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Oracle Applications InterConnect and Oracle Workflow

This chapter discusses Oracle Applications InterConnect and Oracle Workflow.

Topics include:

• Oracle Workflow Overview

• Oracle Applications InterConnect Integration with Oracle Workflow

• Using Oracle Workflow with Oracle Applications InterConnect

• Design Business Process

Oracle Workflow Overview

Oracle Workflow is integrated with Oracle Applications InterConnect. In the context of Oracle Applications InterConnect, Oracle Workflow is used for business process collaborations across two or more applications. A business process collaboration is defined as the conversation between two or more applications in the context of a business process.

In previous versions of Oracle Applications InterConnect, this business process definition was implicit in the messaging definitions through iStudio. Now, Oracle Applications InterConnect leverages the robust design time and runtime Oracle Workflow business process definition and execution support to make these business processes explicit and manageable.

Note: Knowledge of Oracle Workflow, its tools, and its Business Event System is required to utilize Oracle Applications InterConnect and Oracle Workflow for business process collaboration. For more information on Oracle Workflow, see the Oracle Workflow Guide.

Oracle Workflow Solves Common Business Problems

The following are some of the common business problems that can be solved using Oracle Workflow.

Error Management

If there is a problem in a conversation between two or more applications, the errors arising from this problem can be centrally managed and appropriate remedial actions can be defined. For example, it may be a requirement to keep the data of an order entry system in synch with a backend ERP system. Consider that a new purchase order is created in the order entry system but the ERP system is down at the time the purchase order is created. At a later time, the ERP system comes back up and an attempt is made to create a corresponding new purchase order through messaging using Oracle Applications InterConnect. This attempt fails. To deal with this scenario, the integrator can utilize Oracle Workflow to send a compensating message to the order entry system to undo the creation of the purchase order and notify the user who created the order.

Human Interaction

In previous versions of Oracle Applications InterConnect, the conversation between two or more applications was based purely on messaging. Now, human interaction can be added to better capture business processes.

In the example above, Oracle Applications InterConnect and Oracle Workflow can be used to model the following for every purchase order that is over $50,000, send a notification to a named approver, and wait for approval. If approved, send the message to the ERP system, otherwise send a message to the order entry system to rollback the order creation.

Message Junctions

Fan-in and fan-out of messages can be effectively modeled using Oracle Applications InterConnect and Oracle Workflow. Fan-in involves combining two or more messages into one. Fan-out involves splitting one message into two or more.

For an example of fan-in, consider the following. A global organization has a centralized Human Resources ERP application in the United States. Each country has one or more local systems that capture local employee information. If a new employee joins the Japanese branch of this organization, data is entered into a local HR application and a local Benefits application. Each entry launches a message for adding this information to the centralized system. However, the centralized system needs data from both systems combined and will only commit the data if it was entered successfully in both the local systems. Using Oracle Workflow, this process can be modeled so that Oracle Applications InterConnect routes messages from both local systems to Oracle Workflow, Oracle Workflow waits until it receives both messages, combines the data, and launches a single message to be delivered by Oracle Applications InterConnect to the centralized HR system.

Stateful Routing

Oracle Applications InterConnect provides extensive support for stateless routing through event based and content based routing features. Using Oracle Workflow, stateful routing can be accomplished. In other words, the decision to route can be based on more than the event or the content of the message.

Composite Services

Using all of the above examples, an internal (organization focused) or external (customer/partner focused) service can be built through a well defined set of business processes involving communication between two or more applications. For example, a brick-and-mortar retail company could provide an on-line procurement service to their customers. Behind the user interface are several business processes controlling communication across several internal applications to deliver a robust, performant service to the customer.

Note: The ability to define explicit business process collaborations is a feature, not a requirement for completing integrations. It is not necessary to utilize Oracle Workflow for integration if the business process definition is simple enough to be implicitly captured in the messaging through the core functionality in iStudio.

Oracle Applications InterConnect Integration with Oracle Workflow

The following describes how Oracle Applications InterConnect and Oracle Workflow are integrated.

Design Time Tools

During design time, business process and event definitions in iStudio can be deployed to Oracle Workflow with one click. Consequently, Workflow tools can be launched from within iStudio to graphically create process diagrams in the context of enterprise integration through Oracle Applications InterConnect.

There are two Oracle Workflow tools that can be launched through iStudio:

• Workflow Builder--Use this tool to complete business process definitions defined and deployed through iStudio. This is accomplished by using Workflow Builder to create process diagrams.

  Figure 3-1 Oracle Workflow Builder

  
  
• Workflow Home Page--Use this tool for centralized access to the web-based features of Oracle Workflow. In the context of Oracle Applications InterConnect, the Business Event System management and administration is the most important feature exposed through this home page.

  For more information on the Business Event System, see the Oracle Workflow Guide.

  Figure 3-2 Oracle Workflow Home Page

  
  

Runtime

At runtime, Oracle Applications InterConnect integrates with the Business Event System of Oracle Workflow. The Business Event System is an application service that uses the Advanced Queueing infrastructure to communicate business events between systems. Oracle Applications InterConnect registers itself as an external system in Business Event System so the following conditions exist:

• Messages can flow from applications through Oracle Applications InterConnect, in the common view format, to the Business Event System to either trigger or continue Workflow business processes as defined using iStudio (Business Processes) and described using Workflow Builder (Process Diagrams).

• Messages can flow from the Business Event System to Oracle Applications InterConnect in the common view format, to applications to either continue or end Workflow business processes.

At runtime, Oracle Workflow is integrated with Oracle Applications InterConnect at the hub. Messages are passed back and forth between Oracle Applications InterConnect and the Business Event System of Oracle Workflow via Advanced Queues. The Oracle Applications InterConnect Workflow Communication Infrastructure facilitates this communication.

At design time, to keep the integration methodology consistent, iStudio reuses the messaging paradigms of publish/subscribe and request/reply to specify communication between Oracle Applications InterConnect and Oracle Workflow. So, for messages inbound into Workflow, the iStudio user can specify, in the context of a business process, which events Workflow is subscribing to and which procedures Workflow is implementing. For, outbound messages, you can specify events that Workflow can publish and procedures that it can invoke.

For more information on how to set up Oracle Applications InterConnect and Oracle Workflow at design time, see "Using Oracle Workflow with Oracle Applications InterConnect".

Using Oracle Workflow with Oracle Applications InterConnect

This section describes using Oracle Applications InterConnect with Oracle Workflow. There are three broad steps.

Install Oracle Workflow Components

To install the following Oracle Workflow components, see the Oracle Applications InterConnect Installation Guide.

• On the iStudio machine, install the following:
  • Workflow Builder

• On the hub machine install the following:
  • Oracle Applications InterConnect Workflow Communication Infrastructure

  • Oracle HTTPS Server

  • Oracle Workflow Server

In addition, follow the Workflow-related post installation steps as described in the Oracle Applications InterConnect Installation Guide.

Design Business Process

• Design process bundles using iStudio.

• Deploy process bundles from iStudio to a .wft file.

• Complete process diagrams in Workflow Builder by launching Oracle Workflow Builder from iStudio and using the deployed .wft file.

Deploy Business Processes for Runtime

• Deploy events to the Business Event System from iStudio.

• Deploy a process diagram from a file to the database using Workflow Builder.

Design Business Process

The following concepts discuss how iStudio and Oracle Workflow work together in Oracle Applications InterConnect. In addition, these topics discuss how to use iStudio and Oracle Workflow step by step during design time for business process collaborations across applications.

Process Bundle

A process bundle is a set of logically related business processes. This maps one-to-one with a workflow item. For more information on business processes, see "Business Process".

Business Process

A business process is a set of Oracle Applications InterConnect common view events and/or procedures that must be routed to and from Oracle Workflow in one workflow business process. These events and procedures manifest themselves as workflow business events and can be used to define a process diagram in Oracle Workflow Builder. This maps one-to-one with a workflow business process.

Activity

Activities in iStudio allows the user to define the common view events and procedures that must be a part of a workflow business process. The following lists the types of activities in iStudio:

• Publish Event--Workflow publishes an Oracle Applications InterConnect common view event. At deployment time, a business event corresponding to the common view event is created in the Business Event System.

• Subscribe Event--Workflow subscribes to an Oracle Applications InterConnect common view event. At deployment time, a business event corresponding to the common view event is created in the Business Event System.

• Invoke Procedure--Workflow invokes an Oracle Applications InterConnect common view procedure. At deployment time, two business events corresponding to the common view procedure are created in the Business Event System: one event for sending the request and one for receiving the reply.

• Implement Procedure--Workflow implements an Oracle Applications InterConnect common view procedure. At deployment time, two business events corresponding to the common view procedure are created in the Business Event System: one event for receiving the request and one for sending the reply.

The following table describes how iStudio and Oracle Workflow concepts are mapped.

iStudio Concept	Oracle Workflow Concept	Mapping
Process Bundle	Item	One-to-one.
Business Process	Business Process	One-to-one.
Common View Event	Business Event	One-to-one.1
Common View Procedure	Business Event	Two business events per procedure.
Publish Activity	Send Event Activity	One-to-one.
Subscribe Activity	Receive Event Activity	One-to-one.
Invoke Activity	Send Event Activity (for the request) Receive Event Activity (for the reply)
Implement Activity	Receive Event Activity (for the request) Send Event Activity (for the reply)

1 Only for all events that are part of a business process in iStudio. Events that are part of the common view but not part of a business process are not instantiated as Oracle Workflow business events. All common view events need not be part of business processes. In other words, depending on the integration, some common view events could be exchanged directly between applications without involving Oracle Workflow using the core functionality of Oracle Applications InterConnect. Other events may need to be part of an explicit business process. It is the latter set of events that become business events in Oracle Workflow. The same is true for common view procedures.

Creating a Process Bundle

To create a process bundle using iStudio:

1. From the project tree, click Workflow and expand the subtree.

2. Right-click on Process Bundles and select New.

   The Create Process Bundle dialog displays:

   

3. Enter the name of the process bundle in the Process Bundle Name field and click OK.

   A new process bundle is created.

   

Creating a Business Process

To create a business process:

1. From the project tree, expand the process bundle for which the business process is to be created.

2. Right-click on Business Processes and select New.

   The Create Business Process dialog displays:

   

3. Enter a name for the business process in the Business Process Name field and click OK.

   A new business process is created.

   

Populating a Business Process with Activities

To populate a business process with activities:

1. From the project tree, select the business process to populate.

2. Right-click the business process and in the context menu, select the activity to be part of the business process. Choose from the following activities:
   • New Publish Activity--Workflow sends a message to Oracle Applications InterConnect in the context of the business process.

   • New Subscribe Activity--Workflow receives a message from Oracle Applications InterConnect.¹

   • New Invoke Activity--Workflow sends a request message to Oracle Applications InterConnect and receives a reply.

   • New Implement Activity--Workflow receives a request from Oracle Applications InterConnect and sends a reply.

   The Subscribe Activity Wizard displays.

3. Select an event for the activity.

   

4. Click Finish.

   A new activity has been added to the business process.

   

   Repeat these steps for adding other activities to the process.

Note: When you create multiple activities under a business process, the list of activities is unordered, i.e. the order in which the activities are added is not important. The order can be later decided in Oracle Workflow Builder through a process diagram.

Deploying to Oracle Workflow

After populating business processes with activities, this information must be deployed to Oracle Workflow to graphically model a business process. To deploy this information to Oracle Workflow:

1. On the Deploy tab in iStudio, right click on Workflow and select Deploy.

   The Deploy dialog displays:

   

2. There are two sets of information that need to be deployed. This can be done independently of each other or together:
   • Workflow Business Events--Business Events need to be created in the Business Event System of Oracle Workflow. This is a requirement for runtime only. Using Workflow Builder, users can decide to not deploy these until all design time work including modeling the business process, is complete.

Note: IStudio checks if an event is already deployed before deploying it. Therefore, users can safely decide to re-deploy all events at anytime. However, deploying events after all the design time work has been completed saves you the effort of redeploying events repeatedly.

To check if events have been deployed, launch the Oracle Workflow Home page. For more information on the Oracle Workflow Home page, see "Launching the Oracle Workflow Home Page".

• Workflow Process Definitions through .wft file generation--Information about business processes captured in iStudio provides a foundation for building process diagrams in Oracle Workflow Builder. Deploying process definitions is required for design time.

Note: When deploying process definitions, iStudio prompts for a filename. If an existing file is specified, iStudio will overwrite the file. Therefore, if there are existing process definitions in a file modified using Workflow Builder, do not select that filename as the target, otherwise all modifications made will be lost.

By default both choices are selected. The dialog also allows the following to be automatically launched:

• Workflow Builder--Defines business process diagrams.

• Workflow Home Page--Verifies Business Event deployment.

By default these choices are unselected. Choose to launch these tools with deployment or complete this task at a later time on the Design tab. For more information on launching these tools, see "Launching Oracle Workflow Tools".

• Select the desired choices and click OK.

  If you selected deploying event definitions to the Oracle Workflow Business Event System, the following dialog displays:

  

• Enter the required information based on the selections made during Oracle Workflow installation and click OK.

  If Deploying Process Definitions to a .wft file was selected, a file dialog displays:

  

• Enter the name and location of the file to create and click OK.

Note: When deploying process definitions, iStudio prompts for a filename. If an existing file is specified, iStudio will overwrite the file. Therefore, if there are existing process definitions in a file modified using Workflow Builder, do not select that filename as the target, otherwise all modifications made will be lost.

Launching Oracle Workflow Tools

The following topics discuss how to launch Oracle Workflow tools in iStudio.

Launching the Oracle Workflow Home Page

To launch the Oracle Workflow Home page:

1. On the Design tab in iStudio, right click on Workflow and select Launch WF Home Page. The Workflow Home Page dialog displays:

2. Make sure the URL is correct and click on OK.

   The Username and Password Required dialog displays:

   

3. Enter the login information for Oracle Workflow Home Page and click OK.

   The Workflow Home page is launched using the default browser.

Launching Oracle Workflow Builder

To launch Oracle Workflow Builder:

1. On the Design tab in iStudio, right click on the process bundle to view in Workflow Builder and select Launch Workflow Builder. The Deploy dialog displays:

   

2. In the Deploy dialog, select an existing .wft file name to load into Workflow Builder.

   Note: The assumption is that a process definition has already been deployed to a file.

   Workflow Builder is launched depending on which process definition file selected.

   

Note: To launch Workflow Builder outside of a specific Oracle Applications InterConnect process bundle, right-click on Workflow and select Launch Workflow Builder.

Modifying Existing Oracle Workflow Processes

When modifying existing Oracle Workflow processes, do not add, modify, or remove Oracle Applications InterConnect event activities directly in Workflow Builder. Always make all event-related process changes in iStudio, redeploy to the file, and import in Workflow Builder.

For example, assume the following steps were completed to create an integration-related Oracle Workflow business process:

1. Create a process bundle in iStudio and create business processes with some activities.

2. Deploy to the my_process_bundle.wft file.

3. Import the file into Workflow Builder.

4. Make non-event related modifications to the process in Workflow Builder, such as adding other activities like notifications and decision functions to complete the business process.

5. Save the modified process to my_process_bundle.wft.

Now, some event related modifications to the business process need to be made. For example, two new events need to be added to the business process. The following steps complete this task:

6. Using iStudio, make the additions to the particular business process.

7. Deploy to a different file such as changes_to_my_process_bundle.wft. Do not deploy to my_process_bundle.wft because any non-event-related modifications made through Workflow Builder will be lost.

8. Launch Workflow Builder and import both my_process_bundle.wft and changes_to_my_process_bundle.wft.

9. Drag the required modifications from the process representing changes_to_my_process_bundle.wft to the process representing my_process_bundle.wft.

10. Save the modified process to my_process_bundle.wft.

    The my_process_bundle.wft file now contains the updated process definition with both the event and the non-event modifications.

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¹ This example is used for explaining the steps. The steps are similar regardless of the selection.