is not required because an agent or a listener is defined through a TCP connection.External applications that access OneWorld through OracleAS Adapter for J.D. Edwards OneWorld use either XML schemas or Web services to pass data between the external application and the adapter. The following topics describe how to use Application Explorer to create XML schemas and Web services for the J.D. Edwards Master Business Functions (MBF) used with the adapter.

BSE Versus OracleAS Adapter J2CA Deployment

If using OracleAS Adapter for J.D. Edwards OneWorld with BPEL Process Manager, please note that:

• Only OracleAS Adapter J2CA deployment supports inbound integration (event notification) with BPEL Process Manager.

• Both OracleAS Adapter J2CA and BSE deployments support outbound integration (request-response service) with BPEL Process Manager.

The following four factors explain the differences between deploying BSE and OracleAS Adapter J2CA. Understanding the factors can help in selecting a deployment option.

1. BSE is the preferred deployment option because it:

   • Can be deployed in a separate instance of Oracle Application Server.

   • Provides better distribution of load.

   • Provides better isolation from any errors from third party libraries.

   • Provides better capability to isolate issues for debugging purposes.

   • Conforms more closely to SOA model for building applications.

2. OracleAS Adapter J2CA provides slightly better performance

   OracleAS Adapter J2CA does provide slightly better performance than BSE; however, the difference decreases as the transaction rate increases.

3. OracleAS Adapter J2CA and the BSE option both provide identity propagation at runtime

   BSE option provides the capability to pass identity using the SOAP header. For OracleAS Adapter J2CA, user name and password can be passed using the connection spec of the CCI.

4. Transactions