WebSphere and Beyond
Creating Middleware for Here, There and Everywhere
What Sierra Bravo Can Do With WebSphere
Sierra Bravo is uniquely adept at incorporating the IBM Websphere product line into MultiValue systems. For Tolomatic, a leading supplier of linear actuators, we created an essential middle layer to develop their front-end application by using WebSphere Application Server (WAS), Java, Unidata, and PHP.
Once web services are incorporated in the WAS environment, we can take advantage of advanced features of WAS such as load-balanced, replicated servers. Additionally, we can incorporate WebSphere’s Enterprise Service Bus (ESB) which adds a layer of control and management over the web service layer.
This opens the door to many more features, like allowing access control to certain contents of the data produced by the web service. Further, this allows the ESB layer to inspect and, if necessary, censor data in the XML schema if a user is not authorized to see or use certain information.
The powerful thing about this feature is that access controls can be managed without making any changes to the web services (or Pick programs) whatsoever. Another example of an ESB feature is the logging, debugging and performance monitoring features that are built into the ESB.
Options?
You can stay simple and create standards-based web services on WAS in Java, allowing applications of any flavor to interact with the Pick system. Or, you can take it as far as you want by adding additional WebSphere layers and features as needed. But, once the web services are built and the supporting Pick BASIC XML API programs are in place, the Pick data and business logic is already exposed via industry standard web services.
Client Profile
Tolomatic is a leading supplier of linear actuators, both electric and pneumatically driven. Tolomatic has earned an industry-wide reputation for designing and manufacturing highly durable and reliable actuators for a variety of industries, including packaging, material handling, medical, food processing, automotive, semiconductor, and general automation.
Objective: How Sierra Bravo and WebSphere Worked for Tolomatic
Tolomatic hired Sierra Bravo to develop a library of web services on the Websphere Application Server that could make calls, when necessary, to XML API programs on their MultiValue system, allowing Pick programs to interface in a simple manner with the Java-based web services.
Solutions
Sierra Bravo provided Tolomatic with an application framework that enabled Tolomatic to replace and expand many of their existing web and terminal based applications. Sierra Bravo also exposed business processes in Tolomatic’s existing business systems through industry standard Service Orientated Architecture (SOA).
Using web services, Sierra Bravo presented resources that are cleanly partitioned and consistently represented. These web services are the foundation for new application development.
Web Service Architecture
Sierra Bravo produced loosely-coupled software services to support the requirements of users and software external to the Unidata environment. Using web services and software to support them, Sierra Bravo made data and processes accessible using industry standard techniques and technologies.
The SOA was built as a middleware between the Unidata database and the applications that require interoperability with it; this architecture is a key component of this project but also a basis for all development external to the Unidata system in the future.
WebSphere Application Server
IBM’s WebSphere Application Server Express provides a platform to build the web services and supporting software. WebSphere provides an industry leading application server with powerful development tools.
Web Service Foundation
All of the web services required for the application were developed using industry standards including SOAP, WSDL, and the WS-* messaging specifications. Sierra Bravo developed the web services required for the application to be loosely coupled so that they can be consumed by any external application in the future.
Usage and Performance Reporting
Tools were incorporated with the Web Service Foundation to give administrators feedback on the usage to evaluate the performance of the web services developed. Email alerts are configurable to notify administrators when web services fail, timeout, or exceed a maximum runtime.
Business System Integration
To support the web services and SOA, Sierra Bravo created data and process producers using Pick Basic and the SierraDBC protocol (a.k.a. Bravo Connector). These producers are transparent to external sources — all interaction comes directly from the WebSphere application server and presented to the end user/application via industry standard web services.
Sierra Bravo’s Bravo Connector protocol and its associated code library and development tools are a core component of Tolomatic’s new application framework. Via simple Pick Basic programs, Bravo Connector allows real-time utilization of the data and business logic within Unidata systems.
PickDB Class Library
The PickDB class library implements the Bravo Connector protocol within modern application development frameworks. It is available for PHP, C#/.NET, and Java.
Results
Sierra Bravo built the SOA application in a manner that it can be installed on any of the WebSphere family of application servers in the future. As Tolomatic’s business or technology needs grow, the application can be moved to more advanced WebSphere application server configurations without the added cost of re-architecting, re-programming, or migrating to a different set of technologies.
Web Service Integration
The application methods needed for requesting and displaying XML-formatted data via industry standard web services were developed by Sierra Bravo but published with Web Service Definition Language documents so that they are easily consumed by any external application. Sierra Bravo consumed and utilized these web services with standard libraries and techniques to insure that the application will continue be maintainable and extendable in the future.