1 Introduction

Oracle WebLogic Server connects to a Siebel system through Oracle Application Adapter for Siebel. Oracle Application Adapter for Siebel provides connectivity and carries out interactions on a Siebel system. This chapter discusses the following topics:

This chapter discusses the following topics:

Adapter Features

Oracle Application Adapter for Siebel provides a means to exchange real-time business data between Siebel systems and other applications, databases, or external business partner systems. The adapter enables external applications for inbound and outbound processing with Siebel.

Oracle Application Adapter for Siebel can be deployed as a J2EE Connector Architecture (J2CA) version 1.0 resource adapter. This deployment is referred to as Oracle Adapter J2CA. It can also be deployed as a Web services servlet and as such is referred to as Oracle Adapter Business Services Engine (BSE).

Oracle Application Adapter for Siebel uses XML messages to enable non-Siebel applications to communicate and exchange transactions with Siebel using services and events. Services and events are defined as follows:

  • Services (also known as outbound processing): Enables applications to initiate a Siebel business event.

  • Events (also known as inbound processing): Enables applications to access Siebel data only when a Siebel business event occurs.

To support event functionality, channels are supported. A channel represents configured connections to particular instances of back-end or other types of systems.

The channel is the adapter component that receives events in real time from the EIS application. The channel component can be a File reader, an HTTP listener, or an MQ listener. A channel is always EIS specific. The adapter supports multiple channels for a particular EIS, which enables the user to choose the optimal channel component based on deployment requirements

Oracle Application Adapter for Siebel:

  • Supports synchronous and asynchronous, bidirectional message interactions for Siebel Business Services, Business Components, and Integration Objects.

  • Includes Oracle WebLogic Server Adapter Application Explorer (Application Explorer), a GUI tool that uses the Siebel Object Manager to explore Siebel metadata and build XML schemas or Web services.

  • Supports Siebel transports—MQSeries, File, and HTTP. It also supports MSMQ messaging.

  • XML schemas for Oracle Adapter J2CA.

  • Web services for BSE.

Oracle Application Adapter for Siebel supports all 23 Siebel Industry Applications (SIA) through business objects, business components, business services, and integration objects. Siebel Industry Applications include industry verticals such as insurance, high technology, automotive, communications, media, financial services, life sciences, manufacturing, and consumer goods.

Siebel Industry Applications is tailored to the specific business requirements and processes of a particular industry with additional business logic in the form of business objects, business components, business services, and integration objects. Oracle Application Adapter for Siebel exposes and generates metadata and interacts with these industry-specific objects.

See Also:

Oracle Application Server Adapter Concepts Guide

Oracle Adapter Business Services Engine (BSE) Architecture

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

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

BSE uses SOAP as a protocol for receiving requests from clients, interacting with the EIS, and sending responses from the EIS back to clients.

Figure 1-1 Oracle Adapter Business Services Engine (BSE) Generic Architecture

Business Services Engine Architecture
Description of "Figure 1-1 Oracle Adapter Business Services Engine (BSE) Generic Architecture"

Note:

Do not use a file repository for BSE in production environments.

Oracle Adapter J2CA Generic Architecture

Figure 1-2 shows the generic architecture for the Oracle Adapter J2CA for packaged applications. The Oracle Adapter J2CA 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 with the connector, is used to configure adapter connections, browse EIS objects, and configure services. Metadata created while you perform these operations are 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 Oracle WebLogic Server deployment descriptor ra.xml. See Chapter 3, "Oracle WebLogic Server Deployment and Integration" for more information.

Figure 1-2 Oracle WebLogic Server Adapter J2CA Generic Architecture

Generic JCA Architecture
Description of "Figure 1-2 Oracle WebLogic Server Adapter J2CA Generic Architecture"

The Siebel Application Model

The Siebel Enterprise application defines a data abstraction layer that removes dependencies on the underlying database. It accomplishes this by using intermediate Business Components and Business Objects that represent database structures. A Business Component usually represents a table in a database. A Business Object is a group of related business components.

From a given business component, you can navigate the relationships defined for that component to another component. The path you use to traverse component relationships is called the navigation path. For example, if you want to obtain all addresses for a particular account, you can traverse the parent/child relationship between Account and Address to obtain those addresses. By using navigation paths, you can traverse nearly all of the business component relationships defined in the Siebel system.

In Siebel, Integration Objects are similar to Siebel Business Components but describe more complex hierarchal data relationships.

Integration with Siebel

You can use Oracle Application Adapter for Siebel to initiate a Siebel business process, such as add/update account, or you can use the adapter as part of an integration effort to connect Siebel and non-Siebel systems. Oracle Application Adapter for Siebel is bidirectional and can detect an event from Siebel by receiving a Siebel XML document emitted by Siebel.

When integrating with Siebel using Siebel XML documents, the adapter application developer must use existing Siebel Integration Objects or create new Siebel Integration Objects to use within a Siebel Workflow. The Workflow processes inbound or outbound Siebel XML and uses various transports such as MQSeries, File, and HTTP to exchange transactions with external systems. The Siebel Workflow is usually created by the Siebel administrator or developer using Siebel Workflow Administration screens.

When integrating with Siebel directly using the Java Data Bean or COM Data Interface, Oracle Application Adapter for Siebel does not require a Siebel Integration Object or Siebel Workflow. Instead, it executes Siebel Business Services and Siebel Business Components directly.

The following table lists Siebel objects and processes.

Table 1-1 Siebel Objects and Processes

Siebel Objects API or Transport Process

Business Services

Java Data Bean (Siebel Version 6.3-8.0)

Com Data Interface (Siebel Version 6.01-6.2)

Service

Business Components

Java Data Bean (Siebel Version 6.3-8.0)

Com Data Interface (Siebel Version 6.01-6.2)

Service

Integration Objects

File

Event, Service
 

HTTP

Event, Service
 

MQSeries

Event, Service
 

MQ Read

Service

Integrating with Siebel EAI Architecture

Siebel enables integration with other applications and systems using its Siebel EAI (Enterprise Application Integration) framework and its Business Integration Manager facility. Oracle Application Adapter for Siebel uses the Siebel EAI framework and leverages various integration access methods to provide the greatest amount of flexibility and functionality while working within the Siebel framework.

Oracle Application Adapter for Siebel supports the following integration access methods:

  • Siebel Java Data Bean for services involving Siebel Business Components or Siebel Business Services.

  • Siebel COM Data Interface for services involving Siebel Business Components or Siebel Business Services.

  • Siebel XML for events and services involving Siebel Integration Objects.

Using Application Explorer with Oracle Application Adapter for Siebel

Application Explorer uses an explorer metaphor for browsing the Siebel system for Business Services, Business Objects, Business Components, and Integration Objects. The explorer enables you to create XML schemas and Web services for the associated object. External applications that access Siebel through Oracle Application Adapter for Siebel use either XML schemas or Web services to pass data between the external application and the adapter.

Application Explorer uses interfaces provided by Siebel and in-depth knowledge of the Siebel application systems to access and browse business object metadata. After an object is selected, Application Explorer can generate an XML schema or Web service to define the object for use with Oracle Application Adapter for Siebel.

Key features of Application Explorer include:

  • The ability to connect to and explore a variety of application systems.

  • Access to application system object metadata.

  • A point-and-click process for generating XML schemas and Web services.

See Also:

BSE Versus Oracle Adapter J2CA Deployment

If you are using Oracle Application Adapter for Siebel with with Business Process Execution Language (BPEL) Process Manager, please note that:

  • Only Oracle Adapter J2CA deployment supports inbound integration (event notification) with BPEL.

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

The following three factors explain the differences between deploying BSE and the Oracle 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 the Oracle WebLogic 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 the Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) model for building applications.

  2. Oracle Adapter J2CA provides slightly better performance.

    Oracle Adapter J2CA does provide slightly better performance than BSE. However, the difference decreases as the transaction rate increases.

  3. Oracle Adapter J2CA and the BSE option both provide identity propagation at run-time.

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