Introduction to ALSB

ALSB is part of the BEA AquaLogic^® family of Service Infrastructure Products. ALSB manages the routing and transformation of messages in an enterprise system. Combining these functions with its monitoring and administration capability, ALSB provides a unified software product for implementing and deploying your Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA).

ALSB is a configuration-based, policy-driven Enterprise Service Bus (ESB). From the ALSB Console, you can monitor your services, servers, and operational tasks. Using the Web-based ALSB Console or the Eclipse-based ALSB Plug-in for WorkSpace Studio, you configure proxy and business services, set up security, manage resources, and capture data for tracking or regulatory auditing. ALSB enables you to respond rapidly and effectively to changes in your service-oriented environment.

ALSB relies on WebLogic Server run-time facilities. It leverages WebLogic Server capabilities to deliver functionality that is highly available, scalable, and reliable.

The following sections describe the contents, audience for, and organization of this document—AquaLogic Service Bus User Guide.

Document Scope and Audience

This guide provides information on using and configuring ALSB. It is intended for those responsible for messaging and SOA, specifically enterprise architects, application architects and developers.

While sometimes providing procedural information, this guide does not provide detailed information on how to configure resources using the Web-based ALSB Console or the Eclipse-based ALSB Plug-in for WorkSpace Studio. For information on using the ALSB Console, see Using the AquaLogic Service Bus Console. For information on using the ALSB Plug-in for WorkSpace Studio, see Using the AquaLogic Service Bus Plug-in for WorkSpace Studio.

For information about ALSB transport providers for configuring proxy and business services based on various transport protocols, see the AquaLogic Service Bus Transports page.

Document Organization

Configuring Proxy Services and Business Services: Information about creating and managing ALSB proxy services and business services.
Modeling Message Flow in ALSB: Guidelines for modeling message flows in ALSB. A message flow defines the implementation of a proxy service. In ALSB, service clients exchange messages with an intermediary proxy service rather than directly with a business service.
Message Context: Describes the ALSB message context model and the predefined context variables that are used in message flows.
Using the Test Console: Describes using the test console (available in theALSB Console only) to test proxy services, business services, and some of the resources created and used in ALSB.
UDDI: Describes using Universal Description, Discovery and Integration (UDDI) registries with ALSB. The UDDI protocol is one of the major building blocks required for successful Web Services. UDDI provides a standard interoperable platform that enables enterprises and applications to find and use Web Services over the Internet.
Extensibility Using Java Callouts and POJOs: Provides guidelines for using the Java callout action with Plain Old Java Objects (POJOs).
XQuery Implementation: ALSB uses the BEA AquaLogic Data Services Platform implementation. This section describes valid extensions of the AquaLogic Data Services Platform for BEA ALSB and ALSB-specific XQuery functions.
XQuery-SQL Mapping Reference: Provides information about the native RDBMS Data Type support and XQuery mappings that the BEA XQuery engine generates or supports.
Debugging ALSB: Describes enabling debugging in ALSB modules.
ALSB APIs: Describes available APIs for customizing resources and for external access to monitoring data and deployment.

User’s Guide

Introduction to ALSB

Document Scope and Audience

Document Organization