Overview of the connector development process
This section provides an overview of the connector development
process, which includes the following high-level steps:
- Install and set up the IBM WebSphere business integration system software and install the Java Development Kit (JDK).
- Design and implement the connector.
Setting up the development environment
Before you start the development process, the following
must be true:
- The IBM WebSphere business integration system software is installed on a machine that you can
access.
WebSphere InterChange Server
If your business integration system uses InterChange Server,
refer to the System Installation Guide for UNIX or for Windows (in
the WebSphere InterChange Server documentation set) for information
on how to install and start up the InterChange Server system.
Other integration brokers
If your business integration system uses a WebSphere message
broker (WebSphere MQ Integrator, WebSphere Integrator Broker, WebSphere
Business Integration Message Broker), refer to the installation
chapter of the Implementing Adapters for WebSphere Message Brokers for
information on how to install and start up the IBM WebSphere business integration system. If your
business integration system uses WebSphere Application Server, refer
to the installation chapter of the Implementing Adapters for WebSphere Application Server for
information on how to install and start up the IBM WebSphere business integration system.
- The Java
Development Kit (JDK) 1.4.2 or a JDK-compliant development product is
installed on the development machine.
The Java compiler is part of the JDK. Therefore, the JDK must
be installed for you to be able to create a new connector.
The IBM JDK is provided on the product CD. However, the product
Installer does not automatically install
it on your system.
- For more information about how to install the JDK on Windows
platforms as part of the InterChange Server product, see the System Installation Guide for Windows.
For information on how to install it as part of the WebSphere Business
Integration Adapters product, see the WebSphere Business Integration Adapters Installation Guide.
- For more information about how to install the JDK on Unix platforms
as part of the InterChange Server product, see the System Installation Guide for UNIX. For
information on how to install it as part of the WebSphere Business Integration
Adapters product, see the WebSphere Business Integration Adapters Installation Guide
- Ensure that the development environment can access the directories
that contain the connector library files. To compile the connector,
the compiler must be able to access the
connector library.
For information on compiling a connector, see Compiling the connector.
- If your business integration system uses InterChange Server,
the InterChange Server repository's
database server and ICS are running.
Note:
This step is required only when you are ready to
configure the connector with Connector Configurator. For development only,
you can create the connector class, without connecting to ICS.
For an overview of how to configure a connector, see Adding a connector to the business integration system . For
information on starting up the IBM WebSphere business integration system, see
your system installation guide.
Note:
To create a connector, you do not need to run the
messaging software. However, the messaging software must be running
before you can execute and test the connector.
Stages of connector development
As
part of the connector development process, you code the application-specific component
of the connector and then compile and link the connector source
files. In addition, the overall process of developing a connector
includes other tasks, such as developing application-specific business
objects. Here is an overview of the tasks in the connector development
process:
- Identify the application entities that the connector will make
available to other applications, and investigate the integration
features provided by the application.
- If your business integration system uses InterChange Server,
identify generic business objects that the connector will support,
and define application-specific business objects that correspond
to the generic objects.
- If your business integration system uses InterChange Server,
analyze the relationship between the generic business objects and
the application-specific business objects, and implement the mapping
between them.
- Define a connector base class for the application-specific component,
and implement functions to initialize and terminate the connector.
- Define a business object handler class and code one or more
business object handlers to handle requests.
- Define a mechanism to detect events in the application, and
implement the mechanism to support event subscriptions.
- Implement error and message handling for all connector methods.
- Build the connector.
- Configure the connector.
WebSphere InterChange Server
If your business integration system uses InterChange Server,
use Connector Configurator to create the connector
definition and save it in the InterChange Server repository. You
can call Connector Configurator from System Manager.
Other integration brokers
If your business integration system uses a WebSphere message
broker (WebSphere MQ Integrator, WebSphere MQ Integrator Broker,
or WebSphere Business Integration Message Broker) or WebSphere Application
Server, use Connector Configurator to define and create the connector configuration
file.
- If WebSphere MQ will be used for messaging between connector components, add
message queues for the connector.
- Create a startup script for the new connector.
- Test and debug the connector, recoding as necessary.
Figure 12 provides
a visual overview of the connector development process and provides
a quick reference to chapters where you can find information on
specific topics. Note that if a team of people is available for
connector development, the major tasks of developing a connector
can be done in parallel by different members of the connector development
team.
Figure 12. Overview of the Java Connector development process
