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Portal Framework Architecture

The portal framework includes the following framework components:

• Enterprise Application Integration
• Portal Agents that integrate external content into the Siebel user interface
• XML Web interface for delivery of Siebel content to external applications

Enterprise Application Integration

Siebel EAI provides mechanisms for sharing data and business logic with other applications, including:

• Integration objects
• Virtual business objects
• Programming APIs
• Predefined adapters and connectors

For more information about Siebel EAI, see Overview: Siebel Enterprise Application Integration and other EAI titles on the Siebel Bookshelf. The Siebel Bookshelf is available on Oracle Technology Network (OTN) and Oracle Software Delivery Cloud. It might also be installed locally on your intranet or on a network location.

Portal Agents

Portal Agents provide you with a mechanism to retrieve content from a non-Siebel source and display it in the Siebel user interface. The Portal Agent retrieves content on behalf of the user, logging on to the external application using the user's credentials and retrieving only the content that is targeted for the user. Portal Agents provide single sign-on capability and a profile tracking mechanism. For more information about Portal Agents, see About Portal Agents.

XML Web Interface

In enterprises where a non-Siebel portal framework is already established, you might have to be able to deliver Siebel content to other applications and frameworks.

If you have configured your Siebel application to display data in a high interactivity client, then the XML Web interface provides you with a mechanism to deliver Siebel data to external applications as XML documents. For more information, see Delivering Content to External Web Applications.

NOTE:  The Siebel Open UI client supports HTML markup only. If you have configured your Siebel application to display data in a Siebel Open UI client, then you must use a different technology to send this content. For information about how to send this content from Siebel Open UI, see Configuring Siebel Open UI. The SWE API described in SWE API includes several SWE commands that are available in Siebel Open UI.

Both methods provide the external application with a flexible format for integrating Siebel data into its user interface.