1 Getting Started with Oracle AIA Development

This chapter provides an overview of the types and styles of integrations addressed by Oracle Application Integration Architecture (AIA) and details how to use this guide.

This chapter includes the following sections:

• Section 1.1, "Integration Types Addressed by AIA"

• Section 1.2, "Integration Styles Addressed by AIA"

• Section 1.3, "How to Use this Developer's Guide"

1.1 Integration Types Addressed by AIA

AIA addresses two types of integrations:

• Functional integration

  Functional integration weaves various functionalities of different participating applications, exposed as services, as processes to accomplish tasks that span multiple applications in any enterprise.

• Data integration

  Data integration connects applications at the data level and makes the same data available to multiple applications. This type of integration relies on database technologies and is ideal when a minimum amount of business logic is reused and large amounts of data transactions are involved across applications. This type of integration is suitable for batch data uploads or bulk data sync requirements.

1.2 Integration Styles Addressed by AIA

AIA provides reference architecture for a variety of situations. Depending on the size and complexity of integration projects, the integration style adopted for implementing integration flows varies. The number of participating applications and their role in integration flows contribute to the integration style adopted.

The integration flow as shown in Figure 1-1 represents the journey of a message from a business event triggering source to one or more target milestones, after passing through possible intermediary milestones. At each milestone, the message is stored in a different state.

Figure 1-1 Illustration of the Integration Flow

The integration flow represents the run-time path of a message. It is not a design time artifact.

AIA addresses the following integration styles:

• Integration through native application interfaces using the Oracle Applications Technology Infrastructure.

• Integration styles with integration framework.

  • Direct integration through application web services using Oracle SOA Suite.

  • Integration through packaged canonical and standardized interfaces using Oracle Foundation Pack.

• Integration styles for bulk data processing.

  • Real-time data integration flow.

  • Batch data integration flow.

1.3 How to Use this Developer's Guide

The sales process provides detailed information about the value of AIA offerings. The value presented is perceived in the context of a business problem for which a solution is being sought.

The detailed analysis of the business problem and documenting of related business requirements leads to a Functional Design Document, which provides:

• Detailed description of the business case

• Various use cases detailing the various usage scenarios including the exception cases with expected actions by various actors

• Details about all the participating applications - commercial, off-the-shelf with versions and homegrown

• Details about the triggering business events

• Details about the functional flow

• Details about business objects to be used

• Actions to be performed on the various business objects

• Details about performance and scalability requirements

This Developer's Guide assumes:

• A Functional Design Document is available.

• Access to AIA software.

• Access to all AIA-provided documents.

• You have read the Oracle Fusion Middleware Concepts and Technologies Guide for Oracle Application Integration Architecture Foundation Pack.

This Developer's Guide provides:

• An overview of all tasks required to build an AIA integration flow.

• Details about how to develop various AIA artifacts.

• Descriptions of interactions between AIA artifacts and external artifacts.

• Discussion of various design patterns, best practices, and tuning for run-time performance.

Start with Chapter 2, "Building AIA Integration Flows" and proceed to relevant chapters in this Developer's Guide as needed.