{"id":799,"date":"2013-06-01T10:43:20","date_gmt":"2013-06-01T16:43:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/garysamuelson.com\/blog\/?p=799"},"modified":"2013-07-28T21:47:22","modified_gmt":"2013-07-29T03:47:22","slug":"osgi-and-jpa-deliver-business-objects-to-bpm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/garysamuelson.com\/blog\/?p=799","title":{"rendered":"OSGi and JPA Deliver Business Objects to BPM"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Multi-part Series:<\/strong> <\/em><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. BPM Integration with OSGI: JAX-RS and JPA<\/a><\/li>\n
  2. (this article) <\/strong><\/em> <\/strong>JPA OSGi Bundle Delivers (Java) Business Domain Objects<\/li>\n
  3. JSON Formatted Business Information through DOSGi (JAX-RS ReST Services) <\/a><\/li>\n
  4. BPM Service and Web-client Consumers for JSON over ReST<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
    \n

    Forward<\/strong><\/em><\/h3>\n

    OSGi and JPA provide the means for rapid turn-around on integration features. I won’t deny the fact that there’s still complexity out there swimming beneath our mixed up, legacy back-office systems. But, no matter how complicated the waters may be there is no excuse for avoiding continuous integration.<\/p>\n

    OSGi encapsulates new code with tight control on version management. Websphere, at the server layer, allows real-time switching between integration bundles. JPA (with annotations and JAXB) makes database integration easy… relatively speaking.<\/p>\n

    OSGi and JPA Deliver Business Objects to BPM<\/h1>\n

    \"\"<\/a>In context: JPA marshals Java objects between JAX-RS and database.<\/em><\/p>\n

    View from BPM<\/h2>\n

    From a BPM perspective, “business objects” are “java objects”. The relationship, or glue, between the ReST service and everything else below that layer is… technically<\/b><\/em> inconsequential from a business-value perspective<\/strong> (overlooking DBMS properties and performance for now).<\/p>\n

    A good metaphor is the relationship between your cell phone and a conversation. What’s important is that we’re able to make contact and talk. In terms of relationships and outcomes – the cell-phone itself acts as a bridge. A bridge that’s only noticed when it fails to meet expectations.<\/p>\n

    Ironically, something that “just needs to work” really MUST work. And here’s the inverse relationship between infrastructure and BPM:<\/p>\n

    If infrastructure gets noticed then… it’s not getting enough attention!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Technical View<\/h2>\n

    Object Relational Mapping (ORM) must be seamless – incurring little to no resistance between business intent and delivered value from services.<\/p>\n

    Premium qualities include:<\/strong><\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Transparency of features and implementation<\/b><\/em> –<\/strong> Supports testing. And, if it misses expectations or simply breaks… we need source-code visibility and access.<\/li>\n
    2. Fine grain visibility and control for version and configuration management<\/b><\/em> –<\/strong> (again) If it breaks… we need to find out where, who, and when. Goal is discrete application of: features, fixes, and reversal of poor configuration or code.<\/li>\n
    3. Reasonable and well understood technology<\/b><\/em> –<\/strong> Open source typically makes this happen. Meaning that an open\/adopted standard brings with it a small army of followers, shared ideas, and ubiquitous documentation.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

       <\/p>\n

      OSGi with JPA Technology and Tools<\/h2>\n

      \"\"<\/a>For this exercise I used both Eclipse and Rational Application Developer (RAD). Eclipse Juno was used for building a deployment for IBM’s new Websphere Liberty server and RAD for Websphere Application server v8.5 (WAS). Both Eclipse (Juno) and RAD incorporated Dali Java Persistence tools though RAD added a few additional features – notably a code generator for Entity Manager.<\/p>\n

      Eclipse and RAD examples:<\/strong><\/p>\n

      Walk-through showing Eclipse Juno with IBM’s Liberty tools. Deployment is Liberty<\/p>\n