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 > Adapter Toolkit > Implementing code from the IBM WebSphere Adapter Toolkit > Enterprise metadata discovery general interfaces and implementation for application adapters > Enterprise metadata discovery description APIs

Data descriptions

The data description implementation enables the adapter to create valid data objects for EIS requests and to interpret the objects returned as responses. You must implement DataDescription, InboundServiceDescription, and OutboundServiceDescription.


DataDescription

The data description is common to inbound and outbound service. It includes a definition of the structure and content of adapter business objects that will be passed between the client and adapter at run time. Each DataDescription instance should have a unique namespace. The convention followed by IBM is to use a base namespace concatenated by the name of the corresponding object.


InboundServiceDescription

The InboundServiceDescription must have a default name and associated function descriptions. The standard top-level operations are described in Inbound Operation Signatures. InboundFunctionDescription should use the same functionName and EISFunctionName.

If needed, the default FunctionSelector can be overridden.


OutboundServiceDescription

The OutboundServiceDescription must have a default name, along with associated function descriptions. The supported, standard top-level operations are described in the Outbound operation signatures table in Standard operations.

Adapters that can provide functionality above and beyond these standard operations can opt to expose unique, EIS-specific operations, giving customers access to more functionality of the EIS. Define names and behavior on a case-by-cases basis to most accurately reflect the functionality of the underlying EIS.

To limit confusion, custom operation names should not conflict with the standard operation names mentioned above.

In cases where the mapping of EIS operations to Create, Retrieve, Update and Delete is equivalent except for naming conventions–for example, PeopleSoft has a Find operation that is functionally equivalent to a Retrieve–the EIS-specific operation should not be exposed since it adds no value.

Function-based adapters occasionally may be required to perform multiple individual EIS operations to achieve the equivalent of a single Create, Retrieve, Update, or Delete operation. IBM WebSphere recommends that these low-level EIS operations also be exposed so that users are free to compose equivalent operations.

Enterprise metadata discovery description APIs