Integration framework overview
The integration framework helps you to integrate application data with other applications, either within your enterprise or with external systems. The framework includes predefined content that enables integration with a number of business objects, and a tool kit that you can use to extend predefined integration content and to develop new integration points.
- Predefined integration content
- Applications to create and configure integration components
- Support for multiple communication modes including web services, hyper text transfer protocol (HTTP), and Java Message Service (JMS) messaging
- Support for different data formats, including database interface tables, XML and JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) messages, and flat files such as comma-separated text files
- Event-based, batch, program-initiated, and user-initiated processing and context-based launch of external applications
- Support for integration to operational management products (OMPs)
- Support for clustered environments
- Support for interacting with applications that support the Open Services for Lifecycle Collaboration (OSLC) integration specification. The integration framework can enable an application to be an OSLC consumer application that can integrate with an external application that has implemented OSLC provider capabilities.
- Load files with legacy data during an implementation.
- Synchronize master data between a product application and an external ERP application.
- Use web services to enable real-time querying of product application data by an external application.
- Call an external application to validate data that is entered in a product application.
If you want to import a large number of records from an external system, import the data in batch files or use interface tables. This approach separates the data so that multiple messages are processed as separate transactions. With a single transaction that processes synchronously, such as a web service call, limit the number of messages in a single transaction to ensure that the transaction processes in an acceptable length of time. When you are planning an integration, evaluate which integration option is most appropriate for your requirements.
Predefined integration content includes support for a number of business objects and insert, update, and delete functions on these business objects is enabled. When you use predefined content, there are certain limitations that can affect your implementation. If business rules exist within the business object that do not allow a function, for example the delete function, the function is not available for integration. In addition to support for insert, update and delete operations, the product applications support other functions that are available as actions. Predefined integration content does not support all the actions that are available. In most cases, the Change Status action is supported through integration.