Integration services

Most applications require access to data or computations that are provided by another system, or applications need to respond to requests from other systems for data or computations. The approaches, technologies, and facilities that support accessing data are collectively known as integration services. (These facilities are in the Pega-IntSvcs ruleset.)

Integration services include:

• Connector capabilities, which allow your application (in the role of client), to request data or services from another system (in the role of server).

• Service capabilities, which allow your application (as a server) to respond to requests it receives from another system (a client).

Connectors

Rule types provide direct support for the following protocols and technologies:

• ATOM syndicated feeds — About Connect ATOM rules

• Big Data

• About Connect Cassandra rules

• About Connect HBase rules

• BPEL — About Connect BPEL rules

• Content management systems — About Connect CMIS rules

• Microsoft .Net — About Connect dotNet rules

• Enterprise JavaBeans — About Connect EJB rules

• File output — About Connect File rules

• HTTP messages (no SOAP wrapper) — About Connect HTTP rules

• Plain old Java classes — About Connect Java rules

• Java Common Connector Interface — About Connect JCA rules

• Java Message Services — About Connect JMS rules

• IBM MQSeries messaging — About Connect MQ rules

• WSDL-based Web services — About Connect SOAP rules

• Relational databases through SQL — About Connect SQL rules

Important: The rule type Rule-Connect-BPEL is deprecated. As appropriate, migrate to Service SOAP rules.

Services

Similarly, rule types for services cover the following protocols and technologies:

• BPEL — About Service BPEL rules

• Microsoft COM — About Service COM rules

• Microsoft .Net — About Service dotNet rules

• Enterprise JavaBeans — About Service EJB rules

• Incoming email — About Service Email rules

• Input files — About Service File rules

• HTTP message (no SOAP wrapper) — About Service HTTP rules

• Plain old Java — About Service Java rules

• Java Message Service messaging — About Service JMS rules

• JSR-94 API — About Service JSR94 rules

• IBM MQSeries messaging — About Service MQ rules

• REST — About Service REST rules

• JSR-168 portlets — About Service Portlet rules

• Web Services — About Service SOAP rules

Important: The rule type Rule-Service-BPEL is deprecated. As appropriate, migrate to Service SOAP rules.

How connectors work

Connector interfaces consist of a call or outgoing message (known as the request), followed by a return or arriving message, known as the response. You can parse, convert, and map data in either direction to or from the clipboard.

Arriving information can be an XML file format (and accepted by the Parse XML rule), in a fixed record structure (accepted by the Parse Structured rule), or a text file with input fields separated by a tab character or other specific characters (accepted by the Parse Delimited rule).

Your flows can include Integrator shapes, which execute activities that use connector rules to gather data or request processing from another system.

For most connector types, you can simulate the operation of a connector before you build the connector. This allows your application development and testing to proceed when the external system is unavailable or is difficult to test with. See Creating connector simulators.

Mapping and Resources

Several rule types facilitate two-way mapping between property values (on a requestor clipboard) and the messages, records, or structures used by the external system or technology. These rule type belong to the Integration-Mapping category. See Data mapping in services and connectors — Concepts and terms.

Resource identifiers, such as URLs, port numbers, user names, and passwords, might vary between a development or test environment and a production system, and might change during the operation of a production system. Such information is usually better stored in data instances, rather than rules. The data classes belong to the Integration-Resources category.

Landing pages

Three Integration landing pages provide access to integration rules and resources:

• Connectors landing page

• Services landing page

• Email landing page