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Understanding Schema Management

TIBCO Designer is used for configuration of adapters and TIBCO ActiveMatrix BusinessWorks integration projects. TIBCO Designer is used by integration specialists who may be business analysts or programmers that know about the source or target system to which the adapter connects.

Business analysts use TIBCO Designer to configure adapters to get data into and out of another system. The source or destination of the data could be, for example, SAP R/3, PeopleSoft, Siebel or any of the many systems for which TIBCO provides adapters.

How schema management differs depending on the adapter:

•	Managing Schema for Standard Adapters With Custom Palettes

•	Managing Schema for Adapters that Are Loaded Into GAC

•	Managing Schema for Custom Adapters Created with the SDK

Managing Schema for Standard Adapters With Custom Palettes

Many adapters are shipped with custom palettes for the adapter. In that case, the configuration process is as follows:

1.	Install the adapter on the platform of your choice.

2.	During installation, a TIBCO Designer palette for the adapter is placed into the appropriate folder. This palette becomes available the next time you start TIBCO Designer.

Documentation for the adapter becomes available via the Help menu.

3.	Configure the adapter using the adapter custom palette. During that process, you define schema data, but you do not use the schema resources discussed in this chapter. For an overview of the process, see Configuring Standard Adapter Endpoints and Schema.

Managing Schema for Adapters that Are Loaded Into GAC

If no custom palette is available for an adapter, you can still load that adapter into TIBCO Designer. When the adapter is loaded, a Generic Adapter Configuration (GAC) instance is created and endpoints and sessions are defined.

You can then use the Generic Adapter Configuration with the associated Adapter Resources palette to configure the adapter. You configure the schema for the adapter using the AESchemas folder and associated Adapter Schemas palette, as discussed in this chapter.

Managing Schema for Custom Adapters Created with the SDK

If you are writing a custom adapter using the TIBCO Adapter SDK, you must define the schema that describe the data the adapter publishes and subscribes to, as discussed in this chapter.

This document explains schema management but assumes you understand adapter configuration concepts. For example, you should know what an endpoint or a session is.

How TIBCO Applications Use Schema Data

TIBCO applications use schema data to describe or constrain data or operations used by the application. For example, you can specify that an adapter only subscribes to data of a prespecified type. The data could be restricted to a predefined type, for example an integer or string, or a custom type represented by a class. You could also restrict the operations used by client-server interactions. For operations, you can specify the number of required parameters, their type, the return type, and the exceptions.

Schema data effectively isolate the data description from the application data itself. TIBCO Designer is used to define schema data for a project. The schema can then be used by all resources in the project. For example, assume you want to restrict the data a publisher sends. You can define a schema resource, then point to that resource from the publisher. The program will then use the schema to check whether outgoing data meet the requirements. For client/server operations, you can also define schema that describe operations, their parameters, return types, and exceptions.

Schema Basics

The TIBCO schema resources form the basis for model-driven computing with your adapter. Applications use schema to describe the data a particular subscriber or publisher receives from or publishes to TIBCO Messaging. That means that the schema data describe the data inside the TIBCO messages the adapter deals with.

Configuring Standard Adapters

When you configure a standard adapter for which a TIBCO Designer palette exists, you do not define schema data. Instead, you configure the publishers, subscribers, clients, or servers your adapter uses. During that configuration, TIBCO Designer lets you choose the data with which the publisher, subscriber, etc. should work. TIBCO Designer automatically creates the schema objects corresponding to the data you choose. For an example, see Configuring Standard Adapter Endpoints and Schema.

Working With Legacy and Custom Adapters

You use the Adapter Schema Resources palette in these situations:

•	If you load a legacy adapter, for which no palette exists, TIBCO Designer creates a palette using the Generic Adapter Configuration resources. You can then change the schema for the endpoints in that adapter using the Adapter Schema palette.

•	If you are creating a custom adapter from scratch, you use the resources in the Adapter Resources palette to define the sessions, endpoints, and other elements. You then have to create schema resources to represent the data the endpoints in your custom adapter work with.

See Defining Custom Adapter Schema.

Default Schema Resources

A number of schema resources are included in the AESchemas folder by default. These resources represent schema that are recognized by the TIBCO Adapter SDK. They include:

•	ae—ActiveEnterprise schema data

•	ae folder—Contains default predefined ActiveEnterprise resources, such as MAdvisoryDocument or MBusinessDocument.

To use any of these resources, you should always first drag an AESchema resource into the Design panel, then add your own resources to the folders that are created.

•	corba—CORBA schema data

•	java—java schema data

•	sql—SQL schema data

To use any of these resources, you should first create a separate folder and add resources to it as needed.

Configuring Standard Adapter Endpoints and Schema

This example illustrates how you choose the schema information in a standard adapter and how TIBCO Designer creates the corresponding resources.

The exact process differs for each adapter and is discussed in the adapter’s documentation.

This example configures a PeopleSoft adapter subscriber which retrieves data from a PeopleSoft application.

Follow these steps:

1.	With the project displayed in the Design panel, drag a PeopleSoft Adapter Configuration resource from the palette panel into the design panel.

2.	Find the adapter instance in the project tree, and open its Adapter Services folder.

A number of services become available in the palette panel.

3.	Drag a Subscribe Event into the design panel.

In the configuration panel, the configuration tab changes to allow you to specify configuration information.

4.	Click Fetch Component Interface Name.

TIBCO Designer displays a window in which you can select the component interface to which you want to subscribe.

5.	Choose Product, click OK, then click Apply in the configuration panel.

You can now save your project with the new adapter including the subscriber and the schema for the subscriber.

How TIBCO Designer Works With the Schema Data

When you are setting up the PeopleSoft subscriber, TIBCO Designer performs a number of operations:

Knowledge or understanding of these operations is not necessary or even useful for adapter configuration. They are included for the sake of completeness.

•	Names the subscriber to reflect the component interface to which it subscribes.

•	Sets the quality of service appropriate for this component interface.

•	Under the Schema tab, displays the schema in that interface. Click on the folders to see the fields and field types (which will translate to attributes and attribute types).

•	Creates a session of the appropriate type in the Advanced Settings/Sessions folder.

•	Creates a folder in the Schema/classes/ae folder for the application and adds class resources matching the schema with attributes matching the fields.

•	Under the Advanced tab, displays the message subject, endpoint reference, and schema class reference.

−	The endpoint reference points to the session that was created.

−	The schema class reference points to the class created for this component interface.

Defining Custom Adapter Schema

If you are configuring an adapter for which no palette is available, or if you are creating an SDK-based adapter, you can configure Schema resources using the AESchemas folder.

Defining Schema—Overview

This section gives an overview of the schema definition steps, pointing to other sections as appropriate.

To define schema for your adapter, follow these steps:

1.	In the project tree panel, select the AESchemas folder and double-click the ae folder.

2.	From the palette panel, select a Folder resource (General palette) and drag it into the design panel.

3.	Name the folder appropriately for your adapter.

It is highly recommended you use a separate Folder inside AESchemas for each adapter. It can be very helpful, for example, if you limit the data initially loaded by specifying a Metadata URL. See Metadata URLs Folder.

4.	From the palette panel, select an AESchema resource (Adapter Schemas palette) and drag it into the design panel.

The AESchema resource contains folders for the classes, sequences, etc. to be used by the adapter. Click the + below the resource in the project tree to see the folder hierarchy.

Figure 107 Folders in AESchema Resource

5.	Select the Classes folder. From the palette panel, drag a Generic class into the design panel and choose a class type. Then proceed to configure the class as discussed in Defining a Class with Attributes and Defining a Class with Operations.

When you are configuring a service, you can then add the schema to the service by clicking the Browse icon in the Schemas tab.

To add the schema object to an endpoint (for example, a publisher) explicitly, follow these steps:

1.	In the project panel, select the endpoint while the schema object is visible.

2.	From the project panel, drag the schema object into the design panel with the endpoint still selected.

TIBCO Designer creates a reference to the schema object and includes it below the endpoint in the hierarchy.

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