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
Technical overview of WebSphere Adapter for IBM i
The adapter supports integration with modules that run on a supported application server or an integration broker. The adapter provides outbound and inbound processing under the Java™ Platform, Enterprise Edition (JEE) Connector Architecture (JCA) and integrates with Service Component Architecture components.
The adapter is housed within a module created in your development environment. Each module is designed to perform either an outbound or inbound service, such as adding a message to or retrieving a message from a data queue or calling a program such as Report Program Generator (RPG), COBOL, or service program (SRVPGM) on an IBM i system. The service encapsulated in the module provides a reusable unit that can be configured in your development environment and deployed on any supported application server.
JTOpen API support: WebSphere Adapter for IBM i uses JTOpen version 7.5.1 APIs to connect to IBM i system. For more information about JTOpen, see http://jt400.sourceforge.net.
- Outbound processing
Outbound processing refers to the operations performed when the module makes an outbound request to the adapter, such as adding messages to or removing messages from a data queue or calling an IBM i program, such as Report Program Generator (RPG), COBOL, or service program (SRVPGM) on the IBM i system. The adapter provides a standard set of outbound operations.- Inbound processing
Inbound processing refers to the actions taken by the adapter when polling an IBM i Data queue for new messages. The adapter removes the messages from the queue, places them in a staging queue, converts the messages into the business objects, and delivers the business objects to the client application.- WebSphere Application Server environment variables
WebSphere Application Server environment variables can be used in the external service wizard to specify directory values. You can now change any string property values in inbound and outbound configuration by changing only the environment variables.- Business object structures
A business object is a structure that consists of data and additional instructions, if any, for processing the data. The adapter uses business objects to represent data queues and IBM i programs such as RPG, COBOL or Service programs running on the IBM i system.- The external service wizard
The external service wizard in WebSphere Adapter for IBM i is used to create services and to generate business objects from the selected objects. The wizard also generates the module and the service artifacts that enable the adapter to run as a Service Component Architecture (SCA) component.- Log and Trace Analyzer
The adapter creates log and trace files that can be viewed with the Log and Trace Analyzer.- Business faults
The adapter supports business faults, which are exceptions that are anticipated and declared in the outbound service description, or import. Business faults occur at predictable points in a business process, and are caused by a business rule violation or a constraint violation.