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XML and Siebel EAI

XML is increasingly the format of choice for data exchange between applications and partner organizations. The metadata definition for XML is in the form of XML Schema Definitions (XSD) or Document Types Definitions (DTDs). Siebel Integration objects can be represented as XSD or DTDs. This allows other applications to capture metadata from Siebel applications and understand how to format an XML document that needs to be sent to Siebel applications. Any data in Siebel applications can be represented as XML and sent over a standard protocol such as HTTP. Siebel EAI provides components that allow bidirectional exchange of XML documents over the firewall using the HTTP protocol. This exchange can be made secure at the transport layer by using the HTTPS protocol.

Siebel EAI supports XML for outgoing and incoming messages. Siebel EAI can be configured to use externally specified XSD or DTDs for defining external integration objects. Siebel Tools includes an Integration Object Wizard for importing and processing external XSD or DTDs and generating these external integration objects that represent the XSD or the DTDs.

All transport adapters, whether built by Siebel Systems or built by partners, can use this business service to dynamically look up the content in an XML document or other format documents and route the message based on this content to a workflow or other business services within a Siebel application.