1. Overview of Application Adapter Technology Kenneth Baik Kenneth Baik April 10, 2003 ECE1770 - Expert Topic

2. 2 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. 3 Application System Integration Heterogeneous Platforms ERP Systems In-house Proprietary Apps Mainframe Applications Consumers Trading Partners SuppliersDistributors Business Partners Internet / Virtual Private Network B2BIntegration A2A B2C 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. 4 Two main reasons for 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 Application Systems A typical Fortune 1000 company has many Mission Critical Application Systems A typical large enterprise has more than 5000 major application systems A typical large enterprise has more than 5000 major application systems These systems are logically interconnected These systems are logically interconnected Corporate information is scattered in disparate and heterogeneous application systems. These application systems are called “Legacy” systems. Corporate information is scattered in disparate and heterogeneous application systems. These application systems are called “Legacy” systems. Approximately 70% of corporate data resides on legacy hosts, such as mainframe and AS/400 platform Approximately 70% of corporate data resides on legacy hosts, such as mainframe and AS/400 platform Therefore, the most of enterprises have a mandate to integrate legacy systems to share, exchange, analyze and consolidate the corporate data Therefore, the most of enterprises have a mandate to integrate legacy systems to share, exchange, analyze and consolidate the corporate data

5. 5 Two main reasons for Application System Integration To connect the existing application systems with new application systems on new platform such as Web application systems To connect the existing application systems with new application systems on new platform such as Web application systems As the Internet gets more attention from business sectors, the requirements of connecting the legacy systems to the Web application systems arise to the surface As the Internet gets more attention from business sectors, the requirements of connecting the legacy systems to the Web application systems arise to the surface Rewriting a legacy system into Web application system does not make sense financially and technically Rewriting a legacy system into Web application system does 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 flowing between business partners, legacy systems and Web application systems must be integrated. To provide a means of exchange for business information flowing between business partners, legacy systems and Web application systems must be integrated.

6. 6 Core component of EAI Products The requirement for communication between disparate and heterogeneous application systems leads to development of Enterprise Application Integration products The requirement for communication between disparate and heterogeneous application systems leads to development of Enterprise Application Integration products A core component of this is “Adapter” A core component of this is “Adapter” “Application Adapter” is one of the core components of EAI product!

7. 7 Definition of Adapter The term “Adapter” could mean different things depending on the context and the application architecture The term “Adapter” could mean different things depending on the context and the application architecture Example 1 Example 1 a simple servlet is called an adapter Example 2 Example 2 an entire application, such as EDI gateway, could be called an adapter Regardless of its size and context, an adapter’s primary objective is to facilitate integration of the application for which it has been designed Regardless of its size and context, an adapter’s primary objective is to facilitate integration of the application for which it has been designed

8. 8 Developing an Adapter Often enterprises end up with multiple homegrown adapters, each exposing a subset of the application functionality Often enterprises end up with multiple homegrown adapters, each exposing a subset of the application functionality Developing an adapter can be very costly and time- consuming Developing an adapter can be very costly and time- consuming Therefore, for well-known packaged applications such as SAP and Siebel, off-the-shelf adapters are available that integrate the packaged application to the integration backbone with little or no coding effort Therefore, for well-known packaged applications such as SAP and Siebel, off-the-shelf adapters are available that integrate the packaged application to the integration backbone with little or no coding effort Custom adapters can also be written for legacy systems for which such ready-made adapters are not available Custom adapters can also be written for legacy systems for which such ready-made adapters are not available EAI vendors provide adapter SDKs to facilitate this development EAI vendors provide adapter SDKs to facilitate this development

9. 9 Typical Issues with an Adapter Many EAI vendors build an application adapter for a specific client and later package it as a product. The design of such an adapter could have the following limitations: Limited functionality: “First customer” specific customizations and shortcuts render it ineffective in a different scenario Limited functionality: “First customer” specific customizations and shortcuts render it ineffective in a different scenario Version tie-in: Tie-in to a specific version of the packaged application (ie. PeopleSoft 7, PeopleSoft 8, SAP R/3, etc.) implies substantial additional effort whenever the application version is upgraded Version tie-in: Tie-in to a specific version of the packaged application (ie. PeopleSoft 7, PeopleSoft 8, SAP R/3, etc.) implies substantial additional effort whenever the application version is upgraded Non-scalable design: Improper design may render an application’s inherent scalability completely ineffective Non-scalable design: Improper design may render an application’s inherent scalability completely ineffective Most of all, each adapter is application-specific due to the uniqueness of API Most of all, each adapter is application-specific due to the uniqueness of API

10. 10 Basic Functions of Adapter Data Transformation Data Transformation When two independently written application systems communicate each other, their datasets between two systems do not match. Therefore, there is a need for message transformation between the originator and the recipient. When two independently written application systems communicate each other, their datasets between two systems do not match. Therefore, there is a need for message transformation between the originator and the recipient. A source adapter transforms the source message to a common form while a target adapter changes the common form to that required by the recipient. A source adapter transforms the source message to a common form while a target adapter changes the common form to that required by the recipient. Data Transportation Data Transportation The transformed data in the source application has to be transferred to the target application system by specific protocol such as FTP, HTTP, HTTPS, SMTP, etc. The transformed data in the source application has to be transferred to the target application system by specific protocol such as FTP, HTTP, HTTPS, SMTP, etc.

11. 11 Basic Functions of Adapter Application1 EIS Document Specification (API) Data Mapping Data Mapping Data Transformation Data Transportation

12. 12 Integration-ready Appl. system For an application system to be integration-ready, there are two requirements One is to isolate and expose its different points of integration. A point of integration could be a specific database table, a specific business function or a stored procedure The other is to isolate the integration logic from the application’s business logic, interface and database layers. In a three-tiered application architecture, the user interface, business logic and database layers each encapsulate specific application functionality

13. 13 Adapter Design Methodology Adapters are 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 to design adapters

14. 14 One of Adapter Technologies MS BizTalk Server provides the ability to exchange data between two heterogeneous systems through an XML interface MS BizTalk Server provides the ability to exchange data between two heterogeneous systems through an XML interface BizTalk Messaging Services BizTalk Messaging Services BizTalk Server Supports BizTalk Server Supports XML, X12, EDIFACT, and other document formats XML, X12, EDIFACT, and other document formats HTTP, HTTPS, SMTP, MSMQ, File, DCOM, and other protocols HTTP, HTTPS, SMTP, MSMQ, File, DCOM, and other protocols Mapping Between Document Formats Mapping Between Document Formats Programmable Interfaces for Submitting and Receiving Documents and for Administration Programmable Interfaces for Submitting and Receiving Documents and for Administration Content-Based Routing of Documents Content-Based Routing of Documents Data Tracking and Analysis Data Tracking and Analysis

15. 15 BizTalk Server Messaging Tools BizTalk Editor BizTalk Editor Defines input and output document specifications (XML or non-XML) Defines input and output document specifications (XML or non-XML) BizTalk Mapper BizTalk Mapper Maps one document format to another using document specification Maps one document format to another using document specification BizTalk Messaging Manager BizTalk Messaging Manager Administers agreements with trading partners and applications Administers agreements with trading partners and applications Messaging Port – defines Transport Target Location Messaging Port – defines Transport Target Location Messaging Channel – defines input/output document specification and a map for data transformation Messaging Channel – defines input/output document specification and a map for data transformation BizTalk Administration Tool BizTalk Administration Tool Manages queues (receive function/MSMQ) Manages queues (receive function/MSMQ) Configures transport integration (HTTP, File, SMTP, etc) Configures transport integration (HTTP, File, SMTP, etc)

16. 16 BizTalk Server Group SMTP HTTP FTP MSMQ SNA Server File System DCOM EDI IIS Management Desk BizTalk Editor Channel Manager XXX Tools Data Store Work ItemsAdminSchemas/MapsTracking XXX XML PO SAP IDOC Schema Editor Channel Editor BizTalk Mapper Port Manager Schema Mapper XSL Map Port Editor External Application Interne t SAP R/3 1 Document Interchange Example

17. 17 BizTalk Server Group SMTP HTTP FTP MSMQ SNA Server File System DCOM Management Desk BizTalk Editor Pipeline Manager XXX Tools Data Store Work ItemsAdminSchemas/MapsTracking XML PO SAP IDOC Schema Editor Channel Editor BizTalk Mapper Agreement Manager Schema Mapper XSL Map Port Editor External Application Interne t XXX Messaging Service Decrypt/Decode Parse Select Pipeline XXX XML PO Decrypt/Decode Parse Select Channel SAP R/3 XML PO 2 Document Interchange Example

18. 18 Management Desk BizTalkEditorPipelineManager SAPR/3 Tools DataStore Work Items AdminSchemas/MapsTracking XMLPOSAPIDOC SchemaEditor Channel ChannelEditor BizTalkMapperAgreementManager SchemaMapper XSL Map Port PortEditor ExternalApplication Interne t XMLPO Channel XSL Transform Serialize to IDOC SAP Integration Component SAPIDOC XSL Transform Serialize to IDOC SAP Integration Component SAPIDOC DCOM XMLPOSAPIDOC 3 Document Interchange Example

19. 19 Simple Demo

20. 20Summary 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, data integration, and transaction management. 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, data integration, and transaction management. Application Adapter is an Integration Middleware that is used for process integration or data integration and aggregation. Application Adapter is an Integration Middleware that is used for process integration or data integration and aggregation.

21. 21 Questions ?