Terminology

To understand the adapter, you must understand these terms:

adapter
The component in the WebSphere business integration system that provides components to support communication between an integration broker and either an application or a technology. An adapter always includes a connector, message files, and configuration tools. It can also include an Object Discovery Agent (ODA). Some adapters also may require a data handler.

adapter framework
The software that IBM provides to configure and run an adapter. The runtime components of the adapter framework include the Java runtime environment, the connector framework, and the Object Discovery Agent (ODA) runtime. This connector framework includes the connector libraries (C++ and Java) needed to develop new connectors. The ODA runtime includes the library in the Object Development Kit (ODK) needed to develop new ODAs. The configuration components include the following tools:

Adapter Development Kit (ADK)
A development kit that provides some samples for adapter development, including sample connectors and Object Discovery Agents (ODAs).

connector
The component of an adapter that uses business objects to send information about an event to an integration broker (event notification) or receive information about a request from the integration broker (request processing). A connector consists of the connector framework and the connector's application-specific component.

connector framework
The component of a connector that manages interactions between a connector's application-specific component and the integration broker. This component provides all required management services and retrieves the meta-data that the connector requires from the repository. The connector framework, whose code is common to all connectors, is written in Java and includes a C++ extension to support application-specific components written in C++.

connector controller
The subcomponent of the connector framework that interacts with collaborations. A connector controller runs within InterChange Server and initiates mapping between application-specific and generic business objects, and manages collaboration subscriptions to business object definitions.

integration broker
The component in the WebSphere business integration system that integrates data among heterogeneous applications. An integration broker typically provides a variety of services that include: the ability to route data, a repository of rules that govern the integration process, connectivity to a variety of applications, and administrative capabilities that facilitate integration. Examples of integration brokers: the WebSphere Business Integration Message Broker; WebSphere Business InterChange Server.

WebSphere business integration system
An enterprise solution that moves information among diverse sources to perform business exchanges, and that processes and routes information among disparate applications in the enterprise environment. The business integration system consists of an integration broker and one or more adapters.

WebSphere Integration Message Broker, Version 2.2
A message broker product that transforms and routes messages between WebSphere MQ queues. The technology enables applications to communicate asynchronously by delivering messages to and receiving messages from potentially remote queues. A major change with WebSphere Integration Message Broker is the addition of message flows that add the ability to format, store, and route messages based on user-defined logic.

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