Glossary

abstract WSDL file: Defines operations, which identify specific message request and response formats, and data types, which describe the governed object types passed in messages.
ActiveMatrix Administrator: The graphical user interface to Policy Director software.
applied policy: A rule that an agent enforces. To facilitate processing, applied policies have states: Draft, Deployed, Enforced, and Undeployed.
binding: A transport configuration that specifies how messages are transported from service consumers to providers. A service can have multiple bindings. A reference can have one binding.
component: A configured implementation that provides a business function as a service and consumes other services.
concrete WSDL file: Contains the contents of the abstract WSDL file plus communication protocols and data formats for invoking operations that the abstract WSDL describes.
consumer side proxy application: A proxy application that enforces consumer side policies.
distribution engine: A component that is responsible for distributing policies, rules, objects, service level agreements (SLAs), and the like to target governance agents, keeping track of governance control deployment status and issuing correction redeployment if out of sync.
DMZ: An acronym for demilitarized zone, this term is used metaphorically for that part of a network between an inner and an outer firewall. Machines placed in the DMZ may be available to authorized users outside firewalls, whereas machines placed behind the DMZ are protected from outside access.
dynamic object group: A query expression that determines a set of target services.
enterprise: In runtime, enterprise refers to the collection of runtime objects sharing the Enterprise Message Service server that functions as the notification server. The enterprise is identified by a name specified when you create an Administrator server. In Administrator, enterprise refers to the top-level administration object containing environments, hosts, and objects shared between all the environments in the enterprise.
environment: A named administrative domain. A collection of nodes and applications.
external service: A service deployed outside an ActiveMatrix enterprise. External services can be registered and managed through proxy applications.
governance control: Directs the enforcement, monitoring, and management of governance policies. The four types of governance control are rule or policy, rule set, objective, and service level agreements (SLAs).
governed object: A member of an object group, including a logical object such as an ActiveMatrix application, or a physical object, such as a component instance.
governed object type: A particular kind of governed object. Types include service, service binding instance, reference, reference binding instance, component, web application component, machine, and application.
host: Runtime entity that manages nodes and installed TIBCO ActiveMatrix software - typically one per machine for each enterprise.
inflow: The part of a message exchange that flows from a consumer toward a provider.
intent: Describes abstract constraints on the behavior of a component, or on interactions between components. Intents let application designers specify requirements in a high-level, abstract form, independent of the configuration details of the runtime and bindings. Intents guide administrators as they configure bindings, policies, and runtime details.
object group: A user-defined set of governed objects for a specific environment. A group must be a collection of the same types of governed objects, such as hosts, services, applications, and machines, which can be monitored or managed together. An object group can have one of two states: Draft or Published.
operation: An exchange of messages, between a service consumer and provider, according to a message exchange pattern that is understood by both participants. A WSDL operation, or its name. The part of a SOAP message that specifies the WSDL operation that a consumer is requesting from a service.
policy: A capability or constraint of a service component that you can manage separately from the core business logic of an application to affect runtime or deployment behavior, such as security, reliability, threading, and quality of service. You can specify a policy during development or at runtime. For TIBCO ActiveMatrix, a policy includes the configuration that specifies the precise details that the TIBCO ActiveMatrix platform needs to enforce that policy. Policies are specified during development and may use intents or at runtime via Policy Director.
policy agent: A Policy Director component that enforces policies. The two policy agent types are embedded or co-located with applications the policy agent is managing and external or deployed outside of ActiveMatrix nodes.
Policy Director services: System components deployed as part of a Policy Director installation. Includes Administrator user interface components for Policy Director, distribution engine, and proxy management services.
policy instance: A policy associated with a governed object member. A governed object member can be associated with a policy through multiple object groups, but only one policy instance can exist.
policy template: A stored pattern that incorporates variables to generalize behavior. Templates pre-configure policy metadata and some policy configuration parameters. These templates expose only those parameters that the policy administrator can configure. The same policy template can be applied to a variety of management situations, to accomplish goals such as authentication, authorization, encryption, and logging.
provider side proxy application: A proxy application than enforces provider side policies.
proxy application: An intermediary that can enforce policies on behalf of a consumer or provider. The proxy application runs on and is managed on the ActiveMatrix virtualization platform. Typically the consumer or provider runs outside the ActiveMatrix platform.
proxy management services: An installation component that enables creation of proxy applications.
proxy node: A node consisting of resources for deploying proxy applications.
proxy service: An ActiveMatrix mediation application that is a pass-through flow functioning as a conventional proxy application.
reference: The set of services required by a component or composite.
WSDL: An XML-based language for describing web services. The services are described in a WSDL document or file, which can take two forms: an abstract WSDL file or a concrete WSDL file.