Data Conversion
Processing Integration Object Instances
n Integration objects produced by the EAI Siebel Adapter
need to be converted to an industry standard data format
for exchange
} Siebel EAI uses XML
n Siebel EAI includes several business services to convert
property sets (in general) and Siebel messages (in
particular) to and from XML strings
n EAI XML Converter
n XML Hierarchy Converter
n XML Converter
EAI XML Converter
§ Is an EAI business service that converts:
§ A SiebelMessage to an XML string
§ An XML string to a SiebelMessage
§ Uses an integration object definition to:
§ Create XML from the SiebelMessage
§ Create the SiebelMessage from XML
Siebel XML
§ Is XML that corresponds to the SiebelMessage
§ Elements represent the integration object, components,
and component fields
§ Root element is SiebelMessage
Root
Integration
object
Integration
component
Integration
component
field
Siebel XML Continued
§ XML tags used to render a SiebelMessage are
defined as part of the integration object
§ Names satisfy XML rules regarding spaces and special
characters
EAI XML Converter Methods
§ IntObjHierToXMLDoc Method
§ XMLDocToIntObjHier Method
IntObjHierToXMLDoc Method
§ Converts a property set hierarchy to an XML string
§ SiebelMessage is a property set hierarchy
representation of integration object instances
Input Arguments Output Arguments
§ SiebelMessage § Output
string containing the resulting
§ Various formatting flags, including: XML document
• UseSiebelMessageEnvelope
• Tags on separate lines
• XMLHeaderText
XMLDocToIntObjHier Method
§ Converts an XML string to a property set hierarchy
Input Arguments Output Arguments
§ Input string containing the source XML § SiebelMessage containing the integration
string object instances
§ Various formatting flags including:
• GenerateProcessingInstructions
• Tags on separate lines
• IntObjName: integration object to
use in the conversion if the SiebelMessage
envelope is absent
XML Hierarchy Converter
§ Is an EAI business service that converts:
§ An XML hierarchy to an XML document
§ An XML document to an XML hierarchy
§ XML hierarchy is a property set with Type = XMLHierarchy
§ Does not use integration object definitions
§ Converts data using simple rules, such as:
§ Make each XML element a property set with Type as
the tag name
§ Make each XML attribute a property in the element’s
property set
§ Is used to process XML documents from external
sources that do not conform to Siebel integration
objects
XML Converter
§ Is a business service that converts between a
property set hierarchy and an XML document
§ Does not use integration object definitions
§ Converts data using the same rules as XML
Hierarchy Converter except Type of property set:
§ Is not set to XMLHierarchy
§ Is set to the root element of the XML document
§ Is used to:
§ Import and export hierarchical data
§ Pass property set arguments to and from business
services
Writing XML Strings to Files
§ EAI file transport business services are provided to:
§ Write memory-resident XML strings to files
§ Read XML strings from files into memory
§ EAI business services include services that combine
data conversion and file transport
§ EAI XML Write to File
§ EAI XML Read from File
EAI File Transport
§ Moves string data between a Siebel application and
an external file
§ String data must be in the Value property of the input
property set
§ Supports:
§ Writing data to an external file using Send method
§ Reading data from an external file using Receive
method
§ Can be used for integration in some production
systems
§ Example: a bank may collect all changes during the
day and send them to a processing center in a single
batch file
§ Is used primarily for testing during development
EAI XML Write to File
§ Transforms data from a property set to an XML
string and writes it to a file
§ Combines the EAI XML Converter and the EAI File
Transport business services
EAI XML Read from File
§ Reads a file and transforms data from Siebel XML to
a property set format
§ Combines the EAI File Transport and the EAI XML
Converter business services
