Siebel Financial Services EAI Architecture

This chapter describes Siebel Financial Services Enterprise Application Integration architecture.

Layered Architecture

The Siebel Financial Services Enterprise Application Integration (EAI) is an extension of the standard Siebel EAI designed to address integration approaches adopted by the vertical industry. It provides a platform for the development of specific connectors for different industry XML standards.

The following image illustrates the high-level architecture of Siebel Financial Services EAI and various industry XML connectors.

High-level architecture of Siebel Financial Services EAI. In this image, Siebel Financial Services EAI Architecture sits on top of Siebel EAI Architecture, which in turn sits on top of Siebel Business Architecture. IAA-XML Connector (including Party Message Specification and Premium Message Specifications), ACORD XMLConnector (including Commercial Lines and Personal Lines) and IFX XML Connector (including Teller Application and EBPP) sit on top of Siebel Financial Services EAI Architecture. The following components are under Siebel Business Architecture: Security, Data Visibility, Workflow, Transaction Management, Data Synchronization and Replication, Data Analysis/Data Mart, Customization, Software Distribution, Personalization, Content Management, Routing and Assignment, Dynamic Load Balancing, MultiLanguage/Multicurrency, Data Movement, Application Upgrades, Access Control.

Integration Requirements and Siebel Financial Services EAI

The following table maps real-world data and application integration requirements with their corresponding Siebel Financial Services EAI features.

Integration Requirements	Siebel Financial Services EAI Features and Components	Notes
Metadata Definition XML Metadata External application metadata	Integration objects based on Siebel business objects Integration objects based on external metadata FINS ACORD Wizard FINS IFX Wizard FINS OFX Wizard	In any integration project, you need a way to supply data about data, called metadata. Siebel Financial Services applications provides XML as the common format for representing external application data. In addition, Siebel Financial Services applications provides an object type in Siebel Tools called the Integration Object, as well as an Integration Object Wizard, which automates the task of creating integration objects.
Data Transformation Declarative data transformation mapping High-performance transformation engine	Siebel Data Mapper	Siebel Financial Services EAI allows you define what type of data is to be exchanged, and allows you to export a DTD for a Siebel integration object.
Industry standards-based Integration Mechanism	Interactive Financial Exchange XML (IFX XML) as a format for data exchange ACORD XML as a format for data exchange Any other industry XML standards or industry XML alike standards	See Siebel Financial Services Connector for IFX XML Guide, and Siebel Financial Services Connector for ACORD P&C and Surety Guide. Also see Industry XML Connector Factory APIsand Industry XML Connector.
Business Process Coordination	Workflow Process Designer Workflow Process Manager	See Business Process Coordination Using Workflows.
Transport Mechanisms (for interfacing with other technologies)	Transport Adapters: IBM MQ Series Microsoft MSMQ HTTP	See Transport Mechanisms.
High Volume Data Exchange	EIM (Enterprise Integration Manager)	See Overview: Siebel Enterprise Application Integration.

Business Process Coordination Using Workflows

Connectors are composed of multiple components. These components are tied together using workflows. With different sets of configuration, you can alter generated messages and behavior. You can use the Workflow Process Designer and the Workflow Process Manager to configure your data integration business process flow. The Siebel Financial Services application provides sample workflows which you can use as a reference implementation for your data integration business processes. The following image shows one of these sample workflows from the sample database.

Siebel Workflow Architecture for Siebel Financial Services EAI. In this image, UI Object Database (Events, a graphic of a clock, and Siebel Objects) is connected to Siebel Workflow Engine. Siebel Workflow Engine is connected to External Applications via Transport Adapters (HTTP, MSMQ, MQSeries, DLL), Object Interfaces (CDM, Java), and Scripts, Business Services. Siebel Workflow is connected by double-sided arrow to Workflow Definition.

Transport Mechanisms

Many companies have standardized transport solutions such as MQSeries from IBM or MSMQ from Microsoft. These transports allow the transportation of messages between one system and another. Oracle conforms to this standard by allowing you to “plug" Siebel Financial Services applications into these environments through Siebel Financial Services EAI’s comprehensive set of adapters, that include the MQSeries adapter, the MSMQ adapter, and the HTTP adapter.

Transport adapters developed by Oracle and Oracle-certified partners allow diverse applications to communicate with Siebel Financial Services applications across virtually any operating system, network, and database. The Architecture for Siebel Financial Services EAI image in Business Process Coordination Using Workflows shows the various available transports to and from Siebel Financial Services applications as a new customer’s information is processed. Any one or any combination of these transports could be used in an integration solution, depending upon existing applications and other factors.

Industry XML Connector

The Industry XML Connector is a configured set of components that allows Siebel applications to exchange data with external systems using XML messages. These components are called business services and can be extended to support multiple connectors. You can use the overwrite methods to extend the functionality of both industry XML connectors as well as Siebel Financial Service EAI infrastructure for enterprise data sharing and data synchronization for your integration implementation. By using the overwrite methods to extend the functionality, you obey the rules of data exchange set forth by the legacy or back-end systems, such as specific XML structure and envelope details, while using the common requirements for business processes and transactions. The following image on High-level architecture of Industry XML Converter illustrates architecture of the Industry XML Connector.

The Industry XML connector has four key components: Industry XML Transaction Manager, Industry XML Data Transformation Engine, Industry XML Converter, and Industry XML Dispatcher.

For more information about each of these components, see the following:

Note: For details on the IFX XML integration solution, see Siebel Financial Services Connector for IFX XML Guide, for details on the ACORD XML integration solution, see Siebel Financial Services Connector for ACORD P&C and Surety Guide, and for details on implementing other industry XML integration solutions see Industry XML Connector Factory APIs

High-level architecture of Industry XML Converter. This image contains the following components: Siebel User Interface, Siebel Object Manager(s), Database Server, Business Integration Manager, External Applications. There is an arrow going from Siebel User Interface to Siebel Object Manager(s) and then onto Database Server. There is an arrow going from Siebel Object Manager(s) to Business Integration Manager. There is a double-sided arrow going from Business Integration Manager to External Applications. Business Integration Manager contains the following components Industry XML Transaction Manager, Industry XML Data Transformation Engine, Industry XML Converter, Industry XML Dispatcher, XML Hierarchy Converter, MQSeries.

Industry XML Transaction Manager

The Industry XML Transaction Manager is responsible for interfacing with the Siebel database. It retrieves data and executes database operations for financial services industry integration architecture. The Industry XML Transaction Manager can also extract query specifications entered by users in the memory cache, and run them through the connector modules to send a query message to external systems. Furthermore, it can undo operations if it receives an error in the fault section of the response message indicating that the external systems failed to execute the specified operations.

The following table lists all the user properties for Industry XML Transaction Manager.

Name	Value	Description
DispatcherMapName	IXMLDispMap	Transaction Manager uses this map to tag the Body information for other components. This value can also be set as a runtime input argument.
IgnoreSvcMethodArgs	true or false	This parameter allows runtime input arguments.
SaveInFileForRollback	<filename>	The filename to save current record for future rollback when rollback operation is desired.
SaveInMemForRollback	<filename>	The session key to set or look up the record cached in memory if rollback operation is desired.
XXX (Operation)	ServiceName/MethodName/Argument	Type of operation to use. For example, Name = IXMLOperation_QUERY, Value= EAI Siebel Adapter/Query/PrimaryRowId;!SiebelMessage.

The Industry XML Transaction Manager uses the prebuilt methods described in the following table to process inbound or outbound integration.

Method	Default Display Name	Description
Execute	Execute Transaction	This method can be used for inbound or outbound purpose, as long as the integration object instance is provided. You should use the Execute Outbound method when Row Id is the only available input.
ExecuteOutbound	Execute Outbound	This method can only be used for outbound purpose to execute operation specified in input arguments. See the Method Arguments for ExecuteOutbound Method table.
ExecuteSave	Execute and Save	This method executes outbound operation specified in input arguments and also saves the transaction into memory or file. See the Method Arguments for ExecuteSave Method table.

The Industry XML Transaction Manager business service uses combinations of user property, method, and method arguments to achieve different tasks. The following table lists all the method arguments available to use with The Industry XML Transaction Manager business service.

Argument	Default Value	Description
OnlyIOI	false	This is only used for Inbound integration. The inbound message may contain header, body, and envelope portion. When Transaction Manager takes the proper operation against the Siebel application, the integration object instances for response is generated as well. All information from the request message is dropped if this value is set to true. Therefore, the Industry XML Converter and Industry XML Data Transformation Engine do not need to deal with the overheads. If this is not set to true, then request information will still be carried over.
XMLHierarchy	N/A	Property set in internal integration object hierarchy.
IXMLMapPath	N/A	Store the key value for the dispatch map. Industry XML Transaction Manager will use it to look up the value, and attach necessary value into integration object instance.
PrimaryRowId	N/A	The PrimaryRowId of the integration object.
SiebelFINSOperationOut	N/A	The outbound operation Industry XML Transaction Manager takes through its user property.
SearchSpec	N/A	The Search Specification for query.
PlaceToSave	mem	PlaceToSave indicates whether the rollback instance is getting from “file" or “mem." Valid values are “file" or “mem."
RollbackInError	false	Indicates whether the transaction should be rolled back. Valid values are “true" or “false."

Although these arguments are available to use with the Industry XML Transaction Manager, not all can be used with each method. The following tables list all the method arguments for each method.

Argument	Display Name	Data Type	Type	Optional
OnlyIOI	Only produce Integration Object Instance	String	Input	Yes
XMLHierarchy	XML Property Set	Hierarchy	Input/Output	No
RollbackInError	Is Rollback in Error	String	Input	Yes

Argument	Display Name	Data Type	Type	Optional
IXMLMapPath	IXML Map Path	String	Input	No
PrimaryRowId	Primary Row Id	String	Input	Yes
SiebelFINSOperationOut	Outbound Operation	String	Input	No
SearchSpec	Search Specification	String	Input	Yes
XMLHierarchy	XML Property Set	Hierarchy	Input/Output	No

Argument	Display Name	Data Type	Type	Optional
IXMLMapPath	IXML Map Path	String	Input	No
PrimaryRowId	Primary Row Id	String	Input	Yes
SiebelFINSOperationOut	Outbound Operation	String	Input	No
SearchSpec	Search Specification	String	Input	Yes
XMLHierarchy	XML Property Set	Hierarchy	Output	No
PlaceToSave	Place To Save	String	Input	Yes

Industry XML Data Transformation Engine

The Industry XML Data Transformation Engine transforms the hierarchy between external and internal data models that are represented by integration object instances. The Industry XML Data Transformation Engine is designed to handle heterogeneous messages to allow more than one business object scenario. It also takes extra input arguments specified in the data transformation map to indicate the possibility of removing empty value tags from the instances transformed.

The following table lists the specific methods for the industry XML Data Transformation Engine.

Methods	Display Name	Description
ToExternal	Transform To External Hierarchy	Transforms Siebel internal integration object hierarchy into the industry XML external hierarchy.
ToInternal	Transform To Siebel Hierarchy	Transform industry XML external hierarchy into the Siebel internal integration object hierarchy.

Industry XML Data Transformation Engine business service uses combinations of method, and method arguments to achieve different tasks. The following table lists all the method arguments available to use with Industry XML Data Transformation Engine business service.

Argument	Default Value	Description
XMLHierarchy	N/A	Property set in internal or external integration object hierarchy.
<MapArgs>	N/A	See Business Processes and Rules: Siebel Enterprise Application Integration.

Each method defined for the Industry XML Data Transformation Engine business service takes some input arguments and produces some output arguments as listed in the following tables.

Name	Display Name	Data Type	Type	Optional
XMLHierrarchy	XML Property Set	Hierarchy	Input/Output	No
<MapArgs>		String	Input	Yes

Name	Display Name	Data Type	Type	Optional
XMLHierrarchy	XML Property Set	Hierarchy	Input/Output	No
<MapArgs>		String	Input	Yes

Industry XML Converter

The Industry XML Converter supports the generic syntax and rules requirements of the general industry XML standard. It converts the data from Siebel external integration object hierarchy to XML hierarchy that conforms to DTD specifications. For example, it generates certain authentication parameters for the XML message, and also generates and detects the fault sections in an XML message for extended converters to manipulate. The following table lists all the user properties for this converter.

Name	Value	Description
EscapeNames	true or false	If set to true, the converter replaces illegal XML name characters with escape characters. Otherwise, it will ignore illegal XML name characters. The default value is true.
HierarchyFormat	XML Hierarchy	Format of the property set input or output. Internal use only.
XMLEnvIntObjectName	<integration object name>	Name of an integration object that defines the content and hierarchy for the envelope and header section of any industry XML standards.

This service provides several ready-to-use-methods as described in the following table.

Methods	Display Name	Description
PropSetToXML	PropSetToXML	Converts an integration object hierarchy to XML string.
PropSetToXMLPropSet	PropSetToXMLPropSet	Converts an integration object hierarchy to XML hierarchy.
XMLToPropSet	XMLToPropSet	Converts an XML string to an integration object hierarchy.
XMLPropSetToPropSet	XMLPropSetToPropSet	Converts an XML hierarchy to an integration object hierarchy.

For each method defined the Industry XML Converter business service takes input arguments and produces output arguments. These arguments are described in the following table.

Method Argument	Default	Description
XML Document	N/A	XML document streams.
Escape Names	true	Escape characters, invalid XML characters, to be removed or not.
Ignore Character Set Conversion Errors	false	If some characters cannot be represented in the destination character set, for example, local codepage, the errors can be ignored.
XML Character Encoding	N/A	XML character encoding to use in the output XML document. If encoding is blank or not supported, errors will be produced.
XML Header Text	N/A	Text to preappend to the XML document.
XML Hierarchy	N/A	Property Set in external integration object or XML hierarchy.
External Entity Directory	N/A	Location of an external entity file, such as a DTD file.
Validate External Entity	false	If true, the XML parser will validate the document according to the DTD specified in the <DocType> element.
Truncate Field Values	true	truncate field values.
Contains Inline Attachments	true	Indicates the message contains attachment documents.

Each Industry XML Converter method uses groups of these method arguments to convert the data for the next service in the integration process. The following tables display the method arguments for each method.

Name	Display Name	Data Type	Type	Optional
<Value>	XML Document	String	Output	Yes
EscapeName	Escape Name	String	Input	Yes
IgnoreCharSetConvErrors	Ignore Character String Set Conversion Errors	String	Input	Yes
XMLCharEncoding	XML Character Encoding	String	Input	Yes
XMLHeaderText	XML Header Text	String	Input	Yes
XMLHierarchy	XML Hierarchy	Hierarchy	Input	No

Name	Display Name	Data Type	Type	Optional
XMLHierarchy	XML Hierarchy	Hierarchy	Input/Output	No

Name	Display Name	Data Type	Type	Optional
<Value>	XML Document	String	Input	No
EscapeName	Escape Name	String	Input	Yes
ExternalEntityDirectory	External Entity Directory	String	Input	Yes
IgnoreCharSetConvErrors	Ignore Character String Set Conversion Errors	String	Input	Yes
ValidateExternalEntity	Validate External Entity	String	Input	Yes
XMLCharEncoding	XML Character Encoding	String	Output	Yes
XMLHierarchy	XML Hierarchy	Hierarchy	Output	Yes

Name	Default Display Name	Data Type	Type	Optional
ContainsInlineAttachments	Contains Inline Attachments	String	Input	Yes
TruncateFieldValues	Truncate Field Values	String	Input	Yes
XMLHierarchy	XML Hierarchy	Hierarchy	Input/Ouput	No

Industry XML Dispatcher

The Industry XML Dispatcher is responsible for receiving and dispatching inbound messages. It receives the message and determines the specific XML standards associated with the message. It also scans the message for commands that are supported and specified in its rule sets dispatcher map and associates each command with the corresponding integration objects and so on. The following table lists all the user properties for the Industry XML Dispatcher.

Name	Value	Description
DispatcherMapName	<integration object name>	Name of an integration object that details the dispatching rules and syntax for the XML standard. This map is usually created along with all the other integration objects by the wizard. The default map name is “IXMLDispMap".
XMLEnvIntObjectName	<integration object name>	Name of an integration object that defines the content and hierarchy for the envelope and header section of any industry XML standards.
XMLFaultObject_O	<path to fault section or element>	This allows the dispatcher to identify a fault section with the first token and further confirm it with the value of the second token if applicable. Extra fault objects can be added by incrementing the name with _1,_2, and so on. An example for the value for this user property name is XMLFaultObject_1 and value is //IOI/@cmdstatus;fail.

The Industry XML Dispatcher business service provides ready-to-use methods described in the following table.

Methods	Display Name	Description
DispatchMessage	Dispatch Message	Validates the incoming XML message. If the message conforms to the dispatching rules, integration object names and other necessary information will be attached. It also checks for the respective envelope, header, and fault section of the message and identifies them.
DispatchStdMessage	Dispatch Standard Message	Identifies the industry XML standard of the incoming XML message. It recognizes all XML standards configured in its input arguments. Value “Unknown" will be the output argument, if it does not recognize the XML standard.

For each method defined the Industry XML Dispatcher business service takes input arguments and produces output arguments. These arguments are described in the following tables.

Argument	Default	Description
XML Hierarchy	N/A	Property Set in XML hierarchy.
<XML Standard>	N/A	An XML standard. For example, when configuring this input argument, the Input Argument is the XML standard and the Value is its envelope XML tag.
XML Standard	N/A	The XML standard that matches the incoming XML message’s envelope tag.

Name	Display Name	Data Type	Type	Optional
XMLHierarchy	XML Hierarchy	Hierarchy	Input/Output	No

Name	Display Name	Data Type	Type	Optional
XMLHierarchy	XML Hierarchy	Hierarchy	Input	No
<XML Standard>		String	Input	Yes
XMLStandard	XML Standard	String	Output	No