WebSphere Application Server Version 6.1 Feature Pack for Web Services
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Web services scenario: Cross supplier inquiry

This document describes a scenario in which an online garden supply retailer uses Web services to integrate its inventory system with the inventory systems of other retailers. Also using Web services, the main Internet storefront can check supplier inventories on behalf of itself or other retailers.

The marketers at Plants by WebSphere confirm with market data that people are likely to purchase plants and gardening supplies in tandem with purchases of other goods, such as gardening books. To increase the visibility of Plants by WebSphere, the company arranges with various other merchant sites to include Plants by WebSphere inventory as part of their own.

At one site, Web services and other technologies are used to insert data about Plants by WebSphere items into Web pages that match the look and feel of the rest of the site. When a customer orders a Plants by WebSphere item at a site other than Plants by WebSphere, the second site relies on the Plants by WebSphere inventory Web service to make sure that the item is in stock, and to query suppliers as needed.

The second site does not have to implement its own Web services to perform the same function as those developed by Plants by WebSphere. The second site might want to implement sophisticated function by creating its own Web service.

Scenario involving cross-supplier inquiry
New or updated for this feature pack Supported configurations: The Feature Pack for Web Services does not support Java Message Service (JMS) transports or enterprise beans. This product only supports an HTTP transport and hosting JavaBeans endpoints within the Web container for JAX-WS Web services applications. To develop enterprise beans hosted as Web services, you must use the JAX-RPC programming model. This product does allow JAX-WS clients to issue requests from any of the Java Platform, Enterprise Edition (Java EE) containers along with the client Java 2 Standard Edition (J2SE) environment.sptcfg

Plants by WebSphere could support JavaBeans endpoints within the Web container by installing the Feature Pack for Web Services on top of the V6.1 product. The Feature Pack for Web Services is based on a new programming model called Java API for XML Web Services (JAX-WS). JAX-RPC client applications and JAX-WS client applications can be used in the same module.

Installing the Feature Pack for Web Services release not only supports JavaBeans endpoints, but a wealth of other new specifications, standards and components that simplify Web services development and implementation. For a complete list of supported and non-supported application-level features, see "What is new in the Version 6.1 Feature Pack for Web Services." For a complete list of specifications and standards that are supported, see the topic "Specifications and API documentation."

The Feature Pack for Web Services product makes it easy to configure and reuse configurations, so you can seamlessly incorporate new Web services profiles. And, the new standards support interoperable and reliable Web services applications. The online retailer can send messages asynchronously, which means that the messages can communicate reliably even if one of the parties is temporarily offline, busy, or not available. By using these new technologies, the online retailer can be confident that its communication is reliable and reaches its destination while interoperating with other vendors.

How out of stock items are handled

The following events happen when a customer orders an item from one of the sites that re-sells items from Plants by WebSphere.
  1. In advance, Plants by WebSphere publishes its Web service to a public Universal Description, Discovery and Integration (UDDI) registry.

    By publishing the Web service, other retailers are made aware of the inventory Web service available from Plants by WebSphere. In this scenario, Plants by WebSphere enables the Web service to check its own inventory, as well as that of suppliers.

  2. The re-seller checks the Plants by WebSphere inventory.

    The application powering the Web site checks the Plants by WebSphere inventory database. It discovers that the item is not in stock.

  3. The re-seller consults the UDDI registry for suppliers whose inventories it can check.
  4. The re-seller uses the Web services to check the supplier inventories.

    The application invokes a Java API for XML-based remote procedure call (JAX-RPC) SOAP client, or a JAX-WS SOAP client if the Feature Pack for Web Services is installed, that communicates with a SOAP server at the supplier site to ascertain whether the supplier has the item in stock. The supplier data is sent to the reseller.

  5. The re-seller either obtains the out of stock item, or does not.
  6. The re-seller notifies its customer of the outcome, as soon as possible.

Web services technologies used in this scenario

This scenario uses the following Web services technologies.
XML (Extensible Markup Language)
XML is used to standardize the exchange of data between Plants by WebSphere and its supplier.
WSDL (Web Services Description Language)
WSDL is used to turn the existing application into a Web service, by acting as the interface between the underlying application and other Web-enabled applications.
SOAP
SOAP is the protocol by which the Web service communicates with the supplier over the Internet.



Related concepts
Overview: Online garden retailer Web services scenarios
Web services scenario: Static inquiry on supplier
Web services scenario: Dynamic inquiry on supplier
Related tasks
Task overview: Implementing Web services applications
Working with the Web services gateway
Securing Web services applications using JAX-RPC at the message level
Related reference
What is new in the Version 6.1 Feature Pack for Web Services
Specifications and API documentation
Related information
Samples page on IBM site
Concept topic    

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Last updated: Nov 25, 2008 2:35:59 AM CST
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