Overview of the Connector Framework

The Intelligent Advisor connector framework can be used to create a web service connection between a specific external application (one for which a native connector isn't available) and Intelligent Advisor.

The connector framework describes how to build a SOAP web service that can:

• Return application metadata for data mapping of policy models
• Provide application data when an interview starts or dynamically during an interview
• Capture completed interview data, decisions and attachments
• Store and retrieve interview checkpoints

The connector framework is used to create web service connectors that are application specific. Web service connectors are used to define connections in Intelligent Advisor Hub, which are then available to policy modelers in Policy Modeling. Mapping to the data model of these connections is performed inside Policy Modeling, using downloaded application metadata. Note that Oracle Fusion, Siebel and some other Oracle applications are provided with built-in Intelligent Advisor web service connectors.

A connector framework web service connector can be used:

• by policy modelers, to map to the data model of a connected application in the Policy Modeling design time experience, without any code or customization,
• by customers, to get a personalized experience that loads and saves customer data and manages interview checkpoints during interviews,
• by system integrators, to use a policy model's load and save mappings when building a custom application with the Answer or Interview services of Intelligent Advisor Determinations API

There are two services described by the Intelligent Advisor connector framework:

1. The metadata service
2. The data service

Deployed web service connectors that implement these services can:

• let Intelligent Advisor Hub know whether it is functioning correctly or not;
• expose metadata that represents the application's objects and fields available for mapping in Policy Modeling;
• process load and save requests to retrieve and persist application data; and
• process checkpoint set and get requests to allow web interview progress to be automatically saved, and resumed when needed

Note that web service connector actions are never called as a result of calls to Determinations API methods. Instead, when developing using Determinations API, if a deployed policy model has been mapped to a web service connection:

• The Answer service is available, and can be used to easily ask for and get decisions in the same data format used by a web service connector.
• The Interview service also uses the shared data format to describe the data that has been mapped in and mapped out for the interview.

Applications built using Determinations API can share the same web service connector as the out-of-the-box browser-based Intelligent Advisor web interview experience. Because the same data format is used by the Determinations API methods, the integrated application can easily make its own calls to a web service connector. Note that the assess service does not support a web service connector data format.