Copyright © TIBCO Software Inc. All Rights Reserved
Copyright © TIBCO Software Inc. All Rights Reserved


Chapter 2 TIBCO BusinessConnect Architecture : Operations

Operations
An operation, also called transaction, transmission, message, or message type, is the submitting of an electronic document to a partner. An important part of preparing TIBCO BusinessConnect for deployment is to define all operations that are valid for this B2B gateway. For example, a typical B2B implementation allows purchase order, invoice, and receipt operations. Operations require detailed definitions.
An operation definition is comprised of the following information:
Name A name for the operation.
Protocol The business protocol to be used to create the schema and carry out the transaction. For more information about protocols, see Business Protocols.
Schema Defines what TIBCO BusinessConnect can expect and what it needs to do with the information it receives. For more information on schema validation, see Schemas.
Business Protocols
Business protocols provide a set of standards for use in defining both the content of electronic business documents and the operations, or technical tasks, required to carry out the transaction. Both parties to a transaction must use the same business protocol; otherwise, the recipient of the document will not be able to process it electronically. Participants identify which business protocols are available for use by that participant.
When you create a business agreement, TIBCO BusinessConnect presents a list of business protocols that are common to both parties.
A business protocol defines a set of behaviors and rules that trading partners agree on before exchanging business documents over the Internet. Through the sharing of a common protocol beforehand, trading partners can simplify their e-commerce transactions. The following is the anatomy of a business protocol:
Process  Definition of a high-level business process. This is the business logic for message sequence, decisions, and roles for each trading partner in a transaction. Technical details are not addressed.
Vocabulary and Data Dictionary  The technical aspects of creating a business message involve using vocabulary and data dictionary standards.
      <?xml version = "1.0" encoding = "UTF-8"?>
      <!--Generated by XML Authority. Conforms to w3c
      http://www.w3.org/2000/10/XML-->
      <xsd: xmlns:xsd =
                            "http://www.w3.org/2000/10/XML">
            <xsd:element name = "WidgetQuoteRequest">
               <xsd:complexType>
                  <xsd:sequence>
                  <xsd:element ref = "widgetName"/>
               </xsd:sequence>
            </xsd:complexType>
         </xsd:element>
         <xsd:element name = "widgetName" type = "xsd:string"/>
      </xsd:>
In this example, the data dictionary lists the WidgetQuoteRequest element and defines the string data format for the type element.
Implementation Framework Core  The vocabulary and data dictionary standards are in turn built on packaging the message and transferring it to a trading partner using an implementation framework core. This core defines the technical details of how trading partners exchange information. For example, this core includes areas like the transport protocols that partners agree to use. This is the key to interoperability.
The following is the structure of an implementation framework core:
Partner Agreement  This is a specific agreement between partners. It refers to the particular conversation, message structure, transport protocol, and security attributes that partners choose for their communications. Depending on the business protocol, this also includes technical details like the certificates file and the URL for HTTPS transport.
Conversation  This includes certain communication options. Depending on the business protocol, these include transaction types like notify and synchronous or asynchronous request-response, and options like time-outs, retries, and exception handling.
Message Envelope  Depending on the business protocol, this includes MIME, S/MIME, XML, or CSV. Each business protocol must provide a message envelope to carry the message body. This envelope and message are then wrapped in an envelope provided by the transport protocol.
Transport Protocol  Depending on the business protocol, this includes HTTP, HTTPS, FTP, or SMTP.
Security  Depending on the business protocol, this includes authentication, access control, non-repudiation, and encryption.
The following protocols are available for use with TIBCO BusinessConnect, but are not limited to:
Contact TIBCO sales for more information.
Schemas
An XML Schema describes the vocabulary and structures that exist within an XML instance document conforming to that schema. Schemas use their own formal grammars to express document structures and vocabulary. If a set of documents uses the same schema, the documents have markedly different contents, but can share common processing. Applications check documents against the schema, and process them only if the document passes inspection (more commonly called validation).
By providing a common formal vocabulary for describing the terms on which information will be exchanged, schemas act as an easily enforced contract between senders and receivers (and creators and consumers) of information.
For the detailed information about schemas, see documentation for the products TIBCO Designer and TIBCO ActiveMatrix BusinessWorks.
Schema Validation in TIBCO BusinessConnect
In TIBCO BusinessConnect, nested schemas of unlimited depth are supported for validation. They need to be configured as file references, including the root schema, with the exception of TIBCO BusinessConnect SOAP Protocol where interfaces that use these nested schemas have been imported using the WSDL import tool. Also, nested schema closures can be referenced with either relative or absolute paths. See File Specification Dialog in TIBCO BusinessConnect Trading Partner Administration.
It is recommended to use relative paths for closure references. In case a full path is preferred and the references are of type file, the valid URI is as follows:
For a mapped drive location.
If the file system is available on a different host. See the manual of the operating system for details on mapping or accessing remote/local file systems.
If nested schemas are configured as File Reference, their location should not change compared to the configured location under BusinessConnect > Operations Editor. This is because the content of the schema components are loaded into TIBCO BusinessConnect schema cache on demand from the specified location.
In addition, if the TIBCO BusinessConnect palette-based private process imports operations that have been configured with such referenced schemas, the original location, with the same path, must be accessible from the importing project only for the duration of the update. After the update on the palette-based project is completed, there is no further correlation between the original schema file resources and the imported schemas as long as the operations are not updated.

Copyright © TIBCO Software Inc. All Rights Reserved
Copyright © TIBCO Software Inc. All Rights Reserved