The Adapter concept is a mechanism in TDI to enable developers to create new custom Connectors by using the AssemblyLine (AL) methodology. The alternative would be to develop these in either Java or JavaScript. Adapters are easy to distribute to other TDI developers, and just as simple to use as traditional, pre-built standard Connectors.
Adapters enable developers to leverage the entire TDI arsenal when creating custom connector with potentially complex business logic and custom operations to be offered to the TDI development community.
There are a number of new features that in combination make Adapters possible that will be described in the sections below. All of these features have value outside the Adapter concept as well, so we advise you to read about each feature in the rest of the formal documentation.
The following is the high level flow of activities to implement and use a TDI Adapter:
The picture below illustrates Pete's AssemblyLine on the left using Anne's
Adapter both in standard Connector lookup mode, as well as
the custom Disable_acct mode. In the illustration, even though
the Adapter is used two places in Pete's AL, there is only one instance
started of the Adapter to reduce the impact on the back-end target
system. Just like normal Connectors, Adapters can be shared within
an AL, pooled - and even shared - across AL's.
Overview of Adapter usage