IBM BPM, V8.0.1, All platforms > Authoring services in Integration Designer > Services and service-related functions > Access external services with adapters > Configure and using adapters > IBM WebSphere Adapters > IBM i

Overview of WebSphere Adapter for IBM i

The WebSphere Adapter for IBM i creates a service that uses the program call markup language (PCML) standard to call a Report Program Generator (RPG) or COBOL program or service program (SRVPGM) on the target IBM i system without special coding. You can also send or receive messages to a Data queue using WebSphere Adapter for IBM i.

The adapter enables two-way communication between a module running on a supported application server or integration broker and an IBM i system.

You can call a program (RPG or COBOL) or service program (SRVPGM) using PCML source file by providing the parameters for the program on an IBM i system. A service program is an Integrated Language Environment (ILE) object that provides a means of packaging externally supported callable routines (functions or procedures) into a separate object. Bound programs and other service programs can access these routines by resolving their imports to the exports provided by a service program. The connections to these services are made when the calling IBM i programs are created. The service program is generated using a combination of language programs.

With the prerequisite system setup, and a valid PCML generated for an SRVPGM object type, you can call the service program.

With WebSphere Adapter for IBM i, a module can also send requests to get data from a Data queue or put data on a Data queue without the need of special code. The module you create is a reusable unit designed to complete a specific inbound or outbound service. Each module uses a consistent interface and standard business objects, so applications consuming the service do not have to understand the lower-level details of the IBM i system. The adapter supports communication with both keyed and simple Data queues such as first-in first-out (FIFO) or last-in first-out (LIFO). FIFO is a queuing technique in which the next item to be retrieved is the item that is in the queue for the longest time. LIFO is a queuing technique in which the next item to be retrieved is the item most recently placed on the queue. A keyed Data queue contains individual pieces of data or messages that are associated with a key value. Messages can be received from a keyed data queue by specifying the key value. A client application can also receive events from the Data queue, for example, it can be notified that a specific data queue has been updated. To process events that result from changes to the data queue, the adapter delivers events to an application. Using event notification, updates to the data queue can be automatically propagated to other applications. On combining event processing by WebSphere Adapter for IBM i and another adapter, updates can be automatically propagated to enterprise applications such as Siebel Business Applications, PeopleSoft Enterprise, and Oracle E-Business Suite.

The adapter is imported and configured in a module that is created in your development environment and deployed to your application server or integration broker. After being configured, the adapter acts like a service provider in part of a SOA implementation, providing operations to call a service on an IBM i system. Client applications interact with the module instead of directly with the IBM i system, so authentication details such as user name and password that you provide when you setup a module are shielded from client applications and services outside of the module. The adapter exposes a service interface that hides the mechanics of how the data or operations are obtained or performed.

With the WebSphere Adapter for IBM i software, you can automatically generate an interface to the IBM i server to hide the lower-level details of the function. Based on how you want to use the adapter, you can embed it with the deployed module, or install the adapter as a stand-alone component, to be used by more than one application. The adapter is deployed to WebSphere Enterprise Service Bus or IBM BPM. The application component interacts with the adapter instead of with the IBM i server.

Figure 1. An application component calls the IBM i adapter, and the adapter interacts with the IBM i server to obtain the data

The adapter, which you generate with the external service wizard of Integration Designer, uses a standard interface and standard data objects. The adapter takes the standard data object sent by the application component and calls the IBM i server. The adapter then returns a standard data object to the application component. The application component does not have to deal directly with the IBM i server; it is the WebSphere Adapter for IBM i that calls the function and returns the results.

WebSphere Adapter for IBM i documentation