Interoperation with other WS-ReliableMessaging providers: use pattern
Web services enable interoperability between heterogeneous platforms. This requirement arises whenever an organization finds itself with applications on one platform (for example WebSphere Application Server) that must work with applications on another platform, whether as a result of merger and acquisition activity, of a deliberate multi-vendor strategy, or as a result of independent software purchasing decisions taken in different parts of the business.
The existing technical solution
A variety of technical solutions exist for application-to-application integration between WAS and other environments. Most of these involve the use of additional third-party or IBM software to facilitate the integration.
More recently, the introduction of web services support has made interoperability possible without the use of additional components.
The business problem
Basic web services support (using SOAP over HTTP) does enable interoperability, but has the following limitations:
- Reliability: The absence of a WS-ReliableMessaging implementation means that the application logic needs to be extended to handle lost or duplicated messages.
- Flexibility: The absence of asynchronous support for web services means that support is limited to synchronous interactions.
Although both request and reply and one-way messaging are supported in earlier version of WAS, they were implemented in a synchronous fashion. This meant that when a web services client invoked a service it did not receive control back from the middleware until after the service application endpoint had been invoked.
The absence of asynchronous, reliable support for web services often leads you to use one of the other approaches, involving additional components. The additional components often use proprietary communication channels or APIs.
The solution using WS-ReliableMessaging
The addition of WS-ReliableMessaging support to WAS and to other environments enables us to develop reliable asynchronous web services on both platforms. These services should interoperate without additional IBM or third-party components or proprietary bindings.
Related:
Assured delivery for B2B web services: point-to-point use pattern Assured delivery for B2B web services: hub-and-spoke use pattern WS-ReliableMessaging Add assured delivery to web services through WS-ReliableMessaging Detect and fix problems with WS-ReliableMessaging WS-ReliableMessaging - requirements for interaction with other implementations