8 Technical Reference Model

• [330101] Middleware
  
• [330102] Enterprise Application Integration

• [330201] Data Format / Classification
• [330202] Data Types / Validation
• [330203] Data Transformation

• [330301] Service Discovery
• [330302] Service Description / Interface

Examples of middleware technologies include:

• Remote Procedure Call (RPC): a protocol allowing a program on a client computer to invoke a program on a server computer
• Message Oriented Middleware (MOM): IBM WebSphere MQ: software solution providing APIs, queue management, message routing, automatic failover and workload balancing. Message Oriented Middleware (MOM) is software residing on both sides of the client/ server architecture providing support for asynchronous calls, or messages, between applications. Message queues are used to track and store requests waiting for execution by the source application. Messaging allows otherwise complex programming and networking details to be abstracted from the developer
• Message Oriented Middleware (MOM): Microsoft Message Queue (MSMQ): software technology providing synchronous and asynchronous message queuing, routing and security. MOM is software residing on both sides of the client/server architecture providing support for asynchronous calls, or messages, between applications. Message queues are used to track and store requests waiting for execution by the source application. Messaging allows otherwise complex programming and networking details to be abstracted from the developer
• Database Access: PL/SQL: Oracle's procedural extension to industry standard SQL. Database Access provides access to and across multiple database technologies in a distributed environment. Database Access is provided through the use of native database Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), client side APIs or server side database gateways
• Database Access: ISQL/w: Microsoft's implementation of ANSI SQL. Database Access provides access to and across multiple database technologies in a distributed environment. Database Access is provided through the use of native database APIs, client-side APIs or server side database gateways
• Transaction Processing Monitor: software providing synchronous messaging and queuing along with other transaction management services designed to support the efficient processing of high volumes of transactions. Core services include load balancing, rollback/commit and recovery. Transaction processing provides cost-effective scalability to applications and database systems by managing and throttling transactions on behalf of the database system
• Object Request Broker (ORB): a technology enabling distributed objects to communicate and exchange data with remote objects. ORB encapsulates the locality and implementation of the objects, allowing users to develop applications that leverage components by accessing the components' interface
• Object Request Broker (ORB): Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA): an architecture that enables objects to communicate with one another irrespective of programming language or operating system.
• Object Request Broker (ORB): Component Object Model (COM): a software architecture created by Microsoft to design and build component-based applications. COM object capabilities are accessible from exposed interfaces.
• Object Request Broker (ORB): Distributed Component Object Model (DCOM): an extension of the Component Object Model (COM) that allows COM components to communicate across network boundaries. Traditional COM components can only perform inter-process communication across process boundaries on the same machine.
• Object Request Broker (ORB): Component Object Model + (COM+): an extension of the COM that provides a runtime and services that are readily used from any programming language or tool. It enables extensive interoperability between components regardless of how they were implemented.

Examples of functions supporting EAI for which technologies might be available include:

• business process management: this process is responsible for the definition and management of cross application business processes across the enterprise and/or between enterprises
• application connectivity: this process provides reusable, non-invasive connectivity with packaged software. This connectivity is provided by uni- or bi-directional adapters
• transformation and formatting: this process is responsible for the conversion of data, message content, information structure and syntax to reconcile differences in data among multiple systems and data sources.

Examples of Data Format/Classification technologies include:

• Extensible Markup Language (XML): emerged as the standard format for web data and is beginning to be used as a common data format at all levels of the architecture. Many specialised vocabularies of XML are being developed to support specific government and industry functions
• XML Linking Language (XLINK): a language used to modify XML documents to include links, similar to hyperlinks, between resources. XLINK provides richer XML content through advanced linking integration with information resources
• Namespaces –are qualified references to URI (Uniform Resource Identifier) resources within XML documents
• Electronic Data Interchange (EDI): defines the structure for transferring data between enterprises. EDI is used mainly for purchase related information. ANSI X.12 refers to the approved EDI standards

Examples of data types/validation technologies include:

• Document Type Definition (DTD): used to restrict and maintain the conformance of an XML, HTML, or SGML document. The DTD provides definitions for all tags and attributes within the document and the rules for their usage. Alterations to the document are validated with the referenced DTD
• XML Schema: defines the structure, content, rules and vocabulary of an XML document. XML Schemas are useful in automation through embedding processing rules.

Examples of data transformation technologies include:

• Extensible Style Sheet Language Transform (XSLT): transforms an XML document from one schema into another. Used for data transformation between systems using different XML schema or mapping XML to different output devices

An example of service discovery technology includes:

• Universal Description Discovery and Integration (UDDI): provides a searchable registry of XML Web Services and their associated URLs and WSDL pages

Examples of Service description/interface technologies include:

• Web Services Description Language (WSDL): an XML-based Interface Description Language for describing XML Web Services and how to use them
• Application Program Interface (API) / Protocol: a language and message format used by an application program to communicate with the operating system or some other control program such as a database management system (DBMS) or communications protocol. APIs are implemented by writing function calls in the program which provide the linkage to the required sub-routine for execution. Thus, an API implies that some program module is available in the computer to perform the operation or that it must be linked into the existing program to perform the tasks.