1 Using SOA Core Extensions for AIA Development

This chapter provides an overview of usage and features of SOA Core Extension technology for AIA development.

This chapter includes the following section

1.1 AIA Development Using SOA Core Extension

SOA Core Extension (SCE) is a feature delivered with SOA 12c to provide the necessary capability for Oracle Application Integration Architecture (AIA) based integration projects to continue operating after an upgrade to SOA 12c.

Customers who have AIA style integrations running in 11g will want to select the SOA Core Extension feature during the domain configuration/extension portion of their upgrade to SOA 12c. Selecting this feature will provide the necessary frameworks and features as required by deployed any AIA-style integrations.

SOA Core Extension provides the following features:

  • AIA Composite Application Validation System (CAVS) - CAVS is a framework that provides a structured approach to test integration of Oracle Application Integration Architecture (Oracle AIA) services. The CAVS feature includes test initiators that simulate web service invocations and simulators that simulate service endpoints.

  • AIA Error Handling Framework (AIA-EH) - The Oracle AIA Error Handling Framework provides error handling and logging components to support the needs of integration services operating in an Oracle Application Integration Architecture (AIA) ecosystem.

  • AIA Error Resubmission Utility - The AIA Message Resubmission Utility enables users to resubmit error messages based on these integration milestones: Queue, Topic, Resequencer, or AQ.

  • AIA Administration Console - A web-based application for administrators to use features such as CAVS.

1.2 Understanding AIA

Oracle Application Integration Architecture (AIA) is a framework consisting of pre-built content, templates and methodologies for orchestrating agile user-centric business processes across enterprise applications. Oracle enables best-in-class applications-Oracle and non-Oracle-to work together, leveraging industry best practices and open standards to reduce costs and increase business flexibility.

1.2.1 AIA Foundation Pack

Oracle Application Integration Architecture Foundation Packs provide a faster, structured and repeatable approach to process composition. AIA Foundation Pack provides the framework for Oracle's Pre-built integrations. The Oracle Application Integration Architecture Foundation Pack 11g provided a Common Object and Shared Service Library with supporting SOA programming model and best practice implementation methodology. Using Oracle AIA Foundation Packs, Oracle customers and partners can modernize their applications, consolidate systems, and both improve and extend their business processes across Oracle and non-Oracle applications following the same principles used by Oracle to deliver pre-built integrations.

1.2.2 AIA Pre-built Integrations and Process Integration Packs (PIPs)

Oracle Application Integration Architecture (AIA) delivers pre-built integrations as either direct integrations or process integrations packs

  • Direct Integrations (DI) - Pre-built integrations that manage data flows and data synchronizations between Applications.

  • Process Integration Packs (PIPs) - Pre-built integration accelerators combine one or more of the integration styles such as data-centric integration, web services, reference data query, and/or process-centric integrations. They leverage the design patterns, methodologies and common objects and services as defined within Oracle AIA Foundation Pack.

1.3 AIA Integration Types

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.

1.4 AIA Integration Flows

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 image is described in the surrounding text

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 SOA Core Extension.

  • Integration styles for bulk data processing.

    • Real-time data integration flow.

    • Batch data integration flow.

1.5 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 11g, Release 1 (11.1.1.9.0).

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 Building AIA Integration Flows and proceed to relevant chapters in this Developer's Guide as needed.