Overview: Siebel eBusiness Application Integration Volume l > Overview of Siebel eAI > About the Components of Siebel eAI >

About Siebel eAI and Java/J2EE

Siebel eBusiness Applications provide standards-based technologies that allow you to access J2EE components from Siebel applications and support the creation of Java/J2EE components to access Siebel objects.

About Accessing Java/J2EE Components from Siebel Applications

Siebel eBusiness Applications provide three mechanisms for invoking Java/J2EE components (JSP, Servlets, or EJBs):

• Web Services
• The Outbound HTTP adapter
• Java Business Service

When interacting with J2EE components published as a Web Service, Siebel applications can consume the WSDL (Web Service Description Language) document describing the service and operations, and generate a proxy Business Service allowing the Siebel eBusiness Application to invoke the Web Services just like a local object. When the Business Service is invoked, the Object Manager detects that the Business Service is a proxy to a Web Service and generates the appropriate SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol) message and dispatches the request using a configured transport such as HTTP.

Additionally, Siebel eAI allows you to interact with J2EE components using the Outbound HTTP transport adapter. You can use this when including external content within the Siebel user interface, or when the component you need to interact with does not support a Web Service (SOAP or WSDL) interface.

The Java Business Service allows the sending or receiving of messages though a JMS. The JMS Receiver server component, in fashion identical to the MQ Series Receiver component, allows the asynchronous receipt of messages, except you are using EAI JMS Business Service instead of EAI MQSeries Server Transport.

The Java Business Service is a business service that allows custom business services to be written in Java and accessed from the Siebel code.

The Java Business Service uses the Java Native Interface API provided by Java Virtual Machines (JVMs) and native code interaction. It is a widely used technology used for writing JDBC drivers.

About Accessing Siebel Applications from a Java/J2EE Component

Java/J2EE components can request information from Siebel applications using a variety of methods including:

• Siebel Java Data Bean
• Siebel Resource Adapter
• Web Services
• Java Message Service

The Java Data Bean is a collection of Java classes that allow developers to interact with a variety of Siebel objects such as business objects, business components, and so on. Using this interface, you can develop Java/J2EE components that interact with Siebel applications.

The Siebel Resource Adapter plays a central role in the integration and connectivity between Siebel applications and a Java application server. It serves as the point of contact between application components, application servers and enterprise information systems. A resource adapter, along with the other components, must communicate with each other based on well-defined contracts that are specified by the J2EE Connector Architecture.

Web Services are emerging as an important technology for exposing application functionality independent of the underlying technology used to provide that functionality. Release 6.x introduced the notion of Business Services that could be invoked through XML over HTTP and MQSeries. This functionality is now the basis for supporting Web Services. Siebel eBusiness Applications provide support for Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) and Web Services Definition Language (WSDL). These two standards provide the basis for Web Services and allow for interoperability between .NET, J2EE, and leading packaged applications such as Siebel eBusiness Applications.

Enterprise messaging is recognized as a tool for building enterprise applications. The Java Message Service (JMS) is a standard Java API for accessing enterprise messaging systems that allows Java applications to create, send, receive, and read messages using a messaging product. It is part of the Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition (J2EE). JMS allows for a loosely coupled interaction between J2EE applications and any other system capable of messaging. A JMS provider supplied by an enterprise messaging vendor is required to use JMS.

About Object Interfaces and Siebel eAI

Siebel applications support several programmatic interfaces to facilitate communication between external applications and Siebel applications. These interfaces include:

• COM Data Control
• Java Data Bean
• CORBA Object Manager
• Web Client Automation Server
• Mobile Web Client Automation Server
• COM Data Server

NOTE:  For details on J2EE, see Transports and Interfaces: Siebel eBusiness Application Integration Volume III.

For more information about object interfaces, see Siebel Object Interfaces Reference on the Siebel Bookshelf.