Connector components

The connector for SAP is written in Java and consists of two parts: the vision connector framework and connector modules (the connector's application-specific component, the Connector Framework, and business object handlers). The vision connector framework provides a metadata-driven layer of abstraction to the Connector Framework used by all WebSphere business integration system adapters.

The vision connector framework extends the methods in the system-wide Connector Framework. The connector modules extend the methods in the vision connector framework and communicate with an SAP application.

Note:
By default, the connector uses the ABAP Extension Module to support the vision connector framework. For more information on the ABAP Extension Module, see Overview of the ABAP Extension module.

Figure 1 illustrates the architecture of the connector and the relationship of the system-wide and vision connector frameworks. The visionConnector class can implement any number of connector modules.

Figure 1. Architecture of the connector for SAP

Vision connector framework

The vision connector framework dynamically routes the initialization, poll, and termination requests to connector modules. It also dynamically routes business objects to business object handlers. A business object handler is a connector module designed specifically to support business objects. To dynamically route requests and business objects, the connector uses the verb application-specific information of a business object and values of certain application-specific connector configuration properties.

The vision connector framework consists of two classes: visionConnector and visionBOHandler.

Figure 2 illustrates the vision connector framework and its association with connector modules.

Figure 2. vision connector framework and connector modules

The vision connector framework provides the following capabilities for the connector:

Connector modules

The connector modules are Java classes that extend the methods in the vision connector framework. They support the vision connector framework by providing specific functionality, such as logging in to the SAP application, processing events and business objects, and terminating the connection to the SAP application. The connector modules carry out requests between the vision connector framework and the SAP application. By default, the vision connector framework uses the connectors\SAP directory as the root directory for the connector modules.

Connector modules may not use all of the framework methods. For example, one module might use the init() and terminate() methods while another module uses only the pollForEvents() method. However, every method in the visionConnector and visionBOHandler classes must be implemented for each connector module. Methods that a connector does not use must be implemented as dummy methods, that is, they do nothing but exit.

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