The connector and meta-data

The connector is meta-data-driven. Meta-data, in the IBM WebSphere Business Integration Adapter environment, is application-specific data that is stored in business objects and that assists the connector in its interaction with the application. A meta-data-driven connector handles each business object that it supports based on meta-data encoded in the business object definition rather than on instructions hard coded in the connector.

Business object meta-data includes the structure of a business object, the settings of its attribute properties, and the content of its application-specific information. Because the connector is meta-data driven, it can handle new or modified business objects without requiring modifications to the connector code.

The connector executes SQL statements or stored procedures to retrieve or change data in the database/application. To build dynamic SQL statements or stored procedures, the connector uses application-specific meta-data. These SQL statements and stored procedures perform the required retrieval from or changes to the database/application for the business object and for the verb that the connector is processing. For information using application-specific information, see Understanding business objects for the connector.

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