In cases where serial data is used with an EIS interface, adapters frequently make use of data handlers to transform between the serial data and business object. Examples of data handlers include those for EDI, XML, delimited, fixed-width, SWIFT, and HL7 data formats.
An adapter may use multiple data handlers; for example, an adapter for JText may be configured to read and write some files containing EDI records, and others containing fixed-width records. And the same data handler can be used with multiple adapters. The delimited data handler may be used to transform data in an adapter for JText or the adapter for Email. New data handlers can easily be developed from the Data Handler Framework for use with adapters. Data handlers thus form a component of adapters that provide flexibility and extensibility to a deployment.
Where data handlers are used, business object handlers implement the technology interface, and in turn call data handlers to transform between business objects and serial data. Because the data handler interprets the business object metadata to perform the transformation, the metadata syntax for the business object is specific to the data handler, not the adapter.